Diet for Fat Loss
By ALGetsBig
The goal of a fat loss diet is to reduce your bodyfat percentage by reducing the total mass of bodyfat on your body. Your bodyfat mass is your bodyfat percentage multiplied by your bodyweight. Read how to calculate your bodyfat percentage.
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Calculate your bodyfat percentage with the FatTrack Gold Digital Bodyfat Caliper.
Simply use the caliper to pinch the skin at 3 body sites and the caliper reads your bodyfat percentage, based on your gender, age, & weight. Don't waste time manually taking skinfold measurements and doing math. Get the FatTrack GOLD Digital Bodyfat Caliper today! |
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What bodyweight do I want to reach when bulking in order to get my ideal physique? How long will it take me to cut down to 8% bodyfat? 5%? |
The diet for fat loss is the same as the diet to build muscle except for a few key differences.
Cutting Calorie Intake for 185-Pounder:
12 X 185 = 2,220 calories/day
(10-14) multiplied by your Bodyweight in Pounds: Adjust this number based on how fast you are losing weight. You want to lose only 1% of your bodyweight per week, no more! Any more means you are likely losing muscle mass! Your goal is to lose fat and to keep as much muscle as possible.
In the cutting/fat loss phase, you will need to restrict your food intake significantly. Continue to follow the nutrition rules such as eating every 3 hours, drinking a gallon of water per day, and eating protein with every meal. Cutting is the targeted burning of fat – Read about the cutting phase.
NEVER eat CARBS alone in the cutting phase. Always be sure to eat them with protein.
I recommend that your cutting calorie ratios be as follows:
30% Protein, 40% Carbs, and 30% Fat
The Highly Popular "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle" Training Program
- For fat loss, your daily calorie intake needs to be 500 calories below your daily calorie needs. First, calculate your BMR. Then, calculate your daily calorie needs.
- Stay at 500 calories below your Daily Calorie Needs for as long as you wish to continue to lose fat. Healthy fat loss is no more than 1% of your bodyweight per week. Any more weight loss than that is likely muscle loss, unless your bodyfat percentage is very high (25%+), in which case up to 3% bodyweight loss per week is okay.
- A faster than 1% rate of weight loss likely means that you are losing precious muscle. So, if you are 200 pounds when you start cutting, aim to lose 2 pounds per week. YOU MUST track your calorie intake every day with Fitday! See my FitDay food log (cutting phase diet).
- Adjust your calories if needed. If you are not losing 1% of your bodyweight per week during the cutting phase, and your ratios are correct and verified in FitDay, then you need to reduce your calorie intake. Start by reducing your daily calorie intake by 200-300 calories and then continue on.
- TRACKING IS CRUCIAL. You must log your nutrient intake every day in FitDay to be absolutely sure of what you are eating. Your main goal during the fat loss phase is to lower your bodyfat percentage, so you must obtain your bodyfat percentage at least once a week on a fat loss phase.
You must also weigh yourself at least every 3 days to track your weight and be sure you are getting the results that you seek. Read tracking your bodybuilding progress and tools for your program.
- A faster than 1% rate of weight loss likely means that you are losing precious muscle. So, if you are 200 pounds when you start cutting, aim to lose 2 pounds per week. YOU MUST track your calorie intake every day with Fitday! See my FitDay food log (cutting phase diet).
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Focus on whole grain foods, complex carbs, and protein (most important). Eat foods from the Diet to Build Muscle page. Just make sure to focus on your ratios (below) and your fat loss calorie limit.
Strict rules for the cutting phase diet. During this period, you need to be on a very low calorie, low fat diet. Eat 10-14 times your body weight in calories. The fat loss diet contains 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fat.
If you are not seeingThe fat intake is lowered because of the high fat intake during the mass diet. It is simply a way to cycle and re-adjust your metabolism. The protein and carb calories have been increased to make up for the lost fat calories.
The post cardio meal in the cutting phase. Another major difference in the cutting phase diet is when to eat the post cardio meal. In my previous workout, I could eat it as soon as I finished my cardio, but for my new program I cannot. I now wait for a full 60 minutes before I have my first meal. This is because your body is still burning fat at an advanced rate for up to one hour after you finish exercising. On the fat loss diet there is no tolerance for eating out. To keep your body fat in check, I recommend cooking all of your meals.
Restrict simple carbs during the fat loss phase. First, you must decrease your intake of simple carbohydrate (candies, syrups, sugar, alcohol, milk and milk products, and processed white flour products). Concentrate on eating complex starchy carbs like brown rice, whole grains, beans, potatoes, and yams. You can, however, still eat simple solid carbs like rice cakes, cream of wheat, popcorn, etc. if you make sure to combine them with protein. This should sufficiently delay digestion to avoid an insulin response.
You are not allowed any fruit or fruit juices for this fat loss period. This is essential in minimizing fat storage. Remember, from an insulin response standpoint, there is no difference between drinking orange juice or a soft drink. Both are simple sugars that produce a high insulin response and suppression of glucagon. If you are on the fat loss diet for more than two weeks, you can start eating fruit again once your metabolism has been sufficiently increased. I don’t recommend it, but if you must have some fruit, green apples are the best choice. If you eat them with the peel, they contain more fiber and fewer simple carbs than most other fruits.
You will also be avoiding milk and milk products on this diet. Not only does milk have a very large amount of fat and sugar, but it also has high levels of sodium, which leads to water retention and a smooth bloated appearance.
- You must decrease your intake of simple carbohydrates! Candies, syrups, sugar, alcohol, milk and milk products, and processed white flour products have to go – except for good simple carbs post-workout.
The Problem with Most Diets is Simple Carbs (Not Fats)
Most people have high levels of body fat because their diet is too high in simple carbohydrates. People who try to eat healthy by avoiding fat, are missing the boat. Americans are not fat because of eating too much dietary fat. They are fat because they are eating too many carbs and not enough protein.Let me explain. As I stated earlier, your body needs carbs for fuel. But when you eat carbs, it first has to convert them into its main fuel form: glucose, a simple sugar. That's right. When you eat carbs, your body converts them into sugar. The problem with this lies not with eating the carbs, but with how fast the sugar is dumped into your bloodstream.
To lose fat, you must control your blood sugar levels. You should never have large amounts of sugar enter your bloodstream too quickly. If you do, you will cause an exaggerated insulin response.
Insulin is released into the bloodstream by the pancreas, when there is a large amount of sugar (glucose) being introduced into the system too quickly. This usually is caused by eating a meal consisting only of carbohydrates, which are digested very quickly. The job of the insulin is to lower the level of glucose in the bloodstream. It does this by forcing most of the excess sugar calories into the muscles and liver, as glycogen. The excess glucose that can't be put to immediate use is converted onto new fat and stored in your adipose tissue (butt, hips, back, waist).
That's right. If you eat carbohydrates alone, you better be doing some sort of high energy activity to burn off the excess sugar calories. Otherwise, those are going straight towards building new fat cells!
The majority of this sugar is comes from simple processed carbohydrates like white bread and pasta. These are processed foods that have very little fiber. When you eat complex carbs, you will have a slightly lower insulin response, because they are usually high in fiber. Fiber acts to slow digestion, so, in this respect, complex carbs are the carbs you should concentrate on eating.
But just eating complex carbs will not solve the problem completely either. To keep insulin levels low and avoid any spikes, you must combine a slow absorbing protein with your carbs at each meal. This is essential. If you want to lose fat, never eat carbs alone! Always eat protein at every meal.
Fat Burning Hormone
Insulin also prevents the production of a hormone called glucagon, which is known to stimulate the release of stored body fat. Glucagon enables the body to burn stored body fat for energy instead of turning it into glucose. To help elevate your levels of glucagon, you should: · eat adequate protein at each meal · control amount and type of carbs eaten · include a small amount of good fat in diet
Concentrate on eating complex starchy carbs like brown rice, whole grains, beans, potatoes, and yams. You can, however, still eat simple solid carbs like rice cakes, cream of wheat, popcorn, etc. if you make sure to combine them with protein. This should sufficiently delay digestion to avoid an insulin response.No Junk Food! In the bulking/muscle gain phase, it was okay to eat junk food once in a while, especially for hardgainers. But, in the cutting/fat loss phase, you must stay away from junk food!
You need to stay away from fried foods, white flour foods, sodas, and simple sugars (except post workout). You have to stick to these rules or you will not lose fat effectively. The fat loss phase is far more strict than the muscle gain phase when it comes to your diet. Read diet for fat loss.
- Use the FitDay Food Log! It is very important that you keep a food log every day of your fat loss phase. You MUST make sure to meet your fat loss calorie goal. Register for a FitDay Account at FitDay.com.
Meal Frequency. As in the mass diet, you will be dividing your daily calorie requirement into six meals. Spreading your calories over more meals is an important factor in changing your biochemistry to burn fat. Basically, the human body is designed to adapt to any unusual condition to help it survive. So, if we make a habit of eating a few sporadic meals throughout the day, or even skipping meals, our bodies go into survival mode. It slows the metabolism and stores most of the meal calories in fat cells, because it is not quite sure when it will be receiving more nourishment.
Now, if you eat more often, and at regular intervals, your body will not tend to store excess calories, because it knows you will be eating again in a few hours. Eating smaller, more frequent meals has several other added benefits. First, it increases your metabolism. Every time you eat a meal, your metabolic rate goes up. This is because your system is starts working hard to turn that meal into fuel. Also, as a part of digestion, heat is given off in a process called thermogenesis. This also speeds up your metabolism.
So, eat six small meals a day or more! (I eat 8 meals/day since I count my 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. 16 oz milks as small meals. That's the only way I can fit in 3500 calories a day.)
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- Watch your ratios! Of your calorie intake, Protein should be 30%, Carbs should be 30%, and Fat should be 30%. If you are eating 10% Protein and 50% Fat, then you are all wrong!! You can only know by logging your calorie intake with FitDay.
- Hit the calorie goal, don't over or under shoot it. Do your best to get as close to the calorie goal as possible.
- DO NOT try to get less calories than your goal in order to lose weight faster!!! This will deprive your body of the calories that you need for cardio, weight training, and everyday energy and well-being.
- Certainly do not exceed your fat loss calorie limit. Discipline is key.
- DO NOT try to get less calories than your goal in order to lose weight faster!!! This will deprive your body of the calories that you need for cardio, weight training, and everyday energy and well-being.
- Watch your ratios! Of your calorie intake, Protein should be 30%, Carbs should be 30%, and Fat should be 30%. If you are eating 10% Protein and 50% Fat, then you are all wrong!! You can only know by logging your calorie intake with FitDay.
- Cardio is a must for Fat Loss. There are strict rules to go by concerning cardio.
- Cardio must be performed on an empty stomach. This means after not having eaten for 6-8 hours. Read why.
- Heart Rate must be kept at 140 beats per minute for effective fat loss. Read why.
Monitor your heart rate with the Bowflex Basic Heart Rate Monitor Watch.
It is very important to keep your heart rate at 140 beats per minute throughout your entire cardio session.
A heart rate less than 140 is not effective for fat loss, and a heart rate higher than 140 is also ineffective for fat loss but is rather for endurance purposes. A high heart rate will not burn fat, it will likely burn precious muscle!
Cardio sessions should be 30-40 minutes. Don't over-do or under-do it.
- Cardio must be performed on an empty stomach. This means after not having eaten for 6-8 hours. Read why.
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Be sure to read all about cardio in the cutting phase. |
| Don't forget the post-workout shake! You still need to consume a protein-carb shake following your weight training workouts in the cutting phase. Make the shake the same way that you made it during the bulking phase. Read how to make the post-workout shake. |
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When Do I Start the Cutting Phase?
How do you know when to start cutting? This depends on the body that you want to have, how muscular and heavy you wish to be, how much lean mass you want to have, and what bodyfat percentage you wish to walk around at.
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Bulking: Big, but not yet ripped… |
Bulking + Cutting: Big AND Ripped! |
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Your goal in the bulking phase is to pack on as much muscle as possible on your way to your goal weight. Aim for 1-2 pounds of weight gain per week, no more because it will likely be too much fat. Your goal in the cutting phase is to targetedly burn fat in order to lower your bodyfat percentage to become ripped and defined like the guy in this picture. Aim for 1% bodyweight loss per week (mostly fat – no more than 1% weight loss!). Your bulking goal weight depends on how big you want to be when you are ripped. |
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Check out these charts for some ideal weight guidelines:
| Height | Minimum Weight to Lose Skinny Look |
Minimum Weight Standards to Not Be "Skinny" You should weigh at least 5 pounds for each inch of height you have above 5'7". (This means 1kg for each cm above 1m.) Anything less and you will look skinny. Here are some goal weights depending on your height. I suppose a "normal" male bodyfat percentage is 12-15% so that is what these minimum weights pertain to. |
| 5″7″ (1m70cm) | 154lbs (70kg) | |
| 5″9″ (1m75cm) | 165lbs (75kg) | |
| 5″11″ (1m80cm) | 176lbs (80 kg) | |
| 6″1″ (1m85cm) | 187lbs (85 kg) | |
| 6″3″ (1m90cm) | 200lbs (90 kg) |
| Height | Natural Bodybuilder Weight |
Natural Bodybuilder Weights Use these weights as a reference to a bodybuilder physique. Keep in mind that these weights are at a low bodyfat percentage, 5%-8% bodyfat. This means that you would walk around normally at 8-12% and you would be a slightly higher weight than these displayed. My Goal (AlGetsBig). So, at 5'7" my goal is to weigh 173 lbs at just under 8% bodyfat and to be 168 lbs ripped at 5% bodyfat when I am getting ready for a photo shoot for my website or getting ready for a beach vacation. My ripped 168 will be a smaller version of the black guy above, who is likely 220 lbs+ ripped Remember:
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| 5″7″ (1m70cm) | 170lbs (77kg) | |
| 5″9″ (1m75cm) | 180lbs (81.6kg) | |
| 5″11″ (1m80cm) | 190lbs (86 kg) | |
| 6″1″ (1m85cm) | 210lbs (95 kg) | |
| 6″3″ (1m90cm) | 230lbs (104 kg) |
How do you know when to start the cutting phase? It's up to you. Reach a weight higher than your final goal ripped weight. Use the chart below as an example.
Final bodyfat percentage. The goal of your bulking phase was to pack on as much muscle as possible. You could not help gaining bodyfat as well, but you did your best to gain as little bodyfat as possible by keeping your protein, carb, and fat ratios in check: 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, and 30% Fat. Your final bodyfat percentage will likely be 15-18%, depending on when you stop bulking. Some people never wish to have a bodyfat percentage over 12% so they start bulking at 8% bodyfat, and start cutting when they reach 12%. This means always starting and stopping the different phases. I choose to simply bulk all the way to my heavy weight, and then cut all the way down.
Long-Term Fat Loss. If you wish to continue on a fat loss diet for more than three weeks, after 3 weeks you should switch your weight training workout to that of the bulking/muscle-building workout. This means heavy weight, low reps (no more than 8). But instead of concentrating on the eccentric motion, you will use a fast tempo of 1/0/1 (1 second of lifting work, 0 seconds pause, 1 second back to starting position). This because if you are on the low intensity fat loss weight training workout for too long, you will begin to lose strength. Switching back to a more challenging program will help maintain as much muscle mass and strength as possible. Do this hybrid weight training workout for 3 weeks, and then go back to the normal fat loss workout of high reps, light weight, and 1/0/1 fast tempo. So, on a 15 week cutting plan, you would go normal for 3 weeks, go hybrid for 3 weeks, normal for 3 weeks, hybrid for 3 weeks, and finally normal for the last 3 weeks.
Adjust your calorie intake during the cutting phase to alter your metabolism. You will still have to fulfill the aerobic exercise requirements, of course. You should also begin to cycle your nutrient profile and caloric intake after about 4-6 weeks of low calorie dieting to re-adjust your metabolism. Your body will always try to conserve energy, so if you are on a low calorie diet for a prolonged period of time, it will slow your metabolism to conserve energy/calories — making your diet ineffective. By alternating between a low calorie and slightly higher calorie diet, you can avoid this problem and continue to lose fat. Adjusting could mean simply adding or removing an extra 200-300 calories.
Let's say for example you are 155lbs now before you bulk. During the bulking phase you may go all the way up to 195lbs. Then, during the cutting phase you may go down to 173lbs at 8% bodyfat. Now you are back to being lean again, except with 18 new pounds of muscle. Now that you weigh 173 pounds, repeat the phases and you may be 185lbs at the end of the next cycle. Repeat the phases over and over again. Eat like a horse, sleep like a baby, grow like a weed!
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Learn how Vince DelMonte went from scrawny to brawny in Vince went from a lightweight, puny 149 pounds to a solid 190-pound fitness model! |
Filed under Eating by alboa45
