Setting The Building Blocks: An Overview Of Nutrition
Getting Started With Your Diet
Most people coming to this site are, for the most part, going to be new to weightlifting and all that applies to it. And some of you may already know a few of the ins and out but, your just looking for some more information. Either way I respect your quest for knowledge and I’m glad you came here to Barbell Academy.
Getting started with a weightlifting routine can be rather tricky. I mean shoot, just trying to figure out the exercises and what kind of routines to try is a whirlwind. If you haven’t checked it out I recommend Barbell Academy’s Starting Strength routine. It’s a great overview for beginners and really is a solid foundation for sculpting your dream body.
What The Heck Should I Do About Food?
I bet the thought behind food is to just slap a bunch of meat and veggies on a plate, eat a few big meals and call it a day. Wrong! How’s that going to work? You see the thing is your body is like a car that needs gas getting ready for a long road trip. You stop at the station fill up the tank and head forth on your trip. About 100 or so miles down the road, boom, you gotta stop for gas again.
So think of your meals and food in the same regard. When you wake up to eat breakfast you put that first tank of gas in the car. Typical American diets wait until lunch to eat the next meal. And then again at dinner. My friend if your waiting that long to fill up your tank you are running on fumes.
Eat More, Eat Frequently.
By eating smaller meals throughout the day your body has sufficient fuel to function through the 9 to 5 rigors as well as help you recover from that nasty beating you got by the barbell. Not to mention your metabolism will get moving into high gear.
Allowing yourself 5 to 6 small meals with the right amount of macro-nutrients can help you pack on the lean muscle and shred that unwanted fat. Don’t get carried away. Your diet takes as much work as training. Keep a careful eye on whats going into your body. Stay away from processed crap and base your intake on a whole foods diet. What I mean by that is get your foods in the most natural state you can. Eat your fruits and veggies.
Eat Enough To Achieve Your Goal.
Like it takes gas to get going on a road trip, it takes food to get going on a body trip. But you gotta know how much. So much information out there leads people astray. They think they can cut carbs, eat high protein, or whatever. Well lets get serious here. How in the heck do you think that’s going to work. Cutting out anything from your diet leads to deficiencies. Any type of deficiencies lead your bodily functions not chugging along like they should.
Out of all the articles, books, magazines, and conversations had with friends it seems like the consensus is as follows :
Get your macro-nutrients in at each meal.
Muscle builds on proteins and carbohydrates. Getting the right amount is super simple. Take your body weight and divide it by 2.2. Okay, now you have your weight in kilograms. Multiply that number by any figure between 1.8 to 2.3 to figure out your protein intake. Then take that number and multiply it by anywhere from 3 to 5 which is going to give you your carbohydrate intake.
Depending upon your goal and the amount of calories you need to consume during that time frame of your training will determine the amount of protein or carb your going to need. Once you have a general idea of your macro-nutrient intake your going to need to know how many calories you need to either maintain your current weight. From that point you can configure your deficit or surplus for either burning fat or building muscle.
For a breakdown on how to calculate your BMR which will give you your calories for the day check out this article Learn To Calculate Your BMR And Asses Your Daily Caloric Intake.
There you have it, a very general overview on how you need to be fueling your diet. Remember this is a journey that lasts a life time. It takes work and it takes serious effort. Be patient and don’t give up. Experiment and decide what works best for your body.
