Thursday, October 2, 2008

Loose Weight Build Muscle - Supplements And Nutrition

By Dave V

So you wanna loose weight and build muscle? Often the idea of using supplements comes to mind. There are so many nutritional supplements on the market these days but it's healthy to exercise a bit of skepticism.

Many of the pills around these days are simply packed with stimulants and caffeine. Try not to take these because they can damage your metabolism more than it's worth in the long run. They do speed up your metabolism, but they'll also give you the jitters and often make you a bit edgy. There are much better ways to speed up your metabolism and it's not even all that hard.

The most important thing to remember when you're trying to loose weight and build muscle is to "eat clean". This is a term used by bodybuilders and fitness professionals that means to eat healthy and nutrient rich foods.

Simply feed your body the elements it needs to repair itself from the workouts you've been doing. We all know that eating foods like fried chicken and take away fish and chips is not going to give you the quality vitamins and nutrients you need. So what foods should you eat to stay on a "clean diet"?

Water... the mirical drink!

Water is not a food, I know. But it does make up about 80% of your body's mass. It's important, real important. Water will help you loose weight and build muscle. Water cleans out the toxins, and gives your body the freedom to put back the nutrition that the toxin's have taken out. Water will also help eliminate the fat from your body by cleaning out your digestive tract and liver. Drink water often. About 8 glasses a day. And remember, if you're thirsty, you're already de hydrated.

Eat your vegetables! Yep, your mother was right. Fresh fruits and vegetables help your body speed up by providing easily accessable nutrients so your muscles will grow faster and stronger. Your body will burn fat faster too because of the increased muscle mass. When your metabolism is burning fat faster, you'll feel more energetic and the vitamins will make all the difference in your goal to loose weight and build muscle.

Protein is the most important nutrient for your muscle to grow. Each time you train, you should be having a protein dense meal or shake to give your body all the protein it needs to get it repairing the muscles as fast as possible. The best places to get good quality protein are from whey (or soy) shakes, protein snack bars, and of course, when you're having a main meal you should use meat like chicken or fish so you've got good natural protein sources. If I would suggest any one supplement to use, it'd be a quality whey protein powder so you can have a shake after each and every workout.

You should eat roughly 5-7 times a day, small meals with a bit of protein in each meal so you don't have cravings. Protein has the ability to stave off sugar cravings so if you get a bit of a sweet tooth, grab another shake (with water), or a protein nutrition bar. Also, a handful of raw nuts is a great substitute. - 15255

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