Weight Management Resource
Burnitforever.com realizes how important it is to keep burning fat forever. As much as we need good fats, the bad ones need to go away and we have to get rid off them. In saying so, this is where you should come every time you want to read about weight management and nutrition. This is a library designed by experts to help you educate yourself more about proper nutrition and weight management. Basic Nutrition 101
What is Nutrition?
Nutrition is a process in which living organism have the ability to ingest food and use this food as a source of energy for growth and development. Good and healthy nutrition is needed in order to stay healthy. If we eat unhealthy, we are putting our body in jeopardy of being sick, and collapsing.
What is Diet?
Diet is anything that you eat throughout the course of a day. There is diet and healthy diet.
What is a calorie?
A Calorie is a measure of heat energy, meaning calories aid in production of energy, and heat energy as well. To learn more about calories read this article.
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are a group of compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Glucose, glycogen, sugar, starches, fiber, cellulose, and the various saccharides are all carbohydrates. For example ( plantain, mash potatoes) are carbs. Carbs have 4 kilocalories per gram
Carbohydrates are either simple or complex. Simple carbs are known as sugar and complex carbs are known as starch. Next time you eat something that is very sugary, (cookies)think of simple carbs, and when you eat something really starchy (potatoes) thinks of complex carbs.
What is protein?
Protein is any group of complex organic compounds containing nitrogen, form from various combination of amino acids. Your muscles are made up of building blocks of amino acids, hence, made up of protein as well. You need protein to gain weight, and to lose weight. Protein is the main nutrient used in the formation of all body tissues. Protein have 4 kilocalories per gram
What is Fat?
Fat is a combination of three fatty acids and and glycerol. In much simpler term, fat is a source of energy for the body, fat is good for everyone, but it depends on which kind of fats that is ingested. The are other kind of fats such as: saturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats are better for you than saturated fats and you should substitute monounsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats in your daily diet instead of saturated fats. Think about omega 3 and omega 6, they are polyunsaturated fats.
Generally speaking, fruits, vegetables, and starchy food are very good source of unsaturated fats and are low in total fats, where as milk and meat have high fat contents and are saturated fats. Fats have 9 kilocalories per gram.
What about how much carb, protein, and fats?
As a good rule of thumb the ratio is in terms of consumption 50% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fat. This ratios can be manipulated with any diets and base on someone goals. Seek your nutritionist advice to find out which ratio is more appropriate for you.
Let's learn how to do a few calculation that will help you determine the amount of grams of protein, carbs, and fat you should be consuming. This is only an illustration and should not be used for your own goals, Joe's goals are different than yours.
Example: Joe is an athlete who weighs 60kg and need to consume 2500kcal a day. Calculate Joe's amount of protein, fats, and carbs per gram needed
Protein: = 30% X 2500 kcal / 100
=750 / 4kcal/g =188 grams of protein
Carbs = 50% X 2500 kcal / 100
=1250 / 4kcal/g = 312 grams of carbsFats = 20% X 2500 kcal/ 100
= 500 / 9kcal/g
= 56 grams of fats
Obesity and Overweight are not the same:
Overweight is when you body weight is greater than what is considered to be normal. If a woman normal body weight is 140lbs, and she weights 10lbs more, that's overweight.
Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat tissues, usually reserved for individuals who are 20-30 percent or more above the average weight for their size.
What is the deal with Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a nonfat substance and it's critical for people's metabolism. It travels in the bloodstream. It can only be obtain from animal foods, but the good thing is the body can make its own supply too from other dietary nutrients such as saturated fats. As much as cholesterol is good for you, it should be limited in the amount that is consumed each day, because it's one of the worst enemy of the heart's arteries.
What are minerals?
A mineral is an inorganic element found in nature, and is usually solid, so a mineral is actually an element. Minerals are found in the soil and are eventually incorporated in growing plants. Eating a lot of vegetables is a great source of mineral, and meat too, because animals eat plants. Minerals are very essential in our daily diet. A few important minerals are: Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Iodine, etc.
What are phythonutrients?
Phythonutrients are nutrients derived from plants and they should be consumed every single day. They protect the bodies fight and prevent disease. Have you ever wonder, how plants really survive, considering they are not like humans, who go to visit a physician all the time and more. Well, plants produce phythochemicals, they are simply disease fighting chemicals. Now imagine how these could be help you so much. So get your phythonutrients everyday.
What are vitamins?
Vitamins are substances found in foods. Everyone needs to add vitamins in their daily diet so the body can work properly. It's like gas in a car, if the car doesn't have any gas it won't work properly. They are fats soluble and water soluble vitamins.
Fat Soluble Vitamins: These vitamins are usually happy because they can stay and store in your body longer. Sometimes for a few days or even 6 -8 months. Then they are ready to do their work, the body special carriers transport them to where they need to go, to do their work. Vitamins A, D, E, K are all fats soluble.
Water Soluble Vitamins: These vitamins don't get store in he body, they just travel through the bloodstream, and whatever the body doesn't use go to an excretion process, usually urination, but bowels as well. So, Vitamin C and the major group B vitamins ( B1 (thiamin, B2 riboflavin, niacin, B6 pyridoxine, folic acid, B12 cobalamine, biotin, and pantothenic acid.)
What is Water?
Water is the most essential colorless, tasteless, and odorless substance to all mankind, and it' also known as the most universal solvent. Considering the fact that we lose a lot of water every day through waste, we need to be ingest at least 6 full glasses of 8 ounces every single day.
What is the real deal about Body Fat Percentage & Body Weight
It seems to me that not only women are scared of their target weight but they are even more scared of body fat percentage. This is true for many men as well. The reality is, if you look deeply and start education yourself more about physiology and nutrition. You will discover that everyone has a target weight and age, genetics, and gender make a huge difference for someone’s true body weight.
Many times someone will perform and execute daily activities differently than someone else with the same body weight and body fat percentage, that’s because as I said before you are your own individual, Lisa is her own, Jim is his own, and I am my own. Our body composition is not the same even if we were to weight the same and have the same body fat percentage.
This is a reason why the American Council on Exercise and the American Collegiate of Sports Medicine has set forth a range and guidelines for the general population and athletes. These are companies over 50 years of experience in conducting research in the fitness and health industry. Check the table below to find out where you fall, and all you need is to fall between your range, and you are set. I know many of you who are reading this are saying, but I want to have a lower body fat percentage and lower weight, that may not be as good as you think. Let’s discover that further below
Table 1: Body Fat Percentage for The Average Population
Age Up to 30 30-50 50+
Up to 30 30-50 50+ Females 14-21% 15-23% 16-25%
14-21% 15-23% 16-25% Males 9-15% 11-17% 12-19%
9-15% 11-17% 12-19%Table 2: Average Body Fat Percentage of Athletes
SportMaleFemaleSport Male FemaleBaseball 12-15% 12-18% Rowing 6-14% 12-18%Basketball6-12% 20-27% Shot Putters 16-20% 20-28%Body building 5-8% 10-15% Skiing (X country)7-12% 16-22%Cycling 5-15% 15-20% Sprinters 8-10% 12-20%Football (Backs) 9-12% No data Swimming 9-12% 14-24%Football (Linemen) 15-19% No data Tennis 12-16% 16-24%Gymnastics 5-12% 10-16% Triathlon 5-12% 10-15%High/long Jumpers 7-12% 10-18% Volleyball 11-14% 16-25%Ice/field Hockey 8-15% 12-18% Weightlifters 9-16% No dataRacquetball 8-13% 15-22% Wrestlers 5-16% No dataAllright! back to where we left. As I mentioned earlier, let's discover something phenomenal about weight loss and body fat percentage. I'll pick on myself. My target weight base on the general standard population is 175 lbs for a male. Let me tell you something, I see over and over again. Not even, I have tried it but I have also experienced the discomfort level and the greatness. When I lose weight and go too much below my target weight, say, 165 lbs, the physiological aspect of my body change. My brain is not functioning well, and I feel very unhealthy. When I am at 175 lbs and up to 180 lbs, that's when I feel the best. I have more energy, stamina, you name it. That is of course by following an exercise regimen and a proper nutritional program.
Less amount of bodyfat percentage doesn't necessarily mean you are healthy and it's good. Find out why:
Everyone needs a certain amount of body fat to function normally. This is very critical because it keeps us healthy. When you are trying too hard to lower your body fat percentage, the effect can become very dangerous and unsatisfactory. Why is that? When you go to a health and fitness professional or the doctor or the coach and you measure your body fat percentage, your total body fat is what is been calculated. The total of your body fat is divided into two categories, essential body fat and fat storage.
Essential Body Fat: is the amount required for both men and women in order for the body to function at its best every single day. 12% is the required value for an average woman and 5% is the required amount for an average man. If you keep on trying to go below these numbers, it will simply affect your essential fat storage, which actually protect your internal organs such as: heart, liver, kidney, chest, and abdomen. So, don't keep beating yourself up and try to go below your average, your body won't tolerate if for too long and you are putting yourself at risks.
Fat Storage: This is the fat that is deposited right underneath someone's skin. It it also known as subcutaneous fat. This is the fat storage that you start burning first after some 15 + mns of aerobic exercise, like the treadmill. If you read the table able carefully, you'll see that the average bodyweight in fat storage for a woman is 15% and 12% for a man. As long a you maintain and stay at that bodyweight fat storage base on your age, and involving in a physical activity at least 3 times a week for 30 mns, you are doing yourself a huge favor of prolonging your life expectancy.
