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I wrote some info up on how I diet for someone who was looking for some assistance with there diet, figured I'd share it with the board. Maybe it can help someone else out. Not that I'm a diet expert but I would say that dieting is my strongest attribute in my overall BB knowledge.
I am a little diet obsessed and I always spend a solid 8-10hrs on mine when I adjust it. I've been using the same base diet plan now for around 9 months. I just have adjusted for body weight and activity and my age changed too.
I start with the Harris Benedict Formula for basic metabolic rate:
BMR calculation for men BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.76 x age in years )
Apply to formula to calculate maintenance cals:
Little to no exercise Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2
Light exercise (1–3 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375
Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55
Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725
Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9
I consider myself to be heavy exercise while cutting for example that routine is:
7 days a week treadmill 20 mins at 5% incline 6.5mph
7 days a week weight training with less than 5 sec rest between sets and max 1 min between exercises.
P.S. Never go above 20m on cardio, it will catabolize too much and the weight loss will be too much on the muscle side
When bulking I consider myself to be moderate
6 day a week cardio on treadmill for 10 mins at 2.5% incline and 6.5 mph
6 day a week weight training same intensity as above
That formula will give you a baseline of what amount of calories you should need to just maintain your current physique. So I start at a 150 calorie deficit and adjust from there. As far as judging for your adjustments do not use a scale. All you need to use is a full length mirror and a tape measure. That scale will just mess with your head. When cutting I expect a 1/8" drop per week on my waist (I usually cut about 1" off my waist to cut (I clean bulk so never get to out of shape, essentially is beach shape year round). I also gauge weight loss by my bicep measurement too. I expect (cold measurement) a 1/8" drop per week from that area as well. If I have more loss I will add 50 cals and watch close and see how my measurements are 3 days later. (only bc I am anal about getting fat so when I adjust up cals I get ocd and measure like 2x a day, I'm crazy thou) As long as I'm not getting fat in the 3 days since my adjustment I stick with that for the week and continue my analysis. If I lose my 1/8" I keep cals where they are until I have a week where I dont lose 1/8" then I cut 50 more cals, so on and so forth. Its all about small changes nothing drastic is needed, your body responds to these small changes very quickly.
Now before we get into the actual eating and drinking aspect of my diet here's some rules I set for myself:
1. No bread, EVER.
That might sounds terrible, and believe me I was a sand-which junkie for years. If I can do it anyone can. Here's what I recommend you replace bread with: http://www6.netrition.com/josephs_ba...ash_bread.html
They are delish and so so much better for you then bread. I get mine at BJ's wholesale not sure if you have them where you live but they cost me 3.69 for an 8 pack.
2. Don't drink your calories.
There's no point in drinking calories these days with all the 0 calorie alternatives out there. You like soda? Drink Coke Zero. You like energy drinks? Drink Monster Zero. Want Coffee? zero calorie sweetener. and so on. try an get at least a gallon of water a day though.
3. Milk in PWO shake only.
Milk bloats you so don't make you shakes with it, mix them with water. PWO I use milk because the shake has a shit ton of powders in it so its tastes like hell without milk. That's the only time I do it though. Even PWO you would benefit from it still being water.
4. No sugar in your drinks.
Pretty obvious I think, sugar in food is unavoidable however sugar shouldn't be in any drink, except your PWO which will have dextrose powder in it.
5. Limit Sodium Intake.
This is within reason, I am not a crazy anti sodium person like 90% of the people who have no idea about dieting (fat people) that always say that's got a lot of sodium in it! when I heat up my bacon at work. Yes, I'm glad your concerned about sodium intake as you eat your 400g carb diet....my low sodium bacon has 170mg per serving and I have 2 servings a day. I say just keep sodium around 1000mg and you have nothing to be concerned about.
Now this is just some foods that don't belong on your diet cutting or bulking they are useless:
Pickles
peanut butter
cheese
bread
white carbs
I only say this because I see online a lot of times people advocating pickles since most are right around 0 cals. However the sodium is insane, and you will bloat like a mofo. Peanut butter is on so many people's diet's is insane. "natty PB" I see it all the time. No good you dont need it, way better sources of fat. i.e. actual nuts (almonds, cashews). Cheese and bread are no good either, cheese is dairy so you will bloat and bread is a carb monster and not good carbs.
I say white carbs as in like your wraps should be wheat, pasta should be wheat, no white.
Finally, some actual food advice....
As far as the diet plan itself I am a big proponent of macro-nutrient separation (pro/fat meals and pro/carb meals not pro/carb/fat). I think it is absolutely vital when cutting. I don't have a set in stone percentage I follow as far as how much % of cals are pro/carb/fat but I go around 40%/30%/30% give or take. Currently I am eating 43%/26%/31% like I said not exact but round about. Remember not all carbs and fats are created equal, so you have to be careful on your selection.
Here is a list of the foods that I eat:
Eggs
Skim Milk
Bacon (low sodium)
Wheat Lavash Wrap (delish)
Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless)
London Broil (top round)
Fresh green beans
Lettuce
whole grain wheat pasta
natural homemade pasta sauce
unsalted cashews (can have almonds as well iff you prefer them)
Protien Powder
Dextrose Powder (only in your pwo shake, your muscles really want some simple carbs pwo, even more so than protien so add this to your regimen its vital. Its very cheap, I use NOW brands its like $18 for a 10#)
That is all I eat never stray except for a 1x a week cheat meal which is carb heavy low fat after a weekend workout usually. Get as much of your protien from real food as possible. Me personally I only have a shake PWO thats it. Everything else is actual food.
When doing your cheat meal (not cheat day!) after you finish a workout have your PWO shake but skip the PWO meal (dont want to have a zillion calories) and eat carb heavy, med to low fat meal. I cheat pretty much the same every week, 2-3 bowls of cereal and a bowl or two of breyers all natural low fat ice cream. I love cereal and Neapolitan ice cream so it works out awesome for me. Now I do say a cheat meal is necessary but in reality its only needed 1x every 2 weeks, I actually look at little better when doing it that way, but eff it...reward yourself for a job well done. And the last thing I'll add even though I'm sure you know this already, you need to eat every 2-3 hours to keep your matabolism up.
I am a little diet obsessed and I always spend a solid 8-10hrs on mine when I adjust it. I've been using the same base diet plan now for around 9 months. I just have adjusted for body weight and activity and my age changed too.
I start with the Harris Benedict Formula for basic metabolic rate:
BMR calculation for men BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.76 x age in years )
Apply to formula to calculate maintenance cals:
Little to no exercise Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2
Light exercise (1–3 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375
Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55
Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725
Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9
I consider myself to be heavy exercise while cutting for example that routine is:
7 days a week treadmill 20 mins at 5% incline 6.5mph
7 days a week weight training with less than 5 sec rest between sets and max 1 min between exercises.
P.S. Never go above 20m on cardio, it will catabolize too much and the weight loss will be too much on the muscle side
When bulking I consider myself to be moderate
6 day a week cardio on treadmill for 10 mins at 2.5% incline and 6.5 mph
6 day a week weight training same intensity as above
That formula will give you a baseline of what amount of calories you should need to just maintain your current physique. So I start at a 150 calorie deficit and adjust from there. As far as judging for your adjustments do not use a scale. All you need to use is a full length mirror and a tape measure. That scale will just mess with your head. When cutting I expect a 1/8" drop per week on my waist (I usually cut about 1" off my waist to cut (I clean bulk so never get to out of shape, essentially is beach shape year round). I also gauge weight loss by my bicep measurement too. I expect (cold measurement) a 1/8" drop per week from that area as well. If I have more loss I will add 50 cals and watch close and see how my measurements are 3 days later. (only bc I am anal about getting fat so when I adjust up cals I get ocd and measure like 2x a day, I'm crazy thou) As long as I'm not getting fat in the 3 days since my adjustment I stick with that for the week and continue my analysis. If I lose my 1/8" I keep cals where they are until I have a week where I dont lose 1/8" then I cut 50 more cals, so on and so forth. Its all about small changes nothing drastic is needed, your body responds to these small changes very quickly.
Now before we get into the actual eating and drinking aspect of my diet here's some rules I set for myself:
1. No bread, EVER.
That might sounds terrible, and believe me I was a sand-which junkie for years. If I can do it anyone can. Here's what I recommend you replace bread with: http://www6.netrition.com/josephs_ba...ash_bread.html
They are delish and so so much better for you then bread. I get mine at BJ's wholesale not sure if you have them where you live but they cost me 3.69 for an 8 pack.
2. Don't drink your calories.
There's no point in drinking calories these days with all the 0 calorie alternatives out there. You like soda? Drink Coke Zero. You like energy drinks? Drink Monster Zero. Want Coffee? zero calorie sweetener. and so on. try an get at least a gallon of water a day though.
3. Milk in PWO shake only.
Milk bloats you so don't make you shakes with it, mix them with water. PWO I use milk because the shake has a shit ton of powders in it so its tastes like hell without milk. That's the only time I do it though. Even PWO you would benefit from it still being water.
4. No sugar in your drinks.
Pretty obvious I think, sugar in food is unavoidable however sugar shouldn't be in any drink, except your PWO which will have dextrose powder in it.
5. Limit Sodium Intake.
This is within reason, I am not a crazy anti sodium person like 90% of the people who have no idea about dieting (fat people) that always say that's got a lot of sodium in it! when I heat up my bacon at work. Yes, I'm glad your concerned about sodium intake as you eat your 400g carb diet....my low sodium bacon has 170mg per serving and I have 2 servings a day. I say just keep sodium around 1000mg and you have nothing to be concerned about.
Now this is just some foods that don't belong on your diet cutting or bulking they are useless:
Pickles
peanut butter
cheese
bread
white carbs
I only say this because I see online a lot of times people advocating pickles since most are right around 0 cals. However the sodium is insane, and you will bloat like a mofo. Peanut butter is on so many people's diet's is insane. "natty PB" I see it all the time. No good you dont need it, way better sources of fat. i.e. actual nuts (almonds, cashews). Cheese and bread are no good either, cheese is dairy so you will bloat and bread is a carb monster and not good carbs.
I say white carbs as in like your wraps should be wheat, pasta should be wheat, no white.
Finally, some actual food advice....
As far as the diet plan itself I am a big proponent of macro-nutrient separation (pro/fat meals and pro/carb meals not pro/carb/fat). I think it is absolutely vital when cutting. I don't have a set in stone percentage I follow as far as how much % of cals are pro/carb/fat but I go around 40%/30%/30% give or take. Currently I am eating 43%/26%/31% like I said not exact but round about. Remember not all carbs and fats are created equal, so you have to be careful on your selection.
Here is a list of the foods that I eat:
Eggs
Skim Milk
Bacon (low sodium)
Wheat Lavash Wrap (delish)
Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless)
London Broil (top round)
Fresh green beans
Lettuce
whole grain wheat pasta
natural homemade pasta sauce
unsalted cashews (can have almonds as well iff you prefer them)
Protien Powder
Dextrose Powder (only in your pwo shake, your muscles really want some simple carbs pwo, even more so than protien so add this to your regimen its vital. Its very cheap, I use NOW brands its like $18 for a 10#)
That is all I eat never stray except for a 1x a week cheat meal which is carb heavy low fat after a weekend workout usually. Get as much of your protien from real food as possible. Me personally I only have a shake PWO thats it. Everything else is actual food.
When doing your cheat meal (not cheat day!) after you finish a workout have your PWO shake but skip the PWO meal (dont want to have a zillion calories) and eat carb heavy, med to low fat meal. I cheat pretty much the same every week, 2-3 bowls of cereal and a bowl or two of breyers all natural low fat ice cream. I love cereal and Neapolitan ice cream so it works out awesome for me. Now I do say a cheat meal is necessary but in reality its only needed 1x every 2 weeks, I actually look at little better when doing it that way, but eff it...reward yourself for a job well done. And the last thing I'll add even though I'm sure you know this already, you need to eat every 2-3 hours to keep your matabolism up.
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