Muscle Building Techniques

Eat More OFTEN, To Burn More FAT!

Don't go too long without eating something (preferably containing some protein). You should be eating every 3-4 waking hours. If you are having "hunger pains" through out the day, chances are you aren't eating often enough.

REASON:

The more often you eat, the faster your metabolism becomes because it has to WORK to digest your food. If it works 6x a day, versus only 2-3 times, you'll burn more calories and even more importantly, DIGEST your food better and hence, the calories will be directed more towards energy, repair, muscles, etc. ... rather than the fat cells.

The Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF) represents the additional caloric expenditure (above resting metabolism) that it takes to digest, absorb, and process the food you eat. Studies on the thermic effect of different foods have been important in describing the different effects of the macronutrients on metabolism.

The TEF lasts from between one to four hours after eating a meal. When adding up the thermic effects from each of your meals, this extra metabolism represents between 5% and 15% of your total daily energy expenditure. Therefore, if your daily energy expenditure is 3,000kcal, about 150 to 450kcal of that comes from the TEF. Interestingly, different macronutrients tend to have different effects on metabolism.

Welle et al. (1981) and Robinson et al (1990) demonstrated that during a normal six hour period of rest and fasting (basal metabolism), subjects burn about 270kcal. When eating a single 400kcal meal of carbs alone (100g) or fat alone (44g), the energy burned during this six hour period reached 290kcal (an additional 20kcal). Interestingly, when eating 400kcal of protein alone (100g) the subjects burned 310kcal during this six hour period (an additional 40kcal). Therefore, protein alone had double the thermogenic power vs. fat or carbs alone!

Another reason is if we wait too long to eat, most of us are so hungry that we'll pretty much eat anything in front of us that's fast and convenient and that usually translates to junk food. But by eating more often, you feel somewhat satisfied through out the day, you won't have cravings as much and when it's time to eat, you can logically choose healthier foods rather then turning into a wild animal and devouring everything in sight.

Also, when you don't eat for 5-6+ hours ... your blood sugar drops and you become fatigued and can't think straight or concentrate. Then, when you begin to eat, there is a massive surge of insulin and there is a "rebound effect" and you'll have very HIGH insulin levels, which means your food gets converted to FAT much more readily.

If you are use to only eating 2-3 meals a day, then start to add in a simple snack here and there and slowly train your body and mind to eat more often. A good snack would be something that contains both protein and carbohydrate - something like yogurt or cottage cheese or half a sandwich.

Or, just cut your lunch in HALF and have one half at noon and the other half around 3 pm. Just be careful that you don't increase your TOTAL calories by having the snacks in ADDITION to all your regular meals.

Remember, eat smaller, but more often. Split your lunch and dinner into TWO parts and basically, have 4 mini-meals. I know for some it's a hard habit, but you'll feel and look so much better! Just start slowly ...

Now, the whole point of eating smaller, frequent meals is to SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM, without having to DECREASE calories and starve yourself.

Labels: burn fat, fat burning, how to burn fat