Body breaking down muscles for energy?!

unknown

Ok, so my husband and I started going to a new gym yesterday and they gave us a packet about nutrition. I've read many posts on MFP saying you can eat whenever you want, its just the calories that matter, but this gym disagrees and says a lot more. Is any of this even a little bit true or are they just idiots?

- "There are plenty of experts who claim that all that matters is the number of calories you eat. You see, it's not just how much you eat; it's what you eat- and when you eat it.

- "Missing breakfast, or any meal elicits an emergency response from your system. Believing it's on the brink of starvation, your body stores a larger percentage of what you eat next as fat, no matter what you just ate."

- "While you sleep your body is in a fasting state. During this period, liver glycogen levels drop sending hormonal responses that you are starving. When your body is in a starving state it cannibalizes its own muscle converting your hard earned muscle to glucose to feed the brain and maintain your metabolic rate. The next time you eat the body stores more of the next calories you eat as fat. By eating no more than 30 minutes from rising, you stop this state of catabolism and rev your metabolism."

- "Waiting more than 4 to 5 hours between meals causes your blood sugar to bottom out. To combat this, your body secretes cortisol, a hormone that boosts blood-sugar levels back to normal. Trouble is, one of the ways it does this is by converting muscle protein to sugar (glucose), what exercise scientist call muscle wasting (catabolism). The solution: frequent meals. Eating more often helps to regulate blood-sugar levels, protecting your muscles from being broken down and used as energy."

- (And under the "FACT" section:) "If you don't replace the glycogen (stored sugars) that you burned during your workout within 30-45 minutes of your last rep, your body's metabolism begins to quickly slow down cannibalizing its own muscle tissue for energy ...BAD. You end up with a smaller version of your self, increasing the fat to lean muscle tissue ratio, and lowering your metabolic rate ...VERY BAD. By not replacing the sugar immediately, your body will undergo a physiological change and begin to recognize protein as its most important energy source. Over time you will need to work out harder and harder to achieve the same results because you will have less and less protein or muscle to maintain a healthy metabolism."

- "Remember these simple rules: Nutrition is essential for optimizing your workout and achieving your goals.
- Always eat breakfast.
- Never skip a meal. Eat five to six meals per day combining complex carbs, proteins, and healthy fats.
- Always drink a high glycemic post recover shake after every workout.
- Eat one hour after your shake. "


Are my muscles really that hungry for themselves or is this untrue?
(Edited because spacing was weird)

unknown

The difference is:

For weight loss, how much you eat is the only thing that matters.

For health, muscle retention, energy, etc: what you eat certainly matters.

The only bit I feel that they have right is that hitting your macros is important for health and fitness reasons. Also, everyone will lose muscle tissue during the weight loss process. To minimize that, you want to eat a good amount of protein and lift.

The rest, IMO, is crap.