Diet Tips

A good read is: “Guide To Nutrition For Weight Loss” by marcus

and Gravityhomer’s fat loss guide ; both at JSF forums.

Before you start changing your lifestyle you must first determine where you are currently at. Then you can determine where you want to go and how you will get there.

Step1: Estimating Your Daily Calorie Requirement

My Stats
Height – 178cms
Weight – 75kg
Age – 22yrs

Using the Harris Benedict BMR Formula For Men

BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kgs) + (5 X height in cms) – (6.8 X age in yrs).

My BMR = 1833.93

Now we need to take into account the amount of energy burned through activity…and i fall under cat 3:
3. If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a week) – BMR X 1.55

Therefore my BRM = 2842.5; which means i must eat approx 2842.5 calories a day to maintain my current weight.

Step2: Cut/Bulk or Maintain?

Now you must determine whether you want to “Bulk up” or “Cut down” or maintain your current weight. Most people recommend that you cut down to under 10% BF (Men) before you start to bulk, i think around 14% for women?

So my current goals are to cut down to under 10% Body Fat while maintaining lean muscle mass (maybe even gain some)…

To lose body fat we must create a calorie deficit as well as doing exercise (Cardio + weight training!)
Following from marcus’ post on weight loss we should aim for about 1 pound / .5KG per week of weight (fat) loss.
“1 lb of fat is 3500 calories. Therefore to lose 1 lb a week you do the following: 3500 divided by 7 = 500 cals.”

Therefore minus 500 from your BRM. In my case 2842.5 - 500 = 2342.5 Calories. So i aim for about 2400 calories a day.

Now we know how much we should eat each day!

Step 3: Meal Frequency & Size

The next step is to work out meal frequencies. You should aim to eat every 2 - 4 hours (min / max). Go for around 3 hours. Men should aim for 6 meals a day and women should aim for 5 meals a day.

Each meal should contain a serving of lean protein and carbs. Morning meals should be bigger and you should taper off evening meals to smaller servings. Your last meal should be aprox 2 - 3 hours before you go to sleep.

So 2400 cal per day / 6 meals = 400 calories per meal

Therefore my average meal size will be approx 400 calories.

Pre-Training Meals

  • ” The aim of the pre-event meal is to top up glycogen and protein levels and maintain fluid levels.”
  • “So the guidelines are don’t eat within an hour of your workout. Eat foods that are; high in complex carbs; low fat; have fibre; and will give you adequate fluid intake.” - marcus

I generally aim to eat about an hour before doing a workout, however if i need to eat before a workout i will generally have a protein shake with milo (as this will be processed faster by the body then a solid meal).

Post Training Meals

Quotes taken from JSF

  • “this is the period where carbs are probably more important than protein” - JeremyLikness
  • “It is a must that you consume simple carbs pwo with your protein so glycogen stores are replenished” BDMF
  • “after lifting your body is in dire need of carbohydrates, specifically simple ones. Dextrose is ideal, as it directly raises blood glucose levels. If you do not wish to purchase that, or cannot for some reason, then perhaps some glucose-heavy fruit (fruits have different amounts of glucose and fructose from each other) would work well.” - Glaive
  • http://fezman.mydietblogger.com/2005/12/23/post-workout-nutrition/

My PWO meal (after weight lifting) is 35g whey protein shake + 28g malo/dextrose in water.

Step 4: Schedule your day and meals

Scheduling and planning your day ahead of time will ensure greater success in your quest to change yout lifestyle.

Start off with a basic daily plan; here is what i plan to do every day (Mon - Friday). Cardio and Lifting Workouts are usually performed on separate days.

Time Cardio (AM) Workout (PM)

Suggested Meals

7am

Breakfast
  • Whey shake
  • 3 x Wheat bix + 35g protein + 1 cup milk + banana

8am

Workout (walk/run/bike)

9:30

Morning Tea
  • Oats + ½ cup milk + Orange

12:30

Lunch
  • Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce, tomatoes

3

Afternoon Tea
  • 1 cup yoghurt + Fruit

4:30

Workout (Weights)

5:30
  • PWO Shake

6:30

Dinner
  • Chicken breast + Veggies
  • Stir fry
  • etc

9:30

Snack (if still hungry)

Remember, All foods are made up of a combination of Protein, Carbs and Fat.

1g of Protein = 4 cals
1g of Carbs = 4 Cals
1g of Fat = 9 Cals

14 Superfoods - http://channels.netscape.com/homerealestate/package.jsp?name=fte/musteatfoods/musteatfoods