One of the most important things to remember when
staring a diet is that you must create a catabolic environment for
yourself. “What the heck is catabolic?” you might be saying. Catabolism
is just a fancy word for “breaking down”. What you have to do is to
break down the adipose tissue, but in order to do so, you have to create
a need. Human beings have a history of needing to store as much bodyfat
as possible. Think about the cave men who only ate when they could kill
game which could have been once per day or maybe some days not at all.
The human body evolved and adapted to this and
everything worked fine. We would store fat, and then break apart the
fatty acids for fuel during times when food was scarce. Then something
happened.... Technology. Electricity became processing and processing
became fast food. As the pace of our society progressed, our metabolisms
didn’t... at least not at that pace. This is where obesity comes in.
People are obese because at the end of the day, they have a caloric
surplus, or an “Anabolic” environment. To a bodybuilder, this is a good
thing, because Anabolic actually means “Building”. In order to build
muscle, one must create an anabolic environment, but with this will come
fat. Doing the opposite will cause some muscle loss and some fat loss.
The ratio between muscle loss and fat loss determines the quality of the
diet. Muscle is the best fat burner, so why waste it? Now we have
established that you must have a caloric deficit to lose weight. How
much of a deficit? Well... and I know this sounds redundant... but it
depends on the person.
Age, Height, Weight, BMR (basal metabolic rate),
RMR (resting metabolic, and Activity Levels are all variables. How could
one calculate this into a daily caloric maintenance level? Simple. There
is actually an extremely popular website to assist you in these
calculations. If not 100 percent accurate, it definitely gets you in the
ballpark. (www.fitday.com)
It’s FREE too! So now that you have found your number. Say your daily
expenditure is 2300 calories. Your deficit depends on how much fat you
want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it. Considering that there
are 3500 calories in one pound of bodyfat, one could safely assume that
eating 1800 calories a day for 7 days would leave you with a net loss of
1lb of bodyfat per week. I don't know anyone who wants to lose just 1lb
per week though, so in order to lose 3lbs per week you would have to eat
800 calories per day. DON'T DO THAT THOUGH!!!. The reason is because
your body’s metabolism will become too slow and by the time you are
ready to start eating a normal diet, your body will store more bodyfat.
I speak from experience unfortunately.
I remember when I was younger dieting for a
competition and losing 40lbs in 7 weeks eating only 800 calories per
day, only my expenditure was more like 3000 cal/day. There are ways to
get a 1500 calorie deficit without malnourishing yourself though. In
this situation I would recommend that the person eat 1300 calories,
allowing for a 1000 calorie deficit, and work out (either cardio or
weights), for a combined total of 90 minutes per day preferably divided
into 2 separate sessions (about 250 calories each). Now you have created
a 1500 calorie deficit without dropping your calories to a dangerous
level. Now you could expect 3lbs of fat loss per week. This is
difficult, and you want to make sure that the foods you choose are not
calorie dense, meaning that they will fill you up more and make the diet
more enjoyable.
This
brings me to my next point, What To Eat. Here are just some of the
common foods I recommend when helping
clients build a diet.
*Fat
Free Cottage Cheese
*Skim
Milk
*White
Meat/Fish (Skinless)
*Dark
Greens (No Dressing)
*Almonds/Peanuts (nonsalted/roasted)
*Oats
(no flavor/no instant)
*Whole
wheat pasta (no sauce)
*Brown
Rice
*Grapefruit
*Blueberries
There you have it, covers all the food groups.If
America ate only these foods for a week I think we’d lose about 2
million pounds as a country... we’d go up a few inches above sea level
lol. That website also has another crucial and more important component.
It allows you to search for the foods you are eating and it gives you
the breakdown of Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins. Now a quick
discussion on Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals, and
Water... the Macronutrients. First of all, You need all six to function.
The ratio of the Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Fats is an open ended
question. First of all, Carbs and Proteins produce only 4 calories per
gram whereas fats produce 9. So you may be thinking of ditching dietary
fat at this point. Remember, dietary fat is not the same as bodyfat.
There are good and bad fats, and the good fats actually reduce the bad
cholesterol. Fats are also used to produce hormones that aid in the
oxidation of adipose tissue (burning of fat). So now that we know we
need fat, how much should we get?
The government recommends about 30% but I
personally think that on a diet you should be between 20% and 30%
because fatty foods are so calorie dense. Carbohydrates are a great
source of energy and are less likely to be stored as bodyfat than
dietary fat. However, they are also responsible for giving the body
glucose, which can be used for energy in place of bodyfat which is a bad
thing when trying to lose adipose tissue. This being said, they can also
help spare amino acids that make up proteins for use as energy. This is
a good reason that they should still be included in a fat loss diet, but
should be about 10-20% of the total calories. The remaining 40-50% of
calories should come from Protein because it has an immense number of
functions. It is essential for muscle maintenance (muscle is the best
fat-burner), it is less likely to be stored as adipose tissue than
dietary fat, and is the main nutrient responsible for growth and repair.
The other 3 macronutrients are vitamins, minerals, and water. You should
take a good multivitamin that includes some minerals when on a diet
because you are going to be deficient in these at such a calorie deficit
and increased workout regimen. Water should be a given.... drink it.
Carry a water bottle with you at all times. You can figure out how much
and what percentage of macronutrients you are taking in on that same
site. (www.Fitday.com)
Meal number and timing. This is very open-ended.
There are multiple theories, but I say somewhere between 4 and 6 small
meals per day is appropriate so that your metabolism is able to work for
you. Also, by not bolusing the meals (eating a bunch and once) you are
lessening the chance that you will store the food as bodyfat. However, I
do not recommend eating above 6 meals per day... first and foremost
because it is a pain in the rear, and second of all, because you will
never be satisfied with your tiny meals. I usually like to have people
eat meals about 3-4 hours apart. This ensures that you will not get too
hungry between meals.
I think much of this is mental now that you know
the formula. It comes down to will-power. You know what you are doing
now, and now you know what you could be doing. Are you willing to take
the plunge?
-Blake Selby AFAA Certified Personal Trainer
This is in
no way intended as medical advice, or replacement for your local
physician’s expertise. Please consult your health care professional
before attempting any diet or exercise plan.
Natural
Bodybuilding at its Finest - Lift for Life.com
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