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Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants
With the advent of technology, we humans have gotten used to instant
gratification in all aspects of our lives. While our parents and grandparents
had to go to a local library or institution to search for answers to most of
their questions, we’ve got Google at our fingertips.
To save time and effort, we pick instant meals and TV dinners or opt for the
drive-thru lane and takeout counter at a fast-food joint.
And even when it comes to weight loss, we think we can get instant results
by choosing anything that’s low-fat or sugar-free at the local supermarket and
shopping for those pricey fitness gadgets advertised on TV.
Then reality strikes, and we awaken to the fact that losing weight isn’t as easy as it seems.
After a week or two of very little or no results, we’re already floored and
ready to concede to the thought that some people are just luckier than others.
That’s because we’ve taken the wrong approach to weight loss to begin with.
There is a right way to do it, and a fast one at that. In this article,
we’ll get down to the details of a how a reduced carb, high-protein diet can help you lose fat without the usual hunger pangs you
experience with most low-carb regimens.
What’s great about this approach is that your food choices will also help speed up results, preserve lean muscle, and develop a well-toned physique.
10 Things to Keep in Mind When Trying to Lose Weight Fast
1. Load up with low-carb veggies for a start.
Much of your excess weight is really water, so you need to eliminate that
first. The best way to do this is to embark on a low-carb, high-veggie phase for a couple of weeks. Eliminate
all simple carbs from your diet and turn to low-carb veggies like cucumber, zucchini, asparagus,
spinach, and broccoli.
Doing so lessens the amount of glycogen stored in muscle tissues, so the
body can eliminate excess water. You’ll be surprised at how much weight you can
lose when you adopt this approach. This will also train your body to turn to
fat stores for energy.
What is most important during this initial stage is that you don’t consume
simple carbs like grains, bread, corn, or potatoes. Stay away from sugary foods as well, or else
you’ll have to start from square one.
Once you’ve successfully worked through the two-week period, it’s only fair
to give yourself a little reward. Day 15 is cheat day, so treat yourself to
whatever you want to eat! Then get back to low-carb dieting the day after, and
from thereon, reward yourself every five to seven days.
Cheat days are suggested but not required. They work for most people who
feel they have deprived themselves of the foods they love. So it won’t hurt to
have them occasionally, as long as you don’t get into the habit of bingeing
during your cheat days.
On the other hand, some individuals feel they don’t benefit much from cheat
days. If they have conquered their cravings and gotten used to low-carb eating,
why mess up the routine and feel guilty afterward?
Skipping cheat days is definitely fine, especially for those who are easily
addicted to high-carb foods and find it difficult to get back to low-carb
options.
Key Point: Follow this 14-day low-carb, high-vegetable regimen to the
letter. It is designed to curb your appetite, accustom your body to turn to fat
stores for energy, and set up your system for fat loss.
2. Each meal should have a good balance of veggies, protein, and
fat.
Much of your success at weight loss lies in curbing your appetite without
really going hungry. That means building your meals around lots of low-carb
vegetables (ideally two to three cups), plus a reasonable amount of protein and beneficial fats.
This combination can really speed up fat loss due to a reduced calorie intake. So skip
the pancakes, cereal, sandwiches, or bagels — they may be convenient for
breakfast but not when you’re trying to lose weight.
Key Point: It may be advisable to have smaller meals more frequently
through the day. That way, you keep those hunger pangs at bay. Most people find
that they feel less hungry when they eat five or six smaller meals every two to
three hours.
This also helps regulate insulin or cortisol hormones, which can
trigger dips in your blood sugar level and cause you to crave
sugary, fatty foods.
3. Opt for high-quality protein sources.
Years of research have proven that one of the most effective ways to reduce body fat is to achieve a threshold dose of
10 essential amino acids with every meal.
When preparing your meals, make sure you build them around high-quality proteins, and be sure include enough sources of protein (most plant-based
proteins aren’t complete) that cover all your bases.
With high levels of amino acids per calorie, these food choices provide you with the best nutrition without making you fat.
Key Point: The recommended daily protein level is 1.6
grams per kilogram of body weight. This ratio has proven to work best in
developing and preserving lean muscle when on a strict calorie count. As an
illustration, a 160-lb individual should be receiving approximately 116 grams
of protein on a daily basis.
4. Be sure to include low-carb veggies in every meal.
Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy, which is why you’ll see
a lot of athletes load up on carbs prior to competitions and extreme
activities. That’s why you cannot totally eliminate carbs from your diet, even
when you’re trying to lose weight.
The trick is to choose your carbs and restrict your daily intake to less
than 50 grams. That way, your body will not depend on converted glucose from
carbs for energy and will turn to your fat stores instead.
Your best bet will be low-glycemic
veggies such as leafy greens — they’re highly nutritious, low in
calories, and contain a lot of fiber that can help cut down your food intake.
Take your pick from these low-carb veggies: broccoli, zucchini, celery,
cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, asparagus, collards, avocado, bok choy,
mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onions, eggplant, turnips, garlic, and leafy
greens.
Key Point: It’s vital that you go low on carbs when losing weight. The only exception to this
veggies-only restriction is when you engage in extreme workouts. You can have
some fruit after intense exercise: apples and berries are great since they’re
low in carbs but rich in nutrients.
Those with low-fasting glucose levels (90 mg/dL or lower) may also go
slightly higher in carbs. However, this condition is quite unlikely, especially
among overweight individuals.
5. You will also need beneficial fats.
It must be the term “fat” itself that makes us think we’ll put on weight
whenever we have it. But the total absence of fat in our diets can make us feel
terribly miserable. We just have to choose the ones that are good for the body.
Everyone needs to know that a low-fat diet won’t tell your body to turn to
fat stores for energy. On the contrary, increasing your fat intake while going
slower on the carbs is the best-known method to ramp up your metabolism so the
body burns more fat for energy and weight loss.
Fats also make food flavorful and tasty and help improve their texture.
Avocado, olives, and nuts are high in beneficial fats. Make sure you also take
krill oil or flax seed oil supplements as they’re rich in essential omega-3 fats DHA and EPA.
Key Point: Use saturated fats like palm oil or coconut oil when cooking
at high heat as they don’t get oxidized like olive oil does. Olive oil is only
recommended for low-heat cooking and is best used fresh (unheated).
6. Refined and packaged foods are a BIG no-no.
Refined and packaged foods you pick from the supermarket shelves are loaded
with lots of sugars and nutritionally empty calories. They also
contain processed fats and carbs, which can cause glucose spikes and cravings for foods that are
high in carbs.
All these can cause you to build and store body fat that can cause weight
gain. It’s best that you totally eliminate them from your diet.
Key Point: Foods are best consumed in their natural state. If you want
to lose weight and stay healthy, go slow on
processed foods and takeouts and opt for home-cooked meals instead.
7. Steer clear of sugar and other high-glycemic foods.
We’re not only talking about cane sugar you normally use to sweeten your
food and drinks, we’re also referring to the carbs that break down into glucose
in your blood.
The reason why we call these foods “high-glycemic” is that they have the
tendency to significantly raise blood sugar levels and cause the release of
the insulin hormone. High insulin levels will usually trigger an increase in
your appetite.
Insulin is also known as the fat-building and fat-storage hormone. It
directs our cells to pick up glucose from the bloodstream and store it as fat
for future energy source. A high-carb diet will contain large amounts of sugar,
which can be quite taxing for the body.
This can lead to a state of insulin insensitivity, which slows down the
metabolism and causes weight gain.
Key Point: To optimize the metabolic process, cut your sugar intake
drastically. The best way to do this is to eliminate ALL carbs from your diet,
except those non-starchy veggies that are low in carbohydrates.
8. Skip alcohol and other caloric drinks.
Alcohol shouldn’t be in your diet if you’re attempting to lose weight the
fast and healthy way. Alcohol is essentially a poison that the body has to
process — it can slow down the metabolism and even worse, cause inflammation.
The same goes for caloric beverages that are packed with lots of sugar. These include juice, soda, and sports
drinks. Have coffee (black), tea, or water instead, and if you need to sweeten
them up, pick a natural, zero-calorie sweetener like stevia.
Key point: Once they’ve gone through the initial two-week low-carb
phase, wine lovers can continue enjoying a glass or two of red wine during
their high-carb cheat days. In fact, studies have shown that a glass of good
red wine with your meals can enhance insulin sensitivity and lessen
inflammation.
9. Adequate calorie intake is equally important.
Some people on a low-carb diet complain about lacking energy or feeling ill,
and this could be due to a number of reasons: low thyroid activity from a lack
of glucose, difficulty adapting to the fat-burning process, or a simple lack of
calories.
A calorie deficit is essential for weight loss, but it is also important that your
body continues to receive the right nutrients. Getting a bit more calories from
fat seems to help people feel better.
Key Point: You might get confused with this advice to consume a bit more
calories when you’re trying to cut the fat in the fastest way possible. As we
pointed out before, it really depends where your calories are coming from.
Beneficial fats can supply the required energy while increasing your body
temperature.
This can make you burn fat faster and prevent you from
feeling miserable.
10. Perform the right type of workout and get enough rest.
Just as much as your food choices will matter, so will the kind of exercise
you engage in. The recommended low-carb diet we’ve detailed out in this article
will definitely make you lose weight, with or without exercise. However, a
good workout can ramp up the results.
It will help to engage in anaerobic training (lifting weights, strength
training, and interval exercise) as this type of activity encourages protein
synthesis, which is essential for preserving muscle mass.
Fat-loss diets often lead to loss of muscle, and strength training can prevent this. Anaerobic
exercise enhances your metabolism and helps the body adapt to burning fat for
the needed energy. This is especially important for sedentary or obese
individuals who may require a catalyst for optimum fat burning.
Compared to aerobic exercises, anaerobic workouts use up a larger amount of
energy and also increase post-exercise calorie burn (the amount of calories you
continue to burn after a workout). The trick is to keep your workouts short but
intense. You’ll burn a lot more calories that way.
Also, it is important to let your body get all the rest it needs. So be sure
you get enough sleep every night.
Key Point: The type of exercise you engage in matters a lot and
consistency is key. Lift weights first, then follow through with sprint
interval training. Aerobic routines should come in last. Give yourself rest
days in between workouts, as your body needs to recover too.
For more ideas to lose fat as fast as possible by eating plants, watch this
video - 3 Ways
To Lose Fat Rapidly on a Plant Based Diet
Author
Bio:
Chris
Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.
V3
Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and
exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.
A
lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of
professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising
its progressiveness and efficiency.
The
program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your
potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this
system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any
carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in
your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of
proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Instead
of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and
bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian
Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for
athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”
To
find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding –
Lose Fat as Fast as Possible by Eating Plants
