You are what you eat.
(Do not forget that you also will be what you do, what you think, what you feel, what you believe in, etc.)
I will try to provide a general set of rules that can hopefully improve the basic nutritional conscience [ yes conscience because it feels so bad to eat things that are so good :( ].
You eat because food tastes good, and also because food has nutrients. There would be tons of different nutrients out there. Macronutrients would be the bulk of your nutrients. They will be your calorie sources - fats, carbs, and proteins. If you try to check out the nutritional information of your meal, you will notice that they appear in grams. Micronutrients will be the likes of vitamins and minerals which usually appear in percentages or milligrams. I will not talk as much about micro nutrients. Eat your fruits, veggies, drink your milk before you sleep, and you should be generally ok!
BASIC MACRO
3500 calories translates into 1 pound.
Everybody has their own unique basic metabolic calorie requirements. Depending on your metabolism, which can be influenced by gender, age, weight, height, fat%, etc, it should be around 2500 give or take a couple of hundreds to thousands. An incremental increase of consumption by 3500 will make you gain a pound, as an incremental decrease will make you lose a pound. Same goes with physical activity. Burning 3500 calories will make you lose a pound. The composition of the gains or losses will depend on your exercise, rest, and nutrition.
1 g of Fat = 9 calories
1 g of Carbs = 4 calories
1 g of Protein = 4 calories
You will notice that fats pump up the calories real quick as they have a 9 calorie per gram ratio. Carbs will seem innocent at 4, but I would like to warn you that carbs usually come in high quantities. Protein usually takes some effort to digest, reducing your effective calories.
Keep in mind that not all Fats are equal. Same goes with Carbs, and even Protein!
Fats - (Polyunsat/Monounsat/Saturated/Trans) - There are good and bad fats. The good ones will be your Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated Fats. Good fats are used in basic bodily processes, and are said to be non-contributors to fat gain. Nuts, avocados, and sunflower kernels are some examples of food that provide good fats. I wouldn't take my chances though and will stick to moderation. Bad fats will be your saturated fats, which usually are from animal sources, while your Evil fats will be the man made trans fat. Bad fats will contribute to belly fat, will hurt your health, and are statistically linked to various heart illnesses and many other bad stuff.
- General Direction : Avoid Saturated and Trans fats! Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats are good fats, therefore you can get a daily serving of em. (Do not over indulge!)
Carbs - (Basic/Complex/Fiber/Sugar Alcohols) - The fuel for your engine. There will be basic carbs and complex carbs. The most known basic carb will be sugar, others would be refined carbs such as white bread, flour, non whole wheat grains. Excess sugar is associated to bad health and weight gain. Sugars digest quickly though, and can help recovery when consumed after a draining physical activity. Complex carbs can be drawn from whole grains such as wheat bread, oatmeal, and the like. They digest slower than sugar and would not give you an energy crash. That should be your main carb source. Fibers are a good addition, they will have soluble and insoluble variations which will be discussed in the future. In general, fibers do not directly translate into significant calories and sugars. They improve bowel movement, and can help keep you full! Sugar alcohols in simple terms are carbs that do not translate into a full 4 calories. They do not spike blood sugar as much as basic/complex.
- Carbs come in high quantities! Minimize sugars, increase fiber and complex carbs!
- The best time to consume sugars will be right after a workout!
Protein - (Complete/Incomplete) - There are 9 (some say 8) amino acids needed to build protein. Not all sources of protein have all. Generally speaking, food from animal sources are complete - beef, poultry, pork, fish, eggs, and milk. Proteins found on your bread and plant products are not usually complete. Soy and some nuts would be exceptions to the general trend. However, there will be no way to prove this without any scientific endeavor, so let me just give a general tip. Diversify. If it is true that not every protein is equal, then try to mix it up. Juggle your meat, fish, and chicken. Drink your milk at night. If count protein and you want to take an aggressive stance, then count every protein gram that pops up in everything you eat. If you want to be conservative, then just count the significant "complete" proteins that you consume.
There also will be a whole different categorization of proteins that will need its own post to discuss.
Those such as whey, casein, soy, isolates would be tackled in the future. They have different digestion speeds, digestive effort requirements, and "scientific buzz opinions" that set them apart from each other.
Generally speaking, active people such as athletes and lifters would try to pump up protein, good fats, and get a good supply of carbs when bulking, while maintaining protein while cutting a bit on good fats, and slicing up the carbs when cutting. (Ratios coming soon!)
- Don't forget to eat protein! Proteins drive gains from your recovery.
- Do not go overboard. Some people will have insane ratios of protein that they have to eat per gram of body mass. Just take what is right for you based on the intensity of your physical activities! Excess protein will still make you fat.
- You need to exercise to get the most out of your protein!
Small insights for tricky things out there :
FOOD TRAPS
There will be a lot of "healthy food and drinks" that will have high levels of sodium and sugars. In excess, they can be detrimental to both your health and fitness goals. Smoothies are sometimes undetected sugar traps, while canned goods, fast food items, and "junk food" usually have ridiculously high sodium levels. Yes, even those products with #goodfortheheart and #healthy labels on them can be sinister sugar and sodium traps. Before you eat, always try to check out the nutritional info of your product, or check out your restaurant online if they have their info available.
- For yogurts and "greek" yogurts, check sugar and protein levels!
- A lot of food items are now labelled as "greek" but do not offer any significant protein boost.
- For peanut butter, always check ingredients, sodium, sugar, and the oil used! I prefer palm oil. Natural peanut butter > Low fat options
- Always check serving sizes when comparing your choices! Some cut calories in half, but cut the serving size beyond half!
SUGAR FREE
Finally, a lot of studies claim that artificial sweeteners can be worse than real sugars. I am not a fan of scientific politics, but drinking diet sodas and sugar free drinks doesn't feel as great in my system (just a personal opinion). I would rather stick to naturally sweet items such as fresh fruits, or even freshly squeezed juices. That's just me i guess. :)
Future related posts coming - More on proteins / Sodium vs potassium
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Clean N' Mean
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