Fueling Your Body

Prior to reading this section, you should already know how many calories you should be consuming based on your age - height - activity level and current body weight. Once you have these figures you can then begin to break down your calorie intake for each meal.

Not only do you need to know the size of each meal (calories), you will also need to know what the best foods are for your specific body type, as certain body types will simply store food easily as fat (endomorph's).

Its essential to learn about the different food groups, and what each of them will do for your body, the nutritional section will give you a clear guidance of what each type of nutrient will do for your body.

The last issue is the fact that you need to keep your bodies furnace (digestive system) always fired up, if it go outs, then you start to get negative results with regards burning fat as a source of fuel. Its essential that you fuel your body 5 - 6 times per day, with food, not energy drinks or protein bars, food that is broken down to be used by the body.

Ectomorph's will best fuel their bodies with a ratio of 50% carbohydrates 30% protein and 20% healthy fats.

Endomorph's will best fuel their bodies with a ratio of 40 - 45% carbohydrates 40% protein and 15 - 20% healthy fats.

Mesomorph's will best fuel their bodies with 50 - 55% carbohydrates 30% proteins and 15 - 20% healthy fats, unlike endomorph's, the mesomorph body type will be able to burn of far more calories when being inactive, however these calories should still come from healthy sources to avoid high cholesterol levels etc.

Once you know how many calories your body needs after doing your calculations in the how many calories section, you can then use this figure to establish what size each of your meals will be.

Throughout the following calculations we will work on a man needing 3,000 calories and a women needing 2,000 these are only guideline figures and should not be used for your own calculations.

If the man has found his body type to be predominately"Mesomorph" then he would need to look at getting around 45% of his calories from carbohydrates (40% if he feels that he is carbohydrate sensitive). To work out how much this is, you would simply multiple his daily calorie allowance by .45

.45 (carbohydrate %) x 3,000 (total calories) = 1,350 calories in the form of carbohydrates for the day.

.40 (protein %) x 3,000 (total calories) = 1,200 calories in the form of proteins for the day.

.15 (healthy fats) x 3,000 (total calories) = 450 calories in the form of carbohydrates for the day.

You can check your maths by adding all the figures in red, which should equal 3,000, with your highest % coming from carbohydrates.

The next calculations you need to make, are to find out how many grams of each food group you can consume, as most food labels and measurements are made using grams.

Both carbohydrates and proteins have 4 calories to 1 gram, whereas fats which are far higher in calorie numbers, have 9 calories to 1 gram.

Total grams of carbohydrate will be 1,350 divided by 4 = 337.5 grams of carbohydrates to be consumed daily.

Total grams of protein will be 1,200 divided by 4 = 300 grams of protein.

Total grams of healthy fats will be 450 divided by 9 = 50 grams of healthy fats.

Its important to understand the differences between calorie values of different food groups, as this is often the cause for people becoming overweight, a lot of food labels may only say 10% fat, however this is by volume not by calorie %, something you buy saying low fat version, is still very high in calories, likewise some products with minimal fats can still be high in calories as the calories come from hidden sugars (yogurts are a great example).

Fibrous rich foods have very minimal calorie content, as the fibre can not be broken down by the body, it simply aids the digestive system and makes you feel full - a great asset in weight loss. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, and shuts down the digestive system in order for the body to work on removing the toxins, everything that you swallow has an effect on your body.

When you know your daily food group consumption in the form of grams, you can then look at working out how to prepare you meals for the day, bearing in mind that unlike the traditional 3 square meals a day back in Navy Times of Lord Nelson, you should be looking at 5 - 6 meals a day in today's times of improved scientific knowledge and understanding of why people become overweight.

There are 2 simple formula that will work for either 5 or 6 meals a day.

If having 5 meals, divide each of your final food group total daily grams by 15

This would equal 15 divided by 337.5 (carbohydrates) = 22.5

15 divided by 300 (proteins) = 20

15 divided by 50 (healthy fats) = 3.3

The highest calorie consumption of any meal should be in the morning when your fuel stores are low, and your bodies furnace would need fueling as your body will become far more active than its previous dormant state. As your day finishes, you will generally begin a wind down process, whereby after 6 - 8 p.m. you are actually very inactive, watching TV - reading etc, so your body will require fewer calories again.

Your daily gram allowance for each food group is divided by 15, as you will then need to multiple each of your daily meals by the following, in order to maintain optimal blood sugar levels throughout the day, giving you higher energy levels and greater fat burning results.

As your breakfast should be your largest meal, multiple your figures by 4

22.5 grams of carbohydrates x 4 = 90 grams of carbohydrates for breakfast.

20 grams of protein x 4 = 80 of protein for breakfast.

3.3 grams of fat x 4 = 12.2 grams of fat for breakfast - remember just a tablespoon of olive oil used to cook would contain 12 grams of fat.

For a lot of people, the amount of protein may seem high, so you can reduce your intake by 5%, and increase your carbohydrates, however if you are carbohydrate sensitive, you are best sticking with these percentages.

Your next 3 meals to be eaten ideally within 3 hours of each other, should all be multiplied by 3, as these will provide your muscles and body systems with fuel throughout the day. For example your protein intake on meals 2 - 3 and 4 would be 20 grams of protein x 3 = 60 grams of protein for each meal.

Your final meal only needs to be multiplied by 2, as this would give you a total score of 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 15.

Once these figures have been worked out once, you can use them until you change your daily calorific intake, (lowering or increasing calories). It may seem a little confusing to work out these figures, and also a huge struggle to try and create meals according to your meal requirements, however if you base your meals on healthy lean protein options, then add salads / vegetables with complex carbohydrates, then you can not go wrong. The only times things go wrong is when you decide to go of course and either eat bad foods "pasties" or decide to skip a meal, causing your bodies furnace to shut down.

By having 6 meals a day, you will certainly keep your inner furnace working and keep your blood sugar levels at optimal levels throughout the day, giving you higher energy levels - the more energy you have, the more active your lifestyle will become.

If having 6 meals, divide each of your final food group total daily grams by 18

This would equal 18 divided by 337.5 (carbohydrates) = 18.75

18 divided by 300 (proteins) = 16.6

18 divided by 50 (healthy fats) = 2.7

Again start the day with your large breakfast, multiply the above figures by 4, so that your breakfast would contain;

18.75 x 4 = 75 grams of carbohydrates, compared to 90 grams if only having 5 meals.

16.60 x 4 = 66.4 grams of lean protein, compared to 80 grams, for people finding the high amount of protein to be eaten hard, then they should aim for 6 meals a day, as this would reduce the amount required per meal.

2.7 x 4 = 10.8 grams of fat compared to 12.2

Your next 4 meals should all be multiplied by 3 i.e. 18.75 x 3 = 56.25 grams of carbohydrates per meal, with your final meal of the day being only multiplied by 2 i.e. 16.6 x 2 = 33.2 grams of lean protein.

This may all appear to be a bit scientific and complicated, when all you want to do is lose weight. If you find it too hard, we have included a simple table in the resources section to give you a basic breakdown in your food quantities.

The easiest way to look at removing your body fat is;

increase your meal frequency "make sure calories eaten are digested - not stored"

slowly decrease your calorie intake by 15 - 20% "you have become overweight due to eaten more than you needed"

increase your calorie out put "exercise - lifestyle changes" if you eat the same this week as you did last, however decided to exercise then you will stop the weight increase and slowly begin to lose the weight - body fat!

If you supply your body with the correct nutrients and the correct times of the day, then you will be amazed at your increase energy levels and the fact that you can actually eat more and lose weight.

Large infrequent meals, means that your body is starving between each meal, so when you eat, you feel that you have to it large portions. These large portions are what will cause your body to become over weight, even if they are in 1 or 2 meals a day, simply because your body is unable to utilize all of the food, the digestive process can not cope with huge demands, so will store the food as fat.

With having only 1 or 2 meals, the body also believes that there is a limited amount of food around, so again food will be stored as fat, as this will provide a high energy store when the winters come - just like a bear going into hibernation, its fat stores will keep it both warm and supply energy throughout the winter.

There is no reason for you to store food, as food is sold and found everywhere in today's modern society. The problem you have, has also been caused by the amount of food around you and the fact that modern society has decreased your energy requirements - you no longer need to walk miles hunting your food, or spend hours in the fields tending your crops.

Learn what you should you eat - healthy lean proteins - complex carbohydrates and essential fatty acids - combine this with regular meals and an increase in your daily activity levels and you will slowly become fitter - healthier and with a reduced body fat percentage.

If you simply want to lose weight quickly, then understand that you will be destroying the most important asset you body has for burning fat as a fuel - lean muscle tissue. All you will lose is water - muscle tissue and the energy stored within the muscles and liver, this ironically will make you more obese as your body fat percentage will increase.

Successful weight loss in the form of body fat takes time - its easy to take the failures option and just lose water, muscle and energy, however if you think about how long it has taken you to become over weight, then you should appreciate that rapid results can only be claimed by drug companies and wonder gimmicks marketed to take your money, not your body fat away.