Table of Contents
The Perfect Keto Diet
As most of you already know, I am currently preparing for the Swiss Natural Bodybuilding Championship (i.e. doping-free). In order to be able to shine on stage and to be able to present the muscles as well as possible,
A very low body fat content is necessary. My target will be around 4%, which I am still far from at the moment (10%). In addition, I have to try to maintain as much muscle mass as possible at the same time, which is relatively difficult with a calorie deficit.
The start of the diet was July 27th and the end of the competition day will be October 27th.
My starting weight was 90kg with about 13% KFA (body fat percentage), now after almost 3 weeks later I’ve already reached 86kg and 10% KFA. 4 kg in 3 weeks sounds like a lot,
But you have to keep in mind that a lot of weight has to be taken into account for glycogen stores and water retention. Everyone who starts a diet will make great progress at the beginning which will then steadily shrink.
To be able to lose weight you should first calculate your daily calorie requirement, which you have to adjust again and again during the diet depending on your body weight.
Calculating the calorie requirement:
- Endomorph : body weight x 28-31
- Ectomorph : body weight x 35-38
- Mesomorph : body weight x 33
Anyone who does not know these body types will find out now. The following picture should actually be self-explanatory, I will still add my mustard to each type.
An ectomorph has a hard time gaining weight and therefore has a very fast metabolism.
The mesomorph is the average person and has a normal metabolism.
An endomorph is more likely to store fat and has a slower metabolism.
In my case, the daily calorie requirement is currently 2838 kcal: 86 kg x 33 = 2838
That means so many calories I only need to be able to maintain my current body weight.
Neuer’s calorie goal -> 2838 – 600 = 2238 kcal per day
In order to lose as little valuable muscle mass as possible, you should not lose more than 1 kg per week, ideally between 500 and 750 grams. You can do this by reducing your daily calorie requirement by 600 kcal. This results in a total calorie deficit of 3000-4200 kcal per week, depending on whether you add a cheat day or a carbohydrate day to boost your leptin level again.
Now you know your calorie needs, but what about the macronutrient breakdown?
Protein
The “golden rule” for a bodybuilder is 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. This amount needs to be increased a little while dieting to protect muscle mass.
- Mesomorph : 2.6 g / kg – 2.8 g / kg
- Ectomorph : 3.0 g / kg – 3.5 g / kg
- Endomorph: 3.0 g / kg – 3.3 g / kg
For me, the daily protein requirement is between 223 g and 240 g (86kg x 2.6 / 2.8), but here I take the middle which is 230g, i.e. 920 kcal since 1 gram of protein has 4 kcal.
Fat
The fat absorption looks like this:
- Mesomorph: 17% – 23% of the calorie requirement.
- Ectomoph: 24% -28% of the calorie requirement .
- Endomorph: 23% -28% of the calorie requirement. The fat content was increased here because endomorphs tend to have trouble processing carbohydrates.
For me this results in between 380 kcal and 514 kcal and the middle is around 450 kcal or 50g fat per day because 1 gram has 9 kcal.
Carbohydrates
The remaining calories are made up of carbohydrates. In this case we already have 920 kcal protein + 450 kcal fat = 1370 kcal -> 2238 kcal – 1370 kcal = 868 kcal carbohydrates, i.e. 217g since 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 kcal.
Strategic carbohydrate intake
This is about the optimization of the hormone leptin, on which I have already written two articles
Such a carbohydrate supply or also called refeed should be carried out every 6-12 days with a body fat content of 10-15%. People with over 15% body fat do not need such a refeed day. The less body fat you have, the more refeeds you need.
Refeed rules
- Plan the refeed on a day on which you train your worst body part (s). The refeed not only increases leptin levels but is also quite anabolic (muscle building).
- minimize the fat intake that day as the insulin level will be increased and the fat absorbed through the food will be transported into the adipose tissue.
- reduce protein intake to 2.2g per kilo of body weight
- consume as little fructose as possible, as it has no effect on leptin levels
- Increase your caloric intake to the maintenance level. In this example back to 2828 kcal and increase the carbohydrate intake by 50% -100% (ectomophe orientate themselves at 100% and endomorphs at 50%).
Timing of food
As already mentioned, carbohydrates cause an increase in insulin, which is quite protective of the muscles but at the same time very anti-lipolytic (not very beneficial in terms of fat loss). Care should be taken to ensure that there are long periods of low insulin levels and short periods of high insulin levels. Since the training itself is very catabolic (muscle-reducing), you should ideally plan your carbohydrates around your training, i.e. shortly before, during and shortly after.
Based on our small example: 2 hours before training 73g, 73g maltodextrin / dextrose during training and 2 hours after training the rest.
217g: 3 = 73g carbohydrates divided into 3 “meals”.
Body Transformation
Who is really at peace with their body?
I don’t think so, because there are always places and spots on your body that you don’t like. Fortunately, these days, everything can be fixed by a cosmetic surgeon. The range not only includes larger breasts or a straight nose, but also six-pack and biceps implants.
Why rip your bum when it was that easy?
Yes, I know it is expensive and also involves certain risks … so what?
No, have fun aside. Of course there are areas of the body which cannot be changed without surgical intervention, but we can “conjure up” major changes without any surgeons.
Well, it’s not that simple, you have to do something for it and a lot can be done with the two components fat and muscle.
The ratio of fat and muscle is decisive here and there are different variations.
Variation 1: More fat than muscle
Variation 2: More muscle than fat
Variation 3: no muscles and no fat
As you can see, the results differ significantly.
How do you want to look
Yes, me too, in my opinion variation 2 is the most aesthetic, but unfortunately also the hardest to achieve.
Variations 1 and 3 are comparatively child’s play, either you stuff a lot of food into yourself or you only eat an apple a day and nothing else. No physical training or anything like that is necessary.
Life is not fair. Instead, the feeling of success, pride and joy are all the greater when you have reached Variation 2.
How so?
Simply because you put a lot of time, sweat, discipline and energy into your body transformation.
Well, Variations 1 and 3 have that too, but they can’t necessarily be proud of themselves. Variation 1 has to go to McDonald’s several times a day and spend as much time as possible on the sofa in front of the telly.
Variation 3 is a lot easier, you just have to be careful not to overeat and if you do, you can still use the toilet bowl. But neither of them will be happy.
You are now probably wondering how to get your dream body or at least a few steps closer.
You need:
- target
- motivation
- discipline
The goal
Without a goal, you will never achieve anything. You don’t get on a train and get off somewhere, unless you’re so drunk that you don’t know where up and down is.
You will very likely lose your way a few times, but it is well known that you also get to your destination by detours. None of the greats such as Einstein or Henry Ford were successful from the start; they too had to overcome a rocky road.
See it as something good, because every time you lose your way you learn something.
The best thing to do is to write down your desired weight, including your body fat percentage, BIG on a piece of paper and stick it on the door of your room or over your bed. Maybe you print out a picture of your beauty idol and stick your head on his / her body.
The motivation
Like everyone else, you will eventually arrive at a point where the motivation is on the beach and sipping pina colada. The trick is to catapult yourself out of this low as quickly as possible.
For this it is not enough just to want to look better or not to have to be ashamed anymore. You need much deeper motivations, so-called irrational motivators.
You have to ask yourself why you want to look better, for example.
Answer: so that I have more self-confidence.
Now you ask yourself the above answer again.
Why do I want to be more confident?
So that I can assert myself better in life.
Why do I want to assert myself better in life?
So that I have more success in my job.
Why do I want to be more successful in my job?
So that I can earn more.
Why do I want to earn more?
So that I can guarantee my family a good life.
and so on and so on … here I would like to refer to an earlier blog that deals with this topic.
What motivates you to exercise?
Discipline In
order to achieve your goal you have to be very disciplined and that doesn’t stop with regular training. This is about lifestyle changes, the way you live.
What has prevented you from progressing so far?
The weekend out with tons of alcohol and fast food?
Insufficient and unhealthy diet?
Are you working too much
Family obligations?
You know best yourself. Try to overcome your barriers and if there are a thousand different reasons why it doesn’t work, take it step by step. Start with one obstacle at a time.
For example, change your eating habits and just focus on them until you think you have it under control. Only then do you take the next hurdle. In my opinion, this is the easiest way to get used to bad habits and adapt your lifestyle to your goal.
Fitness At Home
The holidays are over and like every year it is now time to finally implement the good resolutions. Who likes to hold back when it comes to a feast and a good drop of wine?
The big “surprise” usually comes in the New Year, when you stand on the scales with reluctance and the numbers seem to go crazy.
If you can’t make it to the fitness center for reasons of time, you don’t have to put your resolutions in the sand. In this day and age, the gym comes to your home.
Motivation tips for fitness training at home
Fitness and regular exercise are important basic building blocks for a healthy everyday life and as prevention for old age.
For those of you who cannot go to a fitness studio regularly because time and travel do not allow it, there is fortunately an online fitness studio www.fitkurs.de.
offers many different fitness courses for at home.
But hard work and continuity are also required in your own four walls.
Here are a few tips for self-motivation:
1. Set goals:
Think about what you want to achieve after the first month: be it weight reduction, more stamina, or the containment of minor ailments.
And where do you want to be in six months? Do you want to fit into your favorite dress again or do you want to take part in the city marathon?
Always tell yourself that now and in old age your body will be very grateful to you. He in turn will reward you with agility and activity.
2. Schedule fixed times:
You now have the freedom to determine the training time yourself. The important thing is that you try to find a steady day for your training in your own home. Give it a try on Sunday afternoon – between lunch and dinner.
3. Get someone on board!
Only the toughest manage to train regularly in the distraction of everyday life. Do your training with a friend, with your partner or with your child. There are fitness courses at fitkurs.de where you can integrate your baby.
4. Look at fitness the same way you look at your job.
Regarding work, you cannot say: “Oh, today I feel like going and I’m not going for the next 3 days.”
Eat Before Bed?
You have probably also heard that you shouldn’t eat anything after X o’clock. As everywhere, this is one of those many misconceptions in the fitness world.
It is recommended not to eat anything before going to bed because the later it is in the evening, the slower your metabolism will be and therefore avoiding food intake as the excess calories are stored as fat.
The idea behind it is good, but in reality it looks very different.
What you should actually pay attention to are foods that increase the insulin level -> that is, carbohydrates.
- As the insulin level rises, fat burning slows down massively and a fat-storing environment is created in your body. It’s not that this is always bad. After training or after getting up, it is great for recharging the body with energy, but not in the evening when your metabolism is slowly dropping.
- Insulin sensitivity decreases drastically in the evening, which means that your body does not react as strongly to insulin as it does during the day, which means that carbohydrates are stored as fat.
(You should avoid such things in any case)
As you can see, eating carbohydrates in the evening isn’t exactly beneficial, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t eat anything.
Just imagine what happens to your muscles without food.
Suppose you have dinner at 7:00 p.m. and then don’t eat anything until you get up again at 7:00 a.m. you have left your muscles without food for a full 12 hours.
This is a great way to lose muscle, especially if you are on a diet and have a calorie deficit.
The more muscles you lose, the slower your metabolism becomes and this leads to more difficult fat loss. In addition, muscles not only look good, they also help you burn calories -> more muscles equals less fat.
So to avoid hunger pangs at night and do something good for your muscles, I recommend a small meal consisting of slowly digestible proteins and fat. It should be taken 2 hours to 30 minutes before going to bed.
With slowly digestible proteins I mean eggs, salmon, beef and whatever, and with the fats it can either be a little olive oil or a few nuts (cashews, almonds, etc.).
Lean Muscle Mass With 3 Meals
Sometimes it can be very difficult for some people to eat 5-6 meals a day. That’s why I want to show you how it should be possible to cover your calorie needs with just 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) despite a lack of time.
Can you build muscle with just 3 meals?
Of course. It just depends on the timing and the amount.
Of course, it is better to eat several small meals throughout the day, not only for the stomach, but also for muscle building and fat reduction. For some people it is simply not possible to eat 5-6 times a day for technical reasons.
that’s how it works…
- Try to work out in the late afternoon / early evening, it would be best in terms of food.
- Breakfast (large) should consist of eggs, oatmeal or muesli or whatever else you eat in the morning.
- Lunch should be average, but be careful not to overload your digestive system
- Exercise and then take a post-workout shake
- Dinner will be your biggest meal. Since your body now reacts like a sponge, it will soak up everything you feed it now. Here you should try to cover at least half of your daily calorie requirement. Overloading yourself so excessively with calories has a very strong anabolic effect.
- Next day, again steps 1-5.
That’s it, that’s the plan. Sometimes I don’t manage to eat 6 times a day either, this variant has worked very well so far.
If you can, still try to have a few more snacks during the day, but don’t worry if you can’t.
Para-Workout Nutrition
What does “para-workout nutrition” mean?
Para-workout nutrition describes the food intake before (pre), during (peri) and after (post) training. I will use the English terms in this article, as these have now become established with us.
Pre-workout:
Studies have shown that pre-workout nutrition is at least as important, if not more important, than post-workout nutrition.
That makes sense, of course, because you wouldn’t be able to drive off your car without petrol either. It’s the same with training.
You should also consume something before training in order to achieve better, longer and therefore more efficient performance.
This not only makes your training more efficient, but your body can recover faster and it can also promote the effect of your post-workout shake.
Peri-Workout (during training):
Originally, peri-workout nutrition was a pre- or post-workout drink. But now it is often discussed about taking BCAA’s (branched-chain-amino-acids, i.e. essential branched-chain amino acids) and creatine during training. The only question is whether that makes sense ?!
Personally, I do not take any supplements (food supplements) during training because I keep my stay in the fitness center as short as possible.
I train pretty quickly and jump from exercise to exercise without long breaks or small talk.
It would be too awkward for me to take any pills or the like with me, my water is enough for me (of which you should drink at least 4 liters a day).
In addition, not everyone is able, depending on the training intensity, to take in something extra, because the stomach does not play along with some.
In the past, I sometimes even had problems with pre-workout nutrition during training, for example when I was doing HIT.
HIT stands for high-intensity training where you do a lot of work in little time, i.e. you do a lot of exercises with very short breaks in under 45 minutes.
If you are not used to this, not only the body is extremely challenged and stressed, but also the stomach. I had to stop the training a few times so as not to mess up the whole fitness center (almost vomited .
In my opinion, it only makes sense to take peri-workout nutrition for longer training units that last longer than 45 minutes (mostly endurance athletes and bodybuilders).
Depending on how long before the training you have consumed the pre-workout nutrition, it will still be digested and thus provide your body with energy.
For anyone who does longer workouts and wants to build muscle or strength, BCAA’s or beta-7 supplements can of course be beneficial.
There are now a number of energy drinks that give you an extra energy boost during training.
Post-workout (after training):
Post-workout nutrition is probably the most widespread variant when it comes to strength training.
The supplement industry has put hundreds of different food compositions on the market for this, but which one is the best?
Good question. I think it should be kept as simple as possible. A protein / carbohydrate mix is sufficient.
There are ready-made products for this, or you can mix it up yourself. When it comes to carbohydrates, you should definitely make sure to consume fast-digesting carbohydrates such as maltodextrin.
Quickly digestible proteins and carbohydrates promote your physical recovery and support muscle building.
I personally take around 50 grams of maltodextrin and 25 grams of protein half an hour before and immediately after training.
With this article, I do not want to glorify any dietary supplements (supplements) in any way. Of course, you can also eat everything in the form of solid and healthy food,
But it is sometimes easier to just dissolve powder in water / milk and drink it. In addition, the powdered forms of proteins and carbohydrates are available more quickly, ie they can be absorbed more quickly by our body and thus also act more quickly to “repair” our body again.
Depending on the type of training, it is also better and more pleasant for our stomach or state of mind
Do You Have Belly Fat
Is your six pack hidden under a layer of fat?
You are not alone, many people have so-called problem areas. For men it is usually the stomach and for women the bottom and thighs. Although you have fat all over your body, you can see it best in these areas.
These problem areas are strongly influenced by your hormonal balance and where the fat attaches is determined by the hormones that are out of control.
Today I just want to talk about belly fat.
The connection between belly fat and the hormone cortisol has been discussed in the fitness media lately . Simply put, the higher your cortisol levels, the more likely you are to have more belly fat. The reverse is also true: the more belly fat you have, the higher your cortisol level.
Of course, high cortisol levels are harmful for other reasons too, but let’s focus on belly fat for now.
Instead of suffering from it (belly fat) you can logically counteract this by lowering the cortisol level. Sounds easy, but it is not.
Ominous anti-cortisol pills are also sold on the Internet, which of course do not help and I would always advise against any pill miracles anyway. And anyway, doesn’t it make more sense to save your money and burn fat at the same time?
Did you know that hormones can be used to fight hormones? You “just” have to figure out which one can be used against which, in which case growth hormone is the key to a flat stomach.
The growth hormone is produced in the pituitary or pituitary gland and is located in the middle of our skull. Growth hormone is one of the most effective things to combat excess cortisol.
It would be nice if it were that easy.
Fortunately, there are certain types of exercise that significantly increase growth hormone production. As is well known, hormones are always released in response to something, growth hormone comes in response to lactic acid. Lactic acid is a waste by-product that is created during training through various chemical and metabolic processes.
So if you train in a certain way you can produce more lactic acid, which in turn results in a lot of growth hormone and this then combats your too high cortisol levels. As we already know, less cortisol results in less stubborn belly fat.
How does it work?
While lactic acid is produced in most types of intense exercise, there is one unusual type of exercise that produces even more lactic acid than is possible with the other methods. Unfortunately, this type of training is called lactic acid training , where the weights are slowly lifted and quickly lowered.
The reason for this principle is that lactic acid is mainly produced in the concentric or positive / upward movement and less in the eccentric or negative / downward movement, so we focus on the positives and eliminate the negatives as best we can.
So the positive movement (one repetition) takes about 4 seconds and the negative movement as fast as possible, but still safe.
So when you do squats, you bend your knees very quickly and you slowly come up. With the shoulder press, for example, you would lower the dumbbells quickly and slowly press them up again for about 4-6 seconds.
So your body is forced to produce a lot of lactic acid.
More lactic acid -> more growth hormone -> less cortisol -> less belly fat
But that’s not the only solution. In total there are 3 hormones that have to be fought
.
- Estrogen, “man’s breasts” and lower body fat (is combated with density training and testosterone)
- Insulin and your swimming rings (is combated with dynamic training and the IGF-1)
- And of course cortisol and belly fat (this is combated with lactic acid training and growth hormone)
Why Is Your Belly Fat Not Going Away?
4 reasons why your belly fat won’t go away
Reason # 1: you’re not balanced
Your emotional, mental and physical state has a bigger impact on your body than you think. When your psyche is unbalanced, your fat regulating hormones go out of control and cause even more fat to accumulate.
What is causing this imbalance?
- not getting enough sleep
- you spend too much at work and with family responsibilities
- a lot of stress
- you worry about your life
Mental and emotional stress causes a breakdown of the hormone cortisol, which results in an accumulation of belly fat. Scientists believe that your body does this out of a natural “protective mechanism”. If you are under constant stress, your body receives a signal that it is being attacked and reacts with the accumulation of fat around your organs.
Why there?
- to protect the organs
- to make energy available quickly
Ok and now you are probably wondering why on your stomach and not somewhere else?
Your body is actually very lazy (efficient) and wants to make it as easy as possible for itself and not get the energy it needs from far away, like your legs, for example. That is why it is stored around the internal organs, since that is where it is most quickly available.
Reason # 2: your body is like a snack machine
When you look at the contents of a snack machine, all you see is sugar-filled, chemical, and over-treated “dead food” that will kill you bite by bite.
Since our society today consumes way too much of this stuff (otherwise you can’t say it and by that I mean fast food and treated foods) we become what we eat .
We are walking snack machines that fall apart with every step.
What makes these foods so dangerous and unhealthy?
here is a short ABC
A. Obesity-promoting additives
Did you know that most of our thousands and thousands of groceries on the store shelves are made and controlled by only about 5 multinational corporations, which have only one goal and that is to generate even more sales?
The scientists of these main actors are paid to create “Frankenstein-like” food which is then produced in huge robot-controlled treadmill factories.
All kinds of preservatives, additives and chemicals are added to our food so that they can be kept for days, weeks, months or even years.
There are 7 chemicals that have a major impact on our health and of course on our abdominal girth, that’s why I call them obesity-inducing.
Why do these obesity-inducing additives make you fat?
- Two of these additives interfere with the hormone leptin, which is responsible for telling our brain that we have eaten enough. Without this signal, we just keep eating.
- Other additives cause weight gain because they cause hormone imbalance. Insulin, which is responsible for storing fat, shoots up while the fat-burning hormone glucagon is suppressed (welcome belly fat).
- Another addition can lead to a mineral imbalance, which leads to gas.
- In addition, science has shown that some additives are addictive and cause uncontrolled eating because the neurotransmitters in our brain are inhibited like the drugs cocaine, morphine and nicotine. (maybe that’s why you can’t just eat one?)
Where can you find these additives?
- Salad sauces – also many light and fat-free versions
- Cerials (also those advertised as healthy for children) – biscuits, breads, chips, pretzels and pasta
- Also ingredients like ketchup, jam, syrup and sauces
- dried, smoked and canned meat
- Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables
- Soft drinks (Cola, Fanta etc.), fruit juices, energy drinks, tea
- Lots of packaged diet foods
- Hundreds of reduced fat, fat free and diet products
- and of course most sweets, desserts and fast food products
B. uncontrollable cravings
Your body is malnourished and craves certain nutrients, so you are always hungry. He needs certain micro and macronutrients in order to function, if he doesn’t get that you will get mentally and physically ill -> heart problems, cancer, diabetes and depression to name a few.
If you don’t eat the right foods, which are full of essential nutrients, your brain will constantly signal your stomach to eat more. This is then expressed in cravings and hunger.
The problem is that you only consume more nutrient-free foods and are still hungry due to the nutrient deficit.
C. Constipation
Yes, I know, that might not be breakfast maintenance.
Your stomach doesn’t have to be all fat. Look at it this way: the length of the intestine is 6: 1 in relation to body size. So for a person who is 1.80 m tall, the length of the intestine is 10.8 m. If this is clogged, someone can be very bloated and appear fat.
Not eating the right foods can lead to a bloated appearance. Your digestive system cannot function properly due to the constipation and cannot absorb the important and healthy nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, essential fats, water, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, which your body needs to be healthy and to burn fat faster.
As mentioned under B. , when your body is not getting the nutrients it needs, your brain tells your stomach to eat more.
Reason # 3: you have an impaired metabolism
A. You are not eating enough at the right time
Here’s the problem: most people who want to lose weight cut their daily calorie intake massively. Of course it works, but only for a short time, because with this calorie deficit you are preventing yourself from being successful. You are predestined to fail.
- As you probably know, such diets lead to uncontrollable cravings and hunger because your body is not getting the nutrients it needs. Only very few people can withstand these extreme feelings of hunger, most of them capitulate and lose control in which they then “overeat” and ultimately weigh even more than before the “diet”.
- After about a week, the hormones, which ensure a regulated metabolism, adapt to the new situation in your body (calorie deficit) and work against you. Leptin levels and thyroid hormone fall like a coin from the Eiffel Tower. Your body tries to store as much energy and therefore calories as possible -> fat deposits.
- The fat-storing hormones insulin and cortisol increase by leaps and bounds. At least now you will stop losing weight. At this point, you either need to increase your calorie deficit or do more endurance training to burn more calories.
B. You eat foods that prevent burns
Some foods stimulate your metabolism and thus your fat burning while others do exactly the opposite.
Calories from different foods react very differently in your body. Some ignite and your metabolism goes off like a small rocket and others, however, hinder it like if you were stuck in a traffic jam and there are more and more cars (fat analogously).
There are even foods that you can eat as much as you want because they are so burn-inducing. But you can find out more about this in another blog.
Reason # 4: you do it alone
A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that weight loss was very much influenced by one factor.
Namely the social support.
This had a significant impact on the success of the weight loss. Those who lost weight, who met regularly with other weight lossers and who motivated and supported each other, had an average higher weight loss of 225%.
So if you want to lose weight find like-minded people and meet with them regularly to exchange ideas about your success and give new inputs.
The Dangers And Risks Of Belly Fat
Scientists and doctors agree that fat, and especially the belly fat that surrounds our organs, is the most dangerous fat. You could say that this is one of the greatest health threats and that it can be an affluence syndrome with fatal consequences.
How so?
The inner belly fat envelops our internal organs in the abdominal cavity and can therefore affect the physiological functioning of our body.
This can lead to health problems such as insomnia, headache, anxiety, depression, joint pain, infertility, lack of energy, allergies, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and so on and so on, among other things.
Aside from that, excessive belly fat dramatically increases the chances of developing fatal diseases such as heart problems, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and even a stroke.
And as if that wasn’t enough, this huge bump makes us look unattractive and can also completely destroy our self-esteem and confidence.
How do I know I have too much belly fat?
Science says that if a man has a waist circumference of 101 cm and a woman has a circumference of 89 cm, they are very at risk (highest risk group) of suffering from one of the symptoms or diseases mentioned above.
Another way to find out if you have too much belly fat is to divide your height in centimeters by 2. The waist circumference should not be more than half your body height. So if you are, for example, 180 cm tall, your waist circumference should not exceed 90 cm.
But to be honest, you don’t need all these calculations to find out if you have too much belly fat. Just take your hand and press your stomach, when you have a handful of fat you know you should do something about it … as soon as possible, before it gets any more.
Why is it so difficult to get rid of the fat?
There are various reasons for this, which I will explain to you in more detail tomorrow .
Are Eggs Unhealthy?
It is generally assumed that the egg yolks in particular are bad and that they contain dangerous fats and cholesterol. But in reality, egg yolks contain most of the nutrients.
Unfortunately, this is just one of the many everyday examples and shows how confused and misinformed people are about food.
Most people think that the yolk is the bad part of the egg, when exactly the opposite is true because it’s the healthiest part of the egg!
There are also many so-called fitness gurus who describe the egg yolk as bad (mostly in relation to calories and fats) and swear exclusively by protein.
In addition, the yolk is simply thrown away, which is the most nutritious, antioxidant, vitamin and mineral-laden part of the egg.
It contains so many B vitamins, trace elements, A vitamins, folate, choline and lutein to name a few.
Compared to the yolk, the protein is almost nutrient-free.
Without the yolk, the proteins in the egg white are not half as valuable, as it balances the amino acid profile and makes the proteins more available to the body. Besides the fact that free-range chicken yolks are full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
The egg yolk contains over 90% calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiami, B6, folate, B12 and panthothenic acid of the egg. It also contains all fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K as well as all essential fatty acids.
And here comes the most popular opinion:
“I’ve heard that whole eggs get cholesterol up”
This is wrong!
To be clear, if you eat something that is high in cholesterol, such as eggs, your body regulates this by reducing its own cholesterol production to make up for it.
On the other hand, if you don’t get enough cholesterol, your body will produce cholesterol on its own as it has several important vital functions.
And this is where it gets interesting …
There have been a number of studies that show that consuming whole eggs increases good HDL cholesterol levels more than bad LDL cholesterol levels, i.e. it improves cholesterol ratio and blood chemistry.
High cholesterol is not a disease! Heart problems are illness-related, but not high cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a very important substance in your body and has vital functions. It is wrong to assume you have to lower your cholesterol just because pharmaceutical companies are promoting that everyone on this planet should be on statin drugs.
The egg yolk also contains antioxidants, including lutein, which can prevent inflammation (…), another reason for the egg yolk.
In a University of Connecticut study, a group of men ate 3 eggs a day for 12 weeks on a low-carbohydrate and high-fat diet.
The participants’ good HDL cholesterol levels increased by 20% while the bad LDL cholesterol levels remained unchanged. In the other group, which only consumed protein, the values did not change.
I hope you understand now that whole eggs won’t kill you, but rather save you from it.
But what about the extra calories in the egg yolk?
This is actually meaningless, although the protein contains fewer calories than the egg yolk, it is not as micronutrient-rich, which increases the nutritional value per calorie.
This regulates your appetite for the rest of the day, so you consume fewer calories. In addition, the healthy fats boost the fat-burning hormones in your body.
In short, the extra fat (healthy fats) and calories in the egg yolk help your body burn body fat because it is so nutritious!
Even the conventional industrial eggs from mass farms do not come in the least close to the organic free-range eggs of healthy chickens in terms of nutritional value,
Since the free-range chickens eat more naturally and are not pumped full of antibiotics and other growth-promoting hormones.
The commercially available cheap foods have a significantly lower nutrient content, a higher omega-6 and a lower omega-3 level.
Free-range chicken eggs, which are fed more naturally, have a much higher vitamin and mineral content and a more balanced omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio.
Very few people recognize the difference between cheap eggs and free-range or organic eggs.
Cheap eggs have a pale egg yolk and a thin, weak shell, free-range eggs, on the other hand, have a thick egg shell and the egg yolk has an orange tint, which indicates a higher nutritional value and also more carotene – a healthy egg.
The reason for this is that free-range chickens eat various grasses, insects, reptiles, etc., which results in a much higher nutritional value of the eggs compared to industrial chickens,
Which are kept under mostly poor conditions and are only fed with grain and soy. What you should also know is that the artificial light,
Which is supposed to imitate the sun, is switched on and off for industrial chickens twice a day in order to simulate a new day and to get the chickens to lay more eggs.
Of course, high-quality eggs cannot be produced in this way, as the egg production of the chickens is also pushed and therefore not enough nutrients can get into the egg.
Do you think that our ancestors threw away the egg yolks hundreds or even thousands of years ago? Absolutely no way. They ate the whole egg.
So stop preparing your omelette or scrambled eggs with 4-5 egg whites and only one egg yolk, because you are missing many valuable nutrients.
Here is another interesting study …
One group ate eggs for breakfast and the other cereal or bread. The egg group lost or was able to maintain body weight, the cereal / bread group gained weight.
“Egg-eaters” consumed fewer calories throughout the day than the “cereals / bread eaters”, who were constantly hungry because their blood sugar fluctuated back and forth and this triggered the feeling of hunger.
I myself eat 4-6 eggs a day for breakfast, sometimes even some during the day, and keep my body fat below 10% all year round.
Leptin – The Most Important Weight Loss Hormone
Leptin was first discovered in 1994 and plays an extremely important role in weight loss.
Leptin molecule – looks more like a tangled cable
What does leptin do?
It informs the brain and body about the current nutritional status.
Two things regulate leptin levels, one is body fat. This means that people with higher body fat percentages also have higher levels of leptin than people with lower body fat percentages.
Leptin is secreted by fat cells, so there is a direct relationship between the level of leptin and the amount of fat you have on you.
If you try to lose weight by consuming fewer calories, your body overreacts to your disadvantage and lowers leptin levels.
And this is the second factor in blood leptin levels, caloric intake. As soon as you cut down on your calorie intake, leptin levels will go down regardless of your body fat.
So you can suffer from low leptin levels despite being overweight, just go on a diet.
So what happens when leptin levels drop?
As I said before, under normal circumstances the leptin level is normal and the brain receives the signal that the calorie intake is sufficient. The metabolism is high and the body is burning fat until you start dieting.
(This body doesn’t know much about burning fat)
Once you start dieting, your leptin levels drop dramatically (by 50% or more in just a week) as it tells your body that you are half starved and are not consuming enough calories.
This slows down your metabolism and leads to a hormonal response that stores fat. The thyroid hormones react by falling and the belly fat-storing stress hormone cortisol shoots up.
Hello belly fat.
(Welcome to the world of leptin resistance)
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the appetizing hormones ghrelin, anandamide and neuropeptide-Y are added, which make your life even more difficult.
So when the leptin level drops you will get very hungry.
Ironically, our bodies burn fat at all other times except when we are trying to burn fat.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could maintain high levels of leptin and a fat burning body while dieting? This would solve all of the problems.
Leptin as a dietary supplement?
The problem is that leptin is a protein-based hormone. So it cannot be taken orally, otherwise it will simply be digested. This excludes the leptin pill.
Then we still have leptin injections. This even works, the metabolism remains high and the body does not go into “starvation mode” even though one consumes fewer calories.
1996, Ahima et al. used leptin injections to reverse starvation-inducing neuroendrocrine adaptations in mice, i.e. to outsmart the body.
That’s all well and good, but we are human. Tests on rodents cannot be compared to humans.
1999 Heymsfield et al. conducted a study with placebos, analyzing weight loss in 73 obese people over 24 weeks.
The “guinea pigs” were injected daily with leptin or placebo. After the 24 weeks, the leptin group showed a greater weight loss than the placebo group and had a higher muscle / fat percentage.
2002, Rosenbaum et al. administered low-dose leptin to men and women who had lost 10% of their body weight.
During the diet phase, thyroid levels, general energy expenditure, and other metabolic factors all decreased significantly. The result of leptin replacement therapy?
“All endocrine changes have been reversed …”
This means that the thyroid output and the daily calorie burn increased back to the pre-diet level.
2003, Fogteloo et al. showed that leptin injections “tended to reduce the decrease in energy expenditure, combined with energy restrictions, while the tendency to increase energy intake to normal levels in placebo-treated subjects was largely prevented in leptin-treated subjects.”
Simply put, the leptin group’s metabolism slowed less and they were also less hungry, which made it easier for them to stick to their prescribed diet.
2004, Welt et al. reported that leptin given to a group of women with thyroid dysfunction immediately increased the density of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4.
2005, Rosenbaum et al. showed again that the energy expenditure and the circulation density of T3 and T4 increased again to the normal level (i.e. as before the weight loss) with regular leptin injections.
In theory, this means that keeping leptin levels high while dieting will solve our dilemma by preventing the negative metabolic adaptations that the calorie restriction causes.
Unfortunately there is a problem. Daily leptin injections are way too expensive, thousands of euros per week. So we can forget about leptin supplementation as a solution. Besides that, who wants to put a needle into their skin voluntarily every day?
A realistic solution
Now that we know that injections of leptin are not going to save us, we should consider the possibility of manipulating the body’s natural production of leptin.
Instead of supplying us with expensive injections, there is a solution that everyone will like: more calories and carbohydrates.
As we know, leptin levels drop by 50% after a week’s diet. Fortunately, it doesn’t take nearly as long to replenish leptin to 100%.
Studies have shown that higher calorie consumption causes leptin levels to recover within 12-24 hours.
So the answer is: Strategic high calorie / high carbohydrate cheating.
a strategic cheat meal increases leptin levels, which helps with weight loss
Strategic cheating with high-calorie foods like pizza, cakes, cookies, chocolate, hamburgers, french fries etc. increases the leptin as well as the metabolism, which prepares your body to continue to burn fat despite a calorie deficit.
That means you’ll have more fat loss week after week and a much more realistic way to get to the body you want.
What about the carbohydrates?
Leptin, carbohydrates and insulin are very closely related.
Calories alone are also useless, as research shows that overeating of proteins and fats has almost no effect on leptin.
So in order to get a strong leptin reaction from overfeeding, a lot of carbohydrates have to come into play.
The mutual dependency is so great that the leptin level does not decrease with a zero diet as long as the insulin and blood sugar are maintained intravenously.
Because of this carbohydrate / insulin-leptin relationship, it makes sense to eat things that are high in fat and carbohydrates (pizza, hamburgers, cookies, etc.).
This combination works best against the negative effects brought about by dieting because of the immense insulin response.
So this goes against any claim that carbohydrates are our enemy. On the contrary, on certain days they can even be our friends.
How Much Salt Should You Consume Daily?
One of the most controversial topics in the health and fitness industry is salt / sodium consumption.
Most doctors say you should consume as little salt as possible, as if it were the trigger for all bad things such as high blood pressure, heart problems, kidney problems etc.
99% of the time, however, they tell people who are in poor physical shape and not tough exercising athletes and bodybuilders.
So if your workout consists of walking from the couch to the fridge and running to the bathroom every now and then, you should follow your doctor’s advice …
But since you are very likely here because you are active in sports and sweat regularly, the rules regarding low salt consumption do not apply.
Hard training athletes who do not consume enough sodium have more problems than if they overeat.
Too little sodium causes muscle cramps, dizziness or an electrolyte imbalance, which can cause neurological problems or even have fatal consequences.
Drinking a lot of water is known to be healthy, but if you drink too much and have too little sodium in your body, you can get water poisoning, which can cause epileptic seizures, impaired consciousness or a coma.
What is sodium
Sodium is a mineral and plays an important role in our body balance. It controls the amount of water in the body and the acid level.
About 40% of our sodium is in the bones, 55% is in the blood plasma and the rest is in our organs and cells. It is necessary for proper nerve conduction, balanced blood pressure and the cell uptake of nutrients.
The body regulates the sodium balance itself, if you have consumed too much or too little sodium, for example, the kidneys and intestines balance it out.
During the day, the intestines absorb sodium while the kidneys excrete approximately the same amount in the urine.
The level of sodium in the blood depends on the amount of sodium and water in the arteries and veins.
The body regulates sodium and water differently, but uses both to correct blood pressure when it is too high or too low.
Should the body have too little sodium (also known as hyponatremia), the body can either increase the sodium level or reduce the amount of water in the body.
The opposite is true when there is too much sodium in the body (hypernatremia). Here the sodium is reduced or the water supply increased.
Sodium intake for bodybuilders and athletes
For example, if you do hard weight training or endurance training and sweat a lot, you need to replenish the sodium or sodium stores that you lose in the process to ensure a healthy electrolyte balance.
Especially if you are trying to lose weight and eat fewer carbohydrates, you should increase your sodium intake.
Carbohydrates force your body to hold back water and sodium. For every gram of carbohydrate you eat, your body will hold back 3 grams of water.
In a weight loss program, you should always salt your food or take flavor enhancers containing sodium such as soy sauce or maggie.
It will make you feel stronger and it will help you keep your sodium levels in balance.
In reality, the many negative side effects of a “low carb diet” such as feeling weak and having no energy are no reactions to too few carbohydrates but rather because the body has too low a sodium level.
Should you experience symptoms like this, just consume more salt and you will soon feel a lot better.
You can even go so far that you always have small packets of salt in your training bag (the same as you get at McDonalds or Burgerking).
As soon as you get any signs of muscle cramps or dizziness while exercising, take a packet of water and after about 5 minutes the sodium should take effect and you should feel better again.
Quintessence
Athletes and bodybuilders should increase their salt or sodium intake rather than decrease it.
You have to replace what you lose while sweating in order to keep the electrolyte balance in balance and to be able to train hard.
That doesn’t mean that you have to use the calculator to calculate your sodium needs, but don’t be afraid of salt.
The best thing to do is to listen to your body and how you are feeling, your energy levels, etc. and if you feel dizzy, get muscle cramps, etc. the chances are that you are sodium deficient.
The Milestone For Muscle Growth
What is the milestone for muscle growth? How do you get an athletic and muscular body?
With progressive overload.
If you say: “I already know …”
Are you really doing this
The mirror may say otherwise. Do you still look the same as you did a month or even a year ago?
Do you agree that it is easy to feel good while exercising?
It’s easy to do what’s cozy and familiar. It is tough to focus on and stay focused on the top priority. What should be your top priority?
Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees anymore. You suffer from information overload: high or low repetitions, free weights or machines,
Heavy or light weights, split or full body training, compound or isolated exercises, fast or slow, endurance or not, low or high carbohydrates – you know what I mean. The world of weight lifting can be very confusing.
When you are flooded with ways to accelerate or slow your muscle growth, it makes sense to ask yourself the following question: “How do I achieve the greatest impact on inevitable gain?”
Or simply put: “What is the best tool for muscle growth? get, which women force you to look a second time and make other guys jealous? “
The history of progressive overload
I’ll tell you a story about Milo. The point is that Milo has a young calf and carries it on his shoulders once a day.
The calf got bigger and bigger and Milo carried an increasingly heavy calf until one day he carried a full-grown bull around.
Now comes my version of the story, and I want you to replace Milo with yours.
Milo was a young man who wanted to become as strong as possible and “build” a body that he could be proud of.
Milo didn’t read any bodybuilding magazines, nor was he interested in the oh-so-promising supplements.
Milo was very clever and did not allow himself to be fooled by the misinformation of the so-called “experts”. Milo wanted to grow big and strong with the simplest means available.
Milo joined the local fitness center and finished with the 2.5kg. Start weights at the other end of the rack.
For the next workout he used 5 kg. and the following week 7.5 kg. Milo refused to use the same weights twice and ended up at the opposite end of the rack.
Milo got stronger the more she moved to the other side of the frame until he finally reached 50 kg. arrived.
Milo is now THE guy in the fitness center, on the street and of course on the beach who is stared at by everyone and asked for advice.
Milo is a great example of what happens when you expose your muscles to greater resistance than they are used to, they get stronger and bigger.
My version of progressive overload
Your muscles don’t feel like growing, they would rather be lazy or watch TV all day. The only one who wants to become big and strong is you, not your body. Our bodies were designed to survive and not be strong or look good.
If you go to training and subject your body to the same exertion as last week, your muscles will laugh at you and say: “Nice try, did you want to challenge us like that?”
If you put your body under new stress it will say: “Holy sh *** * e, what’s your problem?
I never want to be exposed to such stress again, so I will wax to protect myself. ”
You can compare it to sunbathing. Your body gets darker to protect yourself from the sun.
How to apply this principle
– Use 2.5 kg. more than last week
– Use the same weight as last week but do one additional rep
– Use the same weight for the same number of repetitions, but rest 15-30 seconds shorter
– Take 2 more seconds to lower the weight
– Move the same weight as last week in a larger range of motion (larger movement)
– Use the same weight and number of repetitions but do one more set
The Pareto principle also applies here. 80% of your success comes with 20% of the tools available. Continue to expose your body to unusual stress or exertion and your muscles will have to adapt, in this case gain muscle mass.