Diet On A Fitness Diet

Content

• Introduction.
• Proper nutrition, or PP.
• The main rules of PP and errors.
• Intermittent fasting.
• Types of intermittent fasting.
• How intermittent fasting works.
• Intermittent fasting and muscle growth.
• How to fast properly.

Introduction

What are the two main motives that make a person start fitness classes? Lose weight or, conversely, gain it.

But are they as contradictory as it seems at first glance?

The fact is that weight is not an entirely objective indicator of the physical form of any person. Setting yourself the goal of losing weight or gaining weight is a little incorrect, and there is an explanation for this.

A person's weight does not reflect the composition of their body. For example, a girl, a fitness model, 175 cm tall, weighing 60 kg, and an average woman of similar height and weight in the mirror can look completely different.

It's all about the ratio of body fat to lean body mass.

That is why to achieve the desired effect in the mirror for those involved in sports, an integrated approach works best - burning fat and building muscle at the same time.

Of course, the process is not easy and requires careful planning of fitness nutrition for the week, regimen and a certain lifestyle. Let's analyze which diet can be the most effective and safe, which is best for you and what mistakes should be avoided. To do this, we will analyze two very popular areas of fitness nutrition - frequent meals (fractional meals) and, conversely, reducing the number of meals during the day (intermittent fasting).

Proper nutrition, or PP

The rules of proper nutrition have become widespread in our time among girls involved in fitness, seeking to lose extra pounds and form a beautiful figure.

PP rules can be effective in getting quick results. Many of these rules, such as drinking more water or avoiding starchy foods and sweets, are really good. However, some principles have nothing to do with a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle. Mono-diets, strict counting of calories and carbohydrates can cause micro- and macronutrient deficiencies.

Main rules of PP and mistakes

1. Fractional and frequent meals

It is believed that the main postulate of the PP is the slogan "Eat less, but more often." According to the adherents of fractional nutrition, constant snacking throughout the day helps to avoid the buildup of fat mass and quickly get a beautiful figure.

In fact, this is a big misconception. The thing is that with every meal, the level of glucose in the blood rises. In response to an increase in glucose, the pancreas begins to produce the hormone insulin, which serves as a conductor of glucose into cells. Insulin is an intermediary that can easily "negotiate" with the cell to accept glucose to feed the cellular energy stations - mitochondria. Frequent meals provoke constant spikes in glucose and insulin. At some point, the cells stop responding to insulin. And at the same time, they do not take glucose either, because there is already enough of it in the cells.

Glucose that has not entered the cells is sent through the vessels and sent to the "warehouse" - to the liver and muscles. There it is deposited as glycogen (the storage form of glucose). When there is a lot of glycogen and the "warehouse" is filled, glucose looks for new places and forms of storage and is deposited in the form of fat - visceral (fat that surrounds the vital organs in the abdominal cavity) and subcutaneous.

2. Carbohydrate breakfast

A carbohydrate breakfast is another not-so-great choice for PD. The reason is also easier to explain at the level of the biochemical processes of the body.

Morning is the prime time for the adrenal hormone cortisol to be active. It is he who helps us wake up and mobilize for daytime activities. Cortisol is also an active participant in carbohydrate metabolism. To increase morning resources, it forces the body to "ship" part of the glucose from the "warehouse", for which it connects the hormone insulin.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy precisely because the product of their breakdown is glucose. Thus, an already high blood glucose level in the morning is increased by eating a high-carbohydrate breakfast. This leads to the consequences described above - insulin resistance and obesity.

The basis of breakfast should be protein (meat, fish, seafood, offal, legumes, hummus, eggs, scrambled eggs, tofu) and fats (fatty fish, caviar, liver, unrefined vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, coconut, creamy and ghee).

Do not forget about fiber from vegetables and herbs, berries or fruits - for example, fresh vegetable salad or baked vegetables.

This will allow you to get full for a long time, give a good boost of energy for the whole day without a jump in blood sugar.

3. Reducing the amount of fat

We often read advice on women's nutrition blogs about the importance of choosing low-fat foods. Low-fat cottage cheese, kefir and milk, a minimum of vegetable and butter are popular tips for women who want to get a beautiful figure.

Why is this all misleading?

Fats, or lipids, are the most important macronutrients in the body involved in the construction of cell membranes, including brain cells. And it is also the precursors of sex hormones, an additional source of energy.

With insufficient consumption of fat-source foods, the body and brain stop receiving fatty acids in the right amount, which leads to a disruption in the production of sex hormones, such as testosterone, which contributes to the accumulation of muscle mass and fat burning. In addition, the function of the gallbladder, which is responsible for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins D, K, A, E, is disrupted, which leads to problems with the skin, hair, muscles, loss of strength and reduced immunity.

It is impossible not to say about the quality of low-fat products. This is the result of industrial processing, they do not contain beneficial vitamins and minerals.

The required norm of high-grade fats is considered to be about 1 gram of fat per 1 kg of body weight per day.

4. The main thing is calories, not composition

Well, and, probably, the last thing you can categorically disagree with when choosing a diet is the emphasis on daily calorie intake, without analyzing the composition of the product and the components of the plate - proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Many manufacturers of PP products use the labels “zero calories”, “low calorie product”, “sugar free”, replacing high-quality ingredients with low-calorie synthetic ones, depriving the product of useful properties. Snacks, protein bars, quick breakfasts, granola, smoothies, protein drinks, juices are a gold mine for manufacturers of low-calorie products with an imaginary absence of sugar. Sometimes the composition of such products, despite the presence of a large inscription “without sugar”, contains the same sugar, only under other names: fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, coconut inflorescence nectar. And as we have already found out, sugar combined with low-calorie foods can lead to health problems.

Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is another popular fitness diet. It is actively gaining fans, and its benefits are often confirmed by modern research and practitioners in the field of nutrition. The basis of the effectiveness of intermittent fasting is a decrease in the level of glucose and insulin in the blood, which contributes to weight loss, a decrease in the amount of adipose tissue and an increase in muscle mass.

It is important to say that intermittent fasting is not suitable for all people, in particular, it is not recommended for girls during menstruation (rely on your own well-being and do not exhaust yourself with intermittent fasting), pregnant women and people with certain chronic gastrointestinal diseases, autoimmune diseases. Before you try this diet, you should consult with an integrative doctor or nutritionist! You need to understand that a long absence of food and a feeling of hunger is perceived by the body as stress and leads to a cortisol response. Therefore, in the presence of high levels of stress, poor sleep quality and tired adrenal syndrome (chronic fatigue), this type of diet can lead to serious exhaustion of the body.

If you live a full life, are calm, your diet is varied, and you can envy your diet and sleep, intermittent fasting can be a good impetus for burning fat and building muscle. Let's see how.

Types of intermittent fasting

They differ in the number of hours allowed for the eating window and the fasting window. The simplest and most popular type is 12/12, when we eat 3-4 times in 12 hours and refuse food for the next 12 hours. If you had breakfast at 7:00, dinner should be no later than 19:00.

More advanced fasting people can use the 10/14 or 8/16 schemes.

How Intermittent Fasting Works

Intermittent fasting in terms of biochemical processes is also based on carbohydrate metabolism. When we shorten the eating window, we reduce the amount of glucose in the blood, and with it the amount of insulin produced. This gives the result - an increase in the sensitivity of cells to insulin, an increase in the number of mitochondria, an increase in energy levels and a rejuvenation of the body as a whole.

With a decrease in glucose levels, the main source of energy production becomes the “store stock” of glycogen in the liver and muscles. When the glycogen store is "unloaded", the fat reserves located around the internal organs and under the skin turn on to generate energy, the basis for obtaining energy during this period is ketone bodies - elements of the breakdown of adipose tissue. Thus, intermittent fasting burns fat.

Intermittent Fasting and Muscle Growth

A number of studies have proven the effectiveness of intermittent fasting and the training process in order to increase muscle mass and endurance.

Thus, reducing the eating window for professional cyclists to 8 hours while maintaining the required number of calories and the same intensity of physical activity showed a decrease in body weight due to fat loss, a significant increase in muscle mass and a decrease in inflammatory processes in the body compared to athletes using an 11-hour diet. eating window for the same number of workouts.

It has been proven that intermittent fasting before strength training with a set of exercises with weights and subsequent loading of protein and carbohydrates in the form of a protein shake with berries or fruits a few minutes after training causes a strong anabolic effect and promotes active growth of muscle fibers.

Based on these studies, we can conclude that intermittent fasting contributes to the achievement of the main goal of athletes: losing weight and increasing muscle mass at the same time.

How to fast properly

For an unprepared person, a long-term feeling of hunger can be a rather difficult test; one should enter into such a diet gradually, subject to some rules:

• start by having your dinner no later than 3-4 hours before bedtime. Further, it is recommended to refrain from eating 12 hours - before breakfast. Between breakfast and lunch, you should try to maintain an interval of 3-4 hours. The first week may not be easy, but then the force of habit will play its role;
• Drink plenty of warm water and herbal teas while fasting. This will avoid dehydration, will promote the outflow of bile and help reduce the stress response of the body;
• when exiting fasting, focus on protein and fiber. Don't lash out if you're craving pasta or freshly baked pizza to avoid spikes in blood sugar. Overeating after fasting is also impossible, otherwise it will put a heavy burden on the digestive system. Eating should take place in a calm environment, chew food thoroughly.

Calls and slogans to eat right can be heard from every blog, conference, especially in Moscow, where the food culture and fitness industry are developing at a rapid pace.

However, unfortunately, not everyone distinguishes between the terms of proper and nutritious nutrition, when the menu does not give preference to low-calorie products, but all existing deficiencies are replenished by including dishes in the diet with a full content of high-quality, animal and vegetable proteins, fats and complex carbohydrates.