Below are the two very basic rules when it comes to energy balance and body composition:. Based on the above, you can see why bodybuilders and physique athletes often have designated periods of weight loss and weight gain. In a perfect scenario this could be termed fat loss and muscle gain. In this book we will teach you how to set up and track macronutrients fat, carbs, protein , and how to adjust these variables when plateaus occur. Caloric management is the absolute foundation upon which all other recommendations build off.
This approach means you can eat any foods you like, as long as they fit in your daily caloric budget and your daily macronutrient split fat, carbohydrates and protein. When your body ingests bacon, for example, that protein will be utilized in same fashion as protein from chicken.
Carbohydrates that come from Oreo cookies will be utilized in much the same fashion as carbohydrates coming from wheat bread. Notice these aren't being noted as clean foods because that term is nonsensical; these are more properly foods termed nutrient dense. It isnt about eating pop-tarts all day. It isnt about avoiding whole foods or eating artificially made products whenever possible.
It IS about having sauce on your meals if you want to. It IS about having the flexibility to eat out with friends. It IS about being able to have a burger with the boys.
It IS about learning HOW to eat for your goals, learning the nutritional value of food and how to fuel your body efficiently. It IS about sustainable living and sustainable progress.
By controlling our macronutrient intake, we in turn control our caloric intake. Paired with a wellmanaged resistance and cardiovascular training protocol, we can fairly easily control both sides of the energy balance equation. Lets say this individual burns an average of 2, calories per day including exercise.
So if caloric management is at the top of the list of priorities, how do we come up with that number based on macronutrient intake? We are painting in broad strokes to get you the information you need to create a starting point in structuring your diet for improving your body composition.
Since we will require a caloric deficit to get leaner, protein intake needs to be sufficient to:. If you are interested in optimizing your body composition then you probably know the important role protein plays in building muscle. Adequate protein intake will help retain lean body mass as we strip body fat, which is vital to attain the muscular separation we are after.
Through digestion, protein is broken down into amino acids which are then absorbed and either used to build new proteins in the body a term called protein synthesis , or used as energy. In the fitness industry its not uncommon for people to have the mentality of If a little is good, then a lot must be great.
This is especially true when it comes to protein. Fortunately, science has helped bridge the gap between in-thetrenches experience and whats supported in research.
The more is better mentality can come into play here and research does suggest there to be a minimal protein threshold specifically the amino acid leucine that needs to be reached each meal to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Having too many meals a day may not allow us to achieve this threshold within each meal. There is also some evidence that muscle protein synthesis is refractory in nature, meaning it peaks before returning towards baseline despite a continued elevation of amino acid levels in the blood.
This indicates that a return towards baseline is likely necessary to optimize further elevations in muscle protein synthesis as a result of a protein containing meal. There are entire careers built around the study of protein intake and body composition, so this book will only cover the essentials. The recommendations provided will cover our bases to ensure we have a suitable intake and distribution to support getting you shredded.
This will help ensure you meet the required leucine threshold per meal, while allowing enough space between meals to reap the benefits of multiple protein feedings. Just as importantly, having a more manageable amount of meals also allows one to fit meals around their schedule and not the other way around.
Carbohydrates are also the source for dietary fiber and many essential micronutrients imperative for overall health. DO NOT neglect fiber and micronutrient consumption within your diet. While a multivitamin can offer a bit of a security blanket, aim for nutrient-rich whole foods to make up the majority of your diet. This isnt the s anymore, more people are becoming educated on the importance of an adequate fat intake.
Fat is used in the production of hormones as well as in the construction of cellular membranes. From a behavioral eating standpoint, fats can increase satiety and fullness from a meal due to their caloric density and ability to slow digestion. Within the context of body composition the right fat intake within our diet will: help attenuate decreases in anabolic hormones as we diet leave enough calories for sufficient protein and dietary carbohydrate.
Carbohydrates specifically in their stored form as muscle glycogen are our primary fuel source when we train. Carbohydrate intake is VERY individual and dependent on a number of factors including but not limited to: Amount of lean body mass Training volume Insulin sensitivity ability to dispose of carbohydrates in muscle cells Carbs should be distributed in a manner that allow you to perform your best during training and keep you alert throughout the day without wildly variable changes in blood sugar levels.
Fiber provides bulk to waste in the intestines and promotes healthy gastrointestinal functioning. Soluble fibers mesh with water to form a gel and slow the digestive process, which as aforementioned can help attenuate blood sugar levels.
Insoluble fibers, on the other hand, travel through the GI tract without dissolving and speed the passage of waste through the gut i. Spaghetti, whole-wheat, cooked Barley, pearled, cooked Bran flakes Oat bran muffin Brown rice, cooked Bread, rye Bread, whole-wheat or multigrain Split peas, cooked Lentils, cooked Black beans, cooked Lima beans, cooked Baked beans, vegetarian, canned, cooked Sunflower seed kernels Almonds Pistachio nuts Pecans Artichoke, cooked Green peas, cooked Broccoli, boiled Turnip greens, boiled Brussels sprouts, cooked Sweet corn, cooked Potato, with skin, baked Carrot, raw.
All days require a high protein intake. In essence, carb cycling acts as a means of regulating your endocrine system and thus metabolic rate. When you impose aggressive, chronic energy deprivation on yourself such as when dieting for fat loss , your body compensates by lowering its demand for energy i. Lowering metabolic rate is a basic survival mechanism in many organisms; it would be counterproductive for an organism to be burning through energy rapidly when nourishment is restricted.
A lower metabolic rate means your metabolism is actually becoming more efficientyes, MORE efficient. The most notable endocrine adaptations associated with chronic energy deprivation are the lowering of thyroid hormones thryonines and the fat-secreted hormone adipokine leptin.
First, leptins primary role is regulating metabolic expenditure as well as caloric intake, both of which have obvious implications with regards to bodyweight. Second, thyroid hormones act on nearly every cell in the body to increase metabolic rate.
Therefore, the sensible solution to avoid diet-andexercise induced metabolic slowing is to acutely increase energy intake especially carbohydrates to help revive hormonal and metabolic factors.
A good way to think of this is as your metabolism being a vehicle and food is your fuel source; you want a less efficient vehicle as it will need more gas to travel the same distance than a more efficient vehicle. So in metaphorical terms, if you want to eat more e. Stimulate an insulin response that shuttle nutrients in your muscle cells, causing them to grow Replenish glycogen stores that fuel your muscles Make you feel good and energized.
Promote fat loss by tricking your body into burning fat for fuel instead of the sugar from the carbs it would normally get Keep your body more receptive to insulin, improving your bodys muscle-building response. To lose fat, you need a negative energy balance, also known as a calorie deficit, where youre consuming fewer calories than you burn. Protein contains 4 calories per gram o Protein specifically amino acids are the building blocks of new muscle tissue.
Within that, allow the nature of your lifestyle to dictate meal frequency. If you want to take the guess work out and know exactly what youre putting in your body, then it is best to get in the habit of counting your calorie intake, and also tracking your macronutrient intake as well.
If you want to roll the dice and play the guessing game then thats up to you. However, bear in mind that you wouldn't expect to bake the perfect cake by guessing the required amounts of flour, sugar and butter in the recipe.
You also wouldn't expect that cake to rise appropriately if you set the temperature of the oven at random and changed it intermittently whilst cooking; nor would you expect your cakes to taste similar from one bake to the next should you repeat the steps above.
Scientifically speaking, a calorie is simply the amount of energy heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degrees Celsius.
It is likely that the definition weve just given you has only made the idea of a calorie even more confusing, so lets use a real-world analogy to make it more comprehensible:. Of course, if you overload your cars gas tank with fuel it would simply start overflowing.
Weve already established that your body needs fuel to function. Every day, your body uses a certain amount of energy quantified in calories to perform basic functions like breathing, maintaining core body temperature and pumping blood through veins.
Your body will perform these vital functions even if you decide to stay in bed for the entire day. Therefore, your body is burning fuel aka calories even when youre resting.
Youll maintain your current weight as long as you provide your body with sufficient calories through food. When trying to lose fat, a calorie deficit is exactly the scenario we want to create as fat tissue will start to be burned as fuela process called fattyacid oxidation.
Lets say your body needs calories per day to maintain its weight you can also say that your BMR is calories. If you consume calories per day and burn calories at the gym then your calorie deficit is calories per day. Ideally, a sound diet and training regimen will incorporate both exercise and caloric restriction, and that is precisely what this Week Shred Program employs.
We recommend a combination of both for fast and lasting fat loss. To walk you through the entire process, lets use an example of what it would look like for our fictional character, John:. Thats it! Hang onto that number as you will need it to calculate Johns daily calorie requirement DCR. Age: 22 Height: cm Weight: lbs 80kg Lifestyle: John hits the gym hard 5 times a week, works a desk job and doesnt do much demanding physical activity out of the gym.
Your DCR is an estimation that takes into account your activity variable. Your activity variable is simply a multiplier set by the daily lifestyle tasks that contribute to the amount of energy you burn. There are a variety of equations out there that are utilized to calculate ones BMR, but we will be using the most accurate method which is the Mifflin-St.
Jeor Formula. Once again, BMR is the amount of calories your body burns at rest to maintain normal body functions such as breathing. Lets use an example of what it would look like for our fictional character, John: Lifestyle: John hits the gym hard 5 times a week, works a desk job and doesnt do much demanding physical activity out of the gym. This will put him in the activity variable Moderately Active and will use a multiplier of 1. However, it is more important to determine your specific calorie deficit by simply taking a percentage of your Daily Calorie Requirement DCR.
This diet is not intended to greatly restrict any specific macronutrient; instead it favours a balanced approach. As we discussed in Chapter 4, each macronutrient plays an essential role in your health and performance. Recall that proteins and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, while fats contain 9 calories per gram. So there you have it; pretty simple eh? John can now move onto the next step which is determining his calorie deficit. A pound of fat tissue contains roughly 3, calories.
Therefore, if the goal is to lose one pound of fat per week, you need to create a calorie deficit of calories per day on average. Low-Carb Days are important as they enhance the fat loss process by encouraging your body to burn fat for fuel. They also keep your body more receptive to insulin, improving your bodys muscle-building response.
There will be 5 low-carb days per week, and they will occur on. A calorie deficit that is large enough to stimulate significant fat loss, but small enough to keep muscle intact, control appetite and maintain high energy levels. Sufficient protein to maximize muscle recovery and lean mass retention. Enough carbohydrates and fats to keep mood and hormone balance in check, as well as to keep training performance near its peak. So for John, since he is aiming for 2, calories on his Low-Carb Days, his macronutrient breakdown will look like this:.
Protein: 2, x 0. There will be 2 high-carb days per week, and they will occur on. So for John, since he is aiming for 2, calories on his High-Carb Days, his macronutrient breakdown will look like this:. Refill glycogen stores and help keep your brain and metabolism happy. Perform better in the gym after youve replenished yourself with a few higher-carb meals. While precision and consistency are optimal, being within 5g of each macro is acceptable and isn't going to derail progress.
Being over or under calories on the day is a lot different than Context is key. First, its good that you are aware that you have overshot your macronutrient intake. While that isnt ideal, it certainly isnt the end of the world. However, if you slip up by a large amount e. See below for an example of how this would work:. We have good news for you. You dont have to eat meals on any set schedule to lose weight efficiently. You see, meal frequency has little relevance on actual results.
You can eat 3 meals per day or 6 and achieve the same thing if youre doing everything else right in terms of hitting your daily macros and following your exercise regimen. You will probably find a smaller meal every few hours most enjoyable, but feel free to experiment. You can also play with when you start eating for the day.
If you like eating breakfast, do it. If you dont, and would prefer to wait until lunch before you start eating, you can do that too. Sometimes skipping that first meal helps with overall compliance as it allows you to eat larger meals and still stick to your numbers. NOTE: If you overeat protein by a large amount, deduct that many grams from your carb intake the next day. Look, we get that tracking calories will feel tedious at first. Heck, for most of us it was the most annoying thing in the world when we first started tracking calories.
However, if youre going to track calories and believe us its worth it dont leave things out. Even if it as little as eating a small chocolate bar or the mayonnaise in your sandwich. Moreover, the food database seems to be the most comprehensive and accurate.
Whether you're experienced with logging food intake or a newbie, MFP is our top app recommendation. Basically, you will have to measure your food intake and will need a food log in which you document every meal.
For some folks, this is painstakingly hard work so they just dont do it. Track your macro intake as outlined in this 12 Week Shred Program. You will have to input your macro and calorie goals manually into MyFitnessPal Monitor weight-loss progress Stay consistent with your diet. Turn off this option in settings. Two great starting places include:.
You can also use them as measuring scoops, especially for cooked rice, pasta and noodles. Add the food you want to weigh it may take a couple of seconds for the scales to settle and display the final reading. Use metric spoons for energy-dense foods such as oil, butter, sugar and honey. And keep the measure level by flattening off the top of the spoon with a knife, so that its levelled and not heaped.
If you eat out at a restaurant you can always ask the server how big the portion sizes are and how the food is prepared. Moreover, both MyFitnessPal and CalorieKing have huge catalogues of nutritional facts from restaurants and fast-food chains. There is no right or wrong way but ask yourself which way is most sustainable for YOUR lifestyle. Additionally, make sure you challenge yourself enough to be comfortable meeting macros when things dont go to plan. If you forget your food at home and have to eat out then be equipped with the knowledge you need to succeed.
The general rule-of-thumb is that if something is calorie-free, then you dont need to be so nit-picky about tracking it.
Contrarily, certain condiments may be loaded with calories despite their small serving size, so be sure to read the food labels. If you feel a bit overwhelmed at the idea of tracking your macros every day then you are not alone. However, like anything, it takes consistent practice. Admittedly, this is a point where many people want to throw in the towel and do. For example, mustard is pretty much free of calories it mostly contains vinegar, salt and spices so if you put a few tablespoons of mustard on your sandwich, then dont worry about tracking it.
Same goes for most any other calorie-free foods. But if you are instead going to use a bunch of bleu cheese dressing then you should absolutely be tracking that as it will impact your calorie intake.
All jokes aside, the learning curve can suck. It can make or break you. Remind yourself why you are doing this, and power through it. It WILL become easier, and in the end the flexibility of macronutrient management can be liberating.
Some people may do best out of the gate if they create a menu designed to hit their macros prior to each day. There is nothing wrong with this, so long as you become comfortable with tracking and know how to adjust your day as needed. Other people use the flexibility offered and thrive by not eating the same thing on any two days, or have any idea what their next meal will be. Then click Generate 2. Find the Current nutrition targets' section and click 'Edit Targets' 3.
Set the Target Macros to A percentage of calories and then use the following percentages. Many people see adaptation and stagnation as synonymous terms. While in a sense this can be true, realize that adaptation is exactly what we want. Every time we go to the gym to train we create a specific stress on our nervous system, and musculoskeletal system. From this stress we are seeking to obtain a downstream adaptation to allow us to be ready for future stressors.
A bigger, stronger muscle will be better equipped to handle that training stress in the future. Training plateaus will inevitably happen to everyone, but how do we minimize them?
Much in the same way we would increase calories during a weight-gain plateau, we would increase our magnitude of training stress to stimulate further adaptation. And much like our macronutrient intake, we should be able to quantify our workloads in a way we can easily assess and manipulate variables to accomplish our goals. While going into the gym and obliterating a muscle group can get you results, usually its by proxy and not by design.
At times we may be doing much more than is required or optimal for long-term progress. We MUST do more work over time in a controlled, sustainable design. At the same time, we want to milk as much progress as we can out of a given amount of work before we add more volume.
World-class bodybuilders and powerlifters may spend hours and hours in the gym each day across multiple sessions. In most cases this isnt because they are trying to get rapid results, its because they require that workload to keep progressing. We must do more work over time. As alluded to earlier in this chapter, progressive overload is the most important thing to keep improving your body composition and building skeletal muscle tissue. If you are not consistently subjecting the body to a new form stress, then there is no reason for the body to adapt.
This will have to be a little bit of trial and error. The goal here is to experiment with different weights and find the right amount where you can hit the recommended rep range for each specific exercise. It is also helpful to record each weight for each different exercise as well. When should I increase the weight? If you are hitting your recommended rep ranges pretty easily then you know that it is a good time to increase the weight.
A simple formula for that would be to calculate your current weight x 1. How important is consistency in this program?
What weight should I use for each exercise? This will have to be a little bit of trial and error. The goal here is to experiment with different weights and find the right amount where you can hit the recommended rep range for each specific exercise.
It is also helpful to record each weight for each different exercise as well. When should I increase the weight? If you are hitting your recommended rep ranges pretty easily then you know that it is a good time to increase the weight.
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