Here are some traps you should avoid if you don't want to stack up on those kilos...
1. Loving fruit juice
If you start downing fruit juice, you'll soon stack up on the kilos. Often mistaken for a healthy option, it is actually far from the truth. Juice contains far too many carbs to be on even a diet. Moreover a large portion of these carbs are fructose. This gets converted to flab much quicker since muscle cells will not accomodate fructose. Instead opt for water, milk or green tea.
2. Boozy weekend
If you're off booze during the week, but really enjoy going crazy with your pals on the weekend, you're gonna become flabby. It's not unusual to stack up well over 1,000 calories on a good night of drinking, and if you add up all the chicken tikka, pizzas and Bade Miyan kebabs you consume while you're at it, you could be looking at least half a kg of fat gained over the course of the nightout. Limit booze consumption to one or two drinks a night, seldom.
3. Carb binging
If there's one thing that can make you fat quickly, carbohydrates are it. High-carb foods, especially of the processed variety, are extremely dangerous in terms of fat gain, because they'll quickly cause your insulin levels to soar, which puts the body into a fatstoring state. With all these calories floating around in the blood with nowhere to go--unless you've just done a very intense workout--they're fated for fat storage. Always keep carbohydrate consumption to a moderate level and be sure to balance them out with a lean protein as well.
4. Eat out
Eating out is another sure shot way of becoming one step short of Little Lotta. Remember that restaurant oils and breads and the extra mocktails (if not cocktails) that you end up having are only going to add to the kilos. Limit eating out to special occasions and only occassionally will people ask you, "have you put on some weight?"
5. Take the car
The everyday excesses can be as evil, for worse, because they are so insidious. If you're taking that much trouble to go to the gym, but if the nearest grocery store is something you can not imagine going without your sedan in, you'll soon need an SUV. Remember that the more you walk, the less bulky you'll be. So keep this basic maxim in mind, when starting your day.
6. Eat greasy food
Doughnuts, burgers, fries, pakoras, malpoa, chips. They all taste better than cabbage. They also make you irretrievably unhealthy. Think about it this way, it takes 45 mins of exercise to barely kill off 300 calories (we're talking cardio here). Just imagine how many minutes of exercise you're going to need to make up for all the doughnuts, burgers, fries, pakoras, malpoa, chips. Tasty? Very.
7. Use commercial weight gainers
If you're someone who's trying to pack on lean muscle mass, you might be considering the use of a weight-gain product. If you want to stay lean, however, you'll want to rethink this. While you may require a highcalorie intake to build muscle, some of these commercial weight gainers pack in well over 1,000 calories, which is too much for even the biggest weight lifter. Plus, these commercial weight gainers are often filled with simple sugars, which will wreak havoc on your body and set you up for diabetes. Instead, create your own weight gainer using protein powder, raw oats and flaxseeds.
8. Load up on the wrong proteins
You're aware you need protein to build muscle, and you take this information to heart. Day after day you're loading up on all the high-protein foods you can find and don't feel ashamed to indulge in a juicy Kobe steak when the opportunity presents itself. If this describes you, you may very well be on your way to gaining body fat. Remember that many protein-rich foods do contain high amounts of saturated fat and calories, so consuming too many of them will put you on the quick road to obesity. Instead, choose leaner sources of protein, and consume them in moderation. Men naturally gravitate toward proteinrich foods whenever they have a craving, but remember that you can get too much of a good thing.
9. Move back home
In today's tight financial times, more and more adults are choosing to move back in with their parents. If you're looking to maintain a lean body, though, this may be the last thing that you want to do. Surrounding yourself with all of your mom's high-fat, high-calorie cooking will likely lead to excess calorie consumption.
10. Forgo your musclebuilding workouts
Do not skip your musclebuilding workouts. What some men fail to realize is just how much of a boost they will get in their metabolism and this could mean the difference between you staying lean or just getting fat.
