Part I: Developing a Nutrition Plan
In my honest opinion a good nutrition plan is the most important part of getting in shape or building muscle. Despite what the mainstream says, you can lose large amounts of body fat simply by eating the right way, and you can gain pounds of muscle by doing the same thing and lifting weights. A well developed nutrition plan should be the foundation of your fitness plan. In this part of the series I am going to guide you in creating the best nutrition plan for your goals.Part 1: Macronutrients
Macronutrients are the large building blocks of your body. These include Fats, Carbohydrates, and Proteins. Each of them has an essential part in your body and your nutrition, and they shouldn't be neglected.Fats
Fats are an essential part of anyones diet. It is not common for people to think that all kinds of fats are bad for you though, and the truth is, they are not. There are fats that are required by our bodies to live, and there are fats that are indeed detrimental to our health.Trans Fats or unsaturated fats with trans-isomer fatty acids have been known to cause a plethora of health problems such as the risk of coronary heart disease and high cholesterol. Trans fats are something that should be avoided.
Unsaturated fats, (such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats) are good for the bodies health in certain amounts. While monounsaturated fats are the least optimal choice because they promote insulin resistance, polyunsaturated fats resist insulin resistance and are optimal at allowing your body to release safe amounts of insulin into the body to aid in muscle growth and development.
With that being said, you should avoid Trans Fat and try to eat enough polyunsaturated fats to promote insulin release.
Carbohydrates
Despite what most people believe, carbohydrates are not your bodies main source of energy, but they are essential to achieving your fitness goal. Carbohydrates can be broken down into many categories but for the sake of sticking to the fitness portion of this series I am going to try and be brief. There are two main types of Carbs, complex and simple carbohydrates.Complex carbs are going to be your fruits, grains, and vegetables. When eaten, complex carbs will momentarily raise your blood sugar level, causing a spike in your metabolism and are optimal when you are wanting your body to absorb a nutrient quickly such as protein or creatine.
Simple carbs are your basic sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and lactose. You want to keep your simple carbs to a minimum and focus on getting the complex carbs your body needs to build muscle properly.
Proteins
Proteins are going to be the main focus of your nutritional plan as they are the main source of energy and are the building blocks of muscle. Protein can be obtained through meats, nuts, and dairy products. Proteins are made up of amino acids which are your bodies main source of energy and the most important aspect of getting into shape due to their ability to build lean muscle and burn fat.Most of you are familiar with protein so I am not going to go in-depth on the subject, but be sure that you are getting enough protein in your diet. You will want to get at least 1g of protein per pound of lean body weight. This is extremely important.
Part II: Constructing a Meal Plan That Meets Your Needs.
As I have already said numerous times, your meal plan and nutrition can make or break your fitness goals and you need to spend the adequate amount of time constructing it. I am going to give you some guidelines and examples to get you started but the rest is up to you. Eat what you like as long is it is healthy and fits into your meal plan.
The starting point of constructing a meal plan is to go back and look at your goals. These will determine what you eat and how much of it you eat. You also need to determine your bodies caloric maintenance, meaning how many calories your body burns in a day. A good place to determine this is in this article.
Once you have determined your maintenance level, you need to move on to what your macros are (how much fats, proteins, and carbohydrates you should consume on a daily basis).
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