The human body is easily susceptible for weight gains due to sugar and salt cravings. This is just the nature of how things work, but that does not mean you have to sit idly by and watch your form slip away from your grasp! You can control this by eating the proper foods spaced out between meals throughout the day. However, fad diets and misinformation run rampant across the web telling you to starve yourself in order to maintain a "low calories" or "low carbs" diet plan. In reality the simple foundation for keeping your body lean is simple; eat foods that are healthy, and exercise frequently.
Why Do People Always Talk About Carbs?
Carbohydrates - or carbs - are the biggest talk in the fitness scene because they contain glucose or fructose, which are forms of sugar that your metabolism uses to create energy. When eaten correctly this macronutrient does what it is supposed, but eaten excessively you gain fat quickly.
When carbs are broken they are sent down to be stored in your muscles and then your liver. After that the rest is sent to fat cells waiting to become filled. The truth though is that you can gain weight from eating anything in excessive amounts, and that includes vegetables! So what you have to do is eat carbs in moderation just like any other kind of foods, but also keep in mind that you require more grams of carbs per day than protein.
Great carbs to eat are brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, and oats. Have popcorn on the side for snacking. Why would you want popcorn if you want to stay slim and burn fat? Honestly your body craves snacks, and why take away everything anyway since you only live once. Popcorn is actually a whole grain that provides your body with one daily serving of the amount needed of carbs, and you get fiber as well.
The High Protein Diet Plan
This is another diet plan that focuses on eating a higher amount of one macronutrient while sacrificing another. The whole point of this diet is to eat a higher amount of protein to keep your body full and appetite suppressed. This is where the saying "Good initiative, bad judgement" comes into use. Yes, protein does fill your stomach up and keep your cravings down for a couple of hours, but you cannot sacrifice the amount of carbs in order to achieve this.
Protein is found in all meats, but to stay lean focus on the breast meat of turkey and chicken. They contain a lesser amount of saturated fat compared to pork and beef. Then fish are a great source of protein that contain omega-3 fatty acids as well. You also have dairy products for slower digesting protein, and of course eggs.
Not All Fats Are Bad
Dietary fats are actually needed by your body and make up the third macronutrient that must be consumed on a daily basis. The amount needed is not high, but still something that should remain in your diet. People often confuse dietary fats - like olive oil and canola oil- with unhealthy fats. Saturated and trans fats are the ones you do not want in your diet. They cause cholesterol buildups that clog your arteries and cause health issues to occur.
You can eat properly now that you know all of these nutrients are needed regardless if you are muscle building or burning fat. Each person also has to eat the required amount of calories each day depending on their weight amount and activity levels.
The basic rundown of it all is that too many people are starving themselves just to lose weight, and if you are losing a lot of weight that is bad! You want to burn fat, which is entirely different than weight. When you burn fat you keep muscle and stay lean, plus muscle also burns more calories while your body is at rest. Nearly 50% of your diet consists of carbs, followed by protein, and then fats. Taking one out of the equation does not solve anything and takes you back to square one once you make even the slightest change in your diet. So enjoy food and remember that moderation is the key to staying in shape!
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