Embarking on a serious fitness quest or even a journey to just
be healthy can sometimes be a daunting task. And at some point,
you’ve been told or heard that eating 5-6 frequent small meals a
day is the way to go for weight gain or weight loss.
After running a fitness site and bodybuilding forum, I see a lot
of confused individuals who ask this very question below about
the 5-6 meal deal. They have heard about it and want to do it
but when it comes to counting calories, they are not willing to
measure each grain of rice.
And can you blame them?
Many times people will ask, “I know all that stuff like I need
to eat 5-6 meal a day, eat less than your daily maintenance
caloric and stuff like that… But what I do not know is how big
the meal has to be?”
Despite what you may have heard… eating 5-6 times a day it’s
not that hard. It takes some discipline but it’s not all that
difficult and you certainly do not eat 5-6 large, American style
meals. These are small, frequent meals that comprise what is
termed a complete meal (protein, carb, sometimes healthy fat).
But let me go back to the beginning to continue the story…
Here’s what you do:
1- Figure out how many calories per day you need to
gain/maintain/lose weight 2- Start tracking with any online
nutritional tracking program.
3- Eye ball your portions. You know you had some brown rice
right? Get out a cup. Look at it. If you practice this, you’ll
soon be able to eat, look at your place and just know.. that is
about a cup of brown rice.
You don’t have to physically measure your foods. I suppose you
could but that wouldn’t work so well when you eat out, go to a
friends out and such. Who wants to carry around a complete set
of measuring cups and spoons?
So you will need to look at measurement devices like a cup, a
quarter cup and such and be able to eye ball things. Once you do
this a few times at home, you will be able to visually look at a
plate of food and roughly guess the portions. Once you know the
portions…
Then you know how much you should enter into a calorie
calculator tracking program.
And at the end of the day any good program will show what you
ate in calories, protein, carbs and fats. And you’ll be able to
see this displayed in a graph so you know if your ratios are
correct (assuming you are into or have any interested in ratios).
I personally don’t carry around a cup or any type of measuring
devices. But I know if I go out to eat that the chicken on my
place is about the size of the palm of my hand.. times two…
.. the palm of my hand is roughly 3 ounces.
I can eye ball that chicken breast and guess it’s about 6 maybe
7 ounces of chicken.
Are you getting my point?
Follow those steps above. Once you know how much you need to eat
in terms of calories, you will be able to do whatever you want.
Then eat, and eye ball your portions. Quickly you will learn
that in order to hit your daily calories, maybe you don’t want
to eat 2 cups of brown rice as it’s too much. Or maybe not
enough. But you can judge this and track it and that is how you
will know.
Then track it. If you don’t track what you eat, then you are
only guessing. And those who guess get frustrated because those
who guess do not know. That is why it’s called guessing. So if
you simply cannot or won’t track, you’ll always be frustrated
and confused. Unless of course, you track it for the first day
and forever on, eat the same portions and foods. Yuck!
The biggest mistake I see people making is:
1- They have not ever figured out the math to calculate their
calories 2- They do not track what they eat 3- So they just do
whatever and get whatever
If you follow the above three steps, you are almost guaranteed
not to make the same mistakes that most other people make when
it comes to reaching their fitness goals.
The athletes that are most hesitant to obtain a coach could
often benefit the most. A common perception is that coaching is
for “serious” athletes only. In actuality, anyone who wants to
work toward a physical goal, or reach their true potential can
benefit greatly from coaching. A proper foundation for beginners
is crucial so that bad form is not carried forward and made bad
habit. Many athletes in hindsight wish they had the benefit of
coaching earlier in their career. How many times have you said
“if I only knew then, what I know now…”
I was once asked a pointed question by a potential athlete;
“what can a coach do for me that I can not find in a book?” The
answer is specificity. A proper coaching program is personally
specific to an athlete’s needs. The plan considers the athlete’s
individual strengths and weaknesses, skill, training history,
injuries, lifestyle, equipment, fitness level, goals, diet, and
a myriad of other data. It can be the difference between buying
a custom made suit versus randomly selecting one off the rack.
The first step in building a coaching plan is evaluation. A
coach may outline an entire year’s worth of training around
specific goal events. They will ask you when you want to “peak”
or be at your best. Field tests or metabolic testing may need to
be performed to determine heart rate zones, and flexibility is
tested for normal joint range of motion. The plan will be
“periodized” with different training periods and work outs; each
building off of the previous. Training will move from general to
specific as you approach your peak. Training near peak may even
consider the individual terrain and characteristics of the race.
Coaches monitor progress and make adjustments to an athlete’s
schedule as required. Adjustments need to be made for an
individual’s time constraints, to recover from or prevent
potential injury, and to administer additional rest and
recovery. A coach has to read between the lines a lot and
consider an athletes mental state. Are they burned or under
emotional stress? Are they challenged enough? They also adjust
motivational cues from athlete to athlete. Some athletes respond
well to simple orders, while others like to know the reason
behind what they are doing. Strength training is administered
based on the athlete’s goals, and routine design may promote
hypertrophy, power, or muscular endurance.
Perhaps one of the best things coaches provide is consistent,
accurate, and clear feedback. Skill sets such as cornering,
climbing, and proper running form are best accomplished while
under direct supervision. Coaches can also teach mental skills
such as visualization and positive self talk which can have a
tremendous impact on performance.
Training should be a gradual building process, work out to work
out, month to month, season to season. If your goal is general
fitness or exercise you probably do not need a coach. But if you
have a specific goal in mind, coaching can provide the quickest,
safest, and most effective route to accomplishment. If you
decide to hire a coach, make sure they are licensed by a
national governing body such as USA Triathlon, USA Track &
Field, or USA Cycling. You should also check references and
competitive experience. Lastly make sure that your personalities
mesh and that your coach is someone you enjoy and respect.
The difference between weight loss, and steady or weight gain,
can be as little as 100 calories a day. Well, that is according
to the American Dietetic Association, and it is very easy to
believe the underlying truth in that.
Most overweight people in the US and UK put on weight very
slowly over the years. A weight gain of 2lbs per year, which is
about average, may seem very little. In fact, it is very little,
if it stops there and you take it off again. However, a steady
weight gain of 2 lbs per year for 10 years is 20lb. In 20 years
it is 40lb. Now, that is a serious weight gain that can increase
vulnerability to chronic disease. If you are in your 20’s now,
you can look forward to a weight drift upwards of 60 lbs by the
time you reach your 50’s.
That, for sure, is not a healthy trend. But the cause of that
2lb weight gain each year could be as little as an extra 100
calories a day regularly over the year. So, if you can cut out
100 calories a day, you may keep your weight under control over
the years. Or how about doing that little bit extra that will
use 100 calories per day? Neither task is that difficult; you
just need to ensure you do it every day.
Examples Of Cutting Out 100 Calories Per Day Intake
Here are just a few examples of what 100 calories a day means,
and how you may cut it out of your regular diet:
1. Do you drink non diet soft drinks? An 16 ounce can could add
250 calories, so if you switch drinks to a lower calorie drink,
or just cut them out altogether, that’s a significant saving in
calorie intake.
2. Are you a beer drinker? Even a 12oz light beer is 100
calories or so, which means cutting out one beer will achieve
your daily reduction need.
3. Are you a coffee lover? Do you drink your coffee with whole
milk? If yes, you can save 100 calories a day by drinking two of
your regular cups with skimmed milk instead of whole.
4. You think salads are low calorie? Maybe, but not if you
plaster them with dressing. One packet of French dressing can
have 160 calories in, so if you usually use the whole packet in
a restaurant, try using just under half instead.
You will find many more examples of easy 100 calorie savings. If
you look at your diet now, and then check the calories on all
the items you think may be high calorie, you will soon find an
easy way to reduce your calorie intake by 100 calories a day.
That is not too painful a diet experience.
How To Burn An Extra 100 Calories A Day
Would you prefer to burn that 100 calories instead of cut it out
of your diet each day? If so, here are a few ways to burn 100
calories extra:
1. Vigorous cycling on a stationary exercise bike should use up
over 100 calories.
2. Swimming energetically for just 10-15 minutes should burn
more than 100 calories.
3. Walking at about 3mph pace for half an hour should also use
up more than 100 calories. You can burn up 100 calories in only
10 minutes that way.
4. Do some aerobics for 15 minutes. That alone could shed that
100 calories. Make it enjoyable by putting on some of your
favourite dance music.
5. Do you like golf? Play more often if you can. Just half an
hour of golf activity, carrying your own clubs, could help you
shed 120 calories.
There are many more similar examples to the above, so make them
as pleasurable and easy as possible. 100 calories intake or burn
is very modest. Do it every day, and your weight may be under
control. Start while you’re young and normal weight, and that’s
a good investment for your future health.