You can’t outwork a bad diet ….. SO DO THIS !

If I had a nickel for every time a client told me that the hottest new fad diet failed them I would have $1.95.  So I still couldn’t quit my day job.  Anyway, I know everyone has hopes that some magical new diet will come along, be super easy to stick to, and produce amazing results.  I’m here to tell you IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN .  So your best bet is to just start eating right.  “But Mike, what does it mean to eat right?”  

Glad you asked.  The simple answer “Eat the right amount of calories with the right balance of proteins, carbs, and fats”.  “But Mike, that sounds super difficult”.  Well, in 1950 this would have been super difficult, but today we have clever Apps like My Fitness Pal and several others that make tracking easy.   So lets do this!

Since 95% of my clients

want to lose fat

I’ll devote this post to

EATING FOR FAT LOSS

Step 1 – Calories

Eating the right number of calories on any diet plan is the most important factor to consider.  If you eat too many calories you will never lose fat.  If you eat too few calories you will lose too much muscle mass eventually making you skinnyfat.  So let’s do the math to discover your optimal calorie intake.

First, find your Lean Body Mass.  You’ll need to get your body fat % and your bodyweight to do this math.  You can buy a body fat monitor/scale, or calipers to get your body fat % at home or have it done at your local gym.  Once you have your bodyweight and your body fat % you can figure your Lean Body Mass.  The formula is (1 – Body fat % x bodyweight = Lean Body Mass)  EXAMPLE for a 200lbs person with 30% body fat.  1 – .30 = .70 x 200 = 140lbs Lean Body Mass.

Second, Take your Lean Body Mass x 13.  In our Example: 140lbs Lean Body Mass x 13 = 1820 calories per day.

That’s it.  This person should eat 1820 calories per day.

If that’s too much math for ya, here’s a list of common body weights, body fat %s, and daily calorie goals.

Body weight – 150lbs, body fat – 40%, calorie goal per day – 1170

Body weight – 150lbs, body fat – 30%, calorie goal per day 1365

Body weight – 150lbs, body fat – 20%, calorie goal per day 1560

Body weight – 200lbs, body fat – 40%, calorie goal per day – 1560

Body weight – 200lbs, body fat – 30%, calorie goal per day – 1820

Body weight – 200lbs, body fat – 20%, calorie goal per day – 2080

Body weight – 250lbs, body fat – 40%, calorie goal per day – 1950

Body weight – 250lbs, body fat – 30%, calorie goal per day – 2275

Body weight – 250lbs, body fat – 20%, calorie goal per day – 2600

“But Mike, why does your formula have to be so complicated. Why can’t you just go by body weight instead of lean body mass?”

Simple answer,  carrying extra pounds of fat does not help you burn more calories.   So it doesn’t make sense for someone that carries more body fat to eat more calories.

Step 2 – Macros

Now that you know your calorie goal, figuring your protein, carb, and fat intake will be easy breezy.

Protein – 40% of your calories should come from protein.   This will be the most difficult part of your eating plan as most people tend to be carboholics.

Carbs –  35% of your calories should come from carbs.   While I don’t recommend that your carbs come from junk food we’ll dive into that later.

Fats – 25% of your calories should come fat.   Again preferably not from junk food.

Step 3 – Start tracking

So now that you have all the right numbers, download the My Fitness Pal app (or whatever app you want to use) to track your eating  habits.  Once downloaded, go into the goal section of the app and enter your calories.  Then enter your protein, carb and fat percentage goal.   Now just start entering the foods you eat every day.

TIP:  It helps to enter your foods before you eat them.   That way you can make adjustments before you power down your entire carb allowance in one meal.

I’ll post additional nutrition tips in the future, but for today my goal is to get you to start tracking your food intake and begin a healthy eating plan that will last a lifetime.