Eat & Move Series | April 2016 Goal

This month April focuses on Nutrition.

No matter what goal you're striving towards - weight loss, maintenance, gain - your body requires the right amount of nutrition.  Any adjustments to this nutrition determine whether you achieve your goal.

There are many misconceptions out there about the effects of food consumption.  One huge myth is 'eating late makes you gain weight'.  Another is 'skipping meals, helps you lose weight faster'.  Both of these couldn't be further from the truth!  In reality, WHAT you eat, has a greater role to play in affecting the outcome. 

This month, focuses on creating and establishing a diet rich in nutrition that supports your goal.

Why What You Eat is Important

We eat foods because we like them, the way they taste, and we enjoy them.  While I'm an advocate for eating things we like, I strongly believe those foods should also provide us with the nourishment we need.  In case you missed it, the How to Eat Naturally Series covered a number of topics on Healthy Eating. 

A nourished body is needed for a healthy immune system to be able to fight illness.  The foods we eat determine the risk of contracting or preventing diseases.  And lastly, by consuming the right foods, our bodies are provided with the nutrition to maintain or achieve a healthy weight range.

A healthy diet should be based around Quality Proteins, Complex Carbohydrates, and Healthy Fats

• Proteins from whole food sources such as lean meats, poultry, eggs, and low fat dairy products
• Complex Carbs from nutrient rich, unprocessed sources include brown rice, whole grains, sweet potatoes, oats, and fruits & vegetables
• Healthy Fats, yes there's such a thing, come from mono- and poly-unsaturated foods such as fish, nuts, olive and coconut oils, avocadoes

Eating for Weight Gain

In my specific circumstance, my goal is to achieve a healthy weight by Dec 2016 through increasing my mass by building lean muscle.

Its a SMART goal, which is necessary to identify what and how it will be achieved. I discussed goals at length in HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 | How To Start a NEW YEAR The Right Way; very briefly, a SMART goal is 

• Specific - healthy weight
• Measurable - identify healthy weight range based on age, height, gender
• Attainable - increasing mass by building lean muscle
• Realistic - it is possible to build (lean) muscle which increases mass
• Time - 1 year

Many believe that to increase weight, simply increasing the quantity of food consumed would suffice. But piling high calorie junk foods don't provide nutrition needed for building muscle.  While high calorie foods are needed, the focus is on the QUALITY of the food consumed as outline above by a Healthy Diet.

To achieve the desired result therefore

Quality High Caloric Intake > Daily Caloric Requirement

This allows the body to receive and utilize the calories needed to nourish and support its functions, and also have surplus quality calories to convert to building muscle, and increasing mass.

(described as simply as I could)

Another way of saying 

HEALTHY BODY FUNCTIONS + MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT/GROWTH 

= WEIGHT GAIN

in Eat & Move Series | February 2016 Goal

Activity Level also has a really big role. The quantity of food needed to support your activity level, eg.  sedentary would be much less than extremely active.  

Specific to this situation, in order to achieve (the muscle building aspect of) my goal, my activity level is at this time is Moderately Active.  Therefore, the Daily Caloric Requirement to maintain existing weight while supporting activity requirements, is higher than average.  On top of which, the surplus in required for muscle building.

Scroll to the end for a calculator to determine your specific requirements.

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APRIL Mini Goal

This mini goal has been adjusted from that outlined in 2016 Eat & Move Series | Mini GOALS.  

You shouldn't be so stringent with your goals that they are not flexible.  

In the last 3 months, the goals I have been working to towards brought attention to this area, as one needing attention in order to achieve my overall goal.  Focusing on this goal now, lays the foundation for the mini goals that will follow in both the Training and Diet components.

Assessment

Using an app (that I haven't in quite some time) I will record everything I eat throughout the day for 2 weeks.  The app breaks down the major components of all foods - Proteins, Carbs, Fats - and  ascertains the caloric values.  There are a number of highly rated free 'food tracker' apps available, many of which also provide a recommended calorie calculator, find one that suits your style.

GOAL MEASUREMENT/PROGRESS/SUCCESS

Measurement

- Total Number of Calories

- Caloric Breakdown

Progress

- Increased Calories

Success

- Caloric Surplus

- Caloric Breakdown

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There are many calculators online to assist in determining your Suggested Daily Caloric Intake, needed to maintain, lose or gain weight.  Those most accurate take into consideration gender, height, weight, age, and activity level.  Here are 2 that you may find useful

BodyBuilding.com

HealthyCalculator.com

I hope that this helps in determining the requirements for your specific goals.

~ Josie Jo ~

Do you base your Diet on a calculated calculated Daily Caloric Requirement?