Diet change

Question
Hi Iain,

For the past couple of months, I have followed a high carb
diet of rice and pasta, with maybe one serving of fruit and
vegetables a day.  A few days ago, I changed my diet
drastically to eat more fruits and vegetables, fewer carbs,
and spicier food -- how I used to eat before the last couple
of months.  I seem to have gained five pounds within a day
(water weight?) and my stomach is much bigger, but calorie-
wise I am not eating more.  I also lived at a high altitude
for the last couple months, and now am back at sea level in
a warmer environment.  Can a healthier diet and change in
environment have these effects, and what can I do to make
this go away?
Thank you.

Answer
Hi,

Yes gaining 5 pounds in a day is probably mostly water, very difficult to gain any weight in just 1 day thru fat/protein.

In order to help with losing all fat in the body you need to do the following if possible:-

You need to eat lean protein like chicken, turkey, pork and lean beef. Also you will need energy in the form of complex cars, like whole meal pasta, cereal, and grains. Also any sports drink that has maltodextrin and where 70% or more of the carb content is not sugars.

Try to eat whole wheat products. They have sugars but their form is complex carbs, so they break down slower than simple cars (sweet tasting). Complex carbs help to sustain exercise. Try to consume foods low in fat, low in cholesterol, low in salt and low in added sugars. Include lots of complex carbohydrates (such as whole-grain breads, cereals and pasta), fruits and vegetables. For the liquids you can consume sports drinks that have a high amount of a complex carbs like Maltodextrin.

Carbohydrates are in 2 forms, simple (e.g.: glucose, fructose, sweet tasting foods) and complex (Maltodextrin, whole meal pasta, potatoes etc..). The 100 calories of simple carbs will generally need to be used by your body immediately, or they will be stored as fat.
Complex carbs take longer to break down, so if you do prolonged exercise then most will get burned up. But all excess carb calories generally will be stored as glycogen by your liver then fat as storage for later use.

What about where you workout, do you use a gym? A good weight training program will be required to put on muscle, otherwise a lot of food would start to be built up as fat.

Have you had a body fat percentage test yet? That is a good indicator to see what kind of weight you have put on over a period of time. That way you will increase muscle mass and also reduce fat (fat under the skin) to show off

Joining a gym has the following benefits:-

A) Get the correct instruction for working out,
B) Get the correct advice for exercises from a personal trainer
C) Get access to many different machines to build up your complete body fitness from strength, aerobic fitness to core inner strength to stretching and balance exercises.
D) General motivation from like minded individuals.

You need to get a balanced workout for all muscle groups. All muscles work together in the body and all need even amount of training. And don抰 forget stretching is important as weight lifting can reduce flexibility.

Thanks.

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