Macro nutrients

Your macro nutrients consist of Carbohydrates, Protein and Fats. A healthy diet consists of a well rounded supply of all three nutrients. Optimal caloric intake for your diet should consist of 25% Protein, 25% Fat and 50% Carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates- Carbs are your bodies fuel source.They can be your best friend our your worst enemy. Carbs promote growth in a variety of ways. If not consumed in moderation they can be stored as an energy source (fat). If consumed in moderation with a good workout program they can promote muscle growth and development. There are good carbs and there are bad carbs. Good carbs are your complex carbohydrates (whole wheat). These carbohydrates are slow digesting, they give your body a consistent fuel supply for a longer period of time. Also keeping you feeling full. Your bad carbs are simple carbohydrates (white), these carbs are fast digesting. As your body quickly breaks these carbs down it is given a larger supply of fuel then it needs. Therefore your brain stores all the extra carbs as fat(adipose tissue) for a future energy source.

Protein- proteins are made up of chains of amino acids. Proteins are the building blocks of all tissues within the body, including muscle. Protein helps to repair and re-build broken down tissues and muscle. As you exercise you are exerting and adding stress to your muscles. When this happens you are breaking the link between actin (thin) and myosin (thick) filaments within your muscles. What protein does is rebuilds this link between actin and myosin, making it stronger, larger and more toned then it was previously.

Fats- There are good fats and there are bad fats. Your good fats are polyunsaturated fats (omegas). These fats improve your bodys ability to use adipose tissue more efficiently as an energy source. Your bad fats are saturated and trans fats. These cause all sorts of health problems and are your bodys first choice to store adipose tissue. Avoid these fats at all costs.

When to eat

As your sleeping, your digestion has been working at a slow pace and recovering your muscles and glycogen stores that you may have broken down the day before. When you awake you want to have a well balanced breakfast within ONE HOUR after you awake. This kick starts your metabolism and replenishes your energy stores that may have not been replenished the night before. After an hour your without eating, your body is in starvation mode. Your brain has realized that you have not ate in awhile and are running low on glycogen and energy stores, thus when you do eat your brain will over compensate and store all of your food intake as a future energy source (fat). To prevent this from happening it is best to have a small meal every three hours, this works out to about six small meals a day. Your goal should be a minimum of five meals a day. This will keep your thyroid stimulated, releasing thyroxine (hormone that regulates your metabolism). By giving your body a constant supply of your macro nutrients throughout the day, keeps your metabolism running at a high pace. Therefore allowing you to burn calories more efficiently. Your last meal of the day should be about three hours before you go to sleep. This allows your body to digest the food in appropriate amount of time before you sleep. As you sleep you are burning very few calories. There fore if you eat just prior to sleeping you will burn no calories from that food intake, thus all those additional calories will be stored as fat. As for late night snacks, at all costs avoid carbohydrates, all of your carbs should be eatin throughout the day, not after super and especially not before bed. Late night snacks should consist of a lean protein. This is because, when you sleep your body is recovering. All of your progress and muscle gains come from when you sleep. Protein being the macro nutrient that aids in muscle recovery makes it the perfect late night snack. By adding that protein makes it more beneficial to promote muscle recovery.

Grocery shopping

Stick to the perimeter. All of your macro nutrients and essential foods for a healthy diet can be found on the outside of the grocery store. All of the foods in the aisles contain processed and foods high in fat. Also foods that can be found within aisles contain many chemicals to preserve shelf life. The main ingredient to maintain shelf life is coconut oil. Coconut oil is very very very high in trans fat. Companys will try to hid this by using the words like HYDROGENATED and SYRUP to hid the fact that they contain coconut oil. Be sure to read your labals and make sure it does not say hydrogenated or syrup anywhere. Also look at your ingredients. If the product contains more then five ingredients, its processed and containg many fillers, chemicals, and preservatives. Making it detrimental to your diet.

Grocery list ideas:

Proteins

Boneless skinless chicken breast

Any kind of fish

extra lean ground beef

protein powder

eggs

ribeye steaks

top round or top sirloin steaks

flank or eye of round steak

turkey, ground turkey

turkey bacon

cottage cheese

Complex carbs

oatmeal

sweet potatoes

beans

oat bran cereal

whole wheat bread

whole wheat pasta

whole wheat rice

Good fats

fish

eggs

natural peanut butter

nuts, trail mix

olive and flax seed oil

Dairy products

skim milk

cottage cheese

eggs

for condiments, try to avoid. Although avoiding condiments is very hard so when you do use them, use them in moderation. Also be sure to always use no fat not low fat. Low fat is the equivalent to saying low alcohol. Your still going to get drunk, there for your still going to get fat.

Affects of alcohol on a healthy lifestyle

Alcohol inhibits protein synthesis, therefore it inhibits your muscles from recovering after a workout. So if you are going to drink, try not to over do it. Alcohol (wine especially) can be very beneficial to your overall health if consumed in moderation. Also if your going to drink be sure to drink on an off day and not after a strenuous workout. If you drink after a workout it will inhibit your muscles from fully recovering and could lead to regressing. Alcohol in beverages consists of ethanol alcohol, these are categorized as empty calories, meaning your body will burn the calories from the ethanol before any other fuel source. Thus all additional calories consumed will not be burned off in turn theyll be stored as fat. Also while intoxicated everyone tends not to make the healthiest food choices.

All in all eat healthy eat often and if it tastes good spit it out, because this is exactly what we teach our clients with

[http://www.bodyconceptspersonaltraining.com/aboutus.html]">Weight Loss & personal training programs. Thank you!