When it comes to losing fat and building muscle, eating less food is not the answer to getting lean and cut. Others will try to tell you that losing excess fat is simply a matter of using more calories than you eat. What they don’t tell you is that eating (more…)
Continue reading about Burn Fat With The Thermic Effect of Food
In my house, we talk about what the basic macronutrient value of a food is: carbohydrate vs. protein vs. fat. Some of my kids are old enough now to start thinking about the quality of the macronutrient (i.e. different types of fats, types of carbs, etc.) but still, the basic macronutrient content rules.
And even though fruits and veggies are a type of carb, we put them in their own category so that the kids don’t confuse them with the same macronutrient as donuts!
But one thing that I see out in the world that infuriates me is when people say, “I need some protein – let me grab a yogurt.”
Yogurt Is A Carb
UGGHH!!
Yogurt is NOT a protein, it’s a carb!
Yeah, it’s got some protein in it (usually not much, like 7 or 8 grams).
But look at the carb content: anywhere from 20 to 40 grams, depending on brand and flavor.
If your food source is in a 3:1 ratio of carbs:protein, that is a carb.
Generally, low-fat or non-fat yogurts have more carbs (mostly sugars added for flavor).
I’ve written before that (more…)
Ever heard somebody say that you better watch what you eat? Watching what you eat is very important, but you’ll also need to pay attention to what you’re not eating if you want to keep muscle on your body.
I’m sure you’ve already heard that you need to eat plenty of protein to keep your body in good shape and build muscle, so I probably don’t need to repeat that to you.
But if you’re wondering how much protein you should get with each meal, when to eat it, and how to eat it… I might be able to help you out there.
Protein Every 3 Hours
First, let’s talk about the when and the why. Imagine, for a moment, that your body is a factory. This small factory works each day to produce the materials that it needs to keep its own walls and floor in good shape.
Imagine that the bricks in the factory walls are constantly wearing out, so a conveyor belt is needed to bring new materials into the factory. This is pretty similar to what’s going on inside your body as your cells are constantly being replaced. Just as the bricks in the factory wall need to be replaced, your body needs protein to rebuild it’s cells.
Your body is good at storing all those excess calories that you eat as fat cells, but protein isn’t really stored in your body for long periods of time. Protein only stays in your body for about 3 hours.
So, going along with the conveyor belt analogy, if more bricks end up on the conveyor belt than are really needed, they just fall off the end of the conveyor belt and are swept away to another place. They aren’t stored or used to build the walls. If you eat too much protein, it isn’t stored for later. (more…)
- How much protein is too much protein?
You eat lots of protein, right?
I mean, you hear from everybody that to gain muscle, you need to eat a lot of lean protein.
Even if you aren’t trying to gain muscle, you still hear how important protein is.
And we’ve written about it a ton here, here, and here.
The basic rule I use: if you are fat, eat at least 1 gram of protein a day per lean body mass (your total weight minus your fat weight). If you are not fat, then eat about 1 gram per total bodyweight. And this assumes you are lifting at least 2x a week.
So for the average man, this is at least 180 grams a day. (more…)
Continue reading about How Much Protein Is Too Much Protein?
There are many articles on this site dealing with food – some of our most popular deal with junk food here and here.
Others deal with protein.
And of course, we recently dealt with eating for muscle gain vs eating for fat loss.
But one question that (more…)
Continue reading about What To Eat Before And After Your Workout
About a week ago, I offered to our email subscribers an open Q&A session: “ask your questions and I’ll try to get them answered”. The asking is something we only offer the email list, but RSS subscribers can still see the answers. As usual we had tons of questions. I’m (more…)
Continue reading about Answers To Your Lean Muscle Questions – 4-21-09
Editor’s note – There is so much monthly science news when it comes to muscle fitness, that it’s probably hard for you to keep up. In these occasional posts, I’ll summarize various items of research in the past 90 days or so. I’ll cite the official reports so that the (more…)
Continue reading about Science News For Building Lean Muscle – April 18 2009
Well, that headline might be a little sensational. But they are damn good tasting, can be made in under 5 minutes, and are quite healthy. Trust me – these are simple to make and I’ve got the recipe and tricks to make them fast (and even pictures to go with (more…)
Continue reading about World’s Best Tasting, Fastest, Healthiest Homemade Protein Bars
