Most of the the people I know, spend at least 60 mins in the gym doing treadmill activity combined with some body workout in the 'equipment' area. Some spend even longer time exercising in the gym, and bodybuilders or the ones who indulge in bodybuilding, spend up to 2 hours in their workout session. But the question is, why do they still have high body fat and not achieve fitness and optimum health? It doesn't make sense at all.
Now, let's resume where we let off during the last post. As I will discuss how our body could maximize growth potential and turn it into gaining muscles, which is vital to aging, metabolism and overall health. Can anyone tell me why do we tend to lose the ability to maintain muscle mass and gain fat when we get older? Thus, we become overweight and obese and develop chronic illnesses and diseases. If you understands the biology and physiology of human being, how it evolve and built as survival mechanism, you will realize that whatever I explain here in this blog, especially this post, make perfect sense.
Now, to maximize growth, you must activate the hormones that stimulate growth. Hormonal stimulation is actually the switch that turns on the anabolic process, and this very switch gets flipped whenever you fast or undereat. Whatever I just mentioned, you may think, it goes against anything you've heard or read before, but regardless, these are the facts.
Fasting or undereating sends a starvation-like signal that is perceived by the body as catabolic. Tom compensate for the missing food and to protect itself from metabolic breakdown, the body will boost its anabolic activities, spontaneously increasing its capacity to assimilate protein and other nutrients in order to ensure maximum nutrient utilization form minimum food. It also conserves muscle tissue by inhibiting protein breakdown.
At the cellular level, a most powerful factor is activated during fasting or undereating. This cellular factor is a by product of energy metabolism and it activates anabolic-stimulating hormones that are secreted by the region of the brain called hypothalamus and the pituitary gland.
Ancient people cycled between periods of undereating, when food was scarce, and periods of overeating, when food was abundance. Over eons of evolution, the human body had been well adapted to withstand periods of undereating. When you undereat, you trigger a primal biological mechanism that helps your body adapt to food deprivation and better survive in times of hardship.
Given all the above, the duration of undereating must be controlled. Of course we must not starve ourselves for days and weeks, if that would to happen, we might not survive and die off. To take advantage of this powerful dietary cycle and to avoid metabolic decline and muscle breakdown, you should always fully control the length of undereating, which should never exceed more then 24 hrs.
Now, how can we turn this potential into muscle gain? Undereating, overeating and exercise all force your body to activate and reactivate anabolic states in which the body is pushed to break, repair, build, rejuvenate and improve itself. During undereating and exercise, the body triggers an anabolic potential that will turn into actual repair and growth of muscle tissues after nutritional replenishment and while the body is in the state of rest.
Cycles of undereating and overeating can last from one day per week to continously, seven days per week. Another bonus of this method is that it forces the body to detoxify. Liver detoxification is critical for the proper production of steroid hormones and the proper utilization of food for energy and growth. Other benefits of detox are the recycling of the broken cells and proteins for overall rejuvenation of tissues.
During the times of undereating, individuals consume fewer calories then they expend. This means that undereating lasts from one nightly meal to the next nightly meal. "Undereating" is a relative term. What is considered undereating for some people may be considered overeating for others. If you wish to practice undereating as part of your daily routine, the principle is simple. Eat one main meal a day, preferably at night. Use your instinct rather than obsessively count hours, calories or macronutrients. Nonetheless, chronic undereating may lead to metabolic shutdown. Therefore, keeping to the cycle of undereating and overeating is a must.
Now, let's talk a bit about how we exercise. I have people asking me whether to eat just before exercise, or to exercise on empty stomach. Some people wake up in the morning on empty stomach and hit the gym. Others have a meal before the exercise/workout session. There are also so called bodybuilders who eat during the workout session, munching on breads and other imaginable food. Which is better? Which is more effective if you would want to burn fat?
Exercising on an empty stomach before you have eaten a meal is the most effective way to maximize the stimulation of an anabolic state, while forcing the body to burn fat and inhibit fat gain. People who exercise in the morning or any other time during the day on empty stomach, are putting themselves on win-win situation, maximizing the anabolic potential while accelerating the breakdown of fat for energy. Please take note that it is very important to have a recovery meal following the workout that supplies all the right nutrients needed for the materialization of repair and growth. And yes, fast food, mamak food and most hawkers food are not the ideal food for this recovery phase. In fact, these foods are awfully malnutrition when consumed at any given time.
In this case, you might be asking, what do I eat during undereating phase? For the purpose of growth potential, undereating means minimizing your food consumption to mainly low glycemic fruits and vegetables, as well as small serving of protein based food such as organic free range eggs or quality organic grass fed whey protein. You can consume some raw nuts and seeds as well as coconut oil, preferably organic.
The idea is to avoid insulin spike and avoiding processed carbohydrates and sugar is ideally important. As noted earlier, if you workout during the day, you should have a recovery meal after each workout to inhibit protein breakdown and materialize the anabolic activity in the worked muscles. Give some time for your body to cool off, as your body is still trying to manage the stress hormones from the workout routine. Eating while stressed out, or immediately after exercise or workout, will throw your body into confusion. Allow approximately 45-60 mins and then eat a comprehensive main meal with good quality organic food consists of meats, eggs, fish, vegetables and a bit of quality fruits.
Let's talk abit about overeating. Lots of people when they hear the word overeating, they think of being fat and unhealthy. Well, this method of overeating is different from the general term of 'overeating'. Like undereating, overeating is a relative term. What one person considers overeating may be normal eating to another. What overeating really means, is eating more then you usually do. Regardless of how much you eat, you should always choose whole foods from all the food groups, protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Start with protein and veggies, the nutrients your body needs the most, and then add fuel foods, the carbs or fat. Include in your daily dietary regimen essential oils such as flaxseed, hempseed, krill or fish oils that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 6 oils do not need to be added or supplemented, as they are abundantly found in the food that we commonly eat. Omega 3 oils are often deficient and must be added or supplemented.
Essential fatty acids are critical for all life functions, including brain development, cell membrane formation and hormone synthesis. Periodic overeating signals the body to accelerate its metabolic rate to burn all those mega calories. Over time, periodic cycles of undereating and overeating will most likely help boost your metabolism so you will be able to eat more food and thus, further accelerate muscle nourishment without worrying about gaining fat. Sounds good?
Cycles of undereating and overeating can last from one day per week to continously, seven days per week. Another bonus of this method is that it forces the body to detoxify. Liver detoxification is critical for the proper production of steroid hormones and the proper utilization of food for energy and growth. Other benefits of detox are the recycling of the broken cells and proteins for overall rejuvenation of tissues.
During the times of undereating, individuals consume fewer calories then they expend. This means that undereating lasts from one nightly meal to the next nightly meal. "Undereating" is a relative term. What is considered undereating for some people may be considered overeating for others. If you wish to practice undereating as part of your daily routine, the principle is simple. Eat one main meal a day, preferably at night. Use your instinct rather than obsessively count hours, calories or macronutrients. Nonetheless, chronic undereating may lead to metabolic shutdown. Therefore, keeping to the cycle of undereating and overeating is a must.
Now, let's talk a bit about how we exercise. I have people asking me whether to eat just before exercise, or to exercise on empty stomach. Some people wake up in the morning on empty stomach and hit the gym. Others have a meal before the exercise/workout session. There are also so called bodybuilders who eat during the workout session, munching on breads and other imaginable food. Which is better? Which is more effective if you would want to burn fat?
Exercising on an empty stomach before you have eaten a meal is the most effective way to maximize the stimulation of an anabolic state, while forcing the body to burn fat and inhibit fat gain. People who exercise in the morning or any other time during the day on empty stomach, are putting themselves on win-win situation, maximizing the anabolic potential while accelerating the breakdown of fat for energy. Please take note that it is very important to have a recovery meal following the workout that supplies all the right nutrients needed for the materialization of repair and growth. And yes, fast food, mamak food and most hawkers food are not the ideal food for this recovery phase. In fact, these foods are awfully malnutrition when consumed at any given time.
In this case, you might be asking, what do I eat during undereating phase? For the purpose of growth potential, undereating means minimizing your food consumption to mainly low glycemic fruits and vegetables, as well as small serving of protein based food such as organic free range eggs or quality organic grass fed whey protein. You can consume some raw nuts and seeds as well as coconut oil, preferably organic.
The idea is to avoid insulin spike and avoiding processed carbohydrates and sugar is ideally important. As noted earlier, if you workout during the day, you should have a recovery meal after each workout to inhibit protein breakdown and materialize the anabolic activity in the worked muscles. Give some time for your body to cool off, as your body is still trying to manage the stress hormones from the workout routine. Eating while stressed out, or immediately after exercise or workout, will throw your body into confusion. Allow approximately 45-60 mins and then eat a comprehensive main meal with good quality organic food consists of meats, eggs, fish, vegetables and a bit of quality fruits.
Let's talk abit about overeating. Lots of people when they hear the word overeating, they think of being fat and unhealthy. Well, this method of overeating is different from the general term of 'overeating'. Like undereating, overeating is a relative term. What one person considers overeating may be normal eating to another. What overeating really means, is eating more then you usually do. Regardless of how much you eat, you should always choose whole foods from all the food groups, protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Start with protein and veggies, the nutrients your body needs the most, and then add fuel foods, the carbs or fat. Include in your daily dietary regimen essential oils such as flaxseed, hempseed, krill or fish oils that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 6 oils do not need to be added or supplemented, as they are abundantly found in the food that we commonly eat. Omega 3 oils are often deficient and must be added or supplemented.
Essential fatty acids are critical for all life functions, including brain development, cell membrane formation and hormone synthesis. Periodic overeating signals the body to accelerate its metabolic rate to burn all those mega calories. Over time, periodic cycles of undereating and overeating will most likely help boost your metabolism so you will be able to eat more food and thus, further accelerate muscle nourishment without worrying about gaining fat. Sounds good?
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