THE VANGUARD’S WEEKLY ATHLETICS COLUMN: Ditch the calories

When it comes to getting in better shape, it’s obvious to most people that nutrition plays a critical role. However, with the thousands of diets to choose from it is quite easy to become overwhelmed. In this article, we’ll examine the bare basics of eating for improved body composition. Once the basics are understood, it will be easier to design or select one of those thousands of diets previously mentioned. The case may very well be that a special diet isn’t needed at all, but rather some minor adjustments to current eating habits.

 

How important is nutrition in first place?

Common sense dictates that we are what we eat. However, we all know some people that live off garbage diets and do quite well. Some of us may even know lifelong smokers or drinkers who’ve developed none of the commonly associated health problems despite years of use. A word of personal advice is to play it safe and operate under the assumption that one isn’t superhuman. Besides, if one can achieve great results with poor eating habits, the question then becomes how much more could they achieve if they followed a healthier diet? Chances are that their genetic “gifts” would be even further amplified and they could achieve some truly impressive results.

 

Calories are of the utmost importance, but just how many are needed?

People like to read hard numbers when it comes to nutrition recommendations, but the truth is that the advice of fitness writers, even yours truly, should only be thought of as general guidelines. Since individual metabolisms, food tolerances and all around genetics differ so greatly, it isn’t realistic to give hard numbers that can apply to everyone. For example, many bodybuilding writers would claim that I should be eating 6,000 calories or more per day. While I’m a bigger fella at 220 pounds, I don’t have a particularly fast metabolism. I can build muscle and have plenty of energy for my workouts at almost half that many calories. If I eat the 6,000 calories the bodybuilding gurus recommend, I inevitably gain quite a bit of blubber!

The easiest way for someone to figure out their caloric needs is to ask if one is currently gaining or losing body fat at current consumption levels. If one is gaining fat, caloric intake is too high relative to activity levels. Calories consumed and/or calories expended should be gradually adjusted (say within a range for 300 calories per week in comparison to current levels) and changes should be noted. If after a week or two there has been some weight loss, then we’re moving in the right direction. If not, try reducing calories again for a couple of weeks. For individuals looking to gain weight, the same approach can be used, except they should add calories instead of subtracting them.

A word of caution on calorie manipulation: Don’t take things too high or too low. Again, this is all going to vary from person to person, but there shouldn’t be rapid weight loss or rapid weight gain. Use common sense. Extreme underconsumption and extreme overconsumption can pose serious health risks. We all know the dangers associated with anorexia, but many weight-lifting men run into a mentality of “more is more.” They develop a mistake belief that consuming massive amounts of calories will result in massive amounts of muscle being gained. In reality, this type of eating is likely to result in rapid fat gain with only a little bit of help in the way of building muscle. With the rapid fat gain comes a heightened risk of high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, diabetes and so on.

 

Protein, carbohydrates and fats

There is way too much to cover when it comes to these macronutrients. In general, just know that protein is “good,” but often over-consumed by weight lifters. Carbohydrates aren’t evil, but there is a real problem with the type of carbohydrates being consumed by most folks. Focus on fruits, vegetables and legitimate whole grain foods. Processed or refined carbohydrates should be minimized. Fat is always hotly debated. Based on the current body of knowledge available, I’d suggest keeping animal fat low and get most fats from fatty fish, nuts, etc. A bit of animal fat is okay (especially for men, as it is necessary for optimal hormone production), but try to keep meats as lean as possible.

 

Putting it all together

Food choices should be as healthy as possible (without becoming anal retentive), but even too much healthy food will result in weight gain. Calories in vs. calories out is the key factor to weight loss or weight gain.  Individuals should gradually experiment until they find their caloric “sweet spot” and then meet these requirements with mostly healthy food choices. Combining these types of sensible eating habits with regular exercise is a surefire way to promote better body composition and health. ?