The avoidance of fat in a muscle building diet is something that needs to be measured and sensible. Despite the rather odd sounding notion, fat is actually still essential in any fitness regime. After all, our bodies, no matter how in shape they are, still rely on it to perform essential functions. However, unlike most everyday people, those wanting to tone up or build muscle lean or otherwise, need to avoid fat in their diet to any excessive degree.
The first way that this can be done is the rather simple step of screening food. It’s really easy to throw to the side anything that has any fat in it, but we do need a certain amount of fat in our diet, for insulation and to store energy in the fat cells. Plus, if we don’t have any fat stored whatsoever, our bodies will look to convert whatever proteins and nutrients it can into energy, and this is when the body will start shrinking muscle cells as it drains them for energy. Put simply, we all need a little fat in our lives.
Secondly, it’s important to look at what fats are in our food and drink. We obviously have to avoid trans fats and saturated fats, but muscle building also relies on the use of ‘good fats’, and these can be found in foods such as olive oil, avocados, walnuts and almonds, and oily fish such as sardines, pilchards, salmon, mackerel and halibut. And the best thing is that these fish are often available cheaply and readily. All of these foods contain the fats needed for muscle growth as well as a healthy heart.
As a guideline, fats should take up no more than 25-35% of our daily caloric intake. Anything more, and we’re going to find it harder to shake off the excess pounds. And remember that muscle mass and fitness also factor in how easily we burn fats. If we’re healthier, our bodies dispose of fats quicker. So if you’re in peak physical condition, aim for a little more fat, especially on training days. Fat is essential!
