Loving carbs...

Luke and I recently held another Vivid Fitness Seminar where the topic was Sugars & Carbs. It amazed me that when we asked the question to the people in attendance who ate carbs before bed no one raised their hand. What was more amazing was, when asked, no-one seemed to know the reason behind why they were so worried about eating carbs at night. I am sure most of the people in the room were worried about eating carbs at all.

My favourite pre-bed meal

I see it time and time again with clients and friends; they want to lose weight so the first thing they do is cut back the carbs. I am sure if I asked them why they cut out a whole macro-nutrient group they would be unable to give me an answer.

Don't get me wrong, why wouldn't people think that carbs are the enemy with so many low carb, zero carb and carb cutting diets out in the market place. Marketing makes us all believe that to drop weight you need to drop the carbs. I was also one of the believers for a long time and it was the carb cutting/reducing that saw my weight yo-yo until I saw the light....now I am a carb fiend! Even more so now I am pregnant; I need those delicious, energy giving, yummy tasting carbs to grow a healthy baby. So if my baby needs these carbs and it is what I need to grow said baby why would I have ever allowed myself to be sucked in to believing that they are bad for me?

I am going to let you in on what I have learnt, over the years, about carbs. I am not going to talk about losing "weight" but I am going to explain why you need carbs to build a strong, lean, fat-burning furnace!!

Fact number one... Glucose {sugar} and carbohydrates are the same thing!! Our body's digestive system breaks down carbs in to glucose and it is glucose that is our body's preferred source of fuel. When we consume carbs our pancreas secretes Insulin. It is the Insulin's job to transport the glucose from our bloodstream in to every cell in our body to be used for energy. Our brain, muscles and central nervous system all rely on glucose as their main source of fuel which is why it is so important that we consume the right quantities of good quality, starchy carbohydrates s to ensure our bodies run efficiently.

When we eat excess glucose, and by excess I mean more glucose than our body needs to run at that point in time, our body converts this excess into glycogen. Glycogen is the stored form of glucose within our muscle tissue and our liver. When our blood sugar level drops between meals or when we exercise the glycogen is then used. If our blood sugar level doesn't drop, say from continuing to eat in excess of our glucose needs, the converted glycogen will just remain in our muscle tissue and be stored as fat. This is what makes us overweight.

This now brings me to two terms I read and hear a lot.... "Insulin Sensitivity" and "Insulin Resistant". We want to be sensitive and not resistant. Being sensitive means our body needs smaller amounts of insulin to lower blood glucose levels in the blood. The lower our blood glucose levels, the less glucose is converted to glycogen and therefore less likely to be unused and stored as fat. Being sensitive, in a nutshell, means our body is really effective at using glucose and stored glycogen for energy leaving very little or none to be stored as fat.

Being resistant means our muscles and liver resist the action of insulin, our pancreas then produces more insulin to try to deal with the glucose in our blood. Our body is not effective at using glucose and stored glycogen and this is then stored in our muscle tissue as fat. Another down side to being resistant is high levels of insulin in the blood can result in damage to blood vessels, high blood pressure, heart disease and heart failure.

So I am betting that everyone, at one point, has tried a low or no carb diet. I will admit that cutting back or cutting out carbs will have you lose kilos on the scales. What I can guarantee is after you have experienced the headaches, dizzy spells and bad breath that comes with cutting carbs and you simply can't take any more, you devour some delicious carbs and notice the numbers of the scales start to creep back up. Am I right?

The science behind low/no carb diets is true. Your body's preferred source of fuel is glucose as we have already discussed. When you are depleted of glucose your body will seek other sources of energy. Your body will use all the water and stored glycogen from your body and that is why you see a rapid weight loss at the start of these diets. You body will then get started on using your fat stores for energy.

This is when you enter Ketosis. Ketones are acid that form in your blood when you are depleted of glucose {less than 20grams per day} and it is the ketones that give you the light headed, tired, un-well feeling. You feel so un-well, you can't take is anymore and you eat ALL THE CARBS!! Your muscles act like a sponge and fill back up on that yummy glucose and the numbers of the scales start to go up.

During the time you have stopped eating carbs your pancreas has not had to produce any insulin. When you give your body ALL THE CARBS your pancreas then releases the insulin that your body is now not quite as good at utilising and has trouble moving the glucose from your blood stream to your cells for energy. The un-used glucose is converted to glycogen which is then converted to stored fat. Your body then produces more insulin which it in itself is bad! You are on your journey to insulin resistance. You then feel ok from all the carbs you have eaten so you start again on your low/no carb diet. The cycle starts again, your weight yo-yo's and your pancreas becomes a little less effective and you become a little bit more insulin resistant. Other side effects of this yo-yo dieting include metabolic damage, thyroid damage, muscle mass deterioration, low energy and deteriorated brain function....scary stuff!

And most low/no carb diets restrict fruit and vegetables so you are missing out on dietary fibre and all the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need such as B-vitamins, magnesium and potassium.

And now to bust the no carbs before bed myth! People believe that when you sleep your metabolism slows down and any carbs eaten before bedtime have a greater chance of being stored as fat purely because they will not be used as energy whilst we sleep.

Yes, it is true our metabolic rate decreases during the early stage of sleep. This stage is known as REM {Rapid Eye Movement}. There are then four stages to NREM {Non-Rapid Eye Movement}. These stages are when we are in a deep sleep and our body repairs and regenerates tissue, builds bone and muscle and strengthens our immune system. It is throughout these stages of sleep that our body's metabolic rate is actually higher than our resting metabolic rate. Those carbs you consume before bed will not be stored as fat, they will be used to re-build our bodies. More importantly, they will re-build the muscle you have used in that awesome weight training session you did during the day.

I will break it down and bust the myth...The more fuel {glucose} you give your body before bed, the more your muscle will repair, the more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn at rest. Eating carbs before bed will not make you fat!!!! They will make you a lean, mean, fat burning machine.

Carbs before bed will also result in a greater release of the hormones serotonin and melatonin which help you have a more restful, deeper sleep and reduce your cortisol response to next to nothing. Cortisol is the hormone that stops your body burning fat but that is a topic for another blog post.

The leanest I have ever been was when I consumed a portion of starchy carbohydrates with every meal! Yes, every meal, even my dinner! The carbs helped me build more lean muscle which resulted in me being heavier on the scales but carrying less fat. I was the healthiest I ever felt physically and mentally. Eating carbs and seeing how they affected my body in a positive way was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I will never cut carbs again! This is me, full of carbs...

As a general guide, I will have a fist size amount of the following starchy carbohydrates with each meal:

Brown rice
Sweet potato
Potato
Cannellini beans
Chick Peas
Lentils
Red kidney beans
Quinoa
Gluten free oats

The amount of carbs and timing of your meals will vary from person to person but what I want people to be educated on is that carbs are not the enemy and they will not make you fat! We need them for our bodies to run effectively and on the plus side they are delicious!

A kilo of brown rice & steak....yum! Love carbs and they will love you right back!!!

x

Build me muscle...

I know I sound like a broken record when I say this but....

WEIGHTS TRAINING WILL MAKE YOU LEAN!

 

It is as simple as that! Why? The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn at rest. Simply put it takes more energy for your body to run when there is more muscle to maintain. Make sense?

 

Are you now asking yourself one of the following questions....

 

1. Why am I doing weights but not getting leaner?

2. Why am I doing weights but not getting stronger?

3. Why am I doing weights but my body isn't changing?

4. Why if I'm eating all the "right things" aren't I getting the results I want?

 

The answer could be that what you are eating isn't allowing you to get where you want to be. You may be training correctly, frequently and with enough intensity but if you aren't fuelling your body correctly, or are under-fuelling it, you will never get the results you want.

 

Here are my top five guidance tips for building muscle outside of the gym...

 

1. Are you eating enough?

 

Not eating enough is probably the number one mistake you can make when trying to gain muscle. The bottom line is, many women overtrain and under-eat in an effort to lose weight but what they don't realise is this can actually have a negative impact on fat loss. Keep track of the amount of exercise you are performing and how hungry you feel. If you are hungry all the time and can't think of anything else but food then chances are you are not eating nearly enough to function let alone build that beautiful, calorie burning muscle you are after. You don't want to pack on the weight too quickly as this won't be the quality lean muscle you are after but stored body fat. Try slowly adding slightly bigger portion sizes or one extra small meal a day and watch your lean muscle increase whilst you body fat decreases.

 

2. Are you eating enough protein?

If you aren't eating enough then its pretty safe to say you aren't eating enough protein. So increasing your total calorie intake is the first step but making sure you are eating the right amount of each macro-nutrient {protein, carbohydrates and fats} is the next. Failing to eat adequate amounts of protein will result in protein imbalance which will make it not only difficult to build muscle but your body will find it hard to maintain the muscle you have.

3. Carbohydrates ARE NOT the enemy
Complex carbohydrates are an essential part of any muscle building diet. Our body's preferred source of energy is cards. In a nutshell the body stores carbohydrates as glycogen in your liver and in your muscle tissues. Post-workout, when the body needs energy, the stored supply is utilised via conversion of carbohydrates and sugar into ATP or energy through the process of glycolysis.
If you have a high metabolism and have problems putting on weight, chances are your body is burning through its supply of carbohydrates quickly and efficiently. When carbohydrate levels are low, the body will switch from glycolysis to the process known as gluconeogenisis, which is the conversion of protein into carbohydrates as an energy source. This means it may begin utilising your hard-earned muscle for fuel. However, if you are providing your body a sufficient amount of complex carbohydrates {30-40% of your caloric intake depending on the speed of your metabolism as a guide} you will be able to maintain muscle and fuel recovery, repair and muscle building.
Choose complex carbohydrates, which are digested slowly and provide {low GI} sustained energy between meals. Good selections include oats, brown rice sweet potato and legumes.

4. Eat fat = lose fat
Being deficient of fat in the diet, particularly Essential Fatty Acids {EFAs}, can impede muscle building. EFAs help to preserve muscle tissue and even decrease body fat. They can also assist in amino acid uptake, increase insulin sensitivity, provide building blocks for growth factors, boost testosterone production and assist with transport of important nutrients in and out of the cells.

Try adding a portion of fat to each meal; avocado, olive oil, butter, nuts. The right kind of fats will have you feeling fuller for longer which will stop you snacking in between meals and/or over eating at the next meal!

 

5. Post Work Out growth

Do you leave the gym feeling hungry and tired? Then hear is the tip you have been waiting for! For about an hour after we finish our work-out we have an "anabolic window" and it is imperative we feed our body the nutrients it needs to recover and build muscle. Aim to consume a 2::1 ratio of carbs and protein post work out to kick start muscle protein synthesis and increase testosterone production. A good amount would be 60grams of carbs and 30grams of protein; pack a protein shake, a banana and a few rice cakes in your gym bag and away you go!

As women we are already at a slight disadvantage when it comes to muscle growth. We need the hormone testosterone to be able to build muscle and women only produce approximately 0.5mg per day whilst men produce 6 to 8mg per day. That's why it is so important to tick all the other important muscle building boxes so your all hard work in the gym doesn't go to waste!

If you have any questions about my top tips or would be interested in receiving further guidance on nutrition please don't hesitate to get in contact with me here.