From Fitness & Power
Winter puts our bodies in a form of hibernation, where we tend to gain weight which needs to be cut down as the spring approaches. It`s in our nature to gain weight in the colder months, but now it is time to drop it off. We admit bulking up is much more fun than stripping body fat away. This is the momentum where most people fail. Our attempts to drop the body fat so fast makes us forget about three key rules.
Rule 1: Eat enough food
Although Intermittent fasting (IF) is known to have many benefits that can help you reach your goals, besides the positive outcomes there are a couple of drawbacks with IF. Restricting your amount of calories after the fast may be a little hard for the inexperienced. It can leave you hungry and tempted to compensate for all those calories you have missed. You also can over indulge yourself eating the wrong types of foods after a long fast, and when cutting calories too low. The math is simple, in order to fuel your body, you need to eat.
Rule 2: Make good food choices
You`re progress will be limited when cutting calories and eating processed foods when you are hungry. This will only apply in the situation of you being in a caloric deficit and eating gluten-free food and fat free food, you will lose weight. According to Josh Hillis – the co-author of “Fat Loss Happens on Monday “- weight loss will be determined by the quantity of the food you eat, but body composition will be determined by your food quality. When arranging 80 percent of your diet in a healthy restricted framework and minimally processed foods , and 10 percent in whole and minimally processed foods that you don’t like, but don’t hate – you`ll set yourself up for success. If you follow those two rules, eat 10 percent of whatever you want! You have to let yourself indulge once in a while as a reward satisfaction mechanism and to kick-start your metabolism.
Rule 3: Explore different types of food
Being a creature of habit we tent to eat the same stuff most of the time. This is a simple guide to help you choose an array of macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients) each day. Include at least one to two servings from each food group:
– Meat and other protein-rich foods, such as eggs and protein powder.
– Fat-rich foods: nuts and seeds, butter, olive oil, extra-virgin coconut oil, fatty fish, and avocadoes.
– Vegetables known to be full with fiber, which means any vegetable except corn.
– Starchy foods, sprouted grain breads and pastas, rice, potatoes and beans.
– Milk and other dairy products that includes organic cheese and yogurt.
– Fruit, fresh or dried.
Recommended base meal plan:
- If you exercise two hours a week, multiply the body weight you want to reach (say you weigh 190 and want to weigh 180), by 11-12 calories.
- If you exercise three hours a week, multiply your target weight by 12-13 calories.
- If you exercise 4-5 hours a week, multiply your target bodyweight by 14-15 calories.
Additional rule to follow is the protein rule.
Consume one gram of protein per pound of your target bodyweight. From there you can adjust your carbohydrate and fat needs based on your target caloric intake.
Here is an example meal plan for a male that exercises about 4-5 hours a week, weighs 190 pounds and wants to lose fat.
Meal No. 1
Eggs cooked at any style and 1 medium sized piece of fruit.
Meal No. 2
6 ounces of fish
1 cup of brown rice
1 cup black beans
1 cup grilled onions
1 cup peppers
Meal 3
6 ounces of grass-fed beef
2 ½ cups sprouted grain or whole-wheat pasta
¼ cup organic marinara sauce
Arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Snacks and post workout
2 scoops grass-fed whey protein powder
2 tbsp. almond butter and 1 apple
2,610 calories
180 grams protein
90 grams fat
270 grams carbohydrates
Source: http://www.fitnessandpower.com/nutrition/3-ways-to-energize-and-drop-body-fat