Increased Load, Upping my nutrition.

Ok guys Im on week 5 of Foundation and I've decided to up my nutrition to accommodate the increased load and goals.

147 @ 12.75-13% Body Fat... Upper abs are slightly visible when flexing.

Ultimate goal is 162 @ 7-9% BF.

2000 calories

150 g Protein

125 g Carbs

100 g Fat

4-5 meals/ day

Protein Shake and BCAA's upon waking

Vitamins and Minerals With Breakfast

Protein Shake and BCAA's Pre WO 1 Hour Prior

Pre WO Drink 15-20 Minutes prior

Post BCAA's and Meal

Plenty of restful sleep.

Here's to Aesthetically pleasing and Stronger than...

Keep at it! It gets more difficult and more rewarding each week!

 

Can I make some suggestions? First, your calories are a bit low. Your RMR (according to the Lean Mass Equation) is about 1624. multiply that by a modest activity factor of 1.7, and you have 2760 calories as your daily caloric need. It is not recommended to go lower than 200-300 calories below that when trying to lose only bodyfat. Not to mention going too low will negatively affect performance. you may think lower is better when you are trying to lose weight, but it is very easy to eat ABOVE that 2760 calorie figure and still lose bodyfat. Its all due to proper nutrition working with your workout.

 

Second, I would re-evaulate your macros. 25% carbs is simply way too low to sustain performance. You can do week five, but in two to four weeks, your progress will slow nearly to a halt, i can almost guarantee it. concerning protein, your body can only process 2g per kg bw a day. so for you eating more than 133 g of protein is a waste, and stressful on your liver.

 

So I would suggest 2500 calories, 372g carbs 133g protein, and 92g fat (19% protein, 30% fat, 54% carbs). This will give your body fuel for performance and optimize it for fat loss, if of course you eat good foods. The magic happens with the workout nutrition though, and Natermans sticky in the nutrition thread is a pretty darn good one. Follow that, and fill in the rest of your day with smart eating, and you will shed the fat like no ones business, and feel absolutely awesome at the same time, especially around your workout! 

 

Maybe you weren't looking for suggestions here but I hope it helps And good luck on your foundations! (by which I mean work hard!)

Thanks for the reply Jason... I can look into increasing my caloric intake which is hard considering how I do eat... Whole foods, no grains, tiny dairy, and tiny to no legumes. I run through my workout set very quickly no rest... It's enduring to say the least.

I guess I tend towards the low carb side of things... The truth is I really only count my protein intake sense my carb intake is mainly from vegetables. Little to no fruit... But I could add in a couple more servings to bring it up along with my caloric intake... Upon waking and post workout carb sounds like a solid idea to me. I see more yams and sweet potatoes in my future.

What you are used to will definitely factor in, everyone is slightly different.  Keeping carbs at those times will work, but you would be surprised at how much you can eat  If you feel great, and you accomplish all of your goals, then you are fine!

 

Out of curiosity, do you eat like you do out of personal choice or you just feel better that way?

Thanks Jason- can you please break it down how do you measure how many calories based on weight in your method and also after that the protien fat and carbs.

Thanks,

In regards to choice or feeling better, It's a bit of both Jason. Eliminating those things have helped to aleve debilitating heart burn, I breath better, and feel stronger.

Sure. I am using the Cunningham Lean Mass equation. (If you don't know your bodyfat percentage, replace this part with the Harris-Benedict equation). The LM equation is: RMR = (21.6 x fat free mass in kg) + 370. So using Somalie's numbers, take 147 x 0.87, and it gives 127.89lbs of FFM, or 58.13kg. Plug that in, you get 1625. Since that is the amount of calories he would burn laying in bed all day, we add an activity multiplier. 1.7 is a very conservative multiplier. Multipliers range from 1.4 - 2.4, from desk work to professional athlete (These values are for men, for women it is slightly lower). So that gives us daily caloric need at 2762. From here you can go two slightly different ways depending on if you are trying to gain lean mass or lose bodyfat. Since we are talking about losing bodyfat, you want to lower 2762 by 10-15% calories. Any lower and things get much harder, and since you are probably trying to gain lean muscle mass as well, any lower is counterproductive. This is how we arrive at 2500 calories. 

 

I like to start with figuring out protein next, since it is so easy for anyone trying to gain lean muscle to hit the 2g/kg bw limit. For strength training, you want 1.6 - 2 x kg bw. So using his bw of 66.81 kg, 133g is his max. since he like his protein we keep it there. that is 532 calories, and that is about 19% of 2762. and i realize i should have applied that to the 2500 value instead in my above post, I will continue using 2500 instead of 2762. so that really is 21% protein. (pretty high) 

 

For carbs, an active person should get 55-60% of calories from carbs. 55% of 2500 is 1375 calories, 343 carbs. 

 

The rest will come from fat. It is best to aim for 25-35%. In this case it will end up being 24%, which is fine. 

 

So the result is 2500 calories, at 55% carbs, 21% protein, and 24% fat. Notice how this is different than what I gave Somalie. this is partly because I mistakenly used 2762 instead of 2500 when calculating his, but also because this method is so flexible and can be tailored to the individual. This result is what I would get following guidelines exactly with an athlete who is used to eating carbs. For somalie, I started with protein, but then figured out fat before carbs. I gave more fat, and less carbs, because that is what he is used to. So figuring that out with 2500 calories, I come up with 21% protein, 30% fat, and 49% carbs, or 131g protein, 83g fat, and 306g carbs. 49% carbs is acceptable for strength training, but is a bit low for endurance training. In any case, it is much higher than the 25% currently consumed. He could even go 35% fat and lower the carbs more if he cant handle that many for some reason. 

 

This is flexible, but be smart about it. If you want to perform at the highest level, dont be afraid of carbs or calories. I weigh 136 @ 6% bf, which gives me a RMR of almost exactly the same as somalie. but I eat 3400 calories at 60% carbs and I still seem to be losing fat, and im definitely gaining muscle.

 

Bottom line, find what works for you and stick with it. 

Somalie, people do react differently to foods. Its really frustrating sometimes actually. I wish everyone could just follow one perfect diet plan, but there isnt one. I wouldn't add grains or anything in if they make you feel bad, your body may just not tolerate them. Any kind of potato is great though, as well as rice, if you can eat that.

Hey Jason... How tall are you?

5'10"

So your pretty ripped and are bulking up? What's your goal?

My primary goal is performance. My ultimate aesthetic/ body comp goal though is 180 @ 5% BF. I don't ever plan on gaining fat at any point either. I dont eat 3400 every day, it depends on my workload, but 2800 is my hard minimum and I rarely go that low, and ive gone to 3600. It all comes down to the exercise you are doing, and how you are eating. 

Same here my off days tend to be a big hit to my intake... I need to fill my days with more activities.

What kind of things do you do besides F1?

Truthfully... Not much. F1 is the only thing I like to do by myself... Otherwise I want someone to do something with. Be it jogging, swimming, hiking, rock climbing, etc.