FOOD
FOOD PROPORTIONS Protein is the most thermogenic macronutrient of the three, by that I mean it takes your body more energy to utilize protein than it does carbs or fats. When you’ re going to put yourself into a caloric deficit, you will want to raise protein intake to accommodate this as well as for muscle-sparing purposes. There are enough studies that show the effects of higher protein intake on dieting when it comes to preserving lean mass. If you have adhered to the rule of one gram of protein per pound of lean mass, we will start to break that rule and increase it to 1.5 grams per pound of lean mass. This sets up your protein intake, and now we will need to proportionately reduce the carbs and fats to create the balance.
When you increase your protein, you are not just adding calories. You need to get those calories from somewhere. The plans is to make room for more protein calories by cutting half of those calories from carbs and half from fats. That starts your baseline. If you did the math correctly, that will bring you to the exact number of calories you had. Next we will subtract five to eight percent off of the total calories and balance the difference out between carbs and fat. If you want a more aggressive cut, subtract up to 10 percent of your daily calories. You will maintain this caloric load as you continue to drop weight. Ideally, two pounds a week is a steady loss, but if you carry higher body fat, you can get away with a more aggressive loss.
Once your weight loss starts to slow, recalibrate calories and macros. I would suggest at this point you err on the side of slowing down weight loss rather than trying to speed it up. The more you cut calories, the more risk you run in losing lean mass. Take it conservatively once your weight loss slows down. As you get leaner, it will get more difficult because you have proportionately less to lose. This is a process— a slow process— and one that requires patience. Don’ t rush, or you will make it more miserable than it has to be.
Whether you want to cut on low carbs or low fats is entirely up to you, as long as you’ re minding the rule of cutting calories and recalibrating macros. But there is one rule I strongly suggest you follow: Do not lower your fat intake under 20 percent of your daily calories. Fat is a critical macronutrient for hormone production, and unless you’ re cutting for a bodybuilding show, there isn’ t a single rational reason to allow your fat to dip below 20 percent of your daily caloric intake.
Keep your water intake up— it’ s a calorie-free beverage, after all. Add some lemon juice, unsweetened drink mixes, some salt, and stevia to help the taste if you need to. Higher water intake helps with fat loss because being hydrated helps your body to work more efficiently. Be smart about it and drink your water.
One more thing, and you need to come to terms with this: You will be hungry. Cutting calories and losing fat doesn’ t mean you will be full and satisfied with each meal. You are going to be hungry.
Your Mission:
1. Increase protein up to 1.5 gram per lean mass
2. Proportionately decrease carbs and fats to maintain calorie balance
3. Subtract five to 10 percent of your daily calories to reach a deficit
4. When progress stalls, err on the side of smaller decreases over larger ones
5. Keep your fat above 20 percent of daily intake 6. Drink your water 7. Learn to be okay with being hungry
54 JUNE 2017 | ironmanmagazine. com