Introduction Calorie and carb cycling is a highly efficient way of losing fat while maintaining and growing muscle mass. This is one of the most desirable catch all combinations there is. It’s pretty much the holy grail of most people’s goals. There are claims and counter claims all over the internet about how it’s possible or impossible to burn fat and add muscle at the same time. Going from experience, I know it’s possible. However, it is a much slower process than doing one or the other. Example Calorie and Carb Cycling Plan Notes Everybody’s calculated daily calorie expenditure will differ of course but you get the picture from the example above. Carbs are your enemy on non training or cardio days and any excess will be stored as fat. However, fat….ironically can be consumed more freely (good fats like nuts, nut butters, avacados, fish, oils and seeds). On training days you need more carbohydrates as fuel but your protein levels are still relatively high in order to keep your repair synthesis going, allowing muscles to continue to grow. Resources You can freely apply the above principles after working out your own calorie requirements, but if you’re interested in seeing meal plan examples, scientific backup materials and the entire methodology behind calorie and carb cycling I highly recommend Tom Venuto’s ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle;
Counting Macronutrient Ratios Nutrition Plan
Introduction Everything we consume is made up of primarily of three macronutrients. The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein and fats. Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, Protein has 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram. Fiber contains between 0 and 2 calories per gram but we don’t normally take this into account when determining ratios (simply track total carbs, it will be near enough). Last but not least, alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. We can determine and use different macronutrient percentages in our diet in order to achieve our goals. Macronutrient Ratio examples A macronutrient ratio gives you the percent of calories from each nutrient in your diet. Here are a few examples; Ideally, you want to get 1g of protein per pound of “goal” bodyweight. So if you would like to weigh 200 lbs, then you would want at least 200 g of protein. For this reason, the 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat ratio has become popular and I have had steady success by following such ratios. Notes Resources again, the trusty myfitnesspal.com
Calorie Counting For Weight Loss
Introduction Calorie counting for weight loss is the most simple nutritional plan of all. You work out how many calories you need to consume each day to remain the same weight, create a caloric deficit and stick to it. Many of the huge branded chargeable services online use this method, package it up with branding and marketing and roll it out to the public. Weight Watchers is a classic example of this. Many of these services work, but they really aren’t necessary as you can apply the principles and actually have more success by doing it yourself. Of course there are other, more fashionable nutrition techniques out there for fat loss, but I’d say this is still the best place to start for beginners. The principles of calorie counting are stil evident in most of the advanced fat loss methods too so please don’t be discouraged by any conflicting information you find out there. I used calorie counting to get on the right track iand it formed the foundations of what I know today about nutrition. If you want to lose weight, sustain your plan past the first few weeks and learn a bit about yourself and nutrition….this is still the way to go. Here’s a step by step guide on how to count calories yourself Notes This is what I would call a phase 1 nutritional plan. Experimentation with calorie amounts is up to you. Remember, you are an individual and need to determine some of the minor adjustments to calories and exercise amounts yourself. Brands like Weight Watchers use marketing methods and sales tactics to offer their solutions to millions of people, kind of a ‘one solution fits all’ method. I’m not knocking [...]
Carb Backloading Plan For 2013
Introduction I’ve been hearing great things about carb backloading lately and I thought I’ve delve into more research. It seems like a perfect fit within my lifestyle so I’m going to give it a go. This is my pattern of existence to be honest. You hear claims and counter claims, read scientific evidence and stumble across carb back loading testimonials. You have to siphon out the genuine information from the internet marketing based products. To be honest there’s some good stuff (and absolute crap too) comes out of both worlds, but the only thing I truly trust is to try the damn thing myself. I’ve enjoyed some relative success from intermittent fasting and I actually see my next plan being a hybrid of IF and carb backloading. This all sounds really complicated but in essence it makes sense for me to do it this way. My dilemma with both protocols is that it suits my lifestyle best to work out early in the morning. I’ve been doing this throughout 2012 and have found it sustainable, enjoyable and 100% reliable. There are 1001 excuses for not hitting the gym in the evenings but for morning workouts there can be only one….if I sleep in. That doesn’t happen at all so I’m going to continue with this approach. Basic principles of carb backloading for early morning workouts Meet your new pre-workout drink……coffee. Drink a post workout shake containing carbs and protein. You carb backload the evening before your next resistance workout. The use the glycogen from today’s backload to fuel tomorrow mornings workout. For example a typical Monday, Wednesday and Friday resistance workout schedule, you backload on the evenings of Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Your actual training [...]
A Beginners Guide To The Fatloss Galaxy
Aaaaarrrrrghhhhhh!! Information overload? Confused? Does your head hurt before your body even gets a chance? Well first off I’ll start by saying there is probably no overall catchall for where every single person can begin to embark upon a fitness plan. What I can do is outlay the information I wish I had infront of me when I started working out (too many) years ago. Determine your goals before you begin Do you want to lose fat, gain muscle, improve fitness or a bit of everything? Elsewhere you could read about the this topic all day and still be confused. This is the nutshell statement the way I see it; You CAN lose fat, gain muscle and improve your fitness at the same time. The one disclaimer I would insert here is that there are certainly more quick and effective ways of approaching these three goals individually. As a beginner, I suggest you improve all three before refining your goals further. A decent combination of resistance, stretching and cardio will achieve this for you, along with the correct nutrition plan. If you want somebody else to do the thinking for you, then try out a workout product called P90X. You can see the results I obtained when I tried P90X and I’ve never looked back since. There are other good workout routines out there too, but ensure you strike an all round balance if you want to achieve all three goals outlined above. P90X does require some equipment (dumbbells and a pull up bar are desirable) but initially you could get away with a cheap set of resistance bands to test it out. Losing fat If you decide you specifically want to lose fat, again a mix of cardio and [...]
Intermittent Fasting
Introduction Credit where credit is due, this information has been gleaned and tweaked from Martin Berkhan over at leangains.com. I’ve heard so much about it I feel like it’s my duty to give it a go and validate my opinion about it. I’ve used this protocol off and on for around 6 months with great success. Early Morning Fasted Training Here’s my own bespoke setup geared around when I train. 5 AM: 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA. 5-6 AM: Training. 7 AM: 10 g BCAA. 9 AM: 10 g BCAA 12-1 PM: The “real” post-workout meal (largest meal of the day). Start of the 8 hour feeding-window. 8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast. On top of trying this IF regime, I have also integrated the following shredding plan; Reduce calories by around 1000 per day. I’ll be on around 2500 per day Use fat shredder ratios of 40% protein, 30% carbs & 30% fat Omit dairy from my diet, which should be easy as I only really have it for breakfast…which I will now be skipping. Notes This is of course just one example of how to implement intermittent fasting. Here are som other methods; Final thoughts Intermittent fasting is without doubt one of the best nutritional approaches for achieving astounding results. I consider it to be a level 3 nutrition plan as I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners. Fasting, timing, macronutrient ratios, counting calories…..it all sounds a bit complicated. It really isn’t but I can see this scaring beginners off completely. If it’s not sustainable for a decent duration of time, say 6 weeks or so…..then don’t do it. IF is sustainable for me, but as you can see working out and nutrition [...]
