Nutrition Question

I think if you're trying to lose weight, you can lower the proportion of carbs a bit and add a bit more protein and healthy fats.

People have varying metabolisms and therefore definitely have varying dietary needs. Also, people have different goals which will affect what their diet should be.

You know, I believe it's based on what kind of fitness program you're on, what sport you do, and especially your physiology. I know from experience as a high performance athlete (speed skater) everyone is different and you eat different things after different programs. I'll just summarize what I think in point form…..

-After long 2-5h cardio workouts, ANYthing I think is better than nothing, but generally a lot of carbs (pasta, sandwiches, etc).
-After weightroom sessions, plyometrics, or anaerobic and lactic work, I think a more than normal protien is best, like meat, milk, and cheese obviously, but don't forget carbs.

What works for me after is 1L of gatorade mixed with protein. Obviously I don't have it all the time but especially after a long day at the rink I need it. Hope that helps.

-After

Q1. How many calories per day per pound of bodyweight?
- this depends upon how much muscle an individual has, it varies a lot. 2 people of exactly the same weight can have very different metabolic rates due to different body compositions. It is best to get your metabolic rate worked out for you specifically, otherwise you could be under or overeating.

Q2. What kind of macro nutrient profile is best? ( like what percent carbs, pro, fat?)
- There is no ideal, everyone is different. It depends upon your metaboolic type. Some people thrive on a higher protein diet, some on a higher carbohydrate one.

Are cheat days or meals ok?
- I think this is ok as long as the cheat day is kept under control. If your one cheat day is an excuse to gorge, then it is not going to work.

Does everyone have different needs when it comes to nutrition?
- Physiologically we are all different with different hormonal states, lifestyles, ability to handle stress, genetics, etc, etc.

1) Of course everyone has different needs! No person is the same like one of the first principles in training "Individual differences".

2) I like Carb cycling worked very well for me and my clients when looking to be shredded and still gaining muscle.

A) on training days u would have carbs pre and post workout, and on non training days there is no carbs but a bit more fat as not to crash.

I don't believe in counting calories but rather just eating as clean as possible! Eat like a F*cking caveman and u will be and feel as healthy as possible!

Cheat meals are allowed one meal a week to shake up ur metablosim

1) Of course everyone has different needs! No person is the same like one of the first principles in training "Individual differences".

2) I like Carb cycling worked very well for me and my clients when looking to be shredded and still gaining muscle.

A) on training days u would have carbs pre and post workout, and on non training days there is no carbs but a bit more fat as not to crash.

I don't believe in counting calories but rather just eating as clean as possible! Eat like a F*cking caveman and u will be and feel as healthy as possible!

Cheat meals are allowed one meal a week to shake up ur metabolism

Hey Chris,
Here at BodyForm Personal Training we use the Healthy for Life Program by Dr. Ray Strand for all of our clients. His program teaches the low glycemic carbohydrate load of foods and paired foods for meals. This program has been super successful for us in getting great results. As for losing muscle….not happening if you are strength training and not cutting your calories to low. There's even evidence that as long as you are strength training you cannot lose muscle even with restricted calorie intake.
Dr. Strands program can be found at https://www.releasingfat.com.
His program also has supplements and a great cleansing program that usually drops 8-10 pounds off in the first 7 days and our clients are able to maintain the weight loss so far.

Great stuff, I can't wait to read all the great responses from the awesome trainers reading your posts.

Hey Chris,
Based on your 2 requirements, here are some thoughts.

As far as maintaining as much muscle as possible. I make sure the client remains as strong as possible by lifting heavy weights for approx. 8-12 reps. Workouts are short and high intensity in nature and infrequent, 2-3 times per week.

I also make sure as calories are reduced the amount of weight lifted remains the same, as there is a close correlation between amount of weight lifted and muscle size.

As far as diet goes. It will depend on the individual. We'll see how they do based on personality. Some people need an exact plan, (eat this at time) others do better by using a hunter gatherer type.

If I had to give an exact protocol. Generally 1500-1800 for men based on size and 1200-1300 for women. Eat large, meaning foods that are filling yet low on calories. 40/30/30 works well for most.

Make sure to drink plenty of water as it will help with the "minimal suffering" part, although all reduction in body fat levels cause some level of discomfort.

Finally make sure the client doesn't do the aerobics. This is one of the major causes of muscle loss and discomfort. Walking 20-30 minutes per day after dinner keeps the metabolism kicking. Just my thoughts after 20+ years of experimentation.

Steve

Hey Chris!

OK Let the madness begin! hahaha….

Actually… I created a really cool Excel spread sheet that calculates calories, protein, carbs, meal breakdown, etc… so if you or anyone wants to see it.. send me an email at getfit@trainerjj.com and I'll reply and attach it… Kinda cool…

How many calories per day per pound of bodyweight?
I like to take a combination of 2 approaches in one… First, this is so individual! Everyone is different genetically and metabolically. I think it is very important to do a body composition so you are looking at lean mass and fat mass… If I had a 280 lb. woman walk in very unfit, fat and bad eating.. I would be crazy to base her calories and protein on the 280 lbs! I would typically start about 12-15 calories per lean pound… or 10 calories per lb using a Goal weight… The other thing I would do is have them complete a Typical Day Food Journal.. Most people can do this while you are talking to them.. "What do you normally have for breakfast? What's next…" and then get an idea of how many calories are coming in on a typical day.. The answer lies in combining those two.. BUT DON'T BE SO DAMN CONFUSING! It's more important to get them started and then TRACK results…

What kind of macro nutrient profile is best? ( like what percent carbs, pro, fat?)

I like the 40,30,30 (P,C,F)… but it varies. Typically I start with 1 gram of protein per Goal Weight or 1.5 per lean body pound, Carbs are kinda Doubled (to start) and fat is 10-15% based on total calories… But fat for me comes down to choices (Molly McButter vs. butter on a potato, No Fried, white flour, sugar.. etc – it tends to work itself out).

Are cheat days or meals ok?

OK… Especially when starting out! It's a more mental game! You can find low calories ways to cheat… But if you're feeling hungry all the time and the Mr. Olympia contest is still 25 years away from you.. yeah, have at it! It's best to have a planned time/day.. Get Joel Marion's Cheat your Way Thin… I don't agree with everything on his program… but enough! You will get a few ideas. And am I right or him? Doesn't matter! It's better than what your client is doing NOW….

Does everyone have different needs when it comes to nutrition?

The same basic principles are the same.. unless your mother is from Venus! But there are big differences in starting point.. If you have years of bad eating and your family tree looks like fat basketballs with arms… you might have some more challenges. I find the most challenges deal with carbohydrate sensitivity… And limiting choices to a few natural items are best…

As a fitness profession and enthusiast I would LOVE to hear what kind of nutritional program you think is best… keeping in mind… maintaining muscle and not feeling super hungry all the time is EXTREMELY important here.

I think it is EXTREMELY important to go in with a Baseline menu and diet.. but then monitor and change as needed.. Just like Anthony Robbins Success Cycle… Recognize, Take Action, Notice what is working or not, make changes if needed..

I typically start my clients with a Cycle Rotation based on the Month…

Week 1: Baseline 5-7 meals. each meal contains a lean protein, starchy carb and veggie. RECORD. I have journals for the clients.. but I also like index cards or better yet.. and predated planner…

Week 2: HiLow Same as Baseline, but you taper the starchy carbohydrates (more in the first 3 meals, down to protein and veggies at night)

Week 3: Stagger MWF = Baseline, TTrS = Protein (high protein, low carb)

Week 4: Protein Week – longer Stagger… 2-3 days of Protein (high protein, low carb- typically carbs with breakast and post workout). Followed by a baseline day. Follow this 2-3 on, 1 Baseline until the first MONDAY of the new month.

AGAIN.. you might have a client that is seeing results with just the baseline… Heck, stay with that!

I've used the above Rotation because it works and easy to keep track of… I know if it is the 2nd week of the month, and Sally has a question.. I know she should be on HiLow…. I get confused too easy!

Eating 6 meals a day is key for many reasons… If your client is eating a bag of chips and a pop from the vending machine at 3:00 – that is a MEAL (just a bad one!).

Having very clear goals also helps.. You might be hungry or tempted at times… It's handy to pull out a goal card or a goal picture.. Seeing me with a big fat gut in a picture in my pocket is enough for me to handle a small hunger pain or not stuff a few Oreo's in my mouth!

Life is about Decision and Action!

Thanks Chris!

If anyone disagrees with me.. it's ok! I don't care! hahah…But I still love ya!

JJ

Lean meats and above ground veggies.

Your attitude eating is important too. Eat with intent.

As a Precision Nutrition practitioner, I prefer using that general method. Have a list of essential foods that must be eaten on a weekly basis, and let those additional items slowly replace and phase out what we know to be bad. Protein, veggies or fruit every meal. Slowly phase out all drinks other than water and green tea, concentrating on eliminating all calorie drinks(doesn't include meal replacements/workout drinks).

Also while trying to drop fat and maintain muscle, post/peri-workout nutrition is extremely important. So make sure you get that down.

I don't concentrate too much on calories at the beginning more so getting the essential foods in and portions. Just like training, almost anything will work for a couple weeks, it's refining after getting started where it takes some effort and determination.

I personally have had great results on Isagenix and get ALL my nutrition while using the product. I'm NEVER hungry. I put all my clients on the program as well with showing them how to eat healthy.

I can show you how to leverage your time and make more money with your clients per hour.

Janet Cook
Personal Trainer & Holistic Health Coach
347-306-8864

Low glycemic index foods. Control blood sugar

Hey Chris,

I for the most part feel that a calorie is a calorie, at least to a point. Preparing for bodybuilding shows I simply cut my calories which for me is about 2000 cal. and up my cardio a bit. I shoot for a clean carb a protein and a fruit or vegetable at each meal, and since I like to eat until I'm full I usually do 3 meals per day some times even 1 or 2. My first 2 meals are smaller and dinner is always the largest. I doesnt matter if you eat past 7 o clock or make dinner the largest meal of the day. It comes down to cal. consumed. As far as maintaining muscle you just need to make sure you are doing resistane training and you should be good. You just have give your body a reason to maintain the muscle. I think that cheat meals are ok about once a week, and you can find your cal. need by counting what you have eaten for the past week and then reducing by 500 cal. and then make adjustments from there if you need to reduce more the following week.

Good Luck
Joe

Chris diggin your blog tons of help thanks!

I am having awesome results with Joel Marions Cheating Your Way Thin. I have modified the workouts to be a bit more along the lines of the Tabata Protocol using the Workout Muse tunes and Damn it is crankin!

I have found that the meal plan is easy to follow and delish…plus the cheat day concept of spiking the Leptin level by using pizza, cheese burgers, ice cream ect. kicks the conventional diet in the butt. Keeps the mind more in line so your not always thinking you will never get to eat certain foods again…big kudos in my book.

Thats my 2 cents…keep rockin
-Darrin

You obviously know what to do. But for the kicks I will respond with my ketogenic diet based on your lean body weight. Definitely maintain muscle and not suffer hunger pains or blood sugar dips.

3 small meals of lean protein and fibrous carbs and
3 small meals of protein and essential fats.
medium cardio for duration not intensity. (45 min-1 hr)

I have used this diet for over 20 years on competitive bodybuilders to get contest ready and not lose any muscle. Works awesome.

Randy Woody
Your Fat Loss Expert

http://www.randywoody.com

Don't worry too much about ratios. Lose it slow, 1 lb a week. My friend Clarence Bass, Ripped, loses weight at 1 lb a month. Now that is SLOW! but he still eats everything he wants and a lot of it. His last photo shoot at 70 he was 3% BF and looked great.

Yes, everybody is different, you need to experiment with the calories to find out what you need to eat for 1 lb/wk of fat loss.

Chris,

I guarantee you this flies in the face of everything else you read here. Not eating like shit will take most people further than you realize. I really believe that you could go from over 30% to 12-13% without really following a "structured" diet.

Jason

You need to find out what your metabolic type is first and foremost:

metabolic typing, by William wolcott is a good book.

All the best.

Chris, that particular question is unto itself a slippery slope. Although simple in its presentation, it is quite a complex explanation. I have personally worked with over 4,500 individuals from all walks of life and no two are alike. With that said, an across the board ratio for such an endevour usually is about 40 to 50 percent carbs,(tapering down starches throught the day) 25 to 35 percent lean proteins (mostly whey, but adding casein toward the latter half of the day) and 15 to 25 percent fats (with no more than 5 percent saturated). The calories per pound of body weight is a tricky one. I have seen severe caloric restriction work, while minimal exigent activity drove the machine, and I have also seen hardly zero cardio, well managed calorie intake and peak intensive circuit movement as the prime component of activity work as well. So, without knowing the exact daily energy expenditure, lifestyle practices and overall daily activity levels, it is almost impossible to lock down calorie intake per pound of body weight. Cheat meals and or cheat days are fine, but do extend the completion date/s for said goals. Suffering however is a personal thing, some relish in the discipline, while others do not. Most feel that acheiveing the goal is worth suffering, while some bail out after a few short days. Diet is so, exceedingly vital to how one looks, how well one's digestive systems work, their metabolic aptitude and their over all sense of holistic balance. We are what we eat and we ALWAYS outwardly reflect our inward practices, (our thoughts, actions, behaviors). -Kurt Lee Hurley

http://www.KreateFitness.com

Hey Chris,
In answer to your questions, I personally increase my protein intake and cut out sugar. I like PJ Glasseys recommendations in his "Cracking your calorie code" book. He says: Before 5pm eat whatever you want but make sure you get three servings of protein, 80oz water, and two servings of vegetables. After 5pm eat as much as you want of only the following three items: white meat, dark greens, and water.
I don't allow myself an entire day of cheating. Instead, I allow myself a cheat meal one day per week. I usually do this at breakfast so I have the day to burn off the calories.

Hope this helps.

I truly beleive that wight control and muscle building go hand in hand, but are an individual program. What works for one is harmful for another. This is especially true about chioce and balance of foods. It is greatly dependant on life style [employment may play a significient role]. I also believe that "cheat days, or meals" are essential to success. I have seen evidence that some soft of exercise plays a vital role to weight control. I have seen that weight loss and clothing size can go hand in hand, but can also be inverse to each other. I beleive that personal commitment and sub-conscience self image are a major factor. For many people, a "re-training" of the thought process, or "self-image" is required. For others, professional guidence and supervision is the answer. I am convienced that it is possible to "eat too little" to lose weight.

If I read the post right and this person is NOT interested in building any muscle (only maintain) yet wants to lean out then…

I hate estimating caloric levels based only on weight, but if I must and the goal is weight loss (which is a fair assumption based on the above criteria) then I would use 11 calories per pound of body weight.

As far as FPC

Protein should be roughly 1.6 – 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. OR 1 gram per pound of LEAN weight.

Fats, I typically recommend 25% of total daily intake. Depending on the person, I might intentionally low ball this as most will take in more fat then they believe.

The rest would come from quality carbs.

And cheat days are a MUST (for most people at least) I have met some individuals who actually do better without a cheat day. One cheat meal alone might trigger a downward spiral and result in a week or two to get back on track.

A number of issues come into play here. You cannot decide how many calories they need until you know the persons weight, body fat percentage, and body type. You also need to know if they are supplementing or not. You also need to know what type foods work with the digestve system (food allergies, give gas or heartburn, etc.). A persons lifestyle is also very important as to how they should eat. Some people prefer smaller meals throughout the day but others prefer fewer meals throughout the day. Maintaining muscle mass also includes a work out regimen that works with the nutrition needs. These are a the main issues that need to be taken into consideration before accurate answers can be given to your questions.

Eating 5-6 times per day is extremely important, w/ breakfast or lunch being your biggest meal of the day. Lean protein; going easy on the red meat(no more than 4-6oz per week. Eating whole grains will help keep you filling fuller longer (it's the fiber). Avoid these white foods; floor, rice, pasta & potatoes. Red & sweet potatoes are ok. You can't go wrong w/ eating lots of fresh veggies & some fruits. I recommend checking out http://www.mypyramid.gov. You get to find out exactly the daily requirements for your body's needs. This is a great site, if you haven't already checked it out. Oh, yeah and watch the sugar and simple carbs. As far as a cheat day or meal goes, by all means reward yourself, not daily, 1x per week, and not the whole day either. You can always make up for it w/ extra time in the gym. Also try to avoid food 3 hrs. prior to bed time, if you absolutely have to have something try a glass of skim milk. Fat free foods, except dairy, should be avoided, they have almost 2x the carbs. No fried fatty foods. Your body does need the good fats, the poly & mono-saturated fats. Good luck.

Hi Chris,
In my humble opinion the best nutritional programme is the one that you can maintain while living your particular life – very personalised!
however, having said that, I find that I, and many of my clients, seem to prosper in terms of muscle gain and fat loss by following a diet consisting of , approximately,one third protein to two thirds carbs, leaving or limiting complex carbs, such as rice, pasta, starchy vegetables etc. to the midday meal, thereby allowing time to burn them off.
Nothing new,but hope it helps.

Hey Chris,

I personally believe you should stick to things that were alive at one point. So if it didn't grow from a tree, out of the ground, or didn't have to be killed- Don't eat it. Which is basically fruits, vegetables, and meats.

As far as macro nutrient ratio- I prefer 40%-40%-20%. Pro, carbs, fat. So take the lean body weight you want to be say 200lbs. eat 200 grams of protein, 200 grams of carbs, and 100 grams of fat. Which in calories would come out to 200 x 4 = 800 cals protein. 200 x 4 = 800 cals of carbs. And 100 x 9 = 900 cals of fat. For a total of 2,500 calories per day.

I'm not sure what your weight is right now, but if I were trying to cut down I would eat in these ratios for 10lbs less than I weigh at the moment. So if I'm 200lbs trying to get to 180lbs. I would first eat like this for a bodyweight of 190lbs. This helps to not be so hungry while dieting. But you can go lower if you feel like it.

I like 1 cheat day per week. Not a full out food orgy, but a day off where I'm not planning my meals and get to eat the things I want.

I believe that certain people respond better to carbs, others low fat, and most people protein. If you have ever heard of the book "Metabolic Typing" – the information in that book is what I'm referring too. Some people are carbo types, others mixed, and some are protein types. There is multiple factors that will contribute to you being one or the other, but I don't like to make it too complicated. So I prefer to tell people that if they feel good and energetic after they eat- than they are probably doing okay.

Hope you're doing awesome with your weight loss bro.

John

Chris,

To preserve as much muscle as possible while leaning out, it's important to keep your protein and healthy fat intake high. I'm a firm believer in the John Berardi/Precision Nutrition method, breaking meals down into protein + fat, or protein + carb.

My suggestions:

-6 meals per day (including post-workout protein/carb drink) should come out to ~42 meals per week.
-Eat vegetables at every meal.
-Eat protein at every meal.
-NO liquid calories (black coffee, green tea are OK)

In this scenario, I would have the individual go low carb all day (no more than 50g), with the majority of carb sources coming from fruits and vegetables, and your post workout recovery drink- keep carb intake focused around your pre/during/post workout window. The body is pretty amazing at surviving on little to no carbs (gluconeogenesis) by converting FFA's and AA's into glucose for fuel throughout the day.

*An important point here when trying to preserve as much muscle as possible is to always, always, ALWAYS aim to get stronger while dieting (thanks Coach Thibaedeau). That way you can almost guarantee you aren't losing muscle mass. Another important tip I learned from Christian Thibaudeau is taking 5-10g of creatine monohydrate per day (before/after workout) is important as this helps fuel workouts and give a psychological boost to some who might feel "flat", while helping to ensure your strength is maintained and muscle cells are "full".

Take fish oil; aim for ~5-10g per day.

Last suggestion, cut out dairy and most refined grains.

To sum it all up:
-Eat lots of high quality lean protein with every meal (egg, whey, lean beef/chicken/fish). Protein at this time will increase as carbs drop.
-Eat often (6-7x per day)
-Eat vegetables with EVERY meal, especially green fibrous vegetables (broccoli, cucumber, celery, spinach),
-Majority of carbs coming from fruit while keeping carb intake focused around workout time,
-Take creatine before/after workout to help preserve muscle and strength
-Lots of water
-DON'T neglect fats (nut butters, healthy oils: olive, coconut, canola, macadamia are the best IMO, nuts, seeds, fish oil caps,
-Fish Oil 5-20g per day, depending on individual.
-KEEP TRAINING HARD! Do everything in your power to get stronger and add weight to the bar.

Hope this helps. From personal experience with clients, research, and sifting out what works and what doesn't, these principles seem to fit the mold for most people looking to lean out while maintaining muscle.

(I owe a lot of my acquired knowledge by extensively studying the works of Dr. John Berardi, Christian Thibaudeau, and various other coaches out there!)

OH one more thing; getting back to the 42 meals. Plan to fail 10% of the time; if you adhering to the basic principles 90% of the time, then 10% of your weekly meals can "fall off the wagon". In other words, out of 42 meals in a given week, ~4 can "slip" away from these guidelines.

Eating lots of protein, fats, and tons of veggies throughout the day should help keep you from feeling hungry as well!

-John Cortese
http://CortesePerformance.com

There are 3 requirements for longterm healthy weightloss and overall health.
1. meet 100% Recommended Daily Allowance
2. meet 100% protein requirement
3. stay under caloric ceiling

Protein and RDA requirement can be defined by identifying Body Max Index and Resting Metabolic rate but women should have 75-100 g protein a day, and men should have 100-125 g a day.

I lost 5% bodyfat in 2 months and 8 lbs in 2 weeks simply by following this regime. If you'd like a nutritional evaluation feel free to contact me at mind.body.ease@gmail.com.

I teach trainers how to implement nutrition into their workouts while also making supplemental income.

There's some great comments on here!

If I could add anything I'd keep it simple.

1. Taper your carbs. Start out the day eating full meals and finish with veggies and lean proteins or salads as your late couple of meals.

2. Meal frequency. Have a small meal every 3 hours if possible. Lean source of protein + whole carbs or veggies.

3. Fish oils. Take a fish oil tablet 3-5x daily. It'll speed up your metabolism and help your body burn the bad fats.

4. Cheat Meals! I like to live life. If I'm cutting down and am too strict with my meals my energy goes to zero and my workouts suffer as a result. Have a few cheat meals a week, they'll boost your energy and help you stay focused.

5. Coffee before your workout. It helps speed up the lipid burning process, and it'll help you keep your workouts intense! Which is big for losing or gaining weight.

Hope these tips helped your goal in burning fat while keeping muscle. You don't want to fully cut out carbs, but after your last meal or two, if you're just relaxing, there's no point of taking in a bunch of fat or carbohydrates because you're not going to burn either. But during the day you're going to burn them and you'll need the energy for work and to get to the gym where most of the fat burning will take place!

Good Luck! Thanks for the great articles/interviews I'm loving them!

Chad

Another great question,

This is a fairly easy answer when we break it down. Above I see a range of diffrent things listed, my explination wont be one of the drastic ones though.

First cutting your carbs back isnt the answer, especially when we talk about maintaining muscle mass. Keep in mind that carbs are responsible for giving us insulin spikes which is the hormone that builds muscle. When you cut the carbs you risk putting your body in a catabolic state, which is optimal for losing fat but also losing muscle.

So cut the carbs or no? The key is consuming them at the right time. If your day is anything like mine( 5am to 9pm) I like to front load my carbs to the front of the day.

We know that most of our activity for most of us is to the front half of our day. This means that carbs are nessecary so that you dont waste any muscle mass.

Now toward the end of the day we want to taper of our carb intake so that we can shift in to a fat burning stage.

Basiclly keep the carbs up but put them to the front of your day and taper off the carbs at the end of the day.

Here is an example meal plan.

5am: 30 min Cardio, No Food

6am: 1 cup oatmeal, 12 egg whites

8am: 4oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup brown rice

10am: 1 can tuna, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup green veggies

12pm: 4oz chicken breast, 2 rice cakes

2pm: 1 can tuna, 1 med size apple

Pre Weights: 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop gatorade
Post Weights: 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop gatorade

8pm: 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup green veggies, 1/4 cup almonds

Before Bed: 12 egg whites

Notice that all of the carbs are loaded to before 4pm, that is the nutrient timing key.

Assured this is the way to maintain muscle and lose fat. Of course the calories in the diet will differ depending on the amount of lean muscle you have.

Hope this helps bro

C.J. Woodruff
Busy Women BootCamps

Great questions but since I’m a firm believer in the concepts of Roger Williams on biochemical individuality the answers will always be worked out on a person by person basis.

I also believe in building health so when a client asks to build muscle and/or lose fat but they are not working towards health then we will be at loggerheads.

Unhealthy people typically don’t transform their physiques, but we are all different and there are aesthetical healthy looking people out there, those that Paul Chek calls the unhealthy fit.

I am a metabolic typing advisor and functional diagnostic nutritionist so I would run labs on each individual to assess correct food/nutrient requirements for the individual, identify the stage of adrenal fatigue they are at, do they have any underlying hidden stressors, what is their capacity to adapt to stress, what is their steroidal hormone balance and identify if their gut needs repaired, is the liver coping, do they need antioxidant support with the levels of toxins in their bodies from excessive exercise, heavy metals etc, are there allergies to the apparently healthy food they eat that are causing immune system stress which inturn affects stress on the adrenals which affects amongst other things that big tire round the middle that the crunches wont shift, do they have infection or infestations that sucks up even more of their energy?

Without knowing all this or even some of it getting the calculator out to work on calories in versus calories out, fat or carb cals etc isn’t going to work.

If your client is in early stage 1 adrenal fatigue and can squirt out bucket loads of cortisol then maybe you can beast that client, get them to bed early, feed them a protein shake and hey presto, body transformation but personal trainers typically come up against moms with 3 kids and businessmen that read men's health and so calculator nutrition creates more stress, guilt and ultimately failure.

Even after finding out the mountain of info from the labs it takes the right client to work at it day in day out for a period of time (varies individual to individual) alongside an advisor/shoulder to cry on to get to their own personalised approach…1 whole egg, minute steak and handful of mushrooms cooked in butter for breakfast but try mushroom omelette even with 3 eggs and in 1-2 hrs they are ready to kill and on the way to the coffee machine all because they missed out the right type of protein for them in the morning, beef!

Although I'm aware this sounds all doom and gloom, alot of money alot of work and absolutely no fun I don’t think as a life plan complete absence makes for happy bunnies so living by the 80:20 rule will get more people onside for the long term.

So hitting the cakes at Christmas isn’t the end of world but if
you are on a mission and trying to repair those stressed and tired out adrenal glands I always recommend at least sticking to a pretty strict plan for the first 3 months and then as you heal your body and become healthier you can act more "normal" and cutting loose occasionally at the weekend makes the most sense and after a concerted effort you can cope better anyway.

But once you know your own body better you will learn for example that you need a couple tablespoons of coconut oil before launching into a few beers.

So that you balance the bad with the good!!

Hope this hasn’t put anyone to sleep??

Stephen Duncan
Balanced Fitness Ltd.

quality dictates quantity. give the body what it needs (nutrients etc) to create health and everything else is a byproduct. We have fitness backwards. Instead of lose weight to get healthy, try getting healthy and you'll lose weight.

peace-

There is a good book called the Paleo Diet. It basically refers a diet of the foods we are supposed to eat. I beleive it is the only diet out there so far that has made any sence to thus far, and doing alot of diets myself, I should know.

Have a look into it, and all the questions will be answered. Because with this diet, you don't need to count caleries and all that sort of stuff and you will be getting more than enough protein for muscle building.

Brad Towle