Introduction
Clearly, the goal of dieting is to eat exactly what you need to reach your goal, whether that to be to progress in the gym, or to lose fat, and this process can look very different for different people. Overall however, getting a good diet does look the same for the most part for most goals that people have. This article will explore the ways to craft your diet to meet these objectives.
Calories
A large majority of people have many misconceptions about losing weight and it comes in the form of many different diet and exercise plans that people tend to follow. However, at the end of the day losing weight just boils down to the calories that you eat. Every person has something called a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which is a certain amount of calories. This is made up of a few things. These are
- BMR (Basal metabolic rate) – This is the energy that your body uses to stay alive at rest, performing basic tasks.
- TEF (Thermic effect of food) – This consists of the energy your body expends digesting the food that you eat.
- NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) – Energy expenditure from unplanned movements like head scratching, leg shaking, standing up, etc.
- EAT (Exercise activity thermogenesis) – These are the calories that are burnt from the exercise you do like walking, running or any other type of cardio or exercise.
Summing these together gets you your TDEE or maintenance calories. This depends on your height, weight and age. While it can be calculated with various online calculators, the best way to measure this is just to track your calories for a couple days. If the scale stays generally the same, then you are most likely at your maintenance calorie amount.
The easiest way to lose fat is simply to go into a calorie deficit, which is eating less calories than this maintenance value. On the other hand, the best way to put on extra muscle is to go into a small calorie surplus. Both of these, however, have certain caveats.
When going on a bulk or calorie surplus it’s almost never a good idea to go into a large surplus. The extra calories will have little to no effect on muscle growth while causing you to gain a lot of extra fat which will have to be lost in a cut in the future. Because of this it is best to cap the calorie surplus at 100-200 calories above your maintenance or equivalently 5-10% of your maintenance. This will curb the amount of fat gain while putting you in the optimal position to gain the most amount of muscle as possible.
When trying to lose fat, it is best to go at a balanced pace where you are losing a sufficient amount of fat while not losing any muscle. The sweet spot number is a 500 calorie deficit. A 500 calorie deficit will leave you losing ~1lb a week which is a healthy amount. Any more than this and you run the risk of losing muscle. Now this is not to say that eating in a 500 calorie deficit will prevent muscle loss. For one, it is necessary to continue with resistance training to keep or even build muscle. But by far the most important factor is the nutrition within the calories that you are eating.
New lifters and some experienced ones (because of slower muscle growth) will have the ability to do something called body recomposition. This is building muscle and losing fat simultaneously. While it is possible to build muscle on a larger calorie deficit it is a lot harder. A smaller calorie deficit like 200-300 calories can stimulate muscle growth better while still getting rid of fat mass. This is an option that is suitable for many people but it does come at the cost of being a phase that takes longer than just going on a full cut.
Nutrition
The most important macronutrient when it comes to dieting for the gym is easily protein. While the recommended allowance by the Food and Nutrition Board is 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight (~0.4g per lb), this is not nearly enough to stimulate muscle growth or muscle protein synthesis to its fullest extent. Studies have shown that muscle growth increases about linearly with protein intake until it reaches a certain maximum value. This number is around 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight. After this point, any additional protein will have little to no benefit.
The next important part is getting an adequate amount of fat. Fat is important because it regulates and optimizes proper hormone production, specifically testosterone, which is crucial for optimizing muscle growth. The correct amount of fat to have is 0.3-0.5g of fat per pound of body weight.
The remaining macronutrient is carbs. Carbs are important because they are broken down into glucose which is then sent to the liver and converted into glycogen through glycogenesis. These glycogen stores are pivotal to lifting as they are the primary fuel for the muscles during a workout. Insufficient glycogen stores will trigger the body to enter ketosis, where the body uses burning fat as its primary energy source. This makes your performance in the gym sub-optimal as it increases fatigue and reduces hypertrophy while being a less effective fat loss method than a calorie deficit. For this reason it is best to fill the remaining calories with carbs.
The following are the number of calories per 1 gram of each of these macronutrients:
- Carb – 4 kcals
- Protein – 4 kcals
- Fat – 9 kcals
For example if someone was 150 lbs and eating 1800 kcals a day they could aim to be eating around:
- 135g of protein
- 60g of fat
- 180g of carbs
Food Timings with Workouts
Food timing, while not as important as macros still plays a role. Before working out it is best to prioritize carbs to keep glycogen stores full. Carbs are split into two categories: fast and slow digesting. Fast-digesting carbs have less fiber, are simple carbohydrates and have a high glycemic index. These, if desired, should be consumed 30-60 minutes before a workout. Example are white bread, white rice, sugary foods, and some fruits. Slow-digesting carbs are complex carbohydrates with more fiber and have a lower glycemic index. These, as they take longer to digest, should be eaten 3 to 4 hours before a workout. Examples include oats, quinoa, lentils, beans and vegetables.
Protein matters for muscle growth, but it matters most across the full day. A large protein-heavy snack right before lifting can sit heavy for some people as it takes long to digest. It can also distract from the main job of your pre-workout food, which is to give you carbs you can use during training. If you eat close to your workout, keep protein small and fiber low. Post-workout, protein becomes a priority as it helps trigger muscle protein synthesis.
Tips for Calorie Deficits
Here are a few additional tips that may help during a calorie deficit.
Managing Hunger
Hunger is a difficult thing to manage during a calorie deficit as you are eating much less than your body is expecting. Overall, after 2 or so weeks your body will adjust to the new level of food so the hunger will go away but there are still certain methods that make it easier. One is intermittent fasting. This is pushing the first meal of the day to a little bit later. Your body will be able to sustain you for a little bit in the morning so reducing the gap between your first and last meals in the day reducing the time during which you ingest food can help curb hunger. Another method is to eat higher fiber foods. Fiber slows digestion and delays the speed at which food leaves your stomach. This creates a longer lasting feeling of satiety which can help with hunger on the deficit.
Hitting Protein
To hit protein the goal is to eat foods that have more protein for less calories. A good rule of thumb for “high protein” foods is that their protein to calorie ratio is 1 to 10. For example if a high protein food is 320 kcals you should expect it to contain around 32g of protein. Now of course this doesn’t have to be every food or meal as your calorie intake will be a lot more than 10 times your protein but it remains that this does help with food selection.
For meat eaters hitting protein becomes much easier but for vegetarians there are still many options. Some examples are
- Dairy products – greek yogurt, cottage cheese
- Soy products – tofu, edamame
- Legumes – lentils, black beans
Tracking Calories
A lot of people claim that they are eating in a calorie deficit and not losing weight and in a lot of these cases this arises from improper tracking of food. First off, using an app like MyFitnessPal or Chronometer goes a long way as they have large databases of food and can help with exact values and macronutrients. After this an important thing to keep in mind is to track everything. Small bites and portions of things still count and add up. Furthermore, people discount the amount of calories sauces and cooking oils have. Just half a tablespoon of olive oil is 120 kcals.
Conclusion
Dieting comes down to matching what you eat to your goal. Start with calories and understand TDEE and maintenance from BMR, TEF, NEAT, and EAT. Lose fat by eating in a deficit and gain muscle by eating in a small surplus, but avoid large changes that add extra fat or risk muscle loss. Use recomposition if you want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, but expect slower progress. After calories, focus on macros by prioritizing protein at about 0.8–1 g per pound of body weight, then fat at about 0.3–0.5 g per pound, and fill the remaining calories with carbs to support training. Use food timing as a tool by prioritizing carbs before workouts, choosing fast-digesting carbs 30–60 minutes before and slow-digesting carbs 3–4 hours before, and putting more protein after workouts to support muscle protein synthesis. During a deficit, manage hunger with meal timing and higher fiber foods, choose higher protein foods that give more protein for fewer calories, and track food carefully so your intake matches your plan.
Plates & Plates 