I’ve always believed that, when trying to get someone to understand something, whether it be a professional skill, athletics or education, its often beneficial to get them to learn it through an analogy. Analogies help us take an idea or skill that we don’t know and translate it into something we already recognize. It simplifies things and helps make it easier to figure things out.
The same goes for me when trying to understand the pros and cons of following a macronutrient regimen. As a former runner, I understood how diet could affect your performance and that watching your calorie intake was important to keeping you lean. However, upon undertaking a muscle program, it soon became apparent to me that I was much more of a novice than I previously thought. The program talked about carb cycling, macronutrients, and how they are broken down and used by the body. Uh...yeah. Pizza bad, salad good, was my basic understanding. After much study and listening to people, I have a pretty good understanding of how all this macro diet stuff works, but I often see the glazing over of the eyes with people I’m talking to when I start the discourse on the horrors of trans fat. So, I’m going to attempt an analogy. With me, analogies usually circle around stories that I’ve watched or read. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. Trying to use a commodity in current pop culture (I think anyway, unless Disney has already ruined them), I’ll use the Avengers to illustrate. PROTEIN – Think of protein as the Captain America of the group, particularly if you are wanting to gain muscle. Protein allows your body to grow and build, protect your lean body mass and is composed of amino acids, the building blocks of your body. There is very little harm in protein and almost always on your side for fitness training. Like Cap, it’s a staple…chicken, lean beef, venison, eggs, etc. And if you want to go vegan, it will still work with you…beans, nuts and seeds all have protein as well. Again, like the star-spangled man with a plan, too much protein can be an issue, but usually its just an issue of diminishing returns…sort of like when Cap starts to get preachy and the rest of the team get bored. CARBOHYDRATES – Carbs are sexy and taste great and make you feel good all over…Iron Man of the group. There are very few who don’t like to eat carbs and with good reason. Carbs are broken down into glucose, which is the main source of energy in your body (Arc Reactor, anyone?!). However, there are simple carbs, which are easily broken down by your body into glucose, but have short lived, one track uses…sort of like Tony Stark in the early movies. Your body uses them quickly and the burn they provide wears off. Then there are complex carbs…pasta, rice, bread…they have more fiber in them and longer strands of sugar molecules, making them break down much slower. Think of Iron Man in the later movies…more responsible, having morality and generally more beneficial to the team all the way around, but you still have to be vigilant with allowing them to much control of your plan. FAT – The Hulk, pure and simple, because of its radically different types. First, there’s unsaturated fat…the Good Hulk…comes in the form of healthy proteins like salmon and tuna and is also found in avocados and nuts. It’s great for preventing heart disease. Saturated fat…the sort of decent Hulk…shows up and smashes the enemy but may smash a few teammates as well. Sat fat if found in fatty beef, lamb, poultry with skin and dairy. Saturated fat is needed in your diet, but in small amounts...like the Hulk…use with caution. Trans fat…the rampaging Hulk, smashing at will anything and everyone. This fat is a “steer clear”, as it produces no known body benefits. Those are the main macros, summed up by the main Avengers (minus a certain God of Thunder, of course!). Just for fun, I threw in a couple other diet components to keep track of. SUGAR – Not technically a macro, sugar is a type of Carb, along with fiber and starch. Think of sugar as the Black Widow…it looks and tastes good, but you don’t want too much of it because you just don’t know what it’s doing to you long term. WATER – Few training programs don’t have water as the staple of an ongoing regimen. The body does not function without it…however, it’s bland, not very exciting and you often wonder if it’s really necessary. It’s like Hawkeye…did the Avengers really need him?? You mean if Cap and Thor can’t get the job done, Hawkeye is going to carry the load?? Still, he added a certain sense of balance to the team, just like water does. ALCOHOL – Technically a macro, but as your body doesn’t need it to survive, often excluded from most macro lists. Think of it as the Scarlet Witch. You never really know what you’re going to get until your world is turned upside down and she drops a mountain on you. And like the Scarlet Witch, turns out to not be a hero at all in the end. Have any additions or comments? I’d love to hear them!
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AuthorRich Spalding, CPA, former die hard runner, newborn gym rat, and laugher of his own jokes. ArchivesCategories |