Counting Calories to Shed Those Pounds

The Simple Guide to Weight Loss Math

Introduction – Why Count Calories

When you’re trying to lose weight and achieve optimal health there are many habits and weight loss paths to consider. Undoubtedly, it’s important to pay attention to what you eat.

The more you eat, the more calories you put into your body. If your body doesn’t burn those calories through the natural course of your day, it stores the energy as fat.

Not good.

The goal is to burn fat, to get rid of it and to never see it again. This is why some people turn to the process of calorie counting to lose weight – it works.

What is Calorie Counting?

Calorie counting is the practice of tracking the food you eat each and every day. You track not only the types of food, but also the amount of food, that you eat. For example, if you have some green beans it’s not enough to document “green beans.” You also need to measure the amount. Did you have a cup of green beans? A half-cup?

How you cook the item is important as well. For example, there are 31 calories in raw green beans, 44 in boiled, and 46 calories in microwaved green beans. With calorie counting, the details are important. If you’re 100 calories off each day that’s a pound at the end of the month, and when you’re trying to lose weight every pound matters.

As you track what you’ve eaten, and how much, you’ll also refer to your choice of calorie information tools. There are mobile applications, online tools, and books that you can use to help you track your daily calories.

Keep in mind that as you’re counting what you consume, you’ll also want to count what you burn. Again, there are tools for doing this. Using a variety of tools or devices that we’ll discuss in a bit, you can track how many calories you burn running errands, walking the dog, watching television and doing Zumba for an hour at the gym. This way you can look at your numbers at the end of the day and make sure that you’re burning more than you’re consuming.

So why go to such detail and why count calories?

We Overestimate How Much We Burn and Underestimate How Much We Eat

Counting calories will be a reality check. Most of us drastically underestimate the number of calories we consume. Much of that is due to portion size discrepancies. A half a cup of French fries is much smaller than you think, and a cup of green beans is probably more than you imagine. We also tend to overestimate the calories we burn when exercising and going about daily life. You might think an hour on the elliptical will earn you a hot fudge sundae – it won’t.

When a 150-pound person spends a half hour on an elliptical at a moderate intensity – meaning they’re at 60-70% of their maximum heart rate – they’ll burn around 386 calories. A two-scoop hot fudge sundae has almost 600 calories. And those are primarily empty calories too, but we’ll get to that shortly.

The truth is that most people aren’t going to exercise at that intensity for the entire time they’re on the elliptical. Your intensity will fluctuate with your energy levels, for example. You may start off very enthusiastic and then you’ll pull back when your heart rate begins feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Calorie Counting Is An Education

When you begin counting calories you’ll begin to realize how much you’re actually eating and burning. You’ll become smarter about what you eat. For example, you may quickly realize that a cookie you want just isn’t worth it because it’ll mean you cannot have as much to eat at dinnertime. You’ll learn to set priorities and eat more nutrient rich foods, which are generally lower in calories.

Calorie Counting Gives You More Control

Knowledge is power, right? The more you know the better your decisions can be. This is most certainly true for counting calories and losing weight. With good calorie counting tools and processes you’ll be able to tell at a glance whether you’re on track for the day or whether you’re busting the calorie budget so to speak.

While it may sound difficult, calorie counting is actually one of the easiest ways to lose weight. You simply track input and output. Assuming your output, or the calories you burn, is more than the input, you’ll lose weight. A single pound of fat is 3,500 calories and cutting calories can add up quickly. Let’s get started at what a calorie is and why counting calories is so effective.

Metabolism is defined as the number of calories the body needs while at rest. In other words, the body needs a certain number of calories just to sustain bodily functions, like breathing and heartbeat. This number is usually referred to as the basal metabolic rate (BMR).

Is a Low Metabolism From a Sluggish Thyroid?

Because your thyroid controls your metabolism through the secretion of hormones, it is these hormones (and your physical fitness level) that control how fast (or slow) food is converted into energy. If you are having trouble losing weight, it could be that your thyroid is not functioning normally. Your doctor can check it with a simple blood test.

Build up Your Muscles for a Higher Metabolism

One fact we know is that a pound of fat burns about 10 calories while a pound of muscle burns almost 30 calories over the same given period of time. So it makes sense that the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn just to sustain the additional muscle. Because of this fact, gaining lean muscle mass is one way to increase your metabolic rate.

Another way is through physical exercise; exercise triggers an increase in metabolism that can last for several hours after finishing your workout. By incorporating weight training into your routines, not only do you increase your metabolism in the short term, but also permanently through the building of lean muscle mass. A win/win situation!

Is Your Metabolism High, Low or Normal?

But how do you know if you metabolism is low, normal or high? First you have to know your BMR – the number of calories your body needs to function while at rest. If the number you consume is higher, but you are not gaining weight, then you have a high metabolism. To calculate your BMR, use these formulas:

• women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years);
• men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years).

Note the formulas are based on a normal adult body. If you are extremely muscular or very obese, then your resulting figures will be underestimated or overestimated, respectively.

For example, let’s use a 30-year old, 5 ft. 10 in. tall male weighing 170 pounds. Plugging the numbers into the formula 66 + (6.3 x 170) + (12.9 x 72) – (6.8 x 30), we come out with 66 + (1071) + (928.8) – (204) = 1,861.80 calories per day to maintain his current weight. If our study is eating significantly more calories and not gaining weight, then he has a high metabolism. Because he burns calories at a higher rate, it will be easier for him to lose weight just from cutting calories.

While your thyroid basically controls your metabolism, you can help increase its functioning through healthy eating, regular exercise and building of lean muscle mass.

Before we can talk about how to avoid binge eating, we first have to know what it is. Defined as “a bout of uncontrollable eating driven by at least three emotions: depression, anger and anxiety”, it becomes a vicious circle. You are in the thralls of one (or more) of your controlling emotions, so you comfort yourself by eating, and eating … and eating.

Then you feel one or more of these same emotions because you binged, so you binge again. According to doctors, binge eaters are literally trying to stuff their feelings down with food. As long as they are eating, they don’t have to deal with the emotions that are controlling them at the time.

What Emotions Drive Binge Eating?

Of course one way to control binge eating is to recognize which emotion is controlling you and deal with the reason that’s causing that emotion. If you are too close to the situation, you may want to enlist the help of an eating disorder professional. They can help you recognize the cause and help you with a cure.

However if you want to deal with it on your own, here are six tips that can help:

• Journaling – after a binge, write down what you think triggered it so you can work on eliminating the trigger.
• Ask for help – most bingers eat alone. When you feel a binge coming on, call a friend. That person can help talk you through your difficult time.
• Wait it out – Instead of raiding the refrigerator immediately, wait for 15 minutes and try and figure out what tripped the binge feelings.
• Head for the gym – instead of heading for the refrigerator, do something to occupy your mind. Not only will it take your mind off of eating, exercising can help work out whatever frustration is causing your binge temptation.
• Eat breakfast – multiple studies have shown that eating a protein rich breakfast can help stave off binge eating at night.
• Keep trigger foods out of the house – for some binge eaters, certain foods trigger the eating binge. So if you are a person that can’t stop at one peanut butter cookie or one scoop of your favorite ice cream, then don’t keep these things in your house. Many times the urge to binge will pass if you don’t have your trigger foods around to start it in the first place.

Recovering From an Eating Binge

Most important is don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t change what happened, but you can work on preventing it from happening again, by implementing the six tips above. Along with that, don’t punish yourself by restricting your diet. That in of itself can fuel another binge.

Instead, try to move forward and plan your next healthy portion-sized meal or snack. Focus on making good food choices that include lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables and plenty of water.

When your entire family is working together towards a common goal, no matter what it is, your chance of success improves dramatically. The old joke asks, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is, “One bite at a time.” When your family is also focused on helping you eat the elephant, a seemingly impossible task gets accomplished in a much shorter time.

While eating an elephant is certainly an unenviable and impossible sounding chore, it is often times just as difficult for a family in today’s society to remain active and to stay fit and keep healthy. Processed and fast foods are everywhere, teens and adults are more sedentary than at any other time in humankind’s history, and mobile Internet technology has everyone’s face stuck in a smartphone or PC display.

That is why it is more important than ever to take certain proven steps towards becoming a more physically fit family. And actually, in many ways, the family dynamic can make physical fitness and better health easier to achieve as a team than it is on the individual level. Children are already conditioned to receiving direction from their parents, and parents are consistently and consciously striving to set the best example. This creates some easy-to-follow steps towards family physical fitness which will increase your overall chance of success.

Assign a Family Fitness Coach

All teams need a coach or manager who leads the actions of the group. Someone in your family needs to direct the physical fitness activities of your “team”. This works most effectively when it is mom or dad doing the coaching. Remember that the coach should set realistic but challenging goals. The family fitness coach should hand out schedules; provide input and motivation, and then follow-up on performances.

Schedule Family Fitness Outings

The different ages and fitness levels of your family members will dictate that not everyone can lift the same weight, run the same distance or swim the same length. However, team activities like hiking are excellent for overall body health, hiking is doable by everyone, and it also allows the family to bond. Schedule family fitness outings which get you and your children away from computers and fast food, and you will find your family growing closer together while also becoming more physically fit.

Incorporate Nutrition as Well as Exercise

It is well known that exercise and nutrition form the two most important components for physical fitness and health. Exercise is great, and as little as 30 minutes per day can deliver a significant health benefit. But correct diet and nutrition is important as well, meaning more fruits and vegetables, less fried and fast foods, more preparing your own meals and enjoying them as a family, and less artificial drinks and sodas.

Hold an Accountability and Rewards Night

To help achieve your family’s physical fitness goals, schedule one night a week where all members of the family enjoy a “rewards meal”, openly discuss their successes and failures of the previous week, and motivate each other for the week to come.

Especially with the children in a family, hard work delivering an enjoyable reward like pizza night and positive affirmations from other family members will go a long way to guaranteeing compliance in future fitness activities.

These are just a few of the simple and inexpensive ways even the busiest family can create a physical fitness attitude that is looked upon positively by all family members.

Try to schedule exercising and workouts at the same time and on the same days whenever you can, to instill a sense of order and repetition. Always reward yourself, your spouse and your children with positive input when it is earned, remember that everyone falls and stumbles from time to time, and the chance of success for your family’s physical fitness plans will improve dramatically.

Most people have heard about calories and read on the nutrition label how many are in a particular food, but do people really know what a calorie is, how it is used by their body, or how many they should have in a day? Sadly, most do not.

A calorie defined

In its simplest form, a calorie is a unit of energy; in Medilexicon’s medical dictionary a calorie is defined as “The amount of heat necessary to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.” Because a calorie is a measure of heat, it occurs in many other things besides food; for example, 1 ton of coal contains 7,004,684,512 calories. However, when referring to it in the realm of nutrition and fitness, it is a unit of measure regarding how much energy we consume through food and drink and the number of units we burn up through normal bodily functions and physical activity.

Calorie verses calorie

There are two types of calorie designations – Calorie (or kcal) and calorie. Like many other things in science, something can be measured by itself or in multiples of 1,000, such as a gram and a kilogram. The same is true with calories – a Calorie is 1,000 calories. Where the confusion comes in is on nutrition labels. What shows as a calorie is actually 1,000 times that amount or a Calorie or kcal. So if a label shows that cookie you are about to eat has 250 calories, it actually has 250,000 calories.

But how it is measured is really irrelevant, because the same unit of measure used on nutrition labels is the same we use in calorie expenditure; with that measurement equal, it makes it easy to know how many calories you take in verses how many you burn.

Calories are your friends

In the world of weight loss, calories are viewed as a bad thing – something to avoid in order to lose weight. In reality, our bodies need calories to survive; without them, we would die. The key is to manage how many calories you take in verses how many you burn up. When you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight; burn 3,500 calories more per week than you take in and you lose a pound.

Not all calories are created equal

You would think a standard quantity of something, such a 1 gram would contain the same number of calories. Wrong! While 1 gram of either carbohydrates or protein each contains 4 calories, 1 gram of fat contains over twice that amount – 9 calories. So what you eat has a major effect on how many calories you consume. By eating a gram of fat, you are taking in twice as many calories than if you ate a gram of carbs or protein.

So now you know what a calorie is, how it is measured and the number of calories in a gram of carbohydrates, protein and fat. You will use this information in your quest for a healthy lifestyle.

Why All Calories Are Not Created Equal

You have probably heard the old adage “A calorie is a calorie”. It suggests a calorie is the same regardless where it comes from. The problem is the adage is all wrong! While all calories are the same in regard to the energy content in each, how the body process each type varies. Here are five things to keep in mind when trying to manage your weight.

Energy required to process calories

We all know that our body burns calories to digest, absorb and metabolize food into energy. But what you may not know is that your body uses higher number of calories to process protein than it does for carbohydrates and still a lower number for fat. This suggests your body stores less calories on a high protein diet than one high in carbohydrates or fat due to the extra calories it takes to process protein.

Effect of calorie restriction

The above 3,500 calorie per week deficit to lose a pound will work for a while. But soon you will find you are losing less weight each week even though you are consuming the same number of calories. Why? It is called metabolic adaptation or “starvation mode”. Your body recognizes the calorie reduction and it begins to work more efficiently – doing more with less. In doing so, it in effect increases the value of each calorie. Your body gets more mileage out of each calorie now than it did before.

Protein is your friend

Protein satisfies you better over a longer period of time. If you don’t feel hungry, you are less likely to eat. This further supports the theory that not all calories are the same. If you eat junk food loaded with saturated fat and simple carbohydrates, you’ll not only end up consuming more calories at the time, but you’ll be looking for something to eat sooner than if you would have eaten turkey breast, chicken breast, tuna or lean beef.

Fiber slows absorption

Even though most fiber comes from carbohydrates, it is not absorbed by the body, so in effect; it keeps you fuller longer and reduces your desire to eat. So calories in a high-fiber diet are more satisfying than ones in a low calorie diet – yet another way, calories are different, even within the same macro-nutrient.

Timing your meals

A study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the thermal effect of food – the energy used in the digestion and absorption of food – is higher in the morning that during other times of the day. As a matter of fact 16% higher; it proves we burn more calories in the morning. Food calories consumed right after waking from a sleep are more likely to be used and not stored.

Even though these five things do have a minimal effect on weight management in the short term, just understanding how your body processes different types of calories can make a difference over the long haul. As the saying goes “Every little bit helps.”

If you are trying to lose weight, we know one strategy is to cut calories. However until your body gets used to not getting as many calories per day, you may have occasional pangs of hunger. The good news is there are several strategies that can help curb the urge to eat.

Water

Good ol’ H2O is your friend when trying to cut calories. To keep hydrated, you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. One strategy you can use to trick your body is to drink a glass of water shortly before eating your meal. Water fills you up and when combined with a meal, your mind signals you that it is full even though you are now eating less calories than before. Drink the rest of your water requirement throughout the day.

Fiber

Another friend you’ll like is fiber. You’ll find it in such things as legumes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Foods high in fiber take longer to chew, so your brain has time to signal that your stomach is full. Most fiber is non-soluble meaning it is not digested by your body. So you get the bulk of fiber, but not the calories. Ramp up your fiber intake slowly and drink lots of fluids. If you notice bloating, gas or constipation, back off your fiber content until your body gets used to the extra roughage.

Protein

Protein is a good food to help satisfy your hunger because it takes longer to digest than other foods, like carbohydrates and fats. When trying to lose weight, be sure to start your day with protein in your breakfast. This gives your body something to use as fuel after having fasted all night instead of burning up muscle mass. And it allows your body to use the amino acids in protein to build lean muscle mass. More muscle mass means your body is burning more calories in order to fuel the increased caloric requirement.

Produce

Produce like fruits and vegetables tend to fill you up, but are low in calories. Because they contain a lot of water, you can fill up on them without busting your calorie goal. With much of the produce, it takes more calories to digest them then the calories that are in them. This is known as a negative calorie food.

By drinking water, eating low calorie produce and eating foods high in fiber and protein, you will be well on your way to keeping your hunger in check while cutting calories. You can cut calories and not be hungry at the same time.

How to Curb the Late Night Urges for a Snack

What you eat for breakfast may very well affect your urge to eat at night. That’s right. Studies based on blood samples and brain activity scans prove that eating a breakfast high in protein in the morning can curb your desire to eat after supper. But what if you have those after-supper or late night overwhelming urges to eat something – anything?

Evening grazers have found these six strategies work at curbing their late night snacking urges:

1) Eat foods high in fiber

High fiber foods keep you from getting hungry by keeping you fuller longer. Also, most foods high in fiber contain fewer calories than lower fiber foods. Legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains are staples and full of fiber.

2) Keep busy

Take a look at why you are eating. Is it because you are physically hungry, or are you eating to quell some emotions or from boredom? If you are actually hungry, then by all means have a snack (by snack we are talking 250 calories or less), such as a small apple, rice cake with peanut butter, or a cup of low-fat yogurt. Be sure to factor in these calories into your daily calorie count.

But if you are not hungry, then keep busy doing something that will take your mind off of eating, such as taking a walk, working emails, calling a friend, going to bed or just waiting for a while. Normally that urge to raid the refrigerator will pass with time.

3) Eat your evening meal later than normal

If you find you actually are hungry, try eating your evening meal a little later than normal. This may keep you full until bedtime, thus eliminating your evening snack.

4) Eat a healthy morning and afternoon snack

One of the biologic functions that can fuel a hunger binge is a drop in blood sugar. Prevent this by having a healthy snack in the morning and afternoon in addition to your small healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

5) Plan a healthy night-time snack

There is nothing wrong with eating a late-night snack if you plan the calories into your daily count. Chew on some carrot sticks or celery filled with peanut butter. The fiber will keep you satisfied until breakfast.

6) Only keep healthy foods stocked in your pantry

One way to keep from wrecking your diet through late-night snacking is to not have “bad” snacks in the house. You can’t eat something that is not there. If you must have something to eat, gosh on some popcorn (without the butter of course). It can be eaten slowly and the fiber will fill you up without all the extra calories.

Part of overcoming your late-night urges is setting you up for success. Use these six strategies that other late-night grazers have found to be effective.

You may be consuming many more calories than you think. They are hidden in all kinds of foods … many of which you would never know were high in calories.

Three of the big culprits are:

• sugar
• alcoholic drinks
• salad dressings

Hidden Calorie Traps with Sugar

Sugar can have addicting properties. Once you eat something high in sugar, your blood sugar spikes, triggering an insulin release to neutralize the excessive sugar. But what usually happens is the pancreas overcompensates and your blood sugar plummets. To get your blood sugar back to normal, your body signals your brain to eat something sweet. And the cycle starts all over again. In the process, you are consuming large number of sugar calories – a simple carbohydrate.

Another place to watch your sugar is with something as innocuous as coffee. At 15 calories per packet, adding a couple of packets of sugar to your coffee can add up if you drink three or four cups per day. And that doesn’t even consider the 20 calories per teaspoon in the half and half that to your coffee.

Hidden Calorie Traps in Alcoholic Drinks

Around the holiday season, it is easy to overindulge. At seven calories per gram of wine, a 5 ounce serving has 124 calories. Three servings, not hard to do while at a party, provides a women with over 20% of her daily calorie requirement.

And the calories in alcohol are only half the story. Alcohol also lowers your food defenses so you are more apt to eat more snacks and other unhealthy options than you would have had you not been drinking. All and all, it can add up to a disaster calorie-wise. Instead, eat a healthy meal before consuming alcohol. Sip your drink to make it last longer and you’ll be apt to drink less. Another trick is to add some soda water to your drink. It increases the volume of liquid without adding any calories.

Hidden Calorie Traps in Salad Dressings

While the vegetables and meat in a salad are healthy themselves, you have to be careful of the dressing you put on it; most dressings are loaded with calories. Balsamic vinaigrette is a good option; be sure to ask for it on the side so you can control how much you put on. For a change, try dipping a fork full of salad in the dressing instead of pouring it on. You still get the great taste, but actually use very little dressing.

By knowing about the hidden calories in sugar, alcoholic drinks and salad dressings, you can be more aware of just how many calories you are actually consuming. Knowing is half the battle; the other half is doing.

Desserts don’t have to be loaded with calories (and fat) to taste great. There are many low calories recipes that won’t add to your waistline, but still taste great. These two desserts recipes are just a sampling of how recipes can be altered to make them healthy, yet still taste great:

Low Calorie Mandel Bread

How modified:

• vegetable oil replaced with canola oil
• sugar reduced by one-fourth
• dark chocolate chips substituted for semisweet ones
• one-third of all-purpose flour replaced with white whole wheat flour

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup dark-chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Together mix granulated sugar and oil in a large bowl; fold in eggs and vanilla until well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine flours and baking powder. Add flour/baking powder combination to egg mixture, along with chocolate chips and mix well. Form the dough on the cookie sheet into three 9-inch-long logs; flatten each to 2 inches wide.
2. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes. Angle cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange slices on cookie sheet and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until browned. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Healthy Low Calorie Savings:

• Cut 22 calories and 2 g carbohydrate; added 1 g fiber.
• New nutrition facts per slice: 123 calories, 1g protein, 15g carbohydrate, 8g fat (2g saturated), 1g fiber
• Makes 36 slices

Low Calorie Snickerdoodle Cookies

How Modified:

• Replaced half of flour with white whole-wheat flour
• Reduced butter by half; added yogurt as butter substitute
• Reduced sugar by one-fourth

Ingredients:

• 1 cup natural, plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, cream of tartar and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix butter and yogurt 30 seconds; add 1 cup granulated sugar. Beat until combined; scrape sides of bowl occasionally. Fold in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture. Divide the dough in half. Wrap and chill dough for 2 hours, or until easy to handle.
2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. Mix together 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch small balls and roll the balls in the sugar mixture. Place balls about 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Flatten balls slightly, if desired.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove and cool on wire racks.

Healthy Low Calorie Savings:

• Cut 22 calories, 2g carbohydrate, and 2g saturated fat; added 1g protein, 0.5g fiber.
• New nutrition facts per cookie: 70 calories, 1g protein, 11g carbohydrate, 2g fat (1g saturated), 0.5g fiber
• Makes 48 cookies

By using healthy substitutes, such as white whole wheat flour in place of regular flour, yogurt in place of butter, and reducing the sugar in your recipes, you can turn your calorie-laden desserts into something healthy, and more than likely your family will not notice the difference. Next, we’ll take a look at some hidden calorie traps but go ahead and experiment and see how you can rehab your recipes to make them into low calorie deserts.

Tips to Build Muscle Mass Faster and Larger

You’ve probably already learned that eating more protein helps your body to build muscle mass more effectively and efficiently. So if you’re looking to build muscle mass, eating more protein becomes a great asset in your workouts. Note that the protein you consume does not have to be animal protein because there are many other types of foods that work even better in some people than protein from animals.

Vegetarians Can Sometimes Build Muscle Mass Faster

Many vegetarians for instance manage to build muscle mass without ever putting animal protein in their body. The protein best suited for vegetarians needs to come from plant or dairy sources like beans, peas, nuts, rice and protein supplements that contain whey, rice protein, pea protein and if you choose soy protein.

The advantage to using plant and dairy sources to build muscle mass is that the fat content is less than in animals. Additionally, the fats found in plants are generally the “good fats” that your body needs and are less likely to pack on body fat, contribute to high blood pressure and cholesterol like animal fat can.

 Combine Meat and Protein Supplements to Build Muscle Mass

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys eating meat and eggs but do not like to consume large amounts every day then using protein supplements to build muscle mass is a great addition to your diet. If you’re trying to lose fat while building up muscle mass you can mix your protein supplements with water. If you want to gain weight then use milk for some added fat and calories or even opt for a complete protein meal replacement shake.

Keep in mind that it takes more energy (calories) for your digestive system to break down meat protein. Because of this, eating meat will sustain your body for a longer period of time than drinking a protein shake that digests much easier and faster. Using a good quality protein supplement can speed up your metabolism and you can be building muscle mass at a faster rate than the muscle builder who eats primarily animal protein.

Build Muscle Mass with Proper Nutrients and Doing Weight Training Correctly

What’s important to remember is that to build muscle mass and maintain a healthy body, getting proper nutrition is extremely important but so is doing weight training correctly. For example, many people believe that the harder and more often they work out the faster they’ll build muscle mass. This thinking can lead to failure because over-training can tear down your muscles and your muscles require rest in order to build back up.

Did you catch that important tip? Your muscles heal, build and grow during rest after your workouts. If you don’t let your muscles rest the muscle tissues can’t repair and build back up resulting in the failure of your muscle building plans. For this reason, when you do your weight training you’ll want to alternate days like one day on and one day off.

If you want to workout everyday your best bet is to alternate working different muscle groups such as work on your arms one day, your legs the next day and your chest, back and shoulder muscles all on different days. This does the same thing because as you are building up your muscle mass each muscle group gets the rest they need to be able to repair and grow.

The Best Way to Build Muscle Mass Effectively

1. Be consistent but don’t overdo your workouts.
2. Alternate workout days or alternate working different muscle groups.
3. Your muscles need rest time to repair and build.
4. Eat high protein foods, use protein supplements or do both.

Probably the most important thing is to avoid disappointment from trying to do too much too quickly. You now know that rest is important to build muscle mass but if you overdo it, it could lead to injury. If you injure yourself you’ll not be able to weight train for weeks, possibly months and while resting for that long the muscle mass you’ve built up so far will become lost.

If you’re just starting on your journey to building muscle mass you may not have equipment yet then the article Build Muscle Mass without Weights might be helpful and new or not Building Muscles for Men and Women may be an interesting read.

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With the resources that you’ll find below, you’ll have no excuse not to get started. Just grab a copy of the Yoga, Kettlebell or Dumbbell training series that we provide and use them as a starting point.

Using one of those training guides along with a good nutrition plan may be all you’ll need to reach your health and fitness goals.

And if you’re not just starting out and already know this stuff… maybe you’re a fitness nut like us, then you’ll find plenty of resources by browsing the categories below to fuel your desire for “taking it to the next level”.

Whether you’re a man, woman, young or old, looking for a do-able workout routine to buff up one area of your already fit body or you’re taking your first steps getting up off the couch, our goal is to help you find the right “next step” for you and to help you achieve your ultimate health and fitness goals – whatever they may be.

Thanks again for visiting and we hope to serve you well.

Frank and Anna