The keep fit and healthy thread

[pete0]

6 liters of water seems a bit excessive, you'd end up gaining a lot of water weight plus if you are on the small side there'd be the danger of over-hydration. Especially dangerous if you don't go for a wee

 

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html">http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

Edited November 16, 2011 by pete0

[Avinalaff]

I have to agree with Pete regarding drinking that much water.

 

If you eat too much salt you will suffer from water retention also, just to throw in that point somewhere.

 

Eating six meals per day isn't as simple as it sounds. It's a method used to avoid fat build up, and build muscle. It is important to look at your weight, versus how many calories you should eat per day, then divide the total amount by 6.

 

For example, if you weigh 90 kg and your daily caloric recommendation is 2400 calories (hypothetical figure) then each meal might be 400 calories.

 

Here lies the tricky bit.

 

A 90kg man working on a building site carrying bricks and timber all day long is not the same as a 90kg man sat in an office chair getting no exercise. If they ate the same amount of calories, then there would be very different results. Obviously it is important to establish the amount of energy you need, but it is also important where you get it from, and what time of day you take it.

 

For example, it would be better to 'pyramid' your meal sizes during the day, starting with the biggest meal at breakfast time, and the smallest meal in the evening, whilst avoiding carbohydrates late on in the day (yes, that means beer too). Carbohydrates create energy. You don't need energy while you sleep, yet you 'do' need 'some' carbs in order to get the protein in to the muscle.

 

Your body can't retain protein, so you need to top up your protein throughout the day, in order to get the best from it.

 

Now you have a balancing act .........

 

If you don't eat, or eat far too few calories, your body goes into 'self protect' mode, which means that it doesn't know if it will be fed again any time soon, so takes from the muscle, and stores fat supplies in a desperate attempt to ensure survival. Picture it like stocking up in a nuclear fall out shelter. This is why most diets are a waste of time.

 

Do not confuse weight loss with fat loss. When you build muscle, you put on weight, but when you lose weight, such as dieting, it is often muscle mass, rather than fat alone. If you are training, avoid looking at the scales too much, and instead get your measuring tape out, or spare tyre (fat belly) callipers, to see how you are succeeding. You can't judge your success by your weight, as if you burn a pound of fat off, you might put a pound of muscle on, so think you haven't had any success, and vice versa (does that make sense?).

 

Back to the calories, the way to find what amount you should eat each day is to obtain a calorie calculator.

 

http://scoobysworksh...rie-calculator/

 

Once you have decided on your calorie intake, and then decided how to divide that into each meal, you need to then take a strong look at the labels on food, regarding their content, and this will tell you what food is good for you.

 

If you are building muscle, you will need a large amount of protein in each meal, and probably around 30g of protein, for every 100g of food, while at the same time being sure to keep fat, sugar, and salt levels down, (fat should be less than 10%) so for example:

 

You need to eat 400 calories, and in that, you need to find 30g of protein while keeping fat etc down? You find a cheese meal, and it gives you '15g' of protein? You would have to eat '2 lots' of this meal, to get the required protein. Would 2 lots still be under 400 calories? Would 2 lots mean that the fat content was far too high? Salt content? And so on.

 

Balancing it is key, so keep an eye on nutrition labels.

 

Good example:

 

A 'tuna' meal might give you 200 calories, and 20g of protein, with only 3g of fat? You can then eat '2 lots' to get your 400 calories, which in turn would give you 40g of wonderful protein, yet only 6g of fat.

 

BINGO ! That's the kind of thing you want.

 

Of course you can find the required levels in just 'one meal' if you know what you are doing, and become friends with nutrient values. It's a balancing act between protein, carbohydrates, fat, salt, sugar, while keeping to the needed calorie levels etc etc.

 

If you don't keep to the calorie levels, your body might go into starvation mode, and that isn't what you want, or you might ingest too many calories, or too much fat etc.

 

It is important to add 'exercise' into the mix too.

 

Picture a juggler, and each ball represents age, lifestyle, weight, exercise, calories, protein, fat, carbs, salt, and so on. When your weight changes, or your lifestyle changes, so do the maths, so the fat guy who starts with 600 calories per meal might end up with just 450 calories per meal, and so on.

 

That's why 'supplements' were invented, such as weigh protein powder. It is often difficult to get the right amount of protein in each meal, without getting too much of the 'other' stuff, so adding protein via supplements, helps to gain the required intake percentages.

 

I'm not qualified to explain everything, and it would be dangerous to address everything with no knowledge, but a little research goes a long way. I do have a pdf containing lots of info for anybody who wants it, called Burn the fat feed the muscle, or you can torrent search it etc. It's a big read, but well worth it.

[Matt]

just making some homemade chips in the deep fryer, to be sprinkled with cheese and eat in tortilla wraps whilst i drink milk and watch the Sopranos

[smeghead1]

 

 

At that time in the morning, your spine is hydrated, so bear that in mind regarding which exercises you do, such as running or heavy weights. That's advise given to me by a back surgeon, so probably worth thinking about. Regarding weights etc, you are apparently at your strongest just after tea time.

 

* Hydrated was what I meant, not 'de-hydrated'.

 

Cheers for the concern Avin, i normally train after work around half 5 and yeah i agree totally that after a day full off eating its far easier to train than first thing in the morning. And theres no worry about me running mate i seriously hate tread mills!!

[smeghead1]

6 liters of water seems a bit excessive, you'd end up gaining a lot of water weight plus if you are on the small side there'd be the danger of over-hydration. Especially dangerous if you don't go for a wee

 

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html">http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

 

A friend of mine who competes in body building comps drinks around 6 litres of water a day for around a week beforehand apparently a high water diet makes you piss more than usual and dehydrates you so your muscles and viens protrude more. I thought he was winding me up at first but its genuine theres also sommat about vitamin c aswell but i cant recall exactly what that was.

[StevO]

6 liters of water seems a bit excessive, you'd end up gaining a lot of water weight plus if you are on the small side there'd be the danger of over-hydration. Especially dangerous if you don't go for a wee

 

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html">http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

 

the six litres of water is for days with three work outs. so im assuming its also to replace fluids lost through sweat.

[Louis]

Is anybody interested in cycling ?

[Avinalaff]

A friend of mine who competes in body building comps drinks around 6 litres of water a day for around a week beforehand apparently a high water diet makes you piss more than usual and dehydrates you so your muscles and viens protrude more. I thought he was winding me up at first but its genuine theres also sommat about vitamin c aswell but i cant recall exactly what that was.

 

Further to your friends comment, competitive builders will also use what is called 'carbohydrate depletion' in the week leading up to the competition. This helps to increase muscle glycogen, and have the muscles looking ripped, but is very dangerous to your health, and is a temporary thing only. It's definitely not advised for the average Joe, hence why the Atkins diet was pronounced dangerous.

 

A bit of info on it here:

http://www.sportsci.org/news/compeat/deplete.html

[StevO]

Is anybody interested in cycling ?

 

used to when i was younger, stopped after a nasty fall. helmet saved my ass from some major pain, ironically it was the first time i had worn my new helmet.

spin class is the closest i get to it now.

 

do you cycle louis?

[Avinalaff]

Is anybody interested in cycling ?

 

I use an exercise bike regularly, but my seat on a racing bike I have is far too uncomfortable, and the wheels too thin, to make real cycling a pleasant pass time.