Staying fit while on Holiday

So there you are laying by the beach, margarita in one hand, and sun block in the other taking in the breathless view. You are on your holiday and all the worries of the world are far behind.

Most people workout hard to look their best during the holiday, and once they are at their favourite holiday spot, they let loose. Nothing wrong with that. Holidays are meant to be enjoyed and i am the king of letting loose as well. But if you wondering how you can still stay fit during your holiday without blowing away all your hard work and also to keep looking good throughout your holiday, you have come to the right place. There are actually lots of things you can do during your holiday to stay fit. Especially if you are on a long holiday, you don’t want all your hard work to go to waste and start from scratch once you get back. So here are some tips on how to stay fit during your holiday.

Swimming

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise cause it gives you a cardio workout and strength training all at once. And which holiday destination does not have a swimming pool? If you can hit the pool for 30 minutes (actual swimming time not just sun bathing and floating around in the water like a buffalo) your good to go. You will be able to chow down almost anything you want, and your body will look fit as if you never left the gym.

Go for a walk or a jog

If you are by the beach, get up a little earlier than everyone else and have a quick jog or walk by the beach. It may not be as much or as effective as your gym work outs, but like I always say… something is better than nothing

Kayaking and other outdoor activities

If you love the outdoors, then you don’t have to worry about staying fit. Whether it is jungle trekking or kayaking, if you are a nature enthusiast, I am pretty sure you will get plenty of exercise during your holiday. Kayaking is great for your shoulder, arms, back and of course it burns a whole lot of fat. So try to get involved in outdoor activities and you will be good.

Push Ups, Sit Ups, crunches

These are exercises you can do just about anywhere, anytime and you don’t need any equipment. I usually like to get a few crunches in before I head out to the beach… gives your abs that little toning that you need to look your best. If you have a series of exercises, do all of them before you head out. It will make you looked a little more pumped and best of all, it is still a work out. Try it out and see.

Using the hotel gym

For those who are more hardcore, you can always depend on the hotel gyms for your workouts. When? You can always get up about 30 minutes earlier and sneak in a quick workout. If you don’t have a gym, you can always resort to doing some of the exercises mentioned above. It won’t be equivalent to your gym workout, but it sure the heck is better than doing nothing.

Now that you get the idea, going on holidays doesn’t have to mean you will come back looking fat. I always hear people say “oh I just got back from a holiday, that’s why I put on some weight” or “I need to work off those extra holiday pounds now that I am back”. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can stay fit while you are on holiday. I look forward to hearing what other great routines you guys have and want to share with others.

Why you need to have good abs

Have you ever wondered why you should bother to work out, watch your food and have a good set of abs? Well I have loads of friends who argue that having a great looking abs is purely to satisfy one’s vanity, but actually, you will be surprised how important it is to keep a trim and flat stomach is, besides just making you look good.

1) The bigger your waist, the shorter your life.
Remember the BMI scale which was based on your body weight and height? The higher your BMI, the higher your risk of heart disease and other obesity related illnesses? Medical researchers have found that the BMI is inaccurate because your body weight can be higher due to a lot of reasons besides just fat. Hence a more accurate technique is measuring your waist hip ratio. It has been proven that people with bigger waists are at higher risk for heart disease and other obesity related illnesses which could lead to an early death. To reduce your risk of these diseases and live a longer life, you need to take action now.

2) The bigger your waist, the shorter your “member” will be.
Some studies suggest, that the bigger your waist becomes, the shorter your penis will be. This is because as you put on weight over your pelvic area, the more fat you have, the less of your penis will be exposed. Hence, you can lose a few inches because it is being swallowed by fat. Also, the fatter you are, the poorer your blood circulation will be due to constricted veins and arteries and as you know, getting an erection depends on blood flow. So having poor blood flow comes down to poor erections.

3) The stronger your abs, the better your game will be
Whatever sport you play, you will need strong abs as the stronger yours abs the better you will be able to play the game. Whether you are playing golf or football or basketball, strong abs help you to have that burst of speed from Point A to Point B which is one of the most important factors in any game. So if you have mastered the skills for the game to your maximum potential and can’t improve, strengthening your abs will give you that additional edge to get you out of that rut.

4) A bigger waist gives rise to many chronic health problems
Having a big waist puts unnecessary strain on your back and legs. As you get older, you are more likely to have chronic aches and pains in these area as it is under stress with additional weight all the time. Why add more unnecessary health problems when you get older? These can be easily avoided. Hence why it is important for you to keep your midsection trim.

So besides just looking good, having a good set of abs is actually important for a lot of other reasons as well. Hopefully this is motivation enough for more people to get fit and stay fit. I look forward to hearing your comments on this.

The 2 + 1 Diet Plan

I have tried out this plan myself and recommended to people and they all say it works wonders. If you want to lose weight without having to starve yourself and become a social outcast, this is the plan for you.

The 2 + 1 Diet plan is very easy and perfect for those who are working and have to eat out all the time. In short, most of us eat 3 meals a day. The idea is to make 2 of those meals are as healthy as possible and then for 1 meal, you are allowed to eat other foods (which deemed to be less healthy) in moderation. For most working adults, you can easily control what you eat for breakfast and dinner and ensure it is very healthy, but when it comes to lunch, you are limited to very few options as you most probably have to eat out. Hence why this plan is perfect, because when it comes to lunch you can eat out as per normal people. By making at least 2 out of 3 of your meals healthy, you will already start to see results.

But there are some rules you must follow in order to really see results

• Eat a healthy breakfast. Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai does not count. You should eat breakfast cereal or sandwiches for breakfast. The tip is to eat something that is low in calories, yet fills you up and keeps you full for long periods. Oats are a great option too
• When it comes to lunch, yes you are allowed to stray a little from healthy food but do it in moderation. Eating a 3 piece KFC meal everyday is not going to help. Try to limit fast food to once a week, and if you must eat unhealthy food, eat less of it. I would recommend eating fruits or other healthy snacks before your lunch, so this way you eat less unhealthy food because you are already half full from your pre-lunch meal.
• Dinner should be light as well. Ideal dinners would include sandwiches, pasta, thosai, chapati or for those who are more disciplined... just fruits.
• Try to eat just 3 meals and nothing else. so no snacking in between, no teh tarik after work etc, no goreng pisang
• You should also try to reduce your sweet drink intake. No point eating healthily if you are going to drink 10 cans of Coke a day. So limit sweet drinks to 2 or 3 a day and no more
• Of course as usual, if you could throw in about 30 minutes of walkking everyday or some form of exercise besides just getting up from your office chair, it will defnitely help you burn more as well.

So there you have it. A simple 2+1 Diet plan which anyone can follow and if done properly, i guarantee you will see results. So eat unhealthy food in moderation, and balance it out with 2 healthy meals every day and you will definitely see results. Look forward to hearing your comments.

Negative Calorie Foods

Is this possible? Can certain foods actually have not only "no calories", but even negative calories? Could you literally eat your way to fat loss...the more you eat the more you lose?

OK, before you all get excited over this concept, there is such a thing as negative calories, but it’s not exactly something that cancels out other foods and fat which have calories. Foods which are considered to have negative calories actually do have calories, but because they are complex foods which are difficult to breakdown, the body uses more energy to break it down (calories used) than what the calories the food itself contains.

So for example, if you ate an apple which has 100 calories, your body may need to use 150 calories of energy to break it down and digest this food. Hence by eating the apple, your body just lost 50 calories. Comparative to eating a slice of cheese cake which has 300 calories and only takes 100 calories to digest, then you have gained 200 calories.

Of course the question now is, how do you incorporate this into your lifestyle / diet to make it work for you? Below is a listing of negative calorie foods which have less calories than it takes for your body to breakdown. Meaning low calorie foods which are complex and difficult for your body to break down hence causing a negative calorie "gain".

Negative Calorie Foods - Vegetables
Asparagus, Beet, Broccoli, cabbage (green), carrots, cauliflower, Celery, Chili peppers, cucumbers, garlic, letuce, onions, Spinach, turnip, zuchini

Negative Calorie Foods - Fruits*

Green apples, cranberries, grapefruit, papaya, lemons, mangos, orange, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries

* juicing these fruits and drinking them don't count. You got to eat these fruits whole.

So the idea here, is of course to try and increase the intake of these foods while reducing those other foods which are high in calorie and bad for our gut. I have read of diets which consist of only these foods, and honestly, I think that is a silly idea for the sole reason that it is too drastic and you will not be able to stick with it. So instead of doing that, why not try to eat more of these foods during your meals or maybe even switch one of your meals to just these kinds of foods. These foods will you up fast and keep you full for longer as well... so you really don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. It is a great way to naturally burn some additional fat while eating. Who would have thought that would be possible.

Look forward to hearing your comments as usual.

Red Meat that is Healthy

Can you imagine being able to eat red meat again without any guilt? Imagine that this red meat is lower in fat than beef, turkey, chicken, fish, and even ostrich. Imagine that this red meat is higher in protein than beef. Imagine that this red meat tastes wonderful.

Well, imagine No More. There is indeed such a meat - It's Buffalo Meat. I was watching the Asian Food Channel not too long ago, and they featured this restaurant in US that made Buffalo steaks, Buffalo burgers etc... at first i went "Ewwww", but then all the people who ate it said, it tasted just like beef and they couldn't tell the difference. They also flashed the nutrition facts of buffallo meat, and its higher in Protein than Beef (for all those body builders who are looking for more protein in their diet) and less fat than even skinless chicken (for all those who want to eat red meat without the additional baggage). All the taste, without any of the guilt. Of course when i heard all this info, i was like... that's great news, but we will never see it in Malaysia, so what's the point.

And just last week, i was surprised to see the Giant near my house selling Buffalo Meat from India. The price averages around RM 10 for a Kilogram so its still pretty affordable. To all the Hindu's out there... its "halal" for you to eat. So you are no longer stuck to just mutton when it comes to red meat. Try it out and see. I made some burger patties out of mine, but i overdid the salt and some of the spices. So let me refine the recipe before i post it up here for you guys.

Below are the nutrition facts of Buffalo meat (per 100 grams serving) compared to all the other meats.

Look forward to hearing your comments on this wonder meat, especially if you have tried it.

Top 5 Cures for a Hangover

I was listening to Rick Dee’s Weekly top 40 over the weekend and was listening to his Top 5 cures for hangovers. Sounds like useful facts. Hope it helps all you drinkers out there.

Number 5 – Eat a hearty Breakfast.
After a heavy night of drinking, you need to eat a hearty breakfast. A hearty breakfast which is high in fat and protein actually helps to absorb all the toxins from the alcohol, hence removing it from your system quickly. Not the best for your wasitline and your health, but great for getting rid of that nasty hangover.

Number 4 – Drink Lots of water
Alcohol is a like a sponge for body fluids. Hence after drinking, your body will be totally drained and all that water needs to be replenished. It is recommended that for every glass of beer you drink, you drink the same in water. So if you drink 5 pints of beer, you will need to drink 5 pints of water. I am guessing that when it comes to hard liqour, each shot of liquor should be balanced with one full glass of water.

Number 3 – Take Panadol
OK, US people are not familiar with Panadol, but he did mention some drugs which are equavilent to our all purpose Panadol. So Panadol is not just an antitode for fever. It’s a great drug that helps with hangovers as well. The key is to take medicines that do not upset your stomach. Pills that say it should be taken after food are usually the kind that will iritate your stomach. So pain killers are a big NO NO. This is because your stomach has already been iritated with all the alcohol, so adding more iritants to your stomach will not help. Stick to Panadol. It works just as fine without iritiating your stomach. Truly a wonder drug.

Number 2 – Sleep
After a heavy night of drinking, your body is working overtime to breakdown all the alcohol and get it out of your system. Hence sleeping will allow your body to do this process faster without over exerting it with other activites. I personally believe that Number 4, 3 and 2 is the best way to get rid of your hangover. After a night of drinking, drink a ton of water, pop a couple of Panadols and get a good nights sleep. If you wake up and still feel like you just got hit with by a train, pop 2 more panadols, drink more water and off to bed again. You will wake up fresh as if you never drank.

The Number 1 for a hangover – Don’t get drunk in the first place.
He he he. I guess most of you would have seen this coming. But yes, the best way to prevent a Hangover is to not over drink the night before. Key word is not to overdrink. So know your limits and stay within that if you want to avoid a hangover.

Anyway, look forward to hearing your comments, especially from our regular, Mr. AD. I know this is not 100% related to fitness, but I think it is still related to health and your wellbeing.

Eat Carbohydrates and lose weight

If you love eating carbs, you are going to love this posting. Did you know that not all carbs will make you gain weight? There are some carbs which are actually safer on your wasitline than others? All this difference between how quickly you gain weight weight is dependant on a simple thing called the Glycemic Index.

Glycemic index or GI for short, is a rating given to carbohydrates depending on how fast a particular food will be turned into sugar once it enters our body. So the faster the food breaks down into sugar, the higher the GI will be. The slower it breaks down, the lower the GI will be. Needless to say, foods with high GI will promotes weight gain and foods with a low GI will be friendlier to your gut.

Why? As you know simple carbohydrates like white rice turns into sugar almost immediately once it enters your body. Unless your body has a need for all that energy immediately, all that sugar (which is energy food) will be stored away as fat as your body can’t use it just yet… in other words, saving it for later. So if you eat lots of food with a high GI and don’t have the appropriate level of activity to use all that energy, you will gain weight.

Foods with a low GI takes time to break down, and hence releasing sugar into your body at a slow and steady pace. Unless you work as a construction worker or a full time athlete, the amount of activity you do on a day to day basis is quite low which also means, the amount of energy you need is low. Hence, the low GI food which breaks down slowly, will release sugar slowly into your system, keeping it balanced and releasing just what you need – which also translates to less fat being stored.

Besides weight loss, foods with a low glycemic index also

- Increases the body's sensitivity to insulin
- Improves diabetes control
- Reduces the risk of heart disease
- Reduces hunger and keeps you fuller for longer
- Prolongs physical endurance Helps re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

The best technique for eating the low GI way is simply a "this for that" approach - ie, swapping high GI carbs for low GI carbs. You don't need to count numbers or do any sort of mental arithmetic to make sure you are eating a healthy, low GI diet.

- Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran (corn flakes has pretty high GI)
- Use breads with wholegrains
- Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
- Enjoy all other types of fruits and vegetables (watermelon has a high GI as well)
- Use brown rice or low starch rice (basmati rice is also a good choice)
- Enjoy pasta as they have low GI (compared to the mamak yellow noodles)
- Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing (or lime juice)

For more foods and their GI and what you should be eating and what you should not, do check out this link

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm

Check it out and see. There are loads of successful diet plans which have come out over the years based on GI. As these are scientific facts, you can be sure it works. Look forward to hearing your comments.

5 simple tips to healthier eating

Everywhere i go, everyone is asking me... how do i lose weight. To be honest, the simple answer is to work out more and eat less unhealthy food and more healthy foods. But yet, people still want that miracle like "oh just watch TV for an additional hour and watch the fat melt off". Sorry folks, no such thing. It all comes down to your own effort and determination.

But don't worry... its not all that hard. I would like to share with all of you - 5 simple tips which you can start doing today to eat right and lose weight. And trust me, its not that hard to do

Tip#1 - Avoid Fried foods
Fried Mee, Fried Chicken, French Fries, Fried Maggi, goreng pisang... please cut these out. If you are serious about losing weight, avoid these foods. Now, i am not saying you can never ever eat them again in your life. You know it is bad, so just eat it sparingly. The more of it you eat, the more weight you are going to put on. The less you eat, the faster you will lose weight. So the choice is yours.

Tip#2 - Reduce Intake of Sweet Drinks and sweet foods.
Do a quick count of how many sweet drinks you have in a day. If its 5 drinks, cut it down to 4. Then after 1 month, cut it down to 3 and so on. You get the picture. The worst sweet drink to have is Sodas and colas. Its just sugar with no nutrition value at all. Ideally, you should try yo cut it down to 1 or 2 sweet drinks a day. Don't waste time with telling your mamak - kurang manis. Some times they do, sometimes they jsut don't care. Safest is to control the number of drinks you have.

The same goes for sweet foods such as cakes, candies, chocolates etc. Cut it out from your daily diet and use it instead as a reward. Maybe treat yourself to one slice of cheese cake if you follow these 5 tips for 1 full month and have some reduction in weight. It's a great way to motivate yourself and keep going till you reach your ideal weight.

Tip#3 - Switch whites to wholemeal
If you eat a lot of white carbs like white rice, white bread etc, make a switch to wholemeal or high grain / high fiber stuff. It does make a difference. Of course if you are eating out, you can't tell your mamak you want a serving of brown rice or high fiber rice. So instead, cut it down (maybe just 3/4 of the helping) or eat other things like chapati or "Pollunggu Arasi" or Indian rice. This has less starch content than normal white rice because of the way they cook it. Important note, not all mamaks have this... its usually found in authetic indian restaurants and those that serve banana leaf. So make the small switch. Wholemeal isn't as bad as it seems

Tip# 4 - Eat more fruits and vegetables
This goes without saying. Not only is this stuff good for you, it will help you lose weight. Why? It's high in fiber, which means it fills you up fast and because it has fiber, it takes time to break down ... which means you stay full longer. So you don't have to starve to lose weight. Reduce your carbs and increase your intake of these wonder foods. You will be surprised at the results. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, of course the sweeter the fruit, the higher the content of sugar compared to others which aren't as sweet. So choose wisely.

Tip# 5 - Stop eating junk
When it comes to junk food, there are 2 broad categories that i have in my dictionary. One is the junk food like potato chips etc and the other is junk food which is processed meat like sausages, nuggets and burgers. If you eat 3 meals a day, stick to your 3 meals and don't snack on potato chips, kacang or other tit bits during the day. All these junk foods have what i call "empty calories". High in calories and fat which go straight to your gut and worst of all, it doesn't fill you up. Ever eat a whole packet of Twisties before? It has a whopping 500 calories, but it does nothing to fill you up. So most times, we eat that feel hungry half an hour later and then try to eat something proper. Double calories. Try eating 500 calories of whole meal bread (which will be about 7 to 8 slices). Feel the difference on how full it makes you feel? So please avoid all unnecessary snacking. If you want to snack, snack on healthy things like muesli bars or breakfast cereal. Stay away from the rest.

As for sausages and nuggets, sorry to say... most of these things are made by churning left over chicken / beef parts which cannot be used for anything else. Then they load a lot of MSG and flavouring, put it in an attractive shape and voila... you have it. These parts include the left over skin, fat, ligaments and other parts which people generally don't buy. I will be posting up a recipe for healthy burgers and healthy nuggets soon, so please try it as it is much healthier than the crap in the super markets.

There you have it guys... 5 simple tips which you can do right now. Best of all, it still leaves a whole variety of foods you can eat out there... so you have options. Try it and let me know what you thoughts are as usual.

New Year's Resolution

With the year coming to an end, and a a whole brand new year about to unfold, almost everyone i meet is asking me 1 question:-
What is my resolution for next year? My resolution for next year - to quit making resolutions i don't intend to keep.

Needless to say, many out there will have a resolution to hit the gym (again), lose some unwanted pounds, get fit, start that diet etc... but sad to say, 90% of the people who do this during the new year, end up quitting after about 2 months. Why is there such a high drop out rate for this? Simple.. people don't have specific goals and people want miracles in terms of their fitness results. So before you make your resolution to be a fitter person this year, just follow this simple guide and i hope you won't be one of those people who quits prematurely.

Specific Goals
Before you begin your fitness lifestyle, it is important for you to set specific goals. Like lose an inch of my waist in 1 month or lose 2 Kg in one month. Most people just join gyms, pay a shit load of money and don't even know what to do or why they are doing it. If you don't know why you are doing something, you will get bored.. that is guaranteed. So make sure you have a goal or target and make sure it is specific - it must have an amount and a time frame to achieve that.

Realistic Goals
Besides being specific, it has to be realistic. Realistic goals are goals that you can achieve... unrealistic goals can only be achieved when you are day dreaming. So make sure your goals are realistic. If you are a overweight male with 42 inch waist, please do not set a goal like a waist of 32 in 6 weeks. It's going to be virtually impossible to reach that goal. Start small.. how about 1 inch of your waist for each month... in fact, that is a pretty safe and easy goal to achieve.

When advicing people on how to set goals, i like them to just work out for one month and measure their before and after. Once you have that, you can calculate the progress you have made and use that as a measure for future goal setting. So if you lost 4kg in your 1st month, then you can safely say that your goal is to lose 4 kg a month, and that is your realistic goals.

The reason why people quit, is because they set goals which are unrealistic, and when they don't achieve it, they get frustrated and often times claim that they are NOT seeing ANY results. So set realistic goals which you can reach, it will make you feel good and get you on the right road.

Start small and improve slowly
I have seen so many new comers / beginners do this. On their 1st day in the gym, they run on the treadmill for 20 minutes on high speed. Wow... good start dude. Then they are missing for the next 3 days. When i approach them and ask them what happened? Oh, my legs hurt too much the next day so i could not come.

Please, start slow and work your way up. Rome was not built in a day and neither will your muscles and their ability to cope with the work out. Because the work outs become torture sessions, people are inclined to just throw the towel and quit.. why do something which hurts so much. Working out is a little hard i admit, but its not supposed to kill you and make you feel like you are about to die. If your work outs are that way, you are over training and most probably heading into what i cal burn out.

No such thing as a miracle
People also often expect miracles. They think 6 weeks of hard sweating in the gym will give them whatever results they want. It doesn't work that way. Losing weight takes time. What i like to tell all my clients is, give yourself at least 6 months... ie you must continue this routine, diet, lifestyle for at least 6 months. Then and only then will it be safe for you to have results that people can see and complement you on. and when you get compliments, you will be self motivated to continue the routine. So whatever you do, make sure you stick with it. Don't expect miracles where you will suddenly look in the mirror and see 5 inches off just like that. it always happens gradually and it takes time. So be patient.

So there you have it. Some simple tips to help you kick start a fitter lifestyle and of course with the hopes that you will stick with the program and not just quit after 6 weeks.

Before i forget. Happy New Year and Happy Holidays everyone. May next year be a better year for all of us.

PS: I sincerely hope 2009 is a better year than 2008 as this has been a truly crap year for me. For those who are close to me, i am sure you will know why.

Gain Muscle Mass Quickly - Part 2

As promised, here is part 2 of how to gain muscle mass quickly. As mentioned earlier, this program is designed for skinny guys who want to pound on some serious muscle mass. If you are overweight and want to put on some muscle mass, you may not need to consume as much as i am recommending here. You can follow the general guidelines, but i would recommend just lift heavy to burn off the fat first. Once you start losing significant body fat, you can switch on to this program wholly. But where there is doubt, please leave a comment and i will be glad to answer.

Breakfast, Pre work out & Post work out

There are 3 very important meal times that you need to be aware of when you want to gain muscle mass. 1 is breakfast, 2 is before your workout (usually about 60 to 90 minutes before your work out) and the other is right after your work out (30 to 45 minutes after your workout). Lets go into these meals in more details one at a time.

Breakfast

Ah yes, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. If you heard you mother preaching this a million times, it’s only because it is true and like they always say, mother knows best. Breakfast is very important because it is the first meal after a long fasting period. If you eat your dinner at about 8pm everyday and breakfast at 7am, that is almost 11 hours of fasting that your body has endured. Because of that, you need to replenish your body with foods that it can use and also important to give it food that will not be turned into fat. Whenever you eat breakfast, remember these 3 simple rules

Avoid simple carbohydrates – Simple carbohydrates are all the starches that are white. White bread, croissants, noodles, white rice etc. Because your body has been starving itself for so long, the insulin level in your blood will be really low. The second you put any food into your mouth, it will automatically raise the insulin level in your blood. Simple carbohydrates get turned to sugar almost immediately once it enters your system. Because of this, you insulin will spike when there is a sudden introduction of sugar in your bloodstream, and insulin spikes will promote fat storage within your body. The insulin is going spike no matter what… what you want to do is minimize the spike to a gradual raise.

Go for high fiber, high protein breakfasts – If you can, skip all your sweet breakfast cereal and go for eggs and whole meal toast or a ham sandwich on whole meal bread or even oat cereal with milk (no sugar). Things such as pancakes, frosted corn flakes, roti canai, nasi lemak etc is just bad news for your belly in the mornings… so avoid them at all costs. You want to build muscle, so you will need loads of protein and breakfast is the one of the best times to replenish your supply.

Drink something that isn’t sweet – one of the worst things you can do in the morning is get a cup of coffee, load it up with sugar and milk and down it to wake yourself up. No doubt you will wake up almost immediately because of the sudden sugar rush, but this will also make your waist line grow. If you have to drink something sweet, try artificial sweeteners that don’t have as many calories or go for fresh fruit juice or lightly sweetened Soya Milk. The worse breakfast drink I have seen is having a can of Soda just after waking up. No nutrition and loads of fat building potential. So unless you are aiming to become a Sumo wrestler, please don’t drink soda in the morning. It’s just wrong.

Pre Work out

The next most important meal of the day is your pre work out meal. Before you go for your work out, you want to essentially load yourself with complex carbohydrates and protein. You essentially want to get this food in 60 to 90 minutes before your workout so that your body has time to digest this food and make all the nutrition you need available for your training. In essence, you are giving your body the ammunition it needs for the forthcoming assault… which is your heavy workout. So examples of pre work out meals that are good to have would be:

1. Peanut butter sandwich on whole meal bread
2. Thick Milk shake blended with fruits like banana or berries
3. Tuna sandwich on whole meal bread
4. Chapati with egg and chicken curry (small portion)
5. Turkey ham sandwich with egg on whole meal bread

I think you get the idea. Avoid oily, heavy or fattening food like mee goreng, roti canai or rice with curry as this will only make you feel lazy and sluggish... the last thing you need when you hit the gym for a heavy lift. Although carbohydrates have been constantly bashed and given a bad name for making people fat, if you want to gain muscle mass, you need carbohydrates. Why?

When you train heavily, your body will actively look for fuel to power your activity. What your body does is revert to a process called glycolysis. Glycolysis is a process of turning sugars (usually provided by carbohydrates) into ATP and if you remember your biology lessons, ATP is a energy that is used by muscle cells to complete movement. So if you starve yourself of carbohydrates, it's simple to see that you won’t be providing the fuel you need for your work out heavily and to your full potential.

Another important tip is to have a glass of something sweet (not to sweet) about 20 minutes before your workout. If you are not a big eater, this is a great way to help you boost the sugar your body needs before the workout. The reason why it is 20 minutes before the workout, is because the drink is sweet and is already in the form of sugar… so there isn’t any breaking down required to convert it to sugar. This way, you load your body with fuel ready substances to power your work out. This is good for people who are skinny and just can’t seem to pound on that additional weight. If you are overweight and looking to lean up with muscle mass, you may skip this.

Post work out

Once you are done with your intense work out, your body will attempt to rebuild and repair the damage caused by your work out. The reason I use the word attempt, is because you body can only repair the damage if it is given the right raw materials. Imagine building a house without bricks or wood… you can’t do it can you. The same way, your body only can build muscle if it is provided with the right tools and of course the right raw materials. So you want to once again ensure your post workout meal is heavy in complex carbohydrates and heavy on protein. Your body’s ability to build muscle depends a lot of how fast it can exit the catabolic stage (the breakdown during work outs) and enter the anabolic stage (where it recovers and repairs the damage done during the workout). So as you can see, post workout nutrition is very important.

Post work out meals is also what people like to call the Free Zone… meaning almost anything you eat, will get utilized by the body immediately… so there is no risk of fat storage. Notice that pang of hunger that has just struck you after your work out. Yeah, its your body crying out to be fed. But again, if you eat more than your body can use (even if it is just pure protein), you will put on the wrong kind of weight. The best post workout food to have is similar to the ones mentioned in the pre workout meals…heavy on protein and heavy on complex carbohydrates. If you are drinking protein shakes etc, now would be the best time to drink it as it will be most efficiently used at this time compared to any other time.

Eat every 3 hours that you are awake

Besides the three important meals mentioned above, I would like to recommend adding in three more meals per day. Ideally, for maximum muscle gain and weight loss, you want to eat something every 3 hours that you are awake. So if you eat breakfast at 7am, you want to chow down something at 10 am and then go for lunch at 1pm and so forth. The idea is, to keep the additional meal portions small so that you don’t end up consuming more than you need. Eating additional meals not only raises your metabolic rate and prevent insulin spikes which result in fat storage, but eating additional meals provides your body with the continued supply of raw materials it needs to rebuild and repair your muscles. The problem with our body is, when you give it nutrition, it takes what it needs for that moment and then discards or stores away the rest. It is similar to a child who if you gave him or her pocket money by the month, chances are they will spend it all within a few days and be broke after that. Because of this, you probably have to give the child money on a daily basis and the same goes for our body… not daily but on a more regular basis. So if you want your body to maximize its protein usage, eat many meals and keep the portions smaller.

Ideally, your post and pre work out meals should be additional meals besides your lunch and dinner. So on top of lunch and dinner, you now have an additional 2 meals which is your pre and post workout meals. But if you lack the time and comfort to feed yourself in such a manner, you need to make some modifications while still abiding by the basics. For example, if you are going to workout in the morning before work, your breakfast will have to follow the pre-workout meal plan instead of the normal breakfast mentioned above. If you are working out after work, then your dinner will have to follow the post workout meal plan. So adjust your food accordingly based on your progress and your goals.

How much protein should I consume?

Since protein is the building blocks for muscle, you are going to need lots of it for muscle gain. But just how much protein does you body need to really build muscle? Well depending on the amount of muscle you have and how heavy you lift, your need for protein will vary. But in essence, you should aim to have 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. So if you weigh 70kg, then you want to aim for 112 grams to 126 grams of protein per day. This is just a rough guide of how much you should be consuming. This amount may also vary depending on how hard and heavy you are lifting.

Wouldn’t it better to eat a whole lot more protein just to be safe? Not really. Since protein has the same amount of calories as carbohydrates, eating too much of protein will also mean too many calories in your system… and we all know what too many calories translates to. This is why it is important to follow the scale given above. You can vary your protein intake depending on the results you are getting and hence adjust to get the results you want. If you lift really heavy and weight 70kg, you may need a lot more protein that someone else who is lifting lightly and weighs 70kg.

It is also important to point out here that 112 grams of protein a day refers to 112 grams of pure protein. So if you eat a chicken breast that weighs 112 grams, it doesn’t mean you are done with your protein intake for the day. Chicken breasts have loads of other nutrition as well, and though it may be high in protein, it is not made up of 100% protein. To give you a better gauge of what I mean, 1 can of tuna has about 20 grams of pure protein. So in order to get 100grams of protein, you will need to consume about 5 cans tuna a day. Seems like a lot to consume doesn’t it. To get about 112, you will need to consume 6 cans of tuna. This is of course on the premise that you are not eating or drinking anything else. Just plain tuna. Do you think you get hungry after the 6 cans? If you were 70kg and lifted very heavy and going for muscle gain, yes, you would probably finish the 6 cans by lunch or by tea.

The thing is, everything we consume has some amount of protein in it. Whether it is milk, rice, bread, cheese and even chocolates, they all have some amount of protein in them. So consuming all that other stuff does count towards your daily protein intake. What you want to do is reduce the other unhealthy things like fat and increase your protein intake so that you put on the right kind of weight.

So if you are serious about putting on some serious muscle mass on your skinny frame, or if you are serious about loosing weight and gaining some good muscle mass, you need to follow the guidelines here. If you are thinking “It’s a lot of good stuff, but not so practical for me. So how much can we deviate from this plan and still get results?” Well it really depends on what you want and how much of it you want. If you want to maximize your muscle gaining potential, you need to be a dietary boy scout and train like there is no tomorrow each time you hit the gym. If you want less, then you just follow it less. The more you follow this, the faster and bigger gains you will see. So it really is up to you. Once you are decided, we hope we have helped you in some small way to achieve what you want.