Carbs are King

If it’s energy to build lean muscle you’re looking for, then look no more. Carbs are the King of energy.

Although fat will fuel your aerobic sessions, it is not a good source for fueling your anaerobic training. By the time you begin using fat for energy in your weight lifting sessions, your workout has lasted too long and you go into the aerobic phase. This means you will start wasting muscle. The same is true if your body starts using protein for energy in your workout- your carbs were too low, so instead of building muscle, your body starts using muscle as an energy source. Carbs will help spare the muscle.

If your diet is low in carbohydrates:

• You will experience a lack of energy
• You will feel weak, tense and edgy
• You will have a lack of concentration and short-term memory loss

All weight training is considered a high-intensity activity, and all high intensity activities depend upon glucose as fuel. Weight training uses 90 % glucose for fuel, where aerobic training will use up 80 to 90% fat for fuel. This is why I recommend doing your weight training in an aerobic to anaerobic pace so you use both sources for fuel.  Also, you should always do intervals in your cardio training to spike your heart rate and become anaerobic (out of breath) – breathing hard enough that you are temporarily unable to carry on a conversation. As a result you build more muscle and burn more fat for fuel.

For a well balanced diet, your carbohydrates should come from as many natural sources as possible.

• Whole grains
• Fresh fruits
• Vegetables

These are all good choices. You should stay away from simple carbs such as refined sugars and refined fruit juices as much as possible. If you like to drink fruit juices as a source of vitamin C, use them sparingly and drink pure Grapefruit juice.

Remember, when using carbs in your diet, always add a little protein to slow down the insulin spikes.

I like to eat:

• Peanut butter with my apples or a banana with peanut butter (all natural Smucker’s) on toast
• Vanilla whey isolate protein powder in my orange juice with some blue berries
• A slice of low fat Swiss cheese with a low fat turkey breast and some veggies
• My delicious egg white sandwich
• Tuna fish mixed with black beans for a good mix of carbs, fiber and protein

Now go burns some fat and build some lean muscles!

See ya next week, WW