Sugar: Good or Bad?

If you're good friends with the internet, you've heard it all at this point. "Sugar is horrible for you, don't eat any of it!" Or, "sugar is ok in moderation. Have some here and there." Or maybe even, "sugar is fine, have as much of it as you want!" Whatever the case may be, I'm willing to bet that you've taken in a lot of information and you just have no friggin' clue what's right or wrong. It's all a blur at this point and you find yourself even more confused than before. 

I'm here to tell you that it's all going to be OK. Relax, take a few deep breaths. In this article we are going to go over all of the things you've heard about sugar, why that specific idea is wrong or right, and leave you with a good understanding of how you should be managing your sugar intake. 

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I just want to make sure that we are all on the same page. All of the debate and discussion in this article will be based on the effect sugar has on body composition and more specifically, body fat loss. This information in no way has anything to do with the diabeetus, or anything of that matter. 

The Diabeetus

The 3 Sugar Approaches

Why the government is involved with a lot of things including our food is beyond me. They've given horrible advice on nutrition and have stretched and even twisted the truth on a lot of things. Sugar and its association with obesity is one of them. Years ago, word was spreading that sugar intake is horrible for you and has a direct correlation to obesity. From added sugar in sodas, to sugar in fruit, cookies, and other things of the sort, they were all deemed "bad for us" due to the fact that they had sugar in them. So what happened? Sugar intake went WAY down, especially with the growth of artificial sweeteners (another topic for another time), and obesity still continued to rise. Just another fantastic job by our amazingly competent government. 

After that, the "everything in moderation" movement came about and sugar hopped on board since it had been getting such a bad rap. "As long as you stay under 'x' amount of sugar in a day, you'll be 'fine' and won't gain any body fat. Everything in moderation." Guess what, that started restricting people and what's the cause of that? Binge eating. 

Then, some studies came out that show sugar doesn't have a direct negative effect to body composition. Since then, the "If it fits your macros" movement took this and abused the living crap out of it. From pics of roided-out meatheads with ten donuts on instagram, to the "I lost 50 pounds by starving myself and now I know everything about fitness" people, popularity in cheat meals and binging grew like crazy. "Eat all the sugar you want, eat all the junk you want. No consequences and you'll get lean at the same time." C'mon, gimme a break.

So, What's the Truth?

Just like most things in the fitness industry, there isn't really a one size fits all answer. For improved body composition, there are no magic foods. There is no such thing as the perfect training protocol. Perfect "this" and perfect "that" don't exist. Similarly, there's no such thing as the perfect amount of daily sugar intake. Those are all myths. 

Wouldn't it be so easy if I could just end this article and say, "eat no more than 100 grams of sugar each day and you will lose body fat"? Of course it would. But I have a suggestion for you that is even better. 

A study was released that compared change in body composition and fat loss on those who consumed about 100 grams of sugar per day, and another group that consumed about 10 grams of sugar per day. Calorie intake was the same for both groups. Guess which group lost more weight? Neither. There were no differences in body composition between groups when calories were the same. Additionally, blood levels improved in BOTH groups due to their drop in body fat. So what does this mean? SUGAR IS NOT THE ENEMY AND YOU CAN EAT IT!

But if sugar isn't the enemy, what is? 

LACK TO TRACK

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in almost every nutrition article I've written, but I'll say it again. Being unwilling to track your food intake is stupid and reckless if you're trying to achieve any sort of body composition goal. If you were trying to save more money per month from your salary, you wouldn't just skip doing a budget and spend money without tracking where it goes, would you? No, because that's stupid. 

Your calories and macronutrients are like a budget, and your sugar intake is a part of that budget as well. While tracking your daily food intake, you have to make sure that the sugar you are consuming isn't causing you to go over your macronutrient and calorie goals. If you made $80,000/year, it wouldn't be smart to buy a $70,000 dollar car, would it? By the way If you think there's nothing wrong with that, you need to get your head checked ASAP.

Don't declare bankruptcy on your macros.

Similarly, if you have 100 grams of carbs and 100 grams of protein left in the day, and you load up on sugar (let's say two packs of Pop Tarts for example, you'd be over on your carbs by 44 grams and you'd have 88 grams of protein left. Good luck making a meal that has all that protein and not one gram of carbs. 

Here's my point: eat all the sugar your heart desires when the time is right and it fits within your macros. Just be sure that a majority of your carbohydrates are coming from whole food sources. Treat your macros and calories like a budget, and you won't have to worry about going "over" on your sugar intake for the day. You'll be able to enjoy social gatherings, grandmas pie, and live a stress-free life. 

References

Surwit, R. S., M. N. Feinglos, C. C. McCaskill, S. L. Clay, M. A. Babyak, B. S. Brownlow, C. S. Plaisted, and P. H. Lin. "Metabolic and Behavioral Effects of a High-sucrose Diet during Weight Loss." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 1997. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

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Recomposition: The Key to Building Muscle & Burning Fat

It's only week three in your new training plan and you're a little fed up. You haven't seen any results. You continue to search the internet tirelessly for a solution. How can one build lean muscle tissue AND lose fat at the same time? One article says it's possible, the other says it isn't. Next thing you know you're five pages into your Google search, you haven't found any answer to your problem, and you find yourself getting more and more frustrated. 

Ever been in this situation? I have on countless occasions. Whatever the problem is, it seems that the internet never really gives a concrete, "yes" or "no" answer. Want to know why? It's because the internet is full of goons who just want you to click on their site, regardless if they have valuable information waiting for you or not. So here's the truth:

In most cases, when we ask "Is it possible to build muscle and burn fat at the same time?", the time we are speaking of is relatively long term. The question really being asked is: "is it possible to build muscle and burn fat over the course of X weeks?" The answer to that is YES, absolutely. On the other side of the coin, the question could be "is it possible to build muscle and burn fat simultaneously, at the same moment?", to which the answer is: I don't think so. At least I haven't found any science to prove it. 

Quick thought before we move along: If our usual mindset is to put on a certain amount of muscle or lose a certain amount of fat in a given amount of time, why the heck does it matter if muscle can be built while fat can be burned simultaneously? That's just making things more complicated than it needs to be. You'll reach your goal either way. 

Don't blow this up and turn it into something that it's not. I'm not saying that you have to get fat in order to put on muscle, and I'm not saying that you have to turn into a twig to lose fat. I'm actually writing this to introduce a new way of thinking about your health, training, and nutrition. It's called recomposition. 

Recomposing like a boss.

What is recomposition? It's nothing fancy, but it will help us build muscle and burn fat over a period of time. As you know (or at least you do now), in order to build muscle, we need to be in a caloric surplus. This is what is most commonly known in the bro community as "bulking season" which usually occurs in the winter when very little skin needs to be exposed. In order to lose body fat, we need to be in a caloric deficit. This is known as the "cutting season" which usually is procrastinated and crammed into a span of two weeks right before the big spring break trip. 

Recomposition is both of those mixed into one. While attempting to recompose your body, you are in both a caloric surplus, as well as a caloric deficit. This is called calorie cycling. There are plenty of other factors that play a role in the recomposition of the body, but calorie cycling is plays a HUGE part in keeping us lean and mean all year round. 

Question is though, how do we put ourselves in a caloric deficit AND surplus at the same time? And calorie cycling? What the heck does that involve? Let's break this down.

While on a training regimen, there are days in which we train/workout, and days in which we rest. This means that there are days in the week where we are burning more calories than others. Up until recently, a lot of people have been following only one daily goal for their calories and macronutrients. But that doesn't make any sense, right? I wouldn't want to be eating the same amount of food on rest days that I am on training days, because my body wouldn't use the excess calories which means more fat on my stomach. No bueno. 

If we want to stay lean while putting on muscle over a period of time, we need to make sure that our bodies are properly utilizing every single calorie that we take in for muscle growth and recovery. We don't want to give it anything extra to hold on to. With that being said, we need to eat differently on days we train and days we rest. 

How to Cycle Your Calories

In order to determine how many calories you need to be eating each day, you need to first determine your BMR. Your Basal Metabolic Rate tells you how many calories you are burning at rest. I use the Harris-Benedict equation to determine BMR if an individual doesn't know his/her lean mass in pounds. (*Note: this equation is only an estimation of BMR. Muscle tissue and body fat play a large role in BMR. Those who weigh the same with more muscle will burn more at rest). Here are the calculations for both men and women based on total body weight.

Men: BMR = 66 + (6.2 x weight in lbs) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.76 x age in years)

Women: BMR = 655.1 + (4.35 x weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

For a little more accurate formula, you'll need to know your lean body mass. To find your lean mass, you need to know your total scale weight as well as your body fat percentage.

Fat percentage x total scale weight = fat mass. Scale weight - fat mass = lean body mass.

Using the Sterling-Pasmore equation, you can find your BMR by completing the following:

BMR = lean body mass in lbs x 13.8

Once you have determined your BMR, you now need to calculate your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure. The following list will help:

Little to no exercise: Calories needed = BMR x 1.2
Light exercise (1-3 days/week): Calories needed = BMR x 1.375
Moderate exercise (3-5 days/week): Calories needed = BMR x 1.55
Heavy exercise (6-7 days/week): Calories needed = BMR x 1.725
Very heavy exercise (2x/day): Calories needed = BMR 1.9

After determining your TDEE, you now have your calorie intake in order to maintain your lean mass!

Looking through all of these calculations seems daunting, I know. Luckily we have this thing called the internet which is full of calculators that will do the work for you.

Nobody. 

I figured you'd appreciate knowing how to make the calculations yourself, so I threw them in. Knowing things is fun.

From here, you need to know how to cycle your calorie intake based on your goal. Now remember, reaching your goal is going to take longer because your body is recomposing. If you're cutting, you're going to try to preserve as much muscle as possible. If you're bulking, you're trying to put on as little fat as possible. It's a process, but trust me, it's worth it. 

Let's say that your maintenance caloric intake based on BMR and TDEE is 2500 cal. Here's what a calorie cycling plan may look like for muscle gain.

Monday: Training day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 3000 cal.   Surplus: 500 cal.
Tuesday: Training day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 3000 cal.   Surplus: 500 cal.
Wednesday: Rest day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 2200 cal.   Deficit: 300 cal.
Thursday: Training Day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 3000 cal.   Surplus: 500 cal.
Friday: Training Day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 3000 cal.   Surplus: 500 cal.
Saturday: Rest day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 2200 cal.   Deficit: 300 cal.
Sunday: Rest day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 2200 cal.   Deficit: 300 cal.

As you can see, the training day surplus is greater than the rest day deficits because the goal is to gain muscle. Sure, you may put on a little bit of body fat in the process, but it will be minimal and it's much better than getting fat in ten weeks just for a few pounds of muscle.

For a fat loss plan, you'd switch the surplus on training days to be slightly smaller, and the deficit on rest days to be even larger. For example:

Training Day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 2700 cal.   Surplus: 200 cal.
Rest Day
Maint: 2500 cal.   Intake: 2000 cal.   Deficit: 500 cal.

Throughout this process, make sure you're monitoring your weight. If you're losing weight extremely fast, you may want to bump the calories up in order to preserve your hard-earned muscle. Vice versa if you're gaining too fast during a mass gain program. I always encourage my clients to stay between .5 and 2lbs of weight lost per week. Those of you just beginning a workout regimen will be on the higher end, while those who have been training for a while will be near the .5 lb mark. 

The Takeaway

Building muscle and burning fat is definitely possible, but only over a period of time. Again, who cares if it can happen at the same exact moment in time? 

It is possible to be lean all year round while slowly putting on mass. It's just going to take you longer than someone that's new to working out or taking drugs.

If you want to maintain a lean physique all year-round, calorie cycling is essential. You can't give your body extra stuff to hold onto. 

They key here is finding a plan that works for you, your schedule, and your goals. Also, YOU HAVE TO STAY WITH IT. You're never going to know if it works or not if you constantly give up at week four. These things take time, and fully understanding/accepting that is a big step in the right direction. Stay tuned for more to come on staying lean all year round. From meal timing, to carb cycling, information is coming your way that will help you reach that body you've always dreamed of.

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Thanks for reading and take care!

More Water, Less Fat

Every Tuesday I try to post a tip of the day on my Instagram and Facebook pages. Last week, I posted a video about water and how it plays a major role in fat loss. We've all heard the usual comments on water from our mothers. "It's not good to be dehydrated!" "Drink enough water so you're healthy!" We've heard the other facts on how we can't survive but a few days without water too, but what do we know about water when it comes to fat loss? 

For most of us, losing fat and/or maintaining a low body fat percentage is a part of the physique we're all working hard for. We know a bit about what we should be eating and how we should be training, but what about the things that get overlooked like sleep, hydration, and proper supplementation? It's not that we don't know that water is important for us, it's just that it gets overlooked in the shadows of the bigger things like training and nutrition. But today, we're bringing things to light and figure out how water can aid in getting us the physique we've always wanted. 

As you've probably heard before, our bodies are comprised of mostly water. But did you know your food is about 70% water too? When we take in that food that's comprised of so much water, certain parts of our body are responsible for taking care of the nutrients properly.

One of the biggest reasons to drink plenty of water each day is to support your liver. Your liver is responsible for oxidizing and metabolizing fats. Staying hydrated will help your liver use the fat you have hanging around for energy! Here's the thing, though. Your liver has multiple functions and likes to help out when things aren't going well (when you're dehydrated). Your kidneys play a large roll in taking care of waste that our body doesn't need, but they can't do their job to the best of their ability if they're dehydrated. So, your liver comes to help out which means it can't focus on using that extra flab that you can't stand as energy. Not good. 

Another big aspect of fat lost that people tend to forget about is muscle. Yes, muscle. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn at rest. Does this mean that you have to be some jacked, drugged out bodybuilder to get shredded? Absolutely not, building and gaining lean muscle tissue does not mean you'll look like them. But it DOES mean you'll have the physique you've always dreamed of that acts as an ever-functioning fat furnace. A properly hydrated body can shuttle nutrients to the muscles that we need for growth and recovery at an extremely efficient level. Blood flow to the muscles being worked during exercises is also extremely decreased while dehydrated. What's the point of working hard in the gym and eating right at the table if your body can't even properly adjust to the demands?

It's extremely important to stay hydrated for many reasons. In order to lose fat, our livers must be functioning properly, and our muscles must be fed well.

How much should you be drinking, though? I have all of my coaching clients aim to drink AT LEAST .55oz. of water per pound of body weight each day. And if you're not carrying a water bottle around now, you need to do it ASAP. Keeping track of you oz. with your bottle makes life a heck of a lot easier. 

For more fitness and health related material, follow me or send me an email anytime (adam@poehlmannfitness.com) with any questions you may have!