SCIENCE NUTRITION

TAKE THE STRESS OUT OF DIETING

By: Jennifer Lee

Follow These Simple Tips to Jump-start Your Diet for Your New Year’s Resolutions and the MaxForm 2010 Contest!

This year, make a New Year’s resolution that will change your life: enter the Max Muscle’s MaxForm 2010 contest (www.maxmuscle.com ). MaxFormation contests have literally helped thousands of people achieve the body of their dreams. With the support, encouragement, and expertise of your Max Muscle professional, you will find that keeping your New Year’s resolution is easier than you ever imagined.

There are no gimmicks or short cuts when it comes to weight loss. A true lifestyle change consists of mental focus, exercise and diet. While each of these components is critical to your success, without a well-planned, strict diet you will find success nearly impossible to achieve.

Structure Your Diet To Create A Calorie Deficit
On average women will create a calorie deficit consuming 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day, men 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day. Since every person’s metabolic rate is different, these numbers are not exact and depend on size, age and activity levels. For example, if you are an extremely active person, you may be able to eat the higher number of calories. If you are sedentary, then choose the lower amount of calories. A fat loss goal of 1½ to 2 pounds per week is realistic and ideal for long-term success.

Plan Your Menu and Shopping List In Advance
Prepare a menu with each day’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Make a shopping list each week and stick to what is on the list when you do your grocery shopping.

Include Lean Protein With Each Meal
Protein slows gastric emptying time, tempers blood glucose swings, controls appetite and cravings, and produces a higher “thermic effect of food,” than either carbohydrates or fat, meaning we burn more calories digesting protein than the other nutrients. Good choices for lean protein are chicken, fish, turkey, lean steak, low-fat cottage cheese, plain yogurt, and high quality protein shakes.

Include Vegetables With Each Meal
Vegetables will fill you up and are very calorie dense so you can eat almost as much as you want. Because they are high in fiber, they digest more slowly and along with protein will help to control blood sugar levels. Vegetables are also high in antioxidants and provide a wide variety of health benefits.

Eat Every Three To Four Hours
Once you’ve determined how many calories you’ll be eating to create a calorie deficit, schedule your meal times so you are eating every three to four hours. Eating frequently does several things that help with losing fat: it stimulates your metabolism, controls your blood sugar and keeps you from getting too hungry, which may lead to overeating.

Clean Out Your Cupboards
Get rid of junk food, processed foods, and anything you know will tempt you. If your kitchen is stocked with food you shouldn’t be eating, every day will be a struggle because you’re constantly fighting the urge to eat them. Most homes need some snack items on hand for the family so choose things like sugar-free Jello, fruit, nuts, sugar-free Popsicles, sugar-free pud-ding and string cheese.

Prepare Meals In Advance
Cook in bulk and package your food a few days in advance. Making this a habit will not only help you lose the weight you want but will help you maintain your ideal weight long term. I have yet to meet a person in excellent shape who is not a little obsessive about their food preparation. Preparing your food in advance will keep you from eating convenience foods or being tempted at work by sweets others may bring.

Limit Eating Out and Choose Restaurants That Serve Healthy Options
While you’re trying to lose body fat, it would be wise to limit eating out. The portion sizes are often large which makes staying in a calorie deficit a challenge. Studies show that people with higher percentages of body fat eat out more frequently than people with low body fat. If you do go out, grilled chicken and fish are great choices for your protein. Order your steamed vegetables to be prepared without butter or oil. Choose oil and vinegar as dressing for salads because then you control how much oil you use. Stay away from dishes that contain sauces and all fried food.

Keep a Nutrition Journal
Write down everything you eat or drink even if it doesn’t contain any calories, such as coffee or diet soda. A nutrition journal provides accountability and can be a real eye opener about how many calories you are actually eating. The journal can also be a record of accomplishment and provide a confidence boost.

Monitor And Track Your Progress Frequently
Weigh yourself and check your body fat once a week and document your results. Knowing your body fat percentage in relation to your weight is important to make sure you’re not losing muscle. If your body fat percentage does not change but you weigh less, then you know you are losing muscle and need to make an adjustment. On the other hand if your weight stays the same but your body fat percentage is less, then you have lost body fat and added muscle. Remember that not all weight loss is positive, your goal is to lose fat but keep your muscle.

Mental focus will provide you with the determination and will power to stay with the program, exercise will speed your results and sculpt your body, but your diet is the most important component when it comes to finally achieving the body of your dreams. MS&F

WHY MAX MEAL PLANS?
We’ve seen the power of the MaxFormation contests put on by Max Muscle. It is possible to get the body you’ve always wanted and at Max Muscle, we have the customers to prove it.

With each new year, millions of people, most with excellent intentions, make a New Year’s resolution to finally get in shape and lose weight. Committed to eat nothing but the healthiest food, and very little of it, they hit the gym, snack on vegetables, and pass on food they ate too much of over the holiday season, impressing co-workers with their iron-clad will power. The first few weeks will bring some weight loss but as time goes on the weight loss slows and frustration builds. Within the first couple months of the New Year more than half give up on that body they’ve always wanted and end up feeling helpless.

If you’ve entered the MaxFormation or have made a New Year’s Resolution to get the body you’ve always wanted, don’t let this happen to you. Visit your local Max Muscle and make an appointment with a Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach. They provide experience, knowledge, and accountability. Your Fitness Nutrition Coach will establish your required daily caloric intake, monitor your progress, help you break through plateaus, and incorporate the appropriate supplements in your plan to maximize your results. A meal plan will be designed for you and will incorporate foods you enjoy and foods that will promote optimal health. You will be taught how to structure your meals properly and how to time them to speed your metabolism and burn fat.

Max Muscle Certified Fitness Nutrition Coaches live a healthy lifestyle themselves. They have the experience to help you change your lifestyle to get the body you’ve always wanted and maybe even set you on the path to winning $25,000 in the MaxForm 2010 contest.