Re:
Scientific studies confirm that eating a good diet and lifting, while cutting calories to drop fat works to PRESERVE muscle and possibly grow it, while cutting calories and doing cardio ONLY with no lifting results in LOSS of muscle AND strength. The mantra USE IT OR LOSE IT applies here...
Eating ANY calories under the what you burn will result in no gain. Consequently, eating ANY calories OVER what you burn will result in a gain. Your MACRO nutrient ratio matters AFTER you get your calories situated.
If you're trying to drop weight, you will, if you cut some calories out and increase the activity to slice off fat. If you don't lift, regardless of macronutrient composition, you'll lose muscle. If you do lift, regardless of composition, you'll preserve muscle. If you fine tune your macro ratios, you might slice MORE fat off and and increase muscle slightly.
The FIRST and most important EQUATION is the energy balance equation.
BODYWEIGHT increase = Activity required level of calories + added calories for desired growth.
BODYWEIGHT decrease = Activity required level of calories - decreased calories for desired weight loss.
Although you MAY burn sugar in the gym, a calorie is a calorie, regardless of how it comes off. Its energy, and ALL macros turn to energy. It's the way in which they turn, and the body's preference for conversion that matters. Even if you burn sugar in the gym, your decrease will flow throughout the day, and lead to MORE fat burn while working, sleeping, and generally lazing about. Fat is burned throughout the day, since conversion does not have to be instantaneous, as it would be with muscle. Carbs are burned in all INTENSE movements, because it converts quicker to active energy and is stored in the muscle cell, therefore it's also closer to where it's needed. Fat doesn't have the same advantage. BUT, it will at some point be burned. If you create the deficit, the fat will follow.
A constant berage of carbs only keep insulin turned on, therefore no energy is shuttled out, but rather energy is shuttled in, and fat/adipose production occurs. The reason being carbs / protein go to fat, for future use. The body thinks it HAS to store it, so if the body goes for long periods without food, it can still use it, rather than waste it.
I've yet to figure out if the 6 meal idea is proper, since the constant injection of calories leads to constant flooding of insulin. Perhaps if the 6 meals are kept AT what you'd burn during the time between meals, you can achieve better fat burning. If you were bulking, you'd want an extra 100 calories at each of the 5 or 6 meals, which would lead to constant shuttling of macros to the muscle cells. But keep in mind, the body adds FAT/MUSCLE in a 3:1 ratio, so SUPER extra calories, even massive quantities of protein WILL convert to fat. You can eat 1,000g, and then throw in CARBS and FAT, and you won't gain 20lbs in 1 month, but FAT. The rate at which PROTEIN converts to muscle is a slower process than FAT additions to the body, which could be virtually limitless, based on HOW many calories you're able to cram down. It's no wonder we have diabetes...the obese people who bring it on and sugarholics COSTANTLY have it turned on, so that it becomes so desensitized, that it never knows when to be on or off, therefore diabetics get a back up of sugar, which can kill them.
To change that, they have to back off from sugar and empahsize whole grains, fats, and proteins.
Keep in mind, while adding strength and decreasing fat, your body COMP will change DRASTICALLY. You don't have to add 20lbs of muscle to look entirely different. All you have to do is drop 10-20lbs of fat, and add 5lbs of muscle and you're talking NIGHT AND DAY. Guys think they want to be adding all the time, but if you want a change, dropping fat is a good place to start, and then adding, slowly, some muscle, so that you retain your confidence, as well as your flexibility and fitness levels. You can bulk to supranormal levels, and jam it down, but committment over a time period is a good idea before you go on an all out binge and then drop the program, only to be fatter and not more muscular.
A-Unit
