Going Into Detail About Nutrition

People are sometimes confused about what constitutes a good diet as far as numbers are concerned. This is a brief explanation that should hopefully clear the waters around creating the perfect diet to fuel your workouts.

*Note* This nutrition plan is modeled for body re-composition purposes. It is not fat loss specific, nor muscle building specific. It is intended to simultaneously burn fat and build muscle by way of calorie/nutrient cycling

Nutrition:
Now, no amount of working out will help you if you aren’t fueling your body properly. I could go into very deep detail about the ins and outs of a nutrition plan, but simplicity will better serve us here. You will be cycling your calorie consumption and your macronutrients depending on whether it’s a work day or a rest day. But in order to figure out your numbers, you have to first determine your maintenance calorie amount.

On a scale of 8 to 16, rate your daily physical activity, 8 being seated all day with maybe an hour of activity, 16 being strenuously going all day with maybe an hour of rest. Whatever number you come up with you will multiply by your body weight to get your maintenance calories. For example, I weigh around 200lbs, my activity level is probably a solid 12 since I do a lot of writing and driving along with my workouts and general activity. 200 x 12 = 2400 kcal per day, which is a ballpark number that I will be able to play around with after seeing a few weeks worth of results.

On a work day, my calories need to be in surplus so that I don’t draw nutrients from my muscle tissue to rebuild the damage and restore my energy stores created by my lifting, so I would add 200-500 calories on a workout day to cover for that. My macronutrient breakdown will be high protein (1-2g per lb of body weight), high carb (about 150-200g from vegetables, tubers, and fruits) and low to moderate fat.

On a rest day, I will give myself a 200-500 calorie deficit so that my body will not accumulate fat as is so common with strength training programs/nutrition. My macro breakdown will be high protein (same amount as work day) , low carb (50-100g from fruits and veggies), and moderate to high fat.

The way I figure out the exact goal amounts is simple. Each macronutrient has a calorie per gram value. Protein and Carbs are about 4kcal per gram whereas fat is 9kcal per gram.

So if I am looking to get 2500 kcal on a given day, with a body weight of 200lbs, I know I need 1-2g of protein per lb of body weight (200-400g protein = 800-1600kcal protein) I also know I need 150-200g of carbs (150-200g carbs = 600-800kcal carbs = 1400-2400kcal total). I will then determine how many more calories I need to get to 2500 and divide that number by 9 to find out how many grams of fat I should be trying for. (1100-100kcal leftover = 122-11g fat).

Of course, no day will be perfect and you should give yourself some wiggle room. As long as you are coming out about even for the end of the week, you will see results.

Your meal timing will depend on your schedule, but always have a post workout meal with a lot of protein and carbs. You can work out on an empty stomach if you ingest 10g of BCAA’s but other than that, make sure you have a decent pre workout meal as well.