Dath
11-01-2012, 08:37 PM
Some of what your about to read may seem to go against the standards of bodybuilding but provides additional insight from experienced competitive bodybuilde....food for thought :)
While sustaining a prolonged caloric deficit is the ultimate key to losing weight, selecting optimal food choices to fill those calories will be the difference between looking hard and muscular or soft and thin. Every food decision you make will move you closer to your goals or further from your goals, and the rate you drop the final few pounds of fat will be directly related to your food choices. Do you have to eliminate these foods? No. Will eliminating these foods help you get to your goals faster? Yes. Here is my advice on which foods to cut to achieve extreme muscle definition -- in no particular order.
1. Fruit
Fructose is a sugar that is present in fruit. The body responds to large and frequent portions of fruit by converting it straight into fat. It also modifies the ability of your liver to process glucose, which makes it more challenging to lose fat and keep it off in the future.
A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition examined how the body responded to different types of sugar by administering a breakfast drink to lean and healthy subjects that was either 100% glucose, half glucose and half fructose, or 25% glucose and 75% fructose. After four hours of consuming the drinks that contained fructose, lipogenesis (producing fat in the body) increased far more than in the subjects who ingested the glucose drink. On top of that, the food the subjects ate at lunch was processed differently. After consuming a normal lunch, triglycerides stayed higher by as much as 30% in the people who had consumed fructose, indicating that the body was no longer in a “fat burning” mode. In short, the carbs ingested at lunch were converted into fat.
I am not anti-fruit. In fact, I love fruit and maintain about 30 grams of berries (the one fruit low in fructose and jammed with antioxidants) in my daily diet until I wish to dip under 10% body fat and get my abs popping. Fruit will simply slow your progress into the six-pack promised land.
2. Dairy
Eliminate dairy if you wish to achieve sub-10% body fat if you’re a male and 16% body fat if you’re a female. Milk has a reputation of being a highly insulinotropic (insulin-releasing) food. In a study done in 1996 and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dairy products like ice cream and yogurt had huge insulin responses.
If insulin is high in the blood, it can prevent lipolysis (i.e. fat breakdown), and if you’re consuming dairy, it leads to high insulin levels in the blood that may be blocking the fat breakdown that might normally occur.
When striving for maximal muscle definition, we need every little bit of help that we can get, which is why my advice is to remove dairy. Although there is no scientific research to support the advantages of cutting dairy, it’s hard to ignore the anecdotal evidence of thousands of physique athletes who report more defined muscle, especially in the abdominal region, when they remove dairy. As Anthony Robbins says, “Success leaves clues.”
Personally, in the past 12 months, I’ve noticed more superior abdominal definition with the absence of dairy, and I’ve found it easier to stay lean without dairy. Perhaps it’s because I avoid the immune and inflammatory response or the water retention that occurs from dairy allergies. Or perhaps it’s because most dairy is high in saturated fat, which is not optimal for staying lean. Saturated fat has been shown to lower insulin sensitivity and is more prone to fat storage, so these are more reasons to suggest that dairy is one food group you could live without.
People find the suggestion of eliminating dairy hard to accept or believe, but it’s primarily because the dairy industry has spent billions of dollars to market their product and convince you otherwise. Can you say “Got Milk?” Dairy is a great food group for skinny guys interested in bulking up but has no place in an extreme cutting diet.
3. Gluten, Wheat & Grains
Take it for what it’s worth, but after I cut grains out of my prep for four shows and five photoshoots, I immediately noticed a drop in lower abdominal fat. I suspect this is because grains influence blood-sugar levels the same way plain table sugar does.
Gliadin family grains such as oats, wheat and spelt are the most common food allergens. Grains raise insulin dramatically, and since it’s a strong allergen, it raises cortisol. The combination of raising both hormones results in central obesity and can be detrimental to achieving maximal muscle definition. For the final few weeks of a cut, I will eliminate all grains and stick to sweet potatoes, quinoa and brown rice as my primary carbohydrate sources.
It’s especially hard for me to cut grains considering I grew up in an Italian family and was practically raised on bread, pasta and Kraft. Most people report instant drops in bloating, fatigue and fat when they eliminate grains. Give it a shot and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
4. Carb Powders/Simple Sugars
He who controls insulin wins! This is the one hormone we have control over, and when controlled, it can shred up a physique in no time. Managing your insulin makes it far easier to attain and maintain low body fat because insulin is able to increase fat storage and decrease fat loss. You can find an excellent series of experiments published in the Kobe Journal of Medical Sciences revealing how insulin prevents fat loss. The studies give credibility to the power of low-carbohydrate and low-glycemic-load diets. If insulin blocks the release of stored fat, it makes little sense to incorporate foods that periodically stimulate the release of high concentrations of insulin.
When maximal muscle definition is the goal, it appears that insulin can severely limit and nearly block fat loss, so avoid high-glycemic carb powders like the traditional post-workout drinks such as dextrose, Gatorade, maltodextrin, Vitargo and even fruit juices. Instead, for your post-workout meal, combine a fast-digesting protein source with a slow-digesting carbohydrate source like quinoa, brown rice or sweet potatoes for a faster way to achieve maximal muscle definition.
5. Protein Powder
When it comes to extreme muscle definition, protein powder should be removed from your diet if you wish to drop the last five to 10 pounds faster. A recent 2012 study published in Nutrition & Metabolism showed that the specific amino acids in whey protein stimulate beta cells to secrete more insulin than a similar amount of carbohydrate from white bread. When insulin is present, fat burning comes to a halt. It’s absolutely critical to minimize insulin spikes when trying to drop body fat, so you are better off consuming 10-20 grams of branched-chain amino acids in place of your protein shake, and then follow up your workout with a fast-digesting protein source like white fish to ensure maximal fat loss. Eating four to six meals a day of primarily whole food is a tough task for many individuals, but remember that it’s a temporary method to get you into the six-pack abs end zone. Once you achieve your desired level of leanness, it’s OK to put one protein shake back into your diet on a daily basis.
Conclusion
I understand the advice here is considered extreme, but it's what you'll need for extreme muscle definition. Unfortunately, calories, carbs, proteins and fats are not created equal, and food selection matters. Once you take this concept seriously, your body will dramatically transform, and your abs will be the talk of your next beach vacation.
Achieving extreme muscle definition is a goal that only a very small percentage of the population will ever achieve because they refuse to accept that food selection matters. If you’re willing to sacrifice these foods for a few short weeks, I am confident you will achieve extreme muscle definition and reveal the body you desire and deserve. Once you arrive at your goal, you can reintroduce these foods in moderation. Go make it happen!
Courteous of Vince Del Monte.
While sustaining a prolonged caloric deficit is the ultimate key to losing weight, selecting optimal food choices to fill those calories will be the difference between looking hard and muscular or soft and thin. Every food decision you make will move you closer to your goals or further from your goals, and the rate you drop the final few pounds of fat will be directly related to your food choices. Do you have to eliminate these foods? No. Will eliminating these foods help you get to your goals faster? Yes. Here is my advice on which foods to cut to achieve extreme muscle definition -- in no particular order.
1. Fruit
Fructose is a sugar that is present in fruit. The body responds to large and frequent portions of fruit by converting it straight into fat. It also modifies the ability of your liver to process glucose, which makes it more challenging to lose fat and keep it off in the future.
A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition examined how the body responded to different types of sugar by administering a breakfast drink to lean and healthy subjects that was either 100% glucose, half glucose and half fructose, or 25% glucose and 75% fructose. After four hours of consuming the drinks that contained fructose, lipogenesis (producing fat in the body) increased far more than in the subjects who ingested the glucose drink. On top of that, the food the subjects ate at lunch was processed differently. After consuming a normal lunch, triglycerides stayed higher by as much as 30% in the people who had consumed fructose, indicating that the body was no longer in a “fat burning” mode. In short, the carbs ingested at lunch were converted into fat.
I am not anti-fruit. In fact, I love fruit and maintain about 30 grams of berries (the one fruit low in fructose and jammed with antioxidants) in my daily diet until I wish to dip under 10% body fat and get my abs popping. Fruit will simply slow your progress into the six-pack promised land.
2. Dairy
Eliminate dairy if you wish to achieve sub-10% body fat if you’re a male and 16% body fat if you’re a female. Milk has a reputation of being a highly insulinotropic (insulin-releasing) food. In a study done in 1996 and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dairy products like ice cream and yogurt had huge insulin responses.
If insulin is high in the blood, it can prevent lipolysis (i.e. fat breakdown), and if you’re consuming dairy, it leads to high insulin levels in the blood that may be blocking the fat breakdown that might normally occur.
When striving for maximal muscle definition, we need every little bit of help that we can get, which is why my advice is to remove dairy. Although there is no scientific research to support the advantages of cutting dairy, it’s hard to ignore the anecdotal evidence of thousands of physique athletes who report more defined muscle, especially in the abdominal region, when they remove dairy. As Anthony Robbins says, “Success leaves clues.”
Personally, in the past 12 months, I’ve noticed more superior abdominal definition with the absence of dairy, and I’ve found it easier to stay lean without dairy. Perhaps it’s because I avoid the immune and inflammatory response or the water retention that occurs from dairy allergies. Or perhaps it’s because most dairy is high in saturated fat, which is not optimal for staying lean. Saturated fat has been shown to lower insulin sensitivity and is more prone to fat storage, so these are more reasons to suggest that dairy is one food group you could live without.
People find the suggestion of eliminating dairy hard to accept or believe, but it’s primarily because the dairy industry has spent billions of dollars to market their product and convince you otherwise. Can you say “Got Milk?” Dairy is a great food group for skinny guys interested in bulking up but has no place in an extreme cutting diet.
3. Gluten, Wheat & Grains
Take it for what it’s worth, but after I cut grains out of my prep for four shows and five photoshoots, I immediately noticed a drop in lower abdominal fat. I suspect this is because grains influence blood-sugar levels the same way plain table sugar does.
Gliadin family grains such as oats, wheat and spelt are the most common food allergens. Grains raise insulin dramatically, and since it’s a strong allergen, it raises cortisol. The combination of raising both hormones results in central obesity and can be detrimental to achieving maximal muscle definition. For the final few weeks of a cut, I will eliminate all grains and stick to sweet potatoes, quinoa and brown rice as my primary carbohydrate sources.
It’s especially hard for me to cut grains considering I grew up in an Italian family and was practically raised on bread, pasta and Kraft. Most people report instant drops in bloating, fatigue and fat when they eliminate grains. Give it a shot and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
4. Carb Powders/Simple Sugars
He who controls insulin wins! This is the one hormone we have control over, and when controlled, it can shred up a physique in no time. Managing your insulin makes it far easier to attain and maintain low body fat because insulin is able to increase fat storage and decrease fat loss. You can find an excellent series of experiments published in the Kobe Journal of Medical Sciences revealing how insulin prevents fat loss. The studies give credibility to the power of low-carbohydrate and low-glycemic-load diets. If insulin blocks the release of stored fat, it makes little sense to incorporate foods that periodically stimulate the release of high concentrations of insulin.
When maximal muscle definition is the goal, it appears that insulin can severely limit and nearly block fat loss, so avoid high-glycemic carb powders like the traditional post-workout drinks such as dextrose, Gatorade, maltodextrin, Vitargo and even fruit juices. Instead, for your post-workout meal, combine a fast-digesting protein source with a slow-digesting carbohydrate source like quinoa, brown rice or sweet potatoes for a faster way to achieve maximal muscle definition.
5. Protein Powder
When it comes to extreme muscle definition, protein powder should be removed from your diet if you wish to drop the last five to 10 pounds faster. A recent 2012 study published in Nutrition & Metabolism showed that the specific amino acids in whey protein stimulate beta cells to secrete more insulin than a similar amount of carbohydrate from white bread. When insulin is present, fat burning comes to a halt. It’s absolutely critical to minimize insulin spikes when trying to drop body fat, so you are better off consuming 10-20 grams of branched-chain amino acids in place of your protein shake, and then follow up your workout with a fast-digesting protein source like white fish to ensure maximal fat loss. Eating four to six meals a day of primarily whole food is a tough task for many individuals, but remember that it’s a temporary method to get you into the six-pack abs end zone. Once you achieve your desired level of leanness, it’s OK to put one protein shake back into your diet on a daily basis.
Conclusion
I understand the advice here is considered extreme, but it's what you'll need for extreme muscle definition. Unfortunately, calories, carbs, proteins and fats are not created equal, and food selection matters. Once you take this concept seriously, your body will dramatically transform, and your abs will be the talk of your next beach vacation.
Achieving extreme muscle definition is a goal that only a very small percentage of the population will ever achieve because they refuse to accept that food selection matters. If you’re willing to sacrifice these foods for a few short weeks, I am confident you will achieve extreme muscle definition and reveal the body you desire and deserve. Once you arrive at your goal, you can reintroduce these foods in moderation. Go make it happen!
Courteous of Vince Del Monte.