27.Bodybuilding nutrition basics… A bodybuilding diet plan for the early stages 3 – Bodybuilding

For example, for every foodstuff or beverage you take in, there is a ‘Recommended Daily Intake‘ that is agreed between various government bodies, and the scientific and medical communities.

The actual numbers tend to vary slightly from country to country, but the general picture that comes out of countries like the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia are all very similar in terms of how much of each different type of foodstuff you need for a continual healthy lifestyle.

Working with these averages will give you an idea of the kind of diet you need to in order to achieve the objectives which you have set yourself.
For example, if you are in the early stages of bodybuilding, where losing fat is the primary objective, then your diet should be aimed at creating an energy deficit.

Fat is nothing more than stored energy that you have consumed at some time in the past that was not burned off, so in order to lose that fat, you need to reverse the process that put it there in the first place. You need to consume 15% to 20% less energy than you need.

However, there is a fairly tricky balancing act to be maintained here, because if you are trying to lose fat while also building muscle mass, you are actually asking your body to do two things which are completely opposite to one another as far as your metabolism is concerned. The act of breaking down the fat is called catabolism, which is one process, while the building up muscle is called anabolism, which is almost diametrically opposite.

If left to its own devices in the event of an energy deficit induced by diet, your body will start to break down fat to provide the missing energy, but it will also try to burn muscle.

This is one reason why weight training is such an essential part of body building activity. By continuing to train while reducing your energy intake, you effectively prevent your body focusing on muscle as a source of energy.

Consequently, your body is forced to look elsewhere for its energy source - meaning that after the ‘fast burn’ glycogen that is the first source of energy your body always turns to, it then turns to burning fat because weight training protects your muscles.

Indeed, it is now believed that even at rest, the more muscle you have, the more your body will focus on burning fat as an energy source.

If you are still in the initial bodybuilding stage where getting rid of fat is your primary consideration, it is still critical to take up weight training as soon as possible. In doing so, you ensure that your body ‘burns’ the parts that you want it to burn, rather than it doing what comes naturally, looking for energy wherever it might be found.