Whilst it is a good idea to estimate your resting metabolic rate and then to make adjustments for activity and weight loss/gain goals it is possible to make good progress even if you don't go through with the calculations.
In the past I have calculated my clients' nutritional needs down to the last gram of each macronutrient. I've then produced detailed meal plans that ensure a balanced array of nutrients, timed with military precision. I used to present the client with the plan confident that they would follow it to the letter and make the gains they wanted.
Bitter experience has taught me that there are very few "ordinary" trainees who are going to be consistent with such plans. Their lives are too varied; the dietary rules are too strict and it is only a matter of time before they break them. Usually these infringements of the rules incur a "oh, well, might as well give up" response and the goal gets ever more remote.
There are exceptions, of course, and these people make the best gains.
Others get into the idea of writing down what they eat - only they do this retrospectively and then beat themselves up for consuming too little or too much.
Recently I've elected for a basic ("ideal") meal plan with a number of alternatives for each meal and some general principles for those "can't be bothered" times.
Basically, there is a simple structure: eat six times a day at roughly three hourly intervals. At the simplest, divide your target calories (which you can determine by keeping a food diary for five days and seeing what you need to maintain, or you can do the calculations). If your goal is to lose fat, reduce this figure by about 15%.
Divide your calories by six and aim to eat roughly this amount at each of the six meal times.
For those who are busy, protein bars or drinks will provide convenient alternatives, along with hard fruit.
The diet should remain high in protein (1.6g per kilo of lean body weight is recommended for fat loss. There's no benefit from going above 2g per kilo). Carbohydrates should come from wholegrain sources wherever possible and should be low GI, and fats should be principally monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Once you decide on the sorts of foods you are going to eat, spend a bit of time calculating their macronutrient and caloric values by referring to the packet labels and using a calculator. It should then be possible to identify a variety of foods and snacks that could make up a meal slot.
You can work out the percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate in accordance with your goals. For health the ratios are: protein 10%, carbohydrate 60%, fat 30%. For serious training, the retention of lean tissue and fat loss these percentages will need to be adjusted (for example 20, 55, 25). You may want to experiment with ratios or refer to a good nutrition book.
For simplicity, divide the values between the six meals (remember, there's little point consuming more than 25-30g of protein at one time - the excess will be excreted or stored as fat); and don't get hung up on carbohydrates: you need them! Your brain needs them, and your muscles needs them. Just make sure that they are from clean, fibrous sources and low GI, except within the fifteen minutes immediately after training when simple sugars help to speed recovery and optimise protein synthesis.
A sample basic structure might look like this:
7am Shreddies, skimmed/semi-skimmed milk; glass of orange juice
10am Protein bar; apple
1pm Tuna salad sandwich (wholemeal bread - preferably with seeds)
4pm Protein bar; pear
7pm Sweet Potato, Chicken breast/grilled fish/broccoli, carrots
10 pm Protein shake; handful of nuts
Post workout (within 15 minutes) 1-2 bananas; protein shake
That's about as basic as it gets. Once you have your structure in place you can add variety by substituting foods of similar nutritional value. Make sure there are enough good fats by adding cold pressed extra virgin olive oil to salads, eating a handful of nuts or seeds, and eating salmon once a week. The protein bars and shakes should be the low GI/low-moderate carbohydrate variety if your goal is to lose fat.
The more planning and calculating you do, the better the results, but as I said at the beginning, there are few people who can commit to that. Find out the sort of foods you should be eating; approximate their caloric value, and slot them into the six meals a day structure.
If you can't afford, or don't want, protein supplements, eat more fish, chicken /turkey breast, eggs, low fat yoghurts etc. You might also want to look at quinoa.
Once you know what you should be eating you can stock up on all the required foods and snacks and prepare food in advance for convenience/packed lunches.
One last thing: if you do "fall off your horse" and binge/eat too much when dining out, don't fret. Enjoy yourself and then resume your normal eating structure. Don't skip a meal or try to adjust for the additional calories. The basic meal plan should be the norm but there will (and must be) exceptions (unless you are a competitive figure/bodybuilding athlete or have a pathological relationship with food and body image).
In the past I have calculated my clients' nutritional needs down to the last gram of each macronutrient. I've then produced detailed meal plans that ensure a balanced array of nutrients, timed with military precision. I used to present the client with the plan confident that they would follow it to the letter and make the gains they wanted.
Bitter experience has taught me that there are very few "ordinary" trainees who are going to be consistent with such plans. Their lives are too varied; the dietary rules are too strict and it is only a matter of time before they break them. Usually these infringements of the rules incur a "oh, well, might as well give up" response and the goal gets ever more remote.
There are exceptions, of course, and these people make the best gains.
Others get into the idea of writing down what they eat - only they do this retrospectively and then beat themselves up for consuming too little or too much.
Recently I've elected for a basic ("ideal") meal plan with a number of alternatives for each meal and some general principles for those "can't be bothered" times.
Basically, there is a simple structure: eat six times a day at roughly three hourly intervals. At the simplest, divide your target calories (which you can determine by keeping a food diary for five days and seeing what you need to maintain, or you can do the calculations). If your goal is to lose fat, reduce this figure by about 15%.
Divide your calories by six and aim to eat roughly this amount at each of the six meal times.
For those who are busy, protein bars or drinks will provide convenient alternatives, along with hard fruit.
The diet should remain high in protein (1.6g per kilo of lean body weight is recommended for fat loss. There's no benefit from going above 2g per kilo). Carbohydrates should come from wholegrain sources wherever possible and should be low GI, and fats should be principally monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Once you decide on the sorts of foods you are going to eat, spend a bit of time calculating their macronutrient and caloric values by referring to the packet labels and using a calculator. It should then be possible to identify a variety of foods and snacks that could make up a meal slot.
You can work out the percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate in accordance with your goals. For health the ratios are: protein 10%, carbohydrate 60%, fat 30%. For serious training, the retention of lean tissue and fat loss these percentages will need to be adjusted (for example 20, 55, 25). You may want to experiment with ratios or refer to a good nutrition book.
For simplicity, divide the values between the six meals (remember, there's little point consuming more than 25-30g of protein at one time - the excess will be excreted or stored as fat); and don't get hung up on carbohydrates: you need them! Your brain needs them, and your muscles needs them. Just make sure that they are from clean, fibrous sources and low GI, except within the fifteen minutes immediately after training when simple sugars help to speed recovery and optimise protein synthesis.
A sample basic structure might look like this:
7am Shreddies, skimmed/semi-skimmed milk; glass of orange juice
10am Protein bar; apple
1pm Tuna salad sandwich (wholemeal bread - preferably with seeds)
4pm Protein bar; pear
7pm Sweet Potato, Chicken breast/grilled fish/broccoli, carrots
10 pm Protein shake; handful of nuts
Post workout (within 15 minutes) 1-2 bananas; protein shake
That's about as basic as it gets. Once you have your structure in place you can add variety by substituting foods of similar nutritional value. Make sure there are enough good fats by adding cold pressed extra virgin olive oil to salads, eating a handful of nuts or seeds, and eating salmon once a week. The protein bars and shakes should be the low GI/low-moderate carbohydrate variety if your goal is to lose fat.
The more planning and calculating you do, the better the results, but as I said at the beginning, there are few people who can commit to that. Find out the sort of foods you should be eating; approximate their caloric value, and slot them into the six meals a day structure.
If you can't afford, or don't want, protein supplements, eat more fish, chicken /turkey breast, eggs, low fat yoghurts etc. You might also want to look at quinoa.
Once you know what you should be eating you can stock up on all the required foods and snacks and prepare food in advance for convenience/packed lunches.
One last thing: if you do "fall off your horse" and binge/eat too much when dining out, don't fret. Enjoy yourself and then resume your normal eating structure. Don't skip a meal or try to adjust for the additional calories. The basic meal plan should be the norm but there will (and must be) exceptions (unless you are a competitive figure/bodybuilding athlete or have a pathological relationship with food and body image).
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