Why Chicken Salad Will Make You Fat!

When we make a decision to lose weight and get in shape, we often take drastic measures especially when it comes to nutrition if we don't know any better. Whether we are at home or out at restaurants, ordering or cooking up a quick chicken breast salad is a meal I find comes to most minds due to its low fat, low carb and generally what seems to be healthy content, but let me tell you why this may not be quite so. 

Blood sugar control

Okay first of all, very lean sources of protein such as chicken breast will spike your insulin and the first rule of fat loss is to manage your blood sugar levels. So having insulin levels which are out of whack will pretty much leave you bang out of luck and eating very low fat can do this.  

Post workout insulin spike

Post workout is the exception when it comes to spiking insulin. This is the time you want to spike insulin so it shuttles nutrients into the muscles fast. Whey protein is a good choice at this time. 

Protein - first importance!

Let us first of all look at Protein. This nutrient should not be looked upon as a fuel source but rather a foundation. In Greek, the word protein actually means "first importance". It is the building blocks of your muscles organs and immune system.

Which fuel is best for your engine?

Your fuel sources are either fat or carbohydrates but you have to experiment to find out which one works for you. Let's look at myself personally for example, I find that carbs make me sluggish, fat and give me brain fog, even the clean sources such as sweet potatoes and brown rice. I find that my body does much better, looks better and performs better with healthy fats and high amounts of them. 

Never cut carbs and fat for faster results 

If you go hell for leather and cut out carbs and fat by just eating chicken and salad or white fish and boiled green beans then your body can go into a transition called Gluconeogenesis. This is when your body will break down non-carbohydrate sources into glucose for fuel as a last resort but the process of this is quite harsh on your system which is the reason why you feel rotten on extremely low carb and fat diets and then before you know it you have fallen well off the wagon and you have found yourself possessed by the Krispy Creme demon whilst at the pay desk at the petrol station. No matter how strong your will is, you will fall off the wagon if you eat this strict - please trust me I've been there. 

What you must understand is that a lot of the weight loss and training protocols that you've probably heard about actually comes from a bodybuilding drug culture. Six meals a day and training a body part once a week for example but this is another article all in itself!

Breaking it Down

The first step is to understand what is good nutrition and what is bad, then keep your diet 90% good. I promise you cannot go wrong. You must then establish whether carbohydrates make you fat or excess fat makes you fat due to its caloric density. As you are aware there are cars which run on unleaded and others run on diesel if you know what I mean. 

You can then simply make each meal with protein as a foundation, vegetables or salad as your fibre and nutrient source, a small amount of fat with more complex carbohydrate, or higher amounts of essential fatty acids with a lower complex carbohydrate content. 

Simple and effective.

Live Strong!
Kul