Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Loose Weight Build Muscle - Nutrition and Supplements

By David Vower

So you wanna loose weight and build muscle? Often the idea of using supplements comes to mind. There are so many nutritional supplements on the market these days but it's healthy to exercise a bit of skepticism.

Many of the pills around these days are simply packed with stimulants and caffeine. Try not to take these because they can damage your metabolism more than it's worth in the long run. They do speed up your metabolism, but they'll also give you the jitters and often make you a bit edgy. There are much better ways to speed up your metabolism and it's not even all that hard.

Just remember that the most important thing is to eat a clean diet. This is something the fitness community is often talking about, and it's a good way to start getting your body going in the right direction. It basically means that you should be eating nutrient dense fruit and vegetables.

What that means is simply giving your body fresh and nutritious foods as fuel so that it can do it's job effectively. Let's face it, we all know that eating things like Kentucky Fried Chicken, or McDonald's is not going to be the best source of quality vitamins and minerals. So what to eat instead? What makes up a "clean" diet?

So what's the most important part of a clean diet? Water!

Yeah, I know, water's not a food. But it is essential for your body to remain clean and free of toxins. Your body will create many by products while you're exercising and loosing weight and building muscle. Your body is also made up of about 80% water too... so you'd better make sure you're getting enough.

The next most important things to eat are fresh vegetables and fruits. They'll get your body's metabolism moving faster and provide your body with the vital phyto-nutrients. Fruits and vegetables contain life, and by eating them you will become more lively. It just makes sense. Your mother was right, so eat your vegetables!

Protein is the most important nutrient for your muscle to grow. Each time you train, you should be having a protein dense meal or shake to give your body all the protein it needs to get it repairing the muscles as fast as possible. The best places to get good quality protein are from whey (or soy) shakes, protein snack bars, and of course, when you're having a main meal you should use meat like chicken or fish so you've got good natural protein sources. If I would suggest any one supplement to use, it'd be a quality whey protein powder so you can have a shake after each and every workout.

You should eat roughly 5-7 times a day, small meals with a bit of protein in each meal so you don't have cravings. Protein has the ability to stave off sugar cravings so if you get a bit of a sweet tooth, grab another shake (with water), or a protein nutrition bar. Also, a handful of raw nuts is a great substitute.

About the Author:

No comments: