TFClark Fitness Magazine

Diet Plans

Whether your goal is weight loss or adding muscle, choosing the right diet plan is a critical first step. Your plan should help you reach your goals while maintaining your health. When searching for the healthy diet plan that works best for you, consider these options:

Weight Loss Diets

There are more weight-loss diets than bathroom scales, but the ones that work use an understanding of your body’s metabolism and hormones. You need a combination of the right nutrients in the right amounts to produce effective, lasting weight loss. Once you have calculated the number of calories, you need to lose weight, spread those calories evenly among 5-6 small meals. This approach will keep your stomach satisfied while supplying your body with the nutrients evenly throughout the day. Now choose the right foods for those meals. Avoid or minimize sugars and starches as they increase insulin secretion in your body, which promotes fat storage. Reducing blood sugar and the resulting insulin spikes allow your body to release and burn more body fat. Replace sugars and processed flours with lean protein and plenty of vegetables. Protein sources include chicken, beef, lamb, pork, fish, and eggs. The remainder of your plate should be filled with low carb vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, celery, Brussel sprouts, and cucumber. Eating the correct portions of lean proteins and vegetables will supply a healthy amount of fiber, vitamins, and minerals while meeting your weight loss calorie needs.

Muscle Building Diets

Protein is critical to building muscle – You need to eat more of it. Plan your meals with about 30% – 40 % of total calories from protein. An effective muscle building diet plan promotes muscle size and strength and addresses the following:

Calorie Intake – You need more calories to fuel your training and muscle fiber repair and growth. Without enough calories, building muscle is next to impossible.

Food Timing – You know what to eat, but when you eat is also important when training for size and mass. For best results, never neglect your post-workout nutrition; this is the time when your muscles are starving for nutrients. Your post-workout meals should combine easily digestible carbohydrates and fast-digesting protein within one hour to promote new muscle growth.

Food Sources – When possible, always choose fresh whole foods, unprocessed and natural foods) to stay healthy while you’re building muscle mass. You’ll be tempted to eat mountains of junk food just for the calories, but this is the wrong approach as you’ll end up gaining more fat than muscle. Focus on feeding your muscles with lean proteins and complex carbohydrates!