If you feel to get ripped physique but currently you are at overweight or obese body type then it may be time to make some dietary changes that can help you gain your muscle mass size and reduce your fat portion along with weight loss. We will divide this into 2 phases.
First stage you will need to reduce your calorie intake through low in carbohydrate foods and moderate in protein consumption for every day to put some needed pounds down. The easiest way to reduce your calories is by eating foods that are energy-dense but low in calories like dietary fibers. It is best to choose foods that are low in calories, but also nutritious and good for you.
In the First phase it should be as 30:45:25 ratios.
In the Second phase you will need to reduce your calorie intake by increasing your intake of protein portions. You can change it to 25:50:25 ratios.
Use the Calorie calculator formula to determine your daily maintenance calorie needs for your current weight and cut about 300 to 500 calories per day. That will help you to reduce a pound or so per week. Gradual weight changes are best. After reducing some pounds your process of weight loss could suddenly stop, it may be for the period of 1 to 4 months. This Phase called “Plateau Phase” How to break this phase will be explained later. After you determine how many calories you need per day, it's time to plan your daily menu, including meals and snacks.
Meal planning may sound difficult, but it is not. Take a look at my sample meal plan for a 2,000 calorie day weight loss diet (Assuming your current maintenance calorie requirement is 2500 per day). It has a good balance of healthy and high-calorie foods, so you get plenty of nutrients and fiber. If you feel like you need to reduce more calories, you can adjust this menu by eliminating some meal portions.
(1500 calorie is essential for survival of body needs)
Cutting Phase – In this phase you have to target only with your fat weight portion to cut down and try to increase your muscle mass portion. In this phase you may not see drastic weight loss on scale but your fat mass is replaced with your muscle mass weight.
After reducing some portion of body weight you need to increase refuel your muscle mass which lossed during the first phase Meal planning may sound difficult, but it's not. Take a look at my sample meal plan for a 2,000 calorie day Fat Loss & Muscle Gain diet (Assuming your current maintenance calorie requirement is 2500 per day). It has a good balance of healthy and high-calorie foods, so you get plenty of nutrients and fiber. If you feel like you need to reduce more calories, you can adjust this menu by eliminating some meal portions.
Reducing some calories intake through carbohydrates is the key for losing body fat but at the same time you have to take care that you won’t be losing muscles. Keeping an essential amount of protein portions are helpful for preventing muscle loss. Reduced but essential carbohydrates (Complex Carbs) portions will help you to generate an adequate amount of energy in your daily routine. Healthy fats are helping you to maintain the body balance. Eat at least three meals every day. If you don't feel like eating much, then you might do better with five or six smaller meals spaced a few hours apart.
Protein is an essential element of the diet. Protein provides you essential and conditionally essential “Amino Acid” which helps you in the process of “Muscle Growth”. Protein also helps you in recovery from muscle fatigue. In intense activity protein keeps you safe from muscle loss.
Protein powder supplements, particularly whey-based supplements, do have a place in supplementation. Following are a few “Dietary Supplements” generally recommended in weight loss diets which can be useful in both the phases.
In this process your body weight on scale is definitely reduced, but is it losing in a proper way? It means by reducing calories intake you can easily decrease your body weight, but during this process you may also have chances of losing muscle mass.
In this process your body weight on scale may rise minimally in a steady manner. With proper loading of Proteins, Complex Carbohydrates and healthy Fatty Foods along with a perfect workout plan. Your muscle mass has increased gradually which is also called a healthy way of gaining muscle mass and reducing the fats.
In the weight loss regime you have to simply reduce 300 to 500 extra calories with your maintenance calorie needs. Before we proceed further you have to calculate your per day calorie needs (BMR) with the help of a calorie calculator.
For example you are around height of 164 cm and your weight is somewhere around 78kgs then it seems you are overweight. Your ideal weight should be in-between 64 to 68 Kgs. So your basic goal is to reduce a minimum of 10 Kgs.
For achieving it you have to calculate your calorie intake with a calorie calculator. In this case if your lifestyle is active and you are exercising for 4 to 5 times/week then roughly you require the following calories for “To Maintain weight 2622 / To Mild weight loss (0.25Kg per week) 2387 / Ideal loss (0.5Kg per week) 2132”.
Although various diets have become popular, the general consensus among dietitians and nutritionists is that a healthy diet is somewhat different & less stringent in requirements and more balanced across the major nutrients. You can see the key recommendations for the general population. In summary, the recommendations are
Recommended dietary intakes or allowances (RDI or RDA) are set by authorities for all essential nutrients like “protein, fat, carbohydrate, and vitamins and minerals”. Guidelines and RDIs usually include slightly modified recommendations for men and women, including pregnant women, and adolescents and children. Older adults may also have special requirements and recommended intakes.
People who exercise have different requirements to sedentary people because the greater expenditure of energy (TEE) usually requires a greater intake of food. The more you exercise the more you have to eat to sustain that level of activity. Simple enough, and this also applies to casual exercisers. It may not apply to you, if fat loss is one of the reasons you took up weight training.
If you do weight training for sports, weight lifting competition, bodybuilding or even as a way to maintain fitness or appearance now that you have reached an ideal weight, you will probably be more interested in gaining muscle and maintaining low body fat. The dietary specifics will be different in each case. In this article, we are emphasizing bodybuilding diet and nutrition so let’s take a look at what is required.
To build extra muscle you need to eat in excess of the protein portion of what you currently eat and to work out with weights on a regular basis. How much muscle you can gain, how quickly and with what definition is largely determined by your genetics and age. But everyone at almost any age should be able to gain some muscle and strength with weight training. Proper nutrition is a crucial element in the muscle building process.
Remember what we studied about catabolism and anabolism previously in relation to energy expenditure and body types. You are now going to attempt to do just that: shed fat and build muscle mass which is your ultimate goal. Your energy intake should now be cut back by 15 percent, the objective of losing fat and maintaining that muscle mass. Because you are now not the fat guy you once were, you may have to eventually eat slightly more to maintain that extra muscle, but not right now.
This is a slightly different scenario to someone who is obese, unfit and trying to lose weight and hold muscle. Our young and fit male weight trainer has a more normal hormonal metabolism but he still has to do this correctly. In fact, bodybuilders do this sort of thing regularly to prepare themselves for competition: they put on muscle and some fat by eating up, then they strip off the fat leaving the muscle to show through. It’s called “cutting phase”.
Now that you have muscled up and got ripped to low body fat levels you will want to know the best way to eat and train to stay that way. Eating for elite athletes is taken very seriously by sports nutritionists and coaches. It should be because a few fractions of a second in a sprint or a few seconds in longer races can mean the difference between a gold medal and only being a participant. Even in the amateur ranks, it’s just nice to know that you are maximizing your workout by eating in a way that makes the most of your hard work. Meal timing and constitution before and after exercise is an important part of this.
Weight trainers don’t usually expand the amount of energy that an endurance athlete does in training. Even so, here are some principles for meals prior to exercise as generally supported by sports nutritionists and modified for the strength athlete. Remember, this is for eating before you train or compete.
Here are some foods and combinations that provide at least 10 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrate.
Unless you do extreme sessions for considerably longer than an hour, include intense cardio or strength-endurance weights programs, or ate poorly in the hours leading up to the session, you probably don't need anything other than water to get you through in good shape. And good shape means not letting your blood and muscle glucose get too low at which point cortisol and other hormones will be looking to break down your muscle. It's a fine point but one that is worth considering. You don't need expensive and probably useless supplements to protect you from catabolic cortisol surges, all you need is some carbohydrate from a sports drink (BCAAs), gel or bar.
How you eat to recover from exercise is one of the most important principles in exercise nutrition. If you don’t refuel sufficiently after each session, your glucose (glycogen) stores in muscle can get depleted leading to tiredness, poor performance, and even immune system suppression and infection. Glucose is the athlete’s and exerciser’s main fuel. You get it from carbohydrate foods and drinks. What is more, inadequate refueling after your session won't take advantage of that hard muscle work by giving those muscles an anabolic boost that repairs and builds.
Weight trainers do not use as much glucose fuel as the higher intensity or higher duration aerobic sports like track and endurance running and cycling, but even so, it pays to keep those glycogen stores topped up if you want to be at your best in training. You will notice glucose depletion more after muscle endurance and hypertrophy programs where higher repetitions, perhaps to failure, are slated rather than the low-rep strength sets where direct ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is likely the main fuel. Low numbers of repetitions with heavy weights are used to develop strength, whereas lighter weights and more repetitions are used to build muscle size and muscle endurance. The latter is likely to expend more energy.
Move the carbohydrate quantity up or down as you assess your weight and energy levels as you train or compete. Modify carbohydrate intake according to how often or intensely you work out. A one-hour session of combined weights and cardio at moderate to high intensity may require at least 5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight per day (2.5 grams/pound). Here are estimates of carbohydrate requirements with weight training the focus. Intensity of exercise over time increases quantities required. If light exercise, choose the lower numbers; only applies to days of exercise; choose higher rates if you mix solid cardio sessions with weights. Estimates only.
If you do more than one session each day, the post-exercise snack should be continued for each hour until regular meals resume. This is important to get you up for the later session. Few weight trainers choose to do two weights sessions a day, but some do an early session of cardio and a later session of weights or vice versa.
You definitely don’t need to consume excessive quantities of protein in any form to build muscle and support your weight training or bodybuilding activity. Try not to exceed 1 gram per pound of body weight of protein daily. That may be a little more than what you will need but you don't need more than that. Getting the Balance Right You do need to eat sufficient food and carbohydrate to sustain your activities. Too little carbohydrate and your body will break down your muscle for glucose and reverse all those hard gotten gains. Don’t believe advice that says carbohydrates are fattening. Don’t eat everything. Still, you can modify your carbohydrate intake for the better by avoiding refined flours, sugars, sweets and other quickly absorbed or processed carbohydrates when you are not exercising intensely.
The Least You Need to Know - Don't worry too much about the finer detail of calculating quantities if you don't wish to. The detail is there for those who can use this precision, but most people don't. Experience and getting to know how your body works is probably more important, as well as trial and error within the information provided here. Check out these main points.