This series is collaboration between JC Deen and?Joy Victoria. Joy wrote 90% of the content.
Joy?s a wealth of fitness knowledge, and has already been published in the likes of T-Nation and contributes to WomanScope News Magazine. Make sure you check out her site, and sign up for updates. This is the final installment of our 3 part series.
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In part 1, we introduced you to the importance of training, and how it can help you build a better physique. In part 2, we broke down the training part, gave you free routines, and tons of tutorials on the main lifts.
Today, we?re going to discus what you need to know about diet and how to get started setting up your calories for a lean, toned physique.
All About Diet
Alright, when we say ?diet,? we don?t mean going on a diet where you aim to lose weight by restricting carbs, or other food groups. We simply are referring to what you eat every day without any special changes or ?challenges? or ?cleanses.?
Your diet, simply, is what you eat. Changing your diet is different than going on a diet. The first means lasting progress, the second idea sets you up for frustration and disappointment. And if you?d you like to solve this puzzle once and for all, then we?re going to discuss macronutrients, micronutrients, calories, and how it all affects your body.
All whole foods are composed of macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients (macros) are the big boys: protein, fat, carbohydrates, and alcohol. Micronutrients (micros) are the vitamins and minerals important for bodily functions and optimal health. Think of vitamin C in our OJ, iron in our steak, and zinc in various shellfish.
So as not to lose you, here is the gist of what we?re saying. There needs to be an equal focus on both macro and micro intake. It?s easy to eat foods that are macronutrient dense (fat and sugar-laden foods) with very little in the vitamin and mineral department. On the flipside, it?s easy to eat foods full of micronutrients that are very low in calories (salads with lots of veggies, and little else).
Consuming nothing but leafy greens all day long is NOT going to help you get stronger, or construct the curves you?re aiming for.
On the contrary, a diet full of calorie dense (but nutrient deficient) foods is not the answer either.
So as you might imagine, there needs to be a happy medium.
Too little food is just as bad as too much. The biggest incentive a diet consisting primarily of whole foods is to balance out the nutrients needed by your body. Beware of those varying extremists who claim one food or ingredient to be infinitely bad or good. They most likely have an agenda to sell you something you don?t need, or are clearly blinded by oversimplified, reductionist thinking.
Before you worry about that stuff, learn how to build your diet around basic, whole foods you enjoy and that provide you with the nutrients you need. Get this right, and you?re set for a much easier path than those seeking a special diet.
To go further, here?s a video of JC discussing so called clean foods and why this is merely a belief system that might not serve you in the end.
Protein Matters
The most important macro with the biggest impact on fat loss and muscle growth is protein. The current RDA (recommended daily allowance) is very low, and the research is finally catching up to what bodybuilders and lifters have known for a while; those who are active and training with weights need quite a bit more than the sedentary person.
We should also state that eating more protein doesn?t automatically mean your muscles will explode suddenly in size (though some wish it would).
In short, protein is valuable because it?s mostly responsible for the repair and building of lean mass (via muscle protein synthesis). To read up more on the importance of protein, check out my short blog I wrote called Why Protein?
Let?s Talk About Getting Fat
Into your diet, that is.
Given it?s undesirable name, this macro has gotten a bad rep. The fat on our bodies, and the fat we eat, are not entirely the same thing (they?re similar, but that?s beyond this scope). While we?re not going to bore you with a long dissertation of ?good? and ?bad? fats, we want to briefly cover the fat found in our diets, such as butter, olive oil, avocados, nuts, fatty meat, etc.
Fat is vital to our hormonal health and balance, as well as for healthy skin, hair, menstrual cycles, vitamin and mineral transport, and as an energy source. It is an essential nutrient, just like protein.
?Essential nutrients? are the ones you have to supply your body with because it cannot produce them on its own. Under certain situations your body can convert fat and protein into glucose (aka carbohydrates) for energy needs.
In this case, carbohydrate is the variable and technically a nonessential nutrient. How we burn fat is not related to fat intake per se.
There is one caveat though.
Just because carbs are not an essential nutrient, it doesn?t mean you should completely restrict them. Remember that the most important part of any diet is to make sure it?s well rounded with all nutrients.
Restricting carbohydrates, and thusly making your body create glucose from protein and fat is a very costly process, and can cause you metabolic harm in the long term if you continue to restrict them (think of less than 100g/day for months). Carbs are important for the energy demands of weight training, and being active, in general.
This is a very simplified explanation of macros, and the science of nutritional balance is a massive topic. The problem we are facing with ?diets? today is that everyone has a magic ?method? and no one educates you on the structure needed for any method to succeed.
So while many debates can be waged about a particular diet, so called clean or dirty foods, meal timing, grains, gluten, organic, etc., we are not going to touch on those topics here.
We merely want to present a basic understanding of nutritional science so that you can view your diet options with new eyes and be better informed to make decisions that will serve you when looking at your options.
The Sugars (Carbohydrates)
Are they bad? Are they necessary? Carbs, or any ?food? for that matter?, are not inherently bad. It simply depends on their context in your diet.
The easiest way to understand the carb confusion is to understand their role. Carbs are fuel. Along with protein they also contribute to aiding muscle growth and providing energy for intense and sometimes long duration training performance.
Carbs are fuel to keep your body humming along as you progress from work set to work set. Carbs can even release neurotransmitters in the brain that make us feel good. Carb intake can affect mood, performance, and fat loss or muscle gain.
When looking at carbs and how to use them in our diet, we always ask two questions first:
- Do I have a lot of fat to lose?
- How do I exercise, and what kind of work do I do?
The common mistake you find when someone starts their journey into better eating and exercising is that they combine lots and lots of exercise, and cut down their food intake drastically.
If we think of food as fuel for our body, it?s much easier to understand why our body will respond in particular ways. Fat loss? Muscle growth? Cravings? Everything we do has a consequence.
A successful diet and exercise routine balances these ?consequences? so that our body can continue to evolve over time. Carbs are the nutrient we can easily regulate to suit our energy needs, as opposed to fat.
While cutting one or more food groups out of our diet might result in weight loss, please know that weight loss is not the same as fat loss, and can also mean muscle loss in some instances.
Carbohydrates actually fuel muscle growth. They help protein enter our muscles, where it can then build and repair the damage done from training. Carbs improve our moods and focus. Our brain even requires them for optimal function.
The easiest way to understand how many carbohydrates you need is to balance how much fat you have to lose, and how much activity you will be doing. Once we understand our activity levels, then the amount you consume every day can be adjusted.
In general, you can start with eating more carbs on days you train hard (you want them for muscle growth and repair) and less on days you don?t. You can also take into consideration your job and home life.
Are you a police officer on your feet all day, or a secretary who spends 8 hours mostly at her desk? Both jobs differ greatly in terms of energy spent, and that is where the intake levels will vary.
For some significantly overweight or obese people, fat loss is the primary goal, and diets that strictly reduce carbs and/or have them focus on certain food choices (low carb meals like veggies) over others (carb dense choices like pasta, or mashed potatoes) are very useful.
Either way, when aiming to lose fat we want to retain our lean mass. As you might have inferred, protein intake and strength training are crucial to this goal.
Believe me, to avoid the stressful (both on your body and mind) and frustrating diet cycle, don?t just throw out carbs and try to stuff your face with only protein and olive oil. Every macro has a purpose for the body. Primarily, you want to make adjustments that:
- You can sustain
- Give you results and lasting progress
- Keep you happy, positive and ENJOYING LIFE
Our bodies are always striving for balance (what physiology calls homeostasis), and very good at adapting when we make changes.
Given enough time and consistency, what you do most over the longest period of time is what will result in the mirrors reflection. We want to tip the balance over in our favor back to what our bodies want, yet depend on us to provide! Those things are a nutritious diet, good sleep, proper training, plus a lot of self-love and patience.
Now that we have the basics of what all that food is made of, how do we apply what we?ve learned?
Establishing A Nutritional Baseline
First, we need to determine approximately how many calories your body burns so we know how much food we need to be eating to reach our goals.
Disclaimer: Ladies, a lot of us are chronic under eaters. Where I see the biggest frustration is when someone has the last 10-15 pounds to lose. That?s when, perhaps, you have lost a lot of weight already, but end up in the middle zone trying to get leaner and wondering why nothing will budge for good.
Listen up, a lack of food is very stressful to the body, and the closer you get to your goals, fat becomes harder to lose! But it also means that scale weight will matter less, and strength training and proper macro ratios will matter even more.
So for those of you who are very overweight, all this still applies, but this disclaimer is more for those who are in the ?last few pounds? category, or the squishy fat category (relatively thin or not fat, but soft and without shape).
Trying to eat less and less for long periods of time can negatively impact with your metabolism and does not allow you to build any muscle. Muscle takes time, food and good training to build.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Take my word for it, and stop viewing food as the enemy. It?s a tool for health, growth, pleasure and progress. It is not your enemy and your body needs it!
Running The Numbers
First we will calculate your basal metabolic rate. That?s just a fancy name for the calories you burn doing nothing, or in really fancy terms, your coma calories. Every function in your body requires energy, so even if you are sleeping, your organs still need energy.
For women, a good way to estimate this number is by multiplying bodyweight in pounds by 10.
Let?s use ?Jane? to walk us through an example.
Jane weighs 140lbs and is 5?3?.
Janes BMR = 1400 (140?10=1400)?
Now we want to calculate Jane?s total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). This is what Jane burns everyday during her normal activities, including any exercise. You can imagine that if Jane were a firefighter, her TDEE would be higher than if she were a secretary.
Why?
Simply because an active job requires far more energy than a sedentary one. TDEE is where the individual adjustments will need to be made, but for a starting point you can take your BMR and multiply it by an activity factor. So let?s say Jane trains 3x a week and works as a day shift nurse (so is on her feet quite a bit, though not particularly strenuous).
Since she is right in the middle, we will multiply her body weight by 1.3.
Jane?s TDEE = 1400?1.3 = 1820
This is where I am going to place even more emphasis on the word ESTIMATE.
Calculating your TDEE is where individual variations show up. The process beings with a base number to work with, and then it?s your job to monitor progress and adjust accordingly.
Numbers are just numbers, and they give us a framework from which to build our individual success.
There is no way to calculate someone?s exact caloric needs without some trial, error, and awareness. When you think of the differences in lifestyle, genetics, training, muscle mass, and so forth, you can understand why one set of numbers is hardly magical or 100% accurate. There are simply too many variables.
Now that we know Jane?s TDEE, we can determine the average number of calories she can eat to maintain her weight (not losing or gaining fat/weight). A common problem with calculating calories is erring too far on the low side! I have had clients tell me an online calculator put their calories at 900-1100.
That number is too low for nearly any full-grown female, much less one that wants to gain strength and muscle as well as lose fat. For a broader explanation of how your body uses calories and where the numbers come from, check out this article from Lyle McDonald.
To calculate our deficit or surplus, we are going to use a percentage of our TDEE. A moderate deficit/surplus is usually 15-20% of our total daily calories. While Jane is not overweight, she does have some fat and wants to get leaner while increasing strength.
Her primary goal, in this instance, is fat loss. You can?t build strength out of nothing, so dropping her calories super low is not a good idea altogether. If you are skinny-fat, eating in a slight surplus and heavy lifting would be the way to go.
Jane decides that she will focus on fat loss first, and then reevaluate her progress in 3 months.
There are two basic ways to manipulate Jane?s calories:
- Straight across from day to day. Which will put her in a slight deficit on a daily basis.
- Cycling calories, which means eating more on training days (when you are expending more, and working on your strength) and less on rest days (when you are not training).
Once you decide the best style that would suit you, you can determine how much of each macro you are going to eat.
Protein is what we set first. I recommend at least 1 gram per pound of body weight (BW), and ideally more (1.1-1.3 x BW) if you are eating in a deficit. For more on why this important, see my blog on the importance of protein that I linked to earlier.
If Jane does a moderate 15% deficit straight across from day-to-day her calories will look like this.
Total:
1870 x .15 = 280.5
1870 ? 280.5 = 1589.5
Jane?s Total Calories with a 15% deficit = 1589.5
Let?s round up to 1600.
Jane keeps this deficit consistently 6 days a week, with 1 day for eating at maintenance or simply eating freely and not tracking calories as strictly.
If approximately 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat (though it?s actually more complicated than this), Jane creates a weekly deficit of 1683 (280.5 x 6) calories and should lose approximately half a pound of fat per week. Aiming to lose half to one pound of fat per week is a very realistic goal.
Here?s exactly what her diet would look like in terms of calories and macros.
Total Daily Calories: 1600
Protein: 154 grams | 616 calories (Jane is eating 1.1 x BW in protein because she is in a deficit when protein is more important)
Fat: 53 grams | 477 calories (30% of calories)
Carbs: 126 grams | 504 calories (remainder of calories)
How we determined Jane?s macros:
1.1? x BW = Protein Grams
30% of total calories = Fat Grams
Remainder of calories leftover = Carbohydrate Grams
Remember, this is just an example. As an option, Jane can choose to eat higher fat/lower carb on rest days (when she won?t need as much energy) or higher carb/lower fat on training days (when she?ll use more carbs). Before Jane jumps into any diet strategy she needs to ask herself:
- What is my daily schedule and how can I plan my food to be convenient for me?
- What are my diet weaknesses and how can I safeguard against them?
- What foods do I enjoy most and can eat regularly?
- How can I keep myself accountable?
Done! Jane has a basic plan, but what does she need to focus on with this plan?
- Good food choices!
- Consistency
- Listening to her body and its needs
- Getting stronger
Jane is going to look damn good as the fat loss begins to happen. And she won?t end up skinny and hungry and hoping the diet will end, and neither will she get in a damaging binge cycle from trying to keep up eating too few calories while doing too much exercise.
As Jane gains muscle and strength, her body will need more calories over time, and Jane will find the balance between a healthy, toned body, exercising in an enjoyable manner, and living a life that doesn?t revolve around food and dieting.
Calorie Cycling Example
In the case you wanted to cycle your calories, the best way to go about it is in a similar manner
On your off days (4 days per week): create the deficit we used in the example above (20% of total calories).
On your training days, consume your maintenance intake or about 5-10% above your estimated TDEE.
For this example, the macros are very similar, except you?re adding more carbohydrate to fill the in the gaps.
Here?s the quick math for training days since you?ve already figured out the deficit for the off days.
Maintenance, or TDEE calories 1820. We?ll use 1800 for the example.
Since we already have the following from before, all we have to do is adjust the carboydrate:
Protein: 154 grams | 616 calories (Jane is eating 1.1 x BW in protein because she is in a deficit when protein is more important)
Fat: 53 grams | 477 calories (30% of calories)
616 + 477 = 1093 calories
1800 ? 1093 = 707 calories from?carbohydrates.
707/4 = 176g carbohydrates for a total intake of 1800 kcals daily.
New Macros
Protein:?154 grams
Fat:?53 grams
Carbs:?176 grams
Adding 10% of your intake to training days
1800 x .10 = 180
1800 + 180 = 1980 (we?ll round to 2000)
The same math above applies here:
616 + 477 = 1093 calories
2000 ? 1093 = 907 calories
907/4 = 226g carbohydrates for a total intake of 2000 kcals daily.
New Macros
Protein:?154 grams
Fat:?53 grams
Carbs:?226 grams
?How do I track calories or macros??
Myfitnesspal app or myfitnesspal.com is the simplest and easiest tool to use for this purpose. The app is especially convenient as you can scan the barcodes of almost any food in the supermarket and the values will show up.
When you sign up for it, ignore its recommendations for calories based on your height and weight, as well as how much protein, carbs and fat you should be eating. Go by the guidelines here. You can save meals, have a list of your most regular foods, and chart progress over time with cool graphs.
JC note: if you want an in-depth guide on how to track macros and calories accurately, read this article I wrote.
Where To Go From Here?
Now that we?ve covered everything for you, here?s what you can do with all this information:
Step 1 > Bookmark part 1, part 2, and part 3 (this article)
Step 2 > Pick a training program (here?s the download link)
Step 3 > Find a way to keep track of progress (Fitocracy, notebook, excel sheet that we provided, etc.)
Step 4 > Determine your macros and calories
Step 5 > Pick a training goal or benchmark to accomplish. Here are some options:
- Complete your first pull-up
- Squat your bodyweight with good form
- Bench press half your bodyweight with good form
- Deadlift 1.5x your bodyweight with good form
- Complete 10 proper pushups
- Hold a plank for 1 minute
- Hip thrust your bodyweight for reps
- Fit into a dress 2 sizes smaller
What about supplements?
Supplements are just that. They supplement your diet and are not mandatory. Their use and value are entirely dependent on what your body needs and what you need help getting into your diet. The following are the supplements I recommend and use personally:
- A Multivitamin
- Protein Powder (helps me hit protein goals, and is more of a food than a supplement)
- Fish Oil (unless you eat fatty fish a few times per week)
- Creatine (pre-workout)
Anything beyond that is subject to great debate about what?s needed or not. My suggestion is to focus on making good food choices consistently and then do a bit of research on those supplements that interest you and/or you might think you need.
Double-check your facts from reputable sources, and most of all; think critically. I recommend examine.com for supplement reviews and information. There?s no need to waste money, and a sensible diet and proper training is 99% of the equation anyway.
Are there any books or websites you recommend? How do I know someone is giving me good information?
There are some great resources out there, and you can find just about everything you need to know about diet and strength training online and in books. Remember that information like we are giving you here is out there for free, and you should not have to pay for it if you look hard enough.
If someone is claiming to have ?the secret? or ?a magical new method? or ?the final word on?? chances are they just want to sell you something and your money is being wasted. Trainers like JC and I have blogs, podcasts, articles, and more where we share information for free regularly.
What you will pay for are books, research reviews, individualized programming and coaching. Below are some recommended books to check out:
New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe and Alwyn Cosgrove
Strong Curves by Bret Contreras and Kellie Hart Davis
Beautiful Badass by Nia Shanks
LGN365 by JC Deen
Squat Every Day by Matt Perryman
Here are various websites we recommend for training and diet-related info:
Eric Cressey | Roman Fitness Systems | Neghar Fonooni | Alli McKee | Molly Galbraith | Bret Contreras | Jen Sinkler | Jen Comas Keck | MyOhMyTV | Nia Shanks | Matt Perryman | Kellie Hart Davis
JC note: and be sure to check out Joy?s site too (she did an amazing job writing all this content)
This is not a comprehensive list by any means! As you go along in this journey, you will continue to find other resources.
As we wrap up part 3 of a very lengthy series, please remember Occam?s razor: the simplest answer, in the face of all variables, is probably the best one. The plan that allows you to guess the least, and control what you can is the best one for you to start.
Keep it simple. Scratch off one goal at a time. That is a sure way to not only find what works, but find what doesn?t. Then you never have to get stuck in a cycle of repeated efforts and negligible results.
Sometimes we get tired of fighting the battle of our bodies. Everyone has an opinion on what you should or shouldn?t be doing. What do we tell you? Listen to your heart and your body.
No, really.
Are you constantly out of breath? Do you have low energy? Do you KNOW you could do better? If you do, we?re here to help. As you look in the mirror I won?t ask you to look past your flaws, but I do challenge you to change the way you see them.
Your body is not your enemy. The only thing you should be damn scared of is negativity about what you see in that mirror. If you are going to do ANYTHING, even one small step towards a better body, then take action today.
Begin to see yourself as someone who takes that first step. Then take another, and another.
I will leave you with one powerful quote that has kept me in check for a long time.
?Beware of what you attach ?I am? to. What you claim to be has a way of reaching back and claiming you.?
What do you say you are? I am strong. I am healthy. I am consistent. I am patient. I am hardworking. Try it. Don?t attach yourself to anything you do not want to be. Now go and change your health, your body and your life!
Source: http://www.jcdfitness.com/2013/05/how-to-build-muscle-womens-edition-part-3-setting-up-your-diet/
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On May 1st a big event took place at Northfield Construction Company. I sold Northfield Construction Company to Chris Kennelly. Chris is business owner in the Northfield area that has been involved in commerical real estate for several years. He wanted to find a construction company that would compliment his work, and that he could grow as the construction industry continues to improve. He looked over Northfield Construction and felt it was a perfect fit?I couldn?t agree more. The Northfield News just noted this change.
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Public release date: 20-May-2013
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