TIP#3.13 - 5 Steps To Constructing A Perfect Nutrition Plan

Training is the only thing that can stimulate muscle growth beyond your current status, but Nutrition is responsible for maintaining, nourishing and repairing that muscle, and without optimal nutrition your improvement will only go so far. This is the first thing you must understand when constructing your perfect nutrition plan. The second thing is that you as an individual have a muscle building rate unique to you, which cannot be accelerated by over-eating - this will lead to quick fat gain and move you further away from your goals. Your Central Nervous System recovers with Rest, not excessive amounts of food. You must allow your digestive system to Rest as well. And lastly, you must understand that more calories does not mean more muscle. These are 5 Steps that will help you construct a perfect nutrition plan and help you stay within the optimal parameters of your Nutritional needs.

1. Establish Your Goals

Do you want to prioritise fat loss or prioritise muscle gain? Do not try to do both at the same time. If you train hard, consistently and with a good diet it's possible to build muscle when prioritising fat loss, but make sure there is a clear distinction in your goals that dropping fat is the main measurement of progress. Note also that you do not need to gain a lot of fat at all when prioritising muscle gain, but food intake will be higher and fat burning will become a damage control activity necessary for new muscle mass (this is what is known as 'bulking,' but I prefer to use the term 'Building'). Do not blur these two together, it is not productive and will make it harder to change your composition.

2. It's Not About Calories

Forget the notion that fat burning and muscle building is about calories. Why? It is just not specific enough. Yes Calories do have meaning, but it is Nutrition that you must focus on. The only reason it can be possible to build muscle while burning fat is because you will still be very well nourished during the fat burning phase, and it is from that nourishment that your muscles will thrive. You can build muscle on a low amount of calories and burn fat on a high amount of calories it just depends on where those calories come from. Normally, when people focus on calories they end up losing weight, but that weight is not all fat, but muscle too. They failed to address the need to stay nourished to maintain muscle and instead dropped their calories to a point where they would be in enough of a deficit to lose weight (much like the new fad injectables that are going around). Muscle is metabolic tissue, meaning it burns energy at rest, so losing muscle instead of fat is very expensive for your metabolic health, eventually leading to a metabolic crash (which is very difficult to rectify). The opposite goes for a common bulking diet, people increase calories to a point where they would gain weight rather than focus on what kind of nutrition their bodies need to build muscle. The result is excessive fat gain with only minimal muscle gain that will take many months of fat loss to reveal.

3. What Is Optimal Nutrition Then?

Third Lesson; Carbohydrates do not build muscle. For a standard 6 foot tall man with a modern activity level, there is no need to eat more than 200g of Carbohydrate per day (100g for women), preferably less. Obviously there are some exceptions dependant on certain activity levels, height, age etc BUT 200g is the limit for most desk job workers. This does not mean you cannot handle more, it simply means that this amount is enough (again, preferably less). Where does that leave you? It leaves you with having to get the rest of your nutrition from Protein and Fat - the only essential macro-nutrients. How much do you need? See below for general estimates, just to give you an idea of what optimal maco-nutrient ratios look like:

FOR MEN

To Lose Fat:

Carbohydrate: 100-150g

Protein: 200-250g

Fat: 60-80g

Start at the top of the estimate and reduce if/when no change occurs.

To Gain Muscle:

Carbohydrate: 150-200g

Protein: 250-300g

Fat: 90-110g

Start at the bottom of the estimation and increase if/when no change occurs.

FOR WOMEN:

To Lose Fat:

Carbohydrate: 70-120g

Protein: 100-150g

Fat: 30-50g

Start at the top of the estimate and reduce if/when no change occurs.

To Gain Muscle:

Carbohydrate: 70-120g

Protein: 100-150g

Fat: 60-80g

Start at the bottom of the estimation and increase if too hungry/ no change occurs.

4. Fat is Your Friend

There are many reasons why Fat is your friend, but there are three reasons especially why Fat is number one when building muscle or burning fat. First is satiation, it's vital for anabolic hormones that are necessary for muscle building and fat loss. Second, it's a much more efficient source of energy than Carbohydrates and has more than double the energy per gram. Thirdly, and most notably, it has little to no effect on Insulin. Insulin is a fat storing hormone and is only significantly stimulated by the ingestion of Carbohydrates. Furthermore, Fat burning itself cannot take place when Insulin levels are high. As a result, when you are trying to build muscle or burn Fat eating the majority of your energy from Fat rather than carbohydrate will help prevent Fat gain. This is why Fat consumption is increased when trying to gain muscle, rather than raising Carbohydrates. Muscle Cells themselves are also constructed with Fatty acids, so like Protein they can be viewed as building blocks.

5. Eat Clean

Macro Nutrients are important but there's also the factor of Micro-Nutrients, like vitamins and minerals. Micro-Nutrients play a vital role in our bodies and must be consumed as part of a productive nutrition plan. Supplementation can help with this but they are better absorbed from our food. This means eating whole natural ingredients, fresh fruit and vegetables, unprocessed meats, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and mineral water. Micro-Nutrients are responsible for healthy hormone production, gene expression, bone health and much, much more. Constructing a diet plan with the Macro-Nutrient levels stated above using fresh whole ingredients from varying sources will also ensure a healthy digestive system, endocrine system and general well being. Click here for more info on supplementation.

Thank You So Much For Reading

Matt The Trainer

Personal Trainer London

If you need my help in designing your program please don't hesitate to email me here: matt@mattthetrainer.co.uk

#nutrition #diet