Feeding our muscles
Foods are important to our body. Whether our goal is to tone, get strong, gain muscle, heal from an injury, or participate in a sport activity, we need to fuel up and feed our muscles. Many of us think that if we follow a high protein diet, we’ll get lean, strong and we’ll build muscle.
Let me say now that, “carbohydrates” are the major source that gives us the energy to push the weights to use the protein we eat, that then builds muscles! This is true even for those of us on a weight loss program who are restricting those dreaded carbs. Those of us who do not participate in endurance sports such as running, cycling etc, know how important it is to eat a diet high in carbohydrates, with some extra protein.
But do we know that carbs are the foundation to fuel our performance - wheter to power our tennis game, aerobic workout, or bodybuilding routine? To feed our muscles, click more for info:
Eat carbohydrates
When we eat enough carbohydrates, we give our muscles the fuel to work out hard. This in turn will give our body the ability to utilize all that protein we’re taking in to make more muscle (when we tone, we enlarge muscle fibers too, so this is not just for bodybuilders) and repair our muscles after injury.
Carbohydrates also feed our brain, so when our blood sugar levels are low from not eating enough carbs, we will impair our energy, focus and performance.
When we are in short supply of carbs, the process of turning protein into fuel for our muscles and brain is costly to our body. We impair our performance, we impair our ability to build and repair muscle, our health and even our ability to lose weight.
Lastly, high protein diets can cause dehydration, to mention just one negative side effect. This is deadly to our energy.
Eat enough and often enough
When we eat enoug calories and we eat often, we fuel our muscles not just for getting around, but for all the additional daily activities, especially if we are active in sports.
When we restrict our calories too much over a period of time, we send signal to our body that a famine is coming. Our body may then adjust our metabolic rate to slow down to conserve calories.
The outcome? Most likely, less strength, less energy, and even higher body fat!
Drink water
Water is stored in our muscles with glycogen, the body’s storage form of carbohydrates. This is the energy source for our muscles. When we need to produce energy, the stored carbohydrates are used and water is released during the process.
We need water to make and release energy. Guess what happens when we are dehydrated? We get fatigued easily. Water aids our stamina and performance and it helps toward of those muscle cramps during intense exercise.
Choose lean sources of protein
Athletes do need extra protein and so do those of us who work out regularly. Let’s mostly choose lean meats, fish and poultry so we don’t also eat the extra fat that accompanies high fat protein sources.
Let’s also be mindful about how are food is prepared, since much fat is added during the cooking process.
Eat a balanced diet
This means that for those of us who eat high amounts of protein also need to eat enough fruits, veggies and grains from real food.
And for those of us who are vegetarians, it is important to get enough protein, iron, calcium, B12, and vitamin D. Supplements, sports bars and sports drinks are not a substitute for real food.
Eat wisely
I call this being choosy about what kind of calories we eat. If I want a tough workout, I will choose a nutrient-dense food over junk food. Of course, these is always room for a little junk. I do recommend no more than 10% of our total daily calories (that’s about 200 calories for most of us).
So, if we want to look good, feel energetic and perform well, let’s give our body the raw materials it needs on a regular basis.
Have we eaten enough carbohydrates; eaten often enough; eaten wisely and consumed enough water and fluids? If all above is yes, we’re off to a good start.
