Thursday fitness fun fact

Scrawny to Brawny by Eating Right

If you're trying to build muscle by starting a vigorous workout training regiment, you need to eat right or your efforts could go for naught. Follow these eating principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.  

1. Eat meat.

Shoot for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day, according to a landmark study in the Journal of Applied Physiology. (For example, a 160-pound man should consume 160 grams of protein a day--the amount he'd get from an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, a roast-beef sandwich, two eggs, a glass of milk, and 2 ounces of peanuts.) Split the rest of your daily calories equally between carbohydrates and fats.

2. Down some carbs after your workout.

Research shows that you'll rebuild muscle faster on your rest days if you feed your body carbohydrates. "Post-workout meals with carbs increase your insulin levels," which, in turn, slows the rate of protein breakdown, says Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates. Have a banana, a sports drink, a peanut-butter sandwich.

3. Have some milk before bed.

Eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein 30 minutes before you go to bed. The calories are more likely to stick with you during sleep and reduce protein breakdown in your muscles, says Kalman. Try a cup of raisin bran with a cup of skim milk or a cup of cottage cheese and a small bowl of fruit. Eat again as soon as you wake up. "The more diligent you are, the better results you'll get," says Kalman.

MensHealth

 

 

Just the title of this article should indicate that it doesn't apply to most of us.  When I look at the first point, I'd have to eat 360 grams of protein which is way too much.  This may be a good rule for an underweight person who wants to bulk up but it doen't sound reasonable for an obese person who wants to become more muscular.  I don't know whether the 2nd point would apply to us, but I'm fairly sure that most doctors would be against us following the third point because evening and late night snacking was a major source for many of us to gain weight.  Besides, my sick brain quickly substitutes a cup of ice cream for a cup of skim milk.  And, as a food addict, there really is no such thing as just a cup of ice cream.

Hey SJ,

I think the article applies to many WLS veterans who may see the objective of their WL journey to get skinny which ain't correct in my opinion. The objective should be to get healthy and stay healthy for the rest of our lives. That can only be accomplished through a combination of nutritional eating AND exercising. The surgery will pretty much take care of taking off the weight initially but it's up to each of us to "get and stay healthy."

Just my thoughts. 

Boner