Big Is Inside

A "simple plan" is not always the same thing as an "easy plan."  ESPECIALLY in bodybuilding . . .

This was the crux of posting I had made in the forums.  It was addressing the idea of how many meals bodybuilders eat — and how some people struggle with it.  

It ended up being a sort of "mini-primer on food theory".  Sure, there was practical advice, but sort of "anecdotal" stuff.  In the end, though, no matter what you call it, I got a TON of positive feedback about the piece, so decided to blog-o-cize it.

Now, enjoy your meal . . .

First off, understand what is meant by the term "meal" . . .

People hear "eat six, seven, eight meals per day", and then assume that means sitting down with a fork an knife and eating all that food. They believe that every "meal" is about "chewing food."

In some cases, this is CLOSE to accurate, but in reality the term "meal" in physique development has a VERY SPECIFIC MEANING.

Here’s the equations . . . FIRST:

"eating" = "consumption of ANY kind"
which means even protein drinks, snacks — anything outside of a glass of water is considered "eating" in the physique development game. A glass of milk? That’s eating. Anything WITH CALORIC VALUE is to be considered "eating".

SECOND:

"MEAL" = "eating" / "time"
Basically, a "meal" is when you CONSUME according to a TIME component. Nothing radical here — heck "normal" meals also are regulated by time, right? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. . . .

But now HERE IS THE TRICK:

When a bodybuilder or athlete says "I eat SIX MEALS A DAY", they are simply saying "I CONSUME CALORIES AND NUTRIENTS AT SIX TIME-POINTS DURING THE DAY."

Emphasis: CONSUME CALORIES.

Too many people get hung up on the idea that a "meal" MUST be an elaborate affair. Often, there are means of consuming calories that are far less taxing than complex large meals.

One trick is to MEASURE CALORIES. Often, guys will eat what they have always considered a "satisfying meal", and then try to eat that much food six, seven, eight times. Well, when eating more frequently, the strategy is to SPREAD OUT THE CALORIES. Often the meals you consume will NOT be PHYSICALLY satisfying. In fact, they will often leave a little room in your stomach. So, the earlier advice of making the meals smaller makes a LOT of sense. But do not do this randomly. Figure out what your CALORIC BEST INTERESTS are first, THEN divide up your meals.

Now, most people roll their eyes at this point. "Math?" they think. "I don’t want a whole complex deal. I just want to look awesome." Well, bear with it. First of all, you only need use the measuring to get a "basic standard" down. If you are not competing, the math only need last a number of weeks to teach you portion sizing skills. You will NOT be chained to a caloric obligation forever. Man up and do the extra work — it’s YOUR goal you’d be copping out on if you don’t.

Likewise, remember that many bodybuilders will use PRE-WORKOUT, POST WORKOUT, and WAKE-UP drinks, and count them as "meals". I will not here go into the strategies employed by pre, post and waking nutrition, but will say that many bodybuilders use FAST DIGESTING nutrients at these points of the day. If you were to consider these quick-absorbing protein/carb drinks as "consumption which happens at a moment in time," well then you technically have three "meals"; specifically a "pre workout" meal, a "post workout" meal and a "waking" meal. Even though these meals are liquid and easily digested, they still "count" as "meals’ by the definition I provided above.

So a guy who is jacked who says "I eat 7 meals a day" may, in fact, only be "chewing food" four times.

Now, let me say that I am, personally, a STRONG advocate of WHOLE FOOD MAJORITY. I DO NOT LIKE diet schemes that are heavy on the powders and shakes. But I did want to point out that this is often how the "six meals" strategy is accomplished without discomfort; by considering drinks as "meals" because they are "nutrients consumed as a product of time."

So, don’t get mislead. Don’t just take the "eat six, seven, eight meals" advice at face value. ANALYZE CLOSER. So many guys are so horny for a "quick solution" that they don’t bother to deconstruct a suggestion, and then get saddled following a piece of advice that is not only uncomfortable, but ultimately counter-productive.

Yes, being "stuffed’ can work AGAINST you. It is a stresser on the body. And guess what the #1 catabolic (destructive) force is on a physique’s musculature? That’s right, stress. So being stuffed is NOT a good thing for a dude trying to grow. You may get an "A" for effort in eating the meals, but a flat-out "D" for doing what is wise for growth. We’re not trying to BE all about hardcore determination, here; the goal is just simply to grow, be it through hardcore determination or not. And most often, forceful methods cause the body more destructive stress than they do constructive benefit.

And on that note, I have to say that a "being stuffed" problem seems bio-physical, so to speak. One true thing is that the stomach is a remarkably elastic organ. It can grow several times it’s original size. Imagine it like a regular old balloon. If you pick up a balloon and try to blow it up, it will be a little difficult; the rubber is stiff and it needs to "loosen up" before it can stretch maximally with little effort. This is why people often tug and pre-stretch a balloon before blowing it up. It "warms up" the rubber and allows the balloon to expand maximally. Then, if you deflate the balloon, it does not return to it’s ORIGINAL deflated size. It is just a little bit bigger; a little more stretched out than it was originally. If you were to keep blowing up the balloon and deflating it, eventually it’s "resting" size would be quite larger than it was originally.

The stomach behaves similarly to that balloon. You can stretch it until it begins to "loosen up". So, the LONGER you eat several meals, the more your stomach becomes "stretched" to accommodate that level of food. Comfort GRADUALLY sets in. This process takes at least a month or two; therefore, as with ALL THINGS in bodybuilding, A LOT OF PATIENCE IS REQUIRED.

One not-too-cool trick people occasionally use is to stretch the stomach is to drink lots of water at one moment. I mean a LOT. I do NOT mean all day, but maybe just every few mornings, guzzle down a lot of water. This is an "okay" trick (and one I use the day after a contest so I can enjoy my inevitable end-of-diet celebratory pig-out), but it is NOT the best solution., Your healthiest option is a gradual method, allowing your stomach to slowly get used to it.

Don’t evaluate the method on just one day’s experience, or even a couple days experience. This eating habit is NOT an overnight adjustment, in spite of how people often regard it. Sure, your MIND doesn’t think it will be difficult; it is, after all, such a SIMPLE solution. But when put in practice, the advice takes on a number of elements you never would have foreseen without prior experience. Often the simplest things are the most challenging.

In the end LOOK CLOSER at the suggestions and advice which you choose to follow. NEVER take a quick solution as the best solution. if a plan SEEMS super-straightforward and simple, then that should almost an INSTANT red-flag for you to anticipate unforeseen snags. Like all of life, but seemingly ESPECIALLY in bodybuilding, a "simple plan" is rarely the same thing as an "easy plan".

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under A Bodybuilding Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.