One thing I have always had a problem with is my diet. I have really no education on how or what to do. I read up on counting macros etc and I just don't get it. I need to lose fat but when I lose fat I also start to lose muscle. Any advice or articles that I can look up to help and educate myself?
Okay, you'll need:
- A scale
- Google
- Basic math skills
Use google to find out the amount of protein on your favorite protein source raw (beef, chicken breast, fish). Also, find out how much protein is in egg whites. Get cartons.
Estimate your lean weight, let's say, 200 pounds... Now, mix and match amounts of your favorite protein and some egg whites. Let's work with 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight. That's 300g, right?
So, by now you'll have a certain amount of beef/chicken/fish plus some egg whites to deliver 300g of protein per day. Here you just don't want to be too creative or it's easy to get lost. Yes, you can use all of them, but chicken and eggs or fish and eggs just makes calculations much faster.
So, as an example, you'll get 200g from chicken and 100g from eggs. How much raw chicken is that and how much egg white is that? Write that down...
Ok, cool.
Now, carbs...
Let's make it simple: rice or potatoes. Whatever kind you like. Google carb content and use a calculator. Start with 300g of carbs as well... Throw some shredded carrot, beet, some green leaves and tomatoes in there for the sake of health, no need to count. A bit of olive oil and lemon juice could go in there as well...
Alright, 300g carbs plus 300g protein. That's about 2400 calories. Divide this by 5 or 6 meals...
Use a bit of coconut oil to prepare your chicken/beef/fish. A small amount of your preferred sauce won't hurt either. Some fat in there too. A bit too complicated to count, so leave it alone.
Ok... Now...
Mirror mirror on the wall...
What does it say? That's what you'll have to learn to read: Mirror, mirror, mirror and some scale.
You shouldn't lose much muscle on that amount of protein, so you now manipulate carbs and carbs only. You'll need to count them and make weekly changes. How does 300g of carbs daily affect your body? Waking up bloated? Not losing any fat? Drop 50g or so... You can either drop some carbs from each meal or all the carbs from your last meal.
Are you flat, not gaining muscle? Up your carbs in 50g increments.
Have a daily journal and make weekly adjustments on carbs only, based on goal and body response, which is very individual.
Yes, it's boring, but it's easier to follow. You can have a cheat meal every week just for your mental health.
So, that's basically it. Don't change proteins, carbs will go up and down based on goal and fats are there anyway.
After you've mastered this, try some very low carb or a keto and see how your body responds to it. Also, play around with having most of your carbs around your workout and/or earlier in the day.
Learn to manipulate macros and how this affects your body. Soon enough you'll know which adjustments are needed to look a certain way in a given time frame.
Hope this helps.
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