Keto, Atkins, Mediterranean, Fasting, Zone, Gluten Free….
WOAH
The world of “dieting” is way overwhelming and there are so many types and so much information. I am into nutrition and sometimes I don’t even know all the “rules” for these things.
- I can’t eat past 3pm
- Sorry, I don’t eat carbs
- Does that have gluten
I am not particularly against any of these forms of nutrition, I just think it makes things a bit complicated sometimes. And let’s be serious, life is complicated enough. So let’s keep things simple as much as possible. 👌
If I could have everyone worry about only one thing…
What would be top priority?
100%, caloric intake
Your body composition is approximately 50% dependent on the amount of “energy” you consume vs the amount of “energy” you expend. In other words, half of your nutritional success is based off of the food you eat and the activity you do in a day. Other factors make up way less than 50% each so should be considered well after the fact of caloric balance.
Let’s take a peek at how our calories can impact our results:
Hypocaloric – Your activity is greater than your fuel
Isocaloric – Your activity equals your fuel
Hypercaloric – Your activity is less than your fuel
If you would like to stay exactly the way you are, then the isocaloric state is the way to go! When everything is equal, nothing changes.
But, if your goal is to lose weight, we need to make sure that we are in a hypocaloric state for a period of time. If we don’t give our bodies enough fuel for our activity it has to take it’s energy from our current body tissue.
- Ramping up your activity always helps – walk more, do more in the evenings, just be more active
- Stick to one workout a day though (two-a-days aren’t necessary), we can manage the rest with our food intake
What about increasing my muscle mass?!? Unfortunately, you can’t have your cake and eat it too… Well in this case, maybe a little extra cake would do the trick! If your goal is to gain muscle, a hypercaloric state would be ideal. It is very difficult to gain muscle without access energy to build that muscle so you need to help it out with extra calories! 💪 Why would we need access calories to build muscle. Looking back on our ancestors, muscle mass wasn’t ideal. More muscle mass meant more calories needed for survival so not logical. Maybe we will evolve but for now, hyper is the way to go for best results to build that muscle. Gain tissue –> Build Muscle
Ok, so let’s get this straight, you want me to calorie count? And that is the only way to maintain or change my body composition? And I always have to do this? 👎 HECK NO!
Let’s Create a Strategy!
- Determine baseline weight
- Follow a healthy nutrition plan
- Retest weight weekly
- Make sure this is done at the same time each day
- Is it less than, same or more than previous weigh in?
- What was my nutrition like since my last weigh in? If your nutrition wasn’t dialed-in, go back to step 2
- Make adjustments to nutrition plan as required
Once you have reached your goals, it is time to create a plan with “No Change”. This means adding back in or removing calories until you are stable. This is a tough one for some (adding back in calories can be scary) but it is crucial to your long term success. The more we keep our bodies in a caloric deficit, the more we decrease our metabolism… And we don’t want to do that!
All in all, try not to get too overwhelmed by the loads of information out there and all of the “lose 10lbs” in a week plans and keep it simple. Take some time to figure out what plan works for you and stick with it. Your body will thank you. 🙌
