Diet And Nutrition.

So one might be wondering where I went for the past 2 weeks, and the answer to that would be, Penang! Went back for my cousin's weddings. Yeah, you read that right, weddingS. She had two weddings because she's of mix parentage, Chinese and Indian. So one ceremony was for the Chinese side, and the other for the Indian side. Pretty cool. Took about 1,500 pictures of the whole thing, haven't even begun the post-processing! Gah.


Anyway, wanted to blog about this for quite some time now. Diet and nutrition. To elucidate why is it beneficial towards body building, we have to wrap our minds around this first. People don't grow IN the gym, people grow OUTSIDE. Now that its clear, we move on.


Firstly, for body-builders who are trying to pack on the muscle. The golden rule is to get 1.5g-2g of protein per-body weight in pounds. For example, I'm 143 pounds, I should take around 214-286grams of protein a DAY. This amount doesn't need to be coming from 1 meal, our bodies can only process so much protein at one time, and since protein can't be stored in the body, we have to split our protein intakes throughout the day to make sure our bodies has constant supply. Protein can be found in chicken meat, beef, fish, egg whites, protein powders and even milk. Protein is essential in building muscle. There's different kinds of proteins that are suitable for different needs.


An example would be whey isolates, this is a kind of quick-absorbing protein which is great as a post-workout supplement to give the body the amount of protein it needs quickly. Casein on the other hand, is a slow digesting protein. It can be slowly absorbed for 5-7 hours which makes it a great choice for a pre-bed supplement. Casein protein is also a good idea to use during the day to keep you full and to keep a constant supply of protein available between meals or snacks if you have a long period of time between them. The glutamine content in casein is very high which can maintain immune function.


Secondly, carbohydrates, or simply known as carbs. Countless idiots have spread the rumour that all types of carbohydrates are evil, so less-informed people don't take as much carbs as they have to. Carbs are the key source of fuel for the body. Most carbs are either simple (fruits), complex (healthy breads, potatoes), or fibrous (veggies). Simple carbs should be taken earlier during the day, so the body will just burn it away whenever the body needs "fuel", reason why people should stay away from it later during the day is because you might not burn it off and risk the body storing it as fat.


Speaking of fat, get the idea of fat is bad for you out of your head. You need them, period. They can be found in salmon, tuna, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. Stay away from nonessential fats. The fats you want are called Essential Fatty Acids. They also contribute to energy, diffusion of oxygen into the bloodstream, and they can help regulate moods. There are many more benefits, but these alone should motivate you to eat them.


Now that the essentials are done and over with, we move on to how often does one have to eat. Every now and then, someone asks me, "Harris, I'm eating till my stomach feels like bursting, but I'm not gaining ANY weight!! What to do?". The reason why you're not gaining any weight is because you're not eating enough meals a day. You should be eating 5-6 small meals every 3 hours to keep yourself reasonably full, and not hungry.


Stick with it long enough, and you'll definitely gain weight. Speaking of which, I've reached my target weight for this month, 65kg. Gained 5kg of muscles and fats, which I don't mind right now since I'm bulking. Heh.


Cheers!