Follow these simple guidelines and you will be able to achieve any result you desire, whether it be gaining muscle or strength, losing fat, keeping (adding a small amount of muscle while leaning out), or simply feeling and performing better.
These will be disappointing for those looking for unknown or clandestine diet secrets, but they work better than whatever bogus secret some YouTube authority is trying to sell you.
1 Eat mostly unprocessed foods.
Meat, seafood, eggs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, unprocessed grains, etc. If these make up at least 80% of your caloric intake, it’s very hard to go wrong.
2 Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
This is at the upper limit of what is needed. You could eat a little less and be fine. But since protein isn’t stored efficiently as fat, it’s better to eat a little more than too little. Just use common sense. If you weigh 350 pounds and are obese, you don’t need 350 grams of protein, but you probably do need more protein than you currently consume.
this amount of protein it’s enough to help you build muscle, perform optimally, minimize muscle loss when dieting, and keep you more satisfied if losing fat is your primary goal.
3 Adjust your caloric intake to your goal and expenditure.
The first step? Find out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. There are formulas for that, but most of them are not really adequate. And anyway, your caloric expenditure varies from day to day. Also, someone who has been on a chronic diet will have a very different “real energy requirement.”
I suggest recording everything you eat for 5-10 days. The more you do it, the more accurate it will be. Weigh yourself in the morning of the first day and the morning after the last day.
Calculate your average daily caloric intake. Then look at your body weight change.
If you gained weight, that average caloric intake is a surplus. If you lost weight, it’s a deficit. If your weight has remained stable, you are probably close to your maintenance level.
Once you’ve figured out your maintenance level, it’s easy to plan your daily caloric intake:
- To build maximum muscle while accepting some fat gain: More than 25-30% excess
- To build muscle with some fat gain: 20-25% caloric surplus
- To build some muscle with minimal fat gain: 10-15% caloric surplus
- To build a small amount of muscle while staying lean: 2.5-7.5% surplus
- To lose weight and hopefully add a small amount of muscle: 5% deficit to maintenance intake
- To lose fat without losing muscle: 10-15% caloric deficit
- To lose a lot of fat while minimizing the loss of muscle mass: 15-20% caloric deficit
- For maximum fat loss (increased risk of muscle loss): 20-30% caloric deficit
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