John Fit

As I’ve mentioned in a number of recent posts, diet is 70% (maybe even 80%) of the success of your fitness program.. A bad diet in a fitness strategy, is like a painter with a bristleless brush. (I love a great metaphor!).. Much like the painter and his brush, your body’s canvas is dressed in the foods you eat.. I referred to an important concept in the last paragraph in “Rep Range for Building lean Muscle” post.. The Way You “look” is a reflection of what you eat.. Bulky Bodies aren’t eating clean. I’ve taken weeks at a time away from weight lifting and kept my diet clean and lean, and my body actually toned up even more.. The weights will be something you need time away from to recharge your body, but the way you feed your body is an everyday thing that has to be mastered to look lean, tight, and toned..

Carbohydrates are on the forefront of many discussions/debates in the fitness world, so I will focus only on that nutrient in this post.. I feel protein is overrated, fat is underrated, and carbohydrates are.. hmm.. undervalued we’ll call it.. Carbohydrates fuel your mind, they fuel your muscles, they personally keep me smiling.. I’ve gone on low carb diet stretches in the past and turned into a total, depressed, jerk overnight.. I can’t even think straight without this nutrient, plus my muscles become extremely flat & I actually look worse.. Have you ever seen celebrities that look a little too thin in the face and their skin seems to be hanging on their skinny weak frame?? This is due to lack of carbohydrates.. I can look at someone’s face & instantly tell if they are, or aren’t getting enough carbs (and also tell if they’ve eaten too many of the wrong kind of carbs).. I’m not asking you to eat pounds of spaghetti everyday because that isn’t the solution, but neither is cutting out this essential nutrient.. No matter if you are obese & trying to only lose weight, or if you are skinny trying to add muscle, Your Body Will Tighten Up With a Lean Toned Look from Carb Consumption. The key is to eat the right KIND of carbohydrate at the right time.

How a Carbohydrate Can Make or Break Your Shape..
You eat a piece of bread.. Your digestive system triggers the pancreas to release the hormone insulin into the bloodstream, converting the carbohydrate to glycogen. Glycogen is absorbed into the muscles making them feel full, tight, and, coupled with low body fat, will make you look more ripped & lean when consumed properly.. If you eat too many carbs in one sitting, or the wrong kind of carbs (aka.. Sugar) then the muscles will absorb the maximum amount of glycogen & then store the rest as body fat (Useless Food energy = Fat).. The key is understanding your sensitivity.. If you have stronger, denser muscles, your body can absorb more carbs in the correct way to build a lean, toned frame, and store less as body fat (another benefit of strength training..) You are lowering your carb sensitivity when you add lean muscle to your frame.. Bodies with no muscle tend to “bloat” up quickly when they eat carbs because there’s no “sponge” (muscle) to soak up the glycogen. This is as technical as I’ll get into your bodies reaction to carbs.. Just know that, carbs make your muscles feel full and tight, but eat the wrong kind of carb or too much of a carb, & your body will store access glycogen as fat.. Eat too little amount of carbs and your body will look and feel tired, skin sags, metabolism slows, muscles go flat, and your mind starts going wacky..

No related posts.