It has been said time and again that the key to getting ripped lies in your ability to keep fat from forming in your body. The thing is, keeping fat deposits in your body at the very minimum reveals your muscles and allows the cuts and fibers of your muscles to show through your skin. And this is what getting ripped is basically all about. However, if you have not built or put on a significant amount of muscle on your body yet, you will not look ripped even if you totally don’t have any fat on your body. Instead, you will look skinny. That’s why working out is equally as important as eating the right foods. You need to build muscles. But we are not to talk too much about that. What we are going to talk about here are the two things that you should watch out for in your diet. Things that will not only hide your muscles from view but also put your health in danger.
Fat
Fat has 9 calories per gram. So, on a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s only 40 to 60 grams per day. The things is, it’s estimated that 35% of north Americans exceed this.
But not all fats are created equal. The majority of your fat calories come from mono- and polyunsaturated fats. These are good fats, by the way, as they help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase good cholesterol (HDL) levels in your body. They also have the essential fatty acids that your body cannot make on its own. mono- and polyunsaturated fat is found in salmon, avocados, olives, walnuts, as well as liquid vegetable oils (e.g., corn, canola, and sunflower oil).
No more than 10% of your diet should come from saturated fat as this is the kind of fat that increases the bad cholesterol in your body. Saturated fat also lacks essential fatty acids. This means that this type of fat is stickier, allowing it to stick to your arteries. Eating too much saturated fat increases your risk of heart attack or stroke. This type of fat is typically found in meat, whole milk, and 2% milk.
But what you really should watch out for is the meanest and baddest type of fat–trans fat. It is recommended that only 1% of your calories should come from trans fat. This type of fat is typically found in margarine, shortening, and hydrogenated cooking oils. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol levels and are more harmful than saturated fats.
So, I advice you to make it a habit to read food labels and keep track of the fat content of the things you eat. It’s best to stay away from it if it’s beyond the recommended amount.
Here’s how you compute for the percentage of fat of processed foods. Take the amount of fat calories (or “Calories from fat”) and divide it by the total calories per serving of a particular food item. This will give you the percentage of fat of that food item.
Alright, so some fats are good, some are not. But what does this have to do with getting ripped?
Studies have found that ingesting foods that are high in saturated fats can block the transfer of leptin from the body to the brain, which leads to increased hunger. And when you’re hungry, you tend to eat more. And when you eat more, your body will eventually store those extra calories as fat all over your body. And, that will set you back several steps away from your goal.
Now, when it comes to food (especially if you are watching your health and weight), it pays to be extra stringent. Just because something looks healthy doesn’t mean it is actually healthy.
Take a serving of taco salad, for example. A serving of taco salad can contain as much as 61% fat. That’s almost double the recommended amount of fat you are supposed to have daily.
So, you better watch out.
Sodium
In other words, salt. Yes, we’ve been told time and again that eating too much salt is bad. But exactly how much is too much?
Salt is actually a vital substance for our survival. Our body needs a small amount of salt to maintain our water balance and help our muscles to contract. But, like I said, our body needs only a very small amount of it to perform those functions each day.
It’s recommended that people eat between 1,500 to 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day, or about a teaspoon’s worth. This is all your body needs to keep your body happy and healthy.
Think about the last meal you had. Did you add salt? If you did, how much? Did you also consider how much salt was already in there before you added some more?
If you’re over that 1 teaspoon, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, this is very common in typical north American diet. Studies show that on average we ingest over 5,000 milligrams of sodium every day. Doing the math, that’s twice the recommended amount.
In case you don’t know, eating too much salt increases you chances of having/experiencing hypertension, abnormal heart development, osteoporosis, kidney disorders, digestive diseases, and hormone imbalance.
The dangers aside, what does eating too much salt have to do with getting ripped?
Well, have you ever noticed your jeans feeling a little tighter after eating a big bowl of salty popcorn or a fast food meal? If so, you’ve experienced the feeling of bloat.
You see, salt is an electrolyte which is attracted to water. When you take in more salt than what your body needs, the surplus amount of salt holds on to excess water. So, you could be walking around carrying an extra 4 to 6 pounds of excess water.
The key thing is when you’re looking to see how much sodium there is in a food item, all you have to do is to look at the sodium content and the serving size. Always be aware of that.
To keep your sodium intake at a minimum, instead of using salt as flavoring you can use other alternatives such as Braggs soy seasoning or the “No Salt” salt substitute. In addition, you can also use herbs and spices to add flavor to your food.
So make it a point to watch carefully what you put inside your mouth and body.