Fitness and Nutrition Station

I can’t believe how often people try to find answers to this question and how there is no info on how long it takes for someone, who trains to see results.

I will do my best to give you some answers, but first we have to make an important distinction

- Are you trying to build muscle mass and you want to know how long it takes

or

- Are you trying to lose fat and want to know how long before you see your dream body in the mirror?

If you are on a quest to build more muscle, feel free to use my theory for the most you can add in one day. From there you can easily determine how long before you put on the 10, 20 or whatever number of pounds it might be.

Here it goes. You know that in order to gain muscle you have to eat more protein than your body uses up and excretes. This is called a positive nitrogen balance. It is known that 1 gram of protein per pound of lean muscle mass is what you need to be in a neutral nitrogen balance, meaning as much goes in, as much goes out.

My ideal number of protein surplus is about 1.35 grams, meaning you have to eat about that much grams of protein per pound lean muscle mass a day, in order to be in a positive nitrogen balance.

So, for example, if you weight 200 LB at 10% body fat that means that your lean body mass is 180 LB (200 x 0.9). Multiply your lean body mass by 1.35 and you will get your desired protein intake. In our case it’s 243 gr a day. If you remember from above just to maintain your muscles you need 1 gram of protein a day, so that is 180 grams.

Here is where it gets interesting. If you subtract the smaller number from the bigger, you will get exactly the amount of protein you have to eat in surplus just to be in a state that predisposes to muscle growth. In our study that is exactly 63 grams.

So, in theory you could grow with 63 grams a day or with almost a pound a week. In reality you never use up all these amino acids from the extra 63 grams of protein to build muscle. You use some of them for energy, you use some of them to offset the catabolic processes in the body.

But, on the other hand when you build new muscle, it’s not only due to protein increase, but also due to glycogen (carbs) storage, water, etc.

I would expect that, if all other conditions are right, a half of these 63 grams will be turned into new muscle each day. So, I’d say aim for not more than a half a pound a week or at most two pounds a month.

Enough about what to expect when building muscle. What should you expect when on a quest for fat loss?

That’s somewhat easier. You know that in order to lose fat you should eat about 20% less calories than what you burn during the day (workout and cardio included).

We know that if you are careful to be 20% calorie deficient, you will be effectively losing about 0.5% body fat each week.

So, again, if you are 200 LB at 0.5% fat loss a week, you will be losing about 1 pound each week. If your goal is to lose 20 LB  that means it’s going to take you roughly two and a half months.

I hope that now you have a better understanding about what to expect before you embark on a mission - either muscle gain or fat loss. Just replace the numbers from our examples above with your numbers.

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You know, I never asked myself this question before. I’ve always known that oils don’t have fiber at all. But then I also know that flax seed is one of the best sources of fiber that a person can find out there…

So, I had to check to see if there is any fiber in flax seed oil… And guess what, there actually is. One tablespoon of flax seed oil contains 1 gr of fiber.

Now, it’s a whole another story if you should rely on flax oil to supply your diet with fiber. Obviously you should not. What you should do is add fiber from ground flax seed, also fiber from fruit and veggies. The minimum should be about 35 gr a day. If you ask me.. double that. 35 gr is nothing to keep you colon healthy. I personally take a lot more than that.

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I am not going to uncover a great secret if I say that athletes (bodybuilders even more) rely more on meat to cover their high needs for proteins. And it’s not a great secret that the most delicious way to cook steak or chicken, or even fish is to grill them.

But then the issue about carcinogens arises…

I don’t know about you, but nowadays I make sure I never burn my meat any more. And if do by chance, I cut out the charred part… fast.

Why is this important? Why you MUST make sure that you don’t char your meat?

Did you know that when the temperature of the grill or pan is too high and the meat chars, the charred part actually contains carcinogens (cancer causing agents). Such carcinogens are the so called heterocyclic amines or HCAs.

Another carcinogen that’s formed from the high temperature is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbones or PAHs. These form when the fat from the meat melts and burns. The gas from the burned fat contains PAHs, which penetrate in the outer layers of the meat.

So, how do you avoid eating carcinogenic meats?

Here are a few things you can do:

* Pre-cook your meats in the microwave oven first. The meat will require less cooking on the grill or barbecue.

* If you are going to use a grill, you are better off using a gas grill than a coal grill. The gas grill creates lower temperatures. Your meats won’t burn as much.

* Make sure your meats are lean or if they are not, make sure you trim out the visible fat, so there is not a lot to drip and burn.

* Tenderize your meats before cooking. The tenderizers contain acids, which may reduce HCAs by 90%. Vinegar or lemon juice are perfect for tenderizing, too.

You know, you can have your steak and eat it, too… In fact, if you have steak make sure you eat it! Just be smart about how you cook it.

Cheers.

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