Health Tips
Fire Up
Your Metabolism
Eat by the hour and lose weight
By: John Berardi, Ph.D.; Men's Health
The last time it happened, it was
the girl who cuts my hair. "So, what kind of diet are you on?" she
asked. Since I'm a nutritional biochemist, it's a question I'm
used to. My instinct was to skip the scientific details, spit out
a four-word answer, and hope she'd move on to the neck shaving.
The problem: My diet doesn't fit any of the usual descriptions.
It's not low-carb, low-fat, or high-protein. I'm not a vegetarian,
and I haven't sworn off sugar. The truth is, I eat almost
everything. And that's what makes it so effective.
There are plenty of experts who claim that all that matters is the
number of calories you eat: If you want to lose weight, eat fewer
calories than you burn. This may make sense on paper, but your
body is far more complex than that. You see, it's not just how
much you eat; it's what you eat and when you eat it.
Case in point: carbohydrates. The fast-digesting kind breads,
pasta, rice, potatoes, baked goods, and candy raise blood sugar
quickly. This signals your body to stop burning (and start
storing) fat, and forces it to use the excess sugar for energy
instead. In contrast, slow-digesting carbohydrates, such as fruits
and vegetables, keep blood-sugar levels normal, which allows your
body to continue to burn fat. So, even though a high-sugar cookie
and a big bowl of fruit may have the same number of calories, they
have very different effects on your ability to lose body fat.
But here's what's surprising: High-sugar carbohydrates aren't
always bad. In fact, sometimes they're the smartest foods you can
eat. The secret is timing. Here's when (and what) you should be
eating to build a lean, muscular body around the clock.
TIME ZONE 1: RIGHT AFTER YOU WAKE
In a study of 2,831 people, researchers at Harvard University
found that those who ate breakfast every day were 44 percent less
likely to be overweight and 41 percent less likely to suffer from
insulin resistance a precursor to diabetes than those who had no
a.m. meal.
How to eat: Fill your plate with high-quality protein,
slow-digesting carbohydrates, and healthy fats. The protein stops
muscle breakdown and provides the raw materials for laying down
new muscle; the carbohydrates replenish energy stores without
elevating blood sugar; and healthy fats assure your body that
there's more coming in, giving it the green light to burn stored
fat.
TIME ZONE 2: EVERY 3 HOURS AFTER BREAKFAST
Waiting more than 4 or 5 hours between meals causes your blood
sugar to bottom out, leaving you weak, irritable, and tired. (For
the record, both high and low blood sugar can be problematic.) To
combat this, your body secretes cortisol, a hormone that boosts
blood-sugar levels back to normal. Trouble is, one of the ways it
does this is by converting muscle protein to sugar, what exercise
scientists call "muscle wasting," two words you never want to see
paired together. The solution: frequent meals. Eating more often
helps regulate blood-sugar levels, protecting your muscles from
being broken down and used as energy. Here's a bonus: South
African researchers found that men who ate the most frequently
consumed 27 percent fewer calories than those who ate the least
often.
How to eat: As with breakfast, always include protein, along with
either healthy fats or slow-digesting carbohydrates (preferably
both). Protein is the major player here, since up to 30 percent of
its calories are burned during digestion, compared with 8 percent
of carbohydrates and 2 percent of fats. Keep in mind that the
recommendations for this time zone may include snacks, lunch, and
even dinner, depending on the time of day you exercise. For a
fail-safe snack or meal, check out The Super Shake.
TIME ZONE 3: AFTER YOUR WORKOUT
Unlike before your workout, fast-digesting carbs are now more
desirable than the slow-digesting type. That's because an intense
workout changes your body's priorities: As sugar is absorbed into
your blood-stream, it's preferentially shuttled to your muscles
instead of being used as fuel and is stored there for later use.
The kicker is that this forces your body to accelerate the rate at
which it burns fat for energy.
How to eat: Combine high-quality protein with fast-digesting
carbohydrates at two separate times:
1. Immediately after you finish exercising. Ideally, this should
be a liquid meal, which speeds the absorption of protein and
carbohydrates into your bloodstream. Researchers at the University
of Texas Medical Branch found that 6 grams (g) of essential amino
acids and 35 g carbohydrates are an ideal combination for
promoting muscle growth after exercise. That's almost identical to
12 ounces of chocolate milk.
2. Two hours later. This time, opt for solid food. That is,
consider this the best time to eat spaghetti and meatballs
guilt-free. Even better, combine fast- and slow-digesting carbs
with protein by choosing a lean meat and a green vegetable to go
along with pasta, rice, or a potato. Once you've eaten this meal,
follow the guidelines in Time Zone 2 for the rest of the day.
One caveat: If you exercise first thing in the morning (before
breakfast), have your postworkout drink prior to working out,
follow the guidelines for eating 2 hours after exercise, and then
resume the recommendations for the rest of the day (Time Zone 2).
