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Nutrition: Fueling for Fitness

How nutrition habits affect exercise performance and research-based dietary strategies to help maximize muscle growth, efficiently lose fat, and get the most out of your workouts.

Hunger Gains

If you were to pick up a skill-based hobby at a young age and practice it multiple times a day for the rest of your life, you’d get pretty good at it. You’d learn all of the secrets that take years to discover and even longer to master. Practice makes perfect and you’d have no shortage of that.

Our dietary habits are quite a bit different. We eat every day, yet most of us have little to no understanding of our nutritional needs. Instead, we rely primarily on taste and satiation for food choices. Without a solid grasp on the very basics of nutrition, every aspect of our exercise progress can be negatively impacted. Luckily, eating is a skill that we can excel at with practice.

This chapter covers basic macronutrient information, includes a simple dietary strategy for general exercise success, discusses how to maximize muscle growth through diet, provides a sustainable fat loss diet, and is written to help anyone better understand the relationship between food and fitness.

There’s a lot to cover. Let’s dig in.

My Educational Limitations & RDs

As a personal trainer, I believe my primary teaching focus should be placed on program development and the mechanics of exercise. General fitness stuff. Because I prioritize movement over food, my dietary knowledge is limited compared to highly qualified nutrition professionals. I know more about a performance-based diet than some but less than others. The science of exercise and nutrition are both so fascinating, complex, and ever-evolving that an attempt to master both would be a bit ridiculous.

I believe this chapter will be informative and a helpful resource for many, but I’m not a nutrition expert.

To get the most out of your diet and reach your performance potential, work with a registered dietitian (RD). A registered dietitian will help you design a solid nutrition plan that’s custom built for your individual goals, genetics, and lifestyle preferences. A great RD is an invaluable asset to your fitness education. We’ll dive into some of the services RDs offer and how they can drastically impact your training performance later in this chapter.

Energy Intake, Expenditure, & Balance

The foods we eat and their macronutrient contents shape our bodies in specific ways, directly contribute to our fitness capabilities, and have noticeable effects on our overall health. To achieve our goals, we need to eat the right foods in the correct quantities at the best times. But before we discuss the details of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, it’s important to take a step back from food and cover the basics of weight loss, weight gain, and weight maintenance.

The graphic below illustrates energy balance (EB). Energy balance occurs when total daily caloric intake equals total daily caloric expenditure. EB is weight maintenance and our reference point for all future changes in weight.

Modifications to this equilibrium will result in corresponding changes in body mass. Weight loss occurs when energy expenditure exceeds intake (burn more than we eat), while weight gain is the result of intake outpacing expenditure (eat more than we burn). To specifically gain muscle mass or lose body fat, it’s important to have a deeper understanding of energy expenditure. Changes in body composition rely on a more complex strategy than calories in versus calories out.

Our bodies are sophisticated, high performance, organic machines that require a constant supply of fuel to operate. Regardless of the fuel source used (food versus stored body mass), the total amount of energy we burn per day is our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). TDEE is measured in calories. A calorie (Calorie or kcal) is a unit of energy used to measure the thermogenic potential of food, or how much energy a particular substance provides per gram. There’s not a special calorie molecule in our foods. It’s a metric we use to measure energy density and energy expenditure.

Differences in height, weight, eating habits, exercise routines, and metabolism result in significantly different TDEEs from person to person. For example, an elite cyclist will have a much higher TDEE than someone who is sedentary. Metabolic testing is the only way to accurately determine your TDEE, but it can be estimated with some simple metrics. An online search for “TDEE calculator” will give you great options.

Take a moment and estimate your TDEE right now.

Despite differences in total expenditure, we generally all burn calories for the same reasons. Our total daily fuel consumption can be broken down into three basic categories. These are basal metabolic rate, thermic effect of activity, and the thermic effect of feeding.

The first component of TDEE is basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is a measurement of the minimum amount of energy used to power essential bodily functions when we’re at rest. Brain activity, metabolism, body heat homeostasis, respiration, blood circulation, and many other autonomic internal processes require fuel to operate. Basal metabolic rates vary from person to person due to physiological differences, but this baseline idle fuel consumption accounts for 60-80% of daily energy burned by most people. BMR is a major factor to consider when attempting to change body composition because it can be manipulated to our advantage.

The thermic effect of activity (TEA) is next. As the name implies, TEA is a measurement of all energy expended during movement. Walking the dog, chopping up vegetables for dinner, running, lifting weights, fidgeting your leg while sitting at work, etc. If you’re moving in some way, you’re using energy to fuel activity. The bulk of TEA will be from exercise for most fitness enthusiasts.

BMR and TEA are largely dependent on body size, weight, and composition. For example, a 6’5” 275 lb person will have a higher BMR than someone who is 5’2” and 120 lbs. Taller and heavier people burn more calories per minute than their shorter and lighter peers, but neither BMR or TEA are permanent. As we gain or lose weight, BMR and TEA change and our intake will need to be modified accordingly.

The thermic effect of feeding (TEF) is the last part of TDEE. The thermic effect of feeding is a measurement of the energy cost required to digest different macronutrients. For most people, TEF is roughly equal to 10% of their total daily energy expenditure. The foods we eat need to be broken down into their smaller subcomponents before they can be used by the body, and these catabolic (breakdown of a substance) reactions require different amounts of energy depending on the macronutrient being metabolized. The following percentages are estimated digestive energy requirements for each macronutrient, relative to their caloric values –

0-3% for fats
5-10% for carbohydrates
20-30% for proteins

For example, if you eat a 500 calorie meal of pure protein, 20-30% (100-150 calories) of the calories contained in that meal will be burned to metabolize it. This high energy cost of protein metabolism makes it a very useful tool for weight loss and an important factor to consider when trying to gain weight.

TDEEs are calorically expensive and daily energy demands can vary drastically from person to person, so it’s critical that energy intake (EI) reflects our goals and fuel requirements. We need to ensure our diets consist of the right foods and that these foods are consumed in ideal quantities. If we understand how carbohydrates, fats, and proteins affect our fitness progress, we can easily build the muscle we want and drop the pounds we don’t.

But before diving into food, let’s discuss macronutrients. What are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats?

Carbohydrates - Overview

Despite the popular trend of carbohydrate slandering in many health and fitness social circles, this macronutrient is an essential component of a balanced diet. The terms starch, carb, and sugar are often villainized as weight gaining, health destroying substances, but our bodies can’t reach peak performance without them. If you’re serious about your fitness goals, you need carbohydrates.

This section covers the very basics of carbohydrate structure, digestion, storage, and its effect on exercise.

Carbohydrates are abundant in most diets, provide roughly four calories of energy per gram, and are one of the body’s primary sources of fuel. Carbohydrates consist of various numbers of individually linked sugar molecules (saccharides) that are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbohydrates range in saccharide complexity depending on how many sugar molecules are linked together.

As shown above, a simple monosaccharide consists of a single sugar molecule, disaccharides contain two, oligosaccharides range from 3-10, and polysaccharides can be formed by hundreds or thousands. Some carbohydrate sources like high-fructose corn syrup should probably be limited, but others are necessary. For example, cellulose is a non-digestible polysaccharide found in plants that can improve gut microbiome health, digestive regularity, and is an important component to any diet. Eat your fibrous vegetables and prebiotics.

Despite wide ranges in sugar structure complexity, our digestive system eventually breaks down all carbohydrates into the same monosaccharides through enzymatic and chemical reactions. These catabolic processes allow glucose to diffuse through intestinal cell walls and enter our bloodstream. However, some carbohydrate sources are digested and disassembled into glucose more rapidly than others. This results in significantly different rates of blood sugar elevation and energy availability. Complex carbs are typically thought to be better than their mono and disaccharide counterparts due to superior blood sugar regulation, but blood glucose levels don’t always scale proportionately with saccharide complexity. Meaning, both simple and complex carbs can cause similar blood sugar responses.

To maximize exercise performance and efficiently change body composition, our carbohydrate selection process should factor in saccharide digestion speeds and how they affect blood sugar levels. But because we can’t rely exclusively on mono/di/polysaccharide labels to predict carbohydrate metabolism rates, we need to learn about the glycemic index.

The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement of how quickly and to what degree specific foods raise blood sugar relative to a pure glucose control test. Using a 100 point scale, high GI foods are scored at or above 70, moderate ranges from 56-69, and the low end is less than or equal to 55. As shown in the graph above, high GI foods quickly spike blood sugar levels before rapidly declining, while low GI foods slowly ramp up and sustain moderate concentrations for longer.

Some popular carbohydrate examples and their GI scores are listed in the table above. Notice how glycemic index values vary across all saccharide complexities and food types. For example, watermelon (76) and apple (36) are both fruits on the simple side of the carbohydrate spectrum, yet their GI scores are very different. The same disparity is also seen in complex carbs like boiled potatoes (78) and whole wheat spaghetti (48).

Significant differences between glycemic responses can make the process of carbohydrate selection feel overwhelming, but this enormous amount of nutrient variety is actually quite useful. A high number of saccharide options, each with their own slightly unique digestive properties, give us more control over our blood sugar levels and all subsequent physiological responses. By consuming the right quantity and quality of carbs at specific times, we can significantly increase muscle growth, improve fat loss efficiency, and maximize energy storage to help fuel future workouts. Strategic carbohydrate ingestion allows us to manipulate insulin, one of our most potent anabolic hormones.

Insulin is responsible for a wide range of growth responses. This section’s main focus is carbohydrate storage.

When dietary carbohydrates are disassembled into their monosaccharide components through digestion, glucose enters our bloodstream. In response to elevated blood glucose levels, beta cells in our pancreas secrete insulin and this peptide hormone instructs our muscles and fat cells to absorb nutrients. Glucose molecules that are not immediately consumed as energy are absorbed by the body and transported into short-term storage locations for future use. Unlike free fatty acids or amino acids, our bodies don’t have a way to store large amounts of carbohydrates for extended periods of time, but we can briefly store smaller amounts (1-2 lbs) as glycogen.

Through a process called glycogenesis that occurs in the muscles and liver, our bodies can synthesize their own polysaccharides. This homegrown, complex carbohydrate that’s unique to humans and animals is called glycogen. Once formed, glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles so that it can be used as an immediately available, local fuel source for moderate to high-intensity exercise. With carbohydrate deposits spread all throughout the body ready to assist in strenuous muscular contractions and high levels of force production, the metabolic pathway of anaerobic glycolysis can quickly turn this stored fuel into spent fuel. Glycogen is one of the fuel sources that allows us to consistently apply a high level of intensity to our workouts.

As discussed in the Strength & Hypertrophy chapter, we cumulatively recruit more motor units in an ascending order of size until all fibers in a single muscle are active. Under demanding conditions, type 2 fibers rely primarily on anaerobic glycolysis (carbohydrate metabolism without oxygen) to achieve their maximum output potential. And with adequate glycogen stores, these fibers allow us to lift more weight, produce more consistent force, and generally perform our best in most fitness environments. Conversely, exercise intensity can suffer without sufficient carbohydrate consumption to saturate glycogen stores and fuel fast-twitch, hypertrophy-prone fibers. Studies show that high-intensity exercise performance can drop off significantly when dietary carbohydrates are restricted. This means low-carbohydrate diets can drastically impact muscle growth and anaerobic output.

Glycogen can also help regulate resting blood sugar levels outside of exercise environments. These polysaccharide stores provide a steady supply of carbohydrates to fuel glucose-dependent brain activity, reduce fluctuations in testosterone, assist in hydration (2-3 grams of water are stored per gram of glycogen), and help prevent hypoglycemia.

Pretty sweet.

Carbohydrates help us perform at high levels and reach our anabolic potential, but their absence can be equally beneficial in certain situations. We can speed up fat loss progress and improve endurance exercise performance by systematically restricting carbohydrate intake and pairing that macronutrient deficit with carefully programmed cardiovascular exercise. We’ll dive into that later.

To get the most out of resistance training and anaerobic conditioning, we need to utilize dietary carbohydrates as a primary fuel source. Carbs allow us to consistently work hard and push our bodies to the edge of their limits. However, brutal workouts can take a very real toll on us if we don’t recover properly between sessions. To address this, let’s shift gears and talk about a different macronutrient that plays a vital role in post-workout recovery and muscle growth.

What is protein and how does it affect exercise performance?

Protein - Overview

Unlike carbohydrates, there’s little debate regarding the necessity of protein. We can’t be healthy without it. Neurotransmitter production, DNA replication, blood cell formation, tissue repair, and many other processes rely on protein. Dietary protein is required for muscle growth and aids in strength development, which are two attributes that can improve our quality of life as we age. To build muscle, recover from demanding workouts, and sustain a multitude of essential bodily functions, we need this macronutrient.

This section covers the basics of protein structure, quality, and the relationship between protein intake and muscle growth.

Protein provides about four calories of energy per gram, but these calories are not typically a source of fuel. Instead, this valuable macronutrient functions as a multi-purpose building material used to construct enzymes, hormones, bones, muscles, and nearly everything in between. Proteins contribute to the formation of many different compounds and tissues due to the versatility of their subcomponents, which are mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. The super adaptable building blocks that link together and form whole proteins are called amino acids (AA).

There are hundreds of different amino acids found throughout nature, but only 20 are used in the human body and consumed in our diet. These 20 standard AAs are categorized as either essential amino acids (EAA) or non-essential amino acids (NEAA). Essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body without sacrificing existing muscle tissue and must be acquired from the foods we eat. Muscle protein breakdown is how the body produces EAAs. Nonessential amino acids can be synthesized under normal conditions and are not required to be present in our diet.

Out of the nine EAAs, three of them are unique and play critical roles in the development of muscle tissue. Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). All three BCAAs are required for tissue growth but leucine has the greatest effect on muscle protein synthesis.

While many different amino acids are used to form new proteins, leucine is the main catalyst for MPS. The presence of leucine in our blood is primarily what instructs muscles to initiate the process of MPS. Some studies have shown that only 10 grams of BCAAs (with a high leucine content) can activate MPS to the same degree as a whole protein meal. Because muscle growth is so dependent on leucine, a chronic deficiency of this EAA can result in decreased muscle mass, minimal strength development, longer recovery times, and generally poor performance across a wide range of physical activities. Luckily, these undesirable side effects can be prevented by consuming a diet rich in high-quality proteins.

All dietary proteins contain a mixture of essential and nonessential amino acids, but specific AA concentrations vary widely from food to food. These discrepancies make some protein sources better than others. With so many different protein options to choose from, it’s important to have a basic understanding of essential amino acid availability. This can help us make informed dietary decisions regarding protein intake, which can lead to better overall fitness progress and improved general health. To make the best choices, we need to know the difference between complete and incomplete proteins.

Proteins are classified as complete or incomplete depending on their EAA profiles. Incomplete proteins do not contain all nine essential amino acids. Most plant-based proteins are incomplete, but there are some exceptions like soy and hemp. In contrast, complete proteins do provide all nine EAAs, usually in high quantities. All animal proteins are complete proteins. Because of this pretty consistent quality difference between plant and animal sources, the easiest way to consume adequate amounts of EAAs is to simply include animal products in our diets. When paired with plant-based fats and carbohydrates, animal proteins eliminate amino acid availability concerns and allow us to focus on flavor, meal variety, and other enjoyable aspects of eating.

Plant proteins may be incomplete on their own, but we can create complete plant-based meals by combining multiple incomplete plant sources. The pairing of rice and beans is a popular example of this strategy. As standalone plant protein sources, neither rice nor beans contain all nine essential amino acids. But where one is lacking, the other is sufficient. These complementary amino acid profiles work together to fill in the nutrient gaps that would normally be present if either food was consumed alone. If your nutrition goals are primarily focused on general health, this mix-and-match tactic can make plant-based proteins fantastic alternatives to traditional animal sources. But if you’re trying to maximize muscle growth and exercise performance, excluding all animal products from your diet can put you at a significant disadvantage compared to your meat-eating peers.

In addition to being complete proteins, animal products also possess higher EAA and BCAA concentrations than their plant-based counterparts. Even complete plant protein sources like soy and hemp don’t have the same EAA content of whey when measured gram-for-gram. Plant proteins just can’t compete with the leucine content found in animal sources when consumed in equal quantities. However, these issues inherent to plant proteins can be resolved by eating slightly more plant protein per meal or by supplementing with protein shakes and BCAA supplements. Animal sources have the initial advantage, but the playing field can be leveled if we know how to address it properly.

The big question is, which is best? Animal proteins allow us to be more efficient with meal prep and are more nutritionally dense, but both options can work. If you’re OK with consuming animals and animal-based supplements, eat them. They’re delicious, nutritious, and contain the EAA content needed for muscle growth. Animal products make meeting amino acid requirements easy because they’re so rich in BCAAs/leucine. However, if meat isn’t on your menu, no problem. But be sure to address the potential deficiencies associated with plant sources. Adequate amounts of all nine essential amino acids are necessary to maximize muscle protein synthesis potential regardless of where you fall on the flora versus fauna protein intake debate.

Now that we know a bit more about protein, let’s dive into the relationship between diet and MPS. How does dietary protein make us better in the gym?

After eating a nutrient rich meal full of essential amino acids, various digestive enzymes and chemical reactions work together to break down whole proteins into smaller polypeptide chains. These di and tripeptides are then separated into individual amino acids as they diffuse through intestinal walls and enter the bloodstream. Similar to the intake response of carbohydrates, circulating levels of amino acids stimulate the release of insulin, which assists with nutrient absorption. And just like glucose, amino acids are sent to the liver and taken up by our muscles.

When AAs enter our muscles, high blood concentrations of leucine are detected and the MPS alarm is triggered. Under non-exercising conditions, muscle protein synthesis rates peak at levels that primarily aim to combat the normal breakdown of muscle tissue. Depending on our diet and activity levels, synthesis and breakdown could be in equilibrium, but it’s more likely that breakdown just barely exceeds MPS. This results in a slow loss of muscle tissue each year. If you’ve taken extended time off from lifting, you’ve experienced these vanishing gains firsthand.

A gradual decline in lean body mass due to a sedentary lifestyle can negatively impact our quality of life. This issue is evident to an unfortunately high degree in elderly populations. Without resistance training or adequate protein intake, muscle mass will disappear along with functional mobility for everyday tasks. Fortunately, this problem is resolved relatively easily with the application of exercise and a protein-rich diet.

As discussed in the strength and hypertrophy chapter, both resistance exercise and cardiovascular conditioning drastically increase protein synthesis rates, leading to significant muscle growth. Protein synthesis rates can jump 200% above their normal levels when we add intense physical activity to our routines. This subsequent boost to MPS will prioritize muscle growth (myofibrillar protein synthesis) if our workouts are more focused on lifting weights, while a cardio emphasis can increase our aerobic efficiency and fat burning capabilities (mitochondrial protein synthesis). And if our programming includes both resistance training and cardiovascular conditioning, we get to simultaneously enjoy more muscle mass, better strength output, improved cardiovascular endurance, and a leaner physique.

Whatever our fitness goals are, we need strong and well developed muscles to be our best. A protein-rich diet helps us build the tissue we want.

With carbohydrates and proteins covered, let’s move on to the last macronutrient.

Fats - Overview

Fat used to be a pretty bad word in dietary conversations. It was associated with clogged arteries, obesity, and excessive indulgence. You only live once, so use real butter. Fortunately, newer research has changed society’s opinion of this essential macronutrient. Advancements in nutritional sciences have helped us further understand the role dietary fats play in cognitive function and development, hormone production, lipid soluble nutrient transport, energy availability, and many other vital bodily functions. Fat is important for our health and an amazing energy source to fuel our workouts.

In this section, we’ll cover the basics of dietary fats, fat metabolism, fat storage, and how lipids can improve exercise performance.

Fats primarily consist of carbon and hydrogen, are the most energy dense macronutrient at nine calories per gram, and are our primary fuel source for low to moderate-intensity activity. If you’re reading this while seated at your desk, you’re probably using fat for the majority of your energy. Dietary fats exist in a few different forms that vary in structure and function depending on molecular composition, just like carbohydrates and proteins. The three primary types of lipids we consume in our diet are cholesterol, phospholipids, and triglycerides. Triglycerides are the main fat focus of this section, but it’s important to briefly cover cholesterol and phospholipids.

Cholesterol is a type of steroid produced by all animal cells and found in most animal products. Although cholesterol is contained in the foods we eat, blood cholesterol levels are mainly regulated internally and synthesized by the liver, not directly due to diet. Diet influences overall health and overall health affects blood cholesterol. This lipid is used for many different purposes in the body, but its main exercise performance contributions are hormone production and food digestion.

Our anabolic potential is largely dependent on cholesterol availability because cholesterol is a precursor to so many hormones (testosterone, estrogen, DHEA, etc). Cholesterol is also used to synthesize bile salts which help with the digestion and emulsification of fats, allowing us to absorb this energy-rich macronutrient more efficiently.

Recent studies have changed long-held beliefs of cholesterol and given us a better understanding of its role in the body. Dietary cholesterol is no longer the primary suspect in the development of cardiovascular disease. Too much of anything can be harmful, but when our fat intake composition follows certain healthy guidelines (reduced saturated fat intake and no trans fat), dietary cholesterol isn’t something to stress about. A diet rich in good fats can help keep our blood cholesterol levels in check and provide us with the fatty acids needed to maintain healthy hormones.

Phospholipids contribute to cell structure, function, and nutrient transport. Because we’re ultimately just a conscious collection of cells, overall cell health is pretty important. Our bodies synthesize the majority of all phospholipids needed for cellular function, but some studies suggest that phospholipid supplementation can have beneficial effects on tissue inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cognitive ability, and immune function. By consuming phospholipids and certain helpful fatty acids, cell membrane compositions can be remodeled, leading to greater levels of membrane plasticity and better overall cellular performance.

Cholesterol and phospholipids are present in the foods we eat and essential for certain bodily functions like hormone production and cell membrane integrity. However, our diets contain relatively small amounts of these two lipid forms compared to triglycerides.

A triglyceride (TG) is a fat compound made of glycerol bound to three fatty acids (FA). Nearly all of the fats in the foods we eat and those that are stored in our bodies are triglycerides. Depending on the structure of the fatty acid chains, triglycerides are categorized as either saturated or unsaturated.

As seen in the image above, saturated fats have neatly aligned FA chains and unsaturated FA chains look messy in comparison. The bends in the fatty acid chains of unsaturated fats are caused by double carbon bonds within the lipid structure. Unsaturated fats that contain one double bond are called monounsaturated fats, and those with more than one double carbon bond are polyunsaturated. For every double carbon bond, one molecule of hydrogen is removed from the FA chain, making unsaturated fats less full of hydrogen than they potentially could be. Saturated fats don’t contain any double bonds in their fatty acid structure and have carbon-hydrogen bonds at every molecular junction along the chain, resulting in a 100% hydrogen saturation of the fatty acid chain.

Because saturated fats lack double bounds and are uniform in shape, the triglycerides in them can pack together tightly and form solid fat substances, like butter. In contrast, the bent tails of unsaturated fatty acids prevent these TGs from neatly aligning with one another and usually result in fats that are liquid at room temperature, like olive oil. This difference in triglyceride structure is one of the factors that can make certain fats healthier than others.

Some newer studies have challenged the link between saturated fats and heart disease, but the majority of current research still strongly supports the idea that saturated fat consumption should be limited. The generally accepted position held by many different health organizations and medical professionals places saturated fat intake at ~10% or less of total daily dietary fat. Due to these upper limit recommendations, our fat intake should consist primarily of poly and monounsaturated fats.

Monounsaturated fats are associated with a wide range of health benefits, and they should be included in our diets. However, we can synthesize all of the monounsaturated fatty acids needed for normal, healthy bodily function. Because of this internal production capability, there’s not an intake requirement for monounsaturated FAs. Flavor and basic caloric needs can drive consumption. Polyunsaturated FAs are a little different. Our bodies are unable to synthesize linoleic acid (an omega-6 FA) and alpha-linoleic acid (an omega-3 FA). These two important FAs are called essential fatty acids and must come from our diet.

Similar to how important the amino acid leucine is for protein synthesis, omega-3 fatty acids like alpha-linoleic acid can drastically improve our health when regularly consumed. The three omega-3 fatty acids used in the body are alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Our bodies can synthesize DHA and EPA from ALA, but the conversion rates are so low that additional supplementation is usually recommended. Fish oil with high DHA:EPA ratios (2:1) is an omega-3 supplement that can help solve this problem.

When polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids are plentiful in our diets, we can benefit from –

Increased cognitive function
Decreased depression
Increased synaptic plasticity
Increased neuroendocrine function
Increased memory in aging adults
Increased child brain development
Improved vision/retinal development
Increased nutrient absorption
Decreased cellular inflammation
Increased bone health
Increased muscular recovery
Increased immune function

Omega-3 fatty acids also indirectly improve exercise performance because they can help reduce cellular inflammation.

Inflammation is an immune system response to damage, stress, and/or disease that results in localized swelling. If you ever sprained an ankle or suffered an injury that resulted in a bruise, you’ve experienced inflammation. It’s pretty easy to understand how the inflammation of a sprained ankle can limit our mobility. We can clearly see and feel that we’re impaired to some degree. However, many other forms of inflammation are subtle and can become chronic exercise performance issues if ignored and allowed to persist. Nearly all of our cells are susceptible to the side effects of inflammation, but we want to avoid it most in those that are responsible for digestion and cognition.

Whether external stressors from work, a suboptimal diet (food sensitivities, allergens, etc.), or other environmental factors are to blame, central nervous system and digestive tract inflammation can negatively affect almost every aspect of life. Although our minds and stomachs are responsible for very different bodily functions, they’re a linked system called the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain axis is collectively responsible for the synthesis of many different essential compounds (neurotransmitters, hormones, enzymes, and proteins), the absorption of food needed for energy and muscle growth, the strength of our immune system, our emotional health, and all baseline cognitive abilities. While only a two organ system, the gut-brain axis controls our quality of life. If this system is impaired, so are we.

Fortunately, an adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids (specifically DHA) can help reduce whole body inflammation. Like ice on a swollen joint, the anti-inflammatory properties of this super useful fatty acid can help eliminate cellular swelling and return organs/systems back to peak productivity. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (less than 4:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3) can help us think clearly, fully utilize the foods we eat, and recover from intense workouts.

From hormone production to brain function, cardiovascular disease prevention to inflammation reduction, dietary fats are absolutely essential for optimal health. By consuming the right fats in the correct quantities, we’ll generally be better at life. Fats indirectly improve our exercise performance in a variety of ways, but they’re also an amazing source of energy.

How do dietary fats directly improve exercise performance?

After being ingested, dietary fats work their way through a lengthy lipid digestion process. Through different forms of triglyceride breakdown, free fatty acid transport, lipoprotein and cholesterol synthesis, and triglyceride reconstitution, most of the fats we consume eventually work their way into our fat cells as triglycerides for long-term energy storage.

Low to moderate intensity exercise primarily oxidizes fat through aerobic energy pathways. As we increase workout intensity, we shift from fat oxidation to anaerobic glycolysis and start metabolizing glucose for energy. Put simply, we burn more sugar and less fat the harder we work during cardiovascular exercise. This means our ability to use dietary and stored fats can significantly impact our performance in endurance-based activities. For many distance competitors, increased dietary fat consumption can result in more sustained energy at steady state heart rate ranges, decreased lactate production, and an overall improvement in pace time. We’ll dive more into fats and cardio later.

From brain health to endurance exercise performance, fats make us better at life.

With macronutrient basics covered, it’s time to shift the discussion from education to application. Building muscle, losing fat, and fueling peak exercise performance all depend on diet quality and consistency. So, let’s cover a diet that’s easy to understand and implement.

Meal Timing, Macronutrient Intake Quantities, & Food Sources

We can’t all follow the same diet and expect identical results. Total daily calories and meal compositions need to reflect our individual goals, lifestyles, and genetic differences. Effective nutrition plans must be tailored to the specific needs of the user, and this custom approach inevitably results in a wide range of dietary variation from person to person. Luckily, all good diets share a common outline that’s healthy, sustainable, and simple.

This section covers a realistic meal frequency strategy, how to estimate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), recommended ranges of macronutrient intake quantities, and some whole food sources of carbohydrates, protein, and fats.

To start things off, let’s talk about meal timing.

While it might not seem like the most important factor to fitness success, eating frequency matters. The timing of carbohydrate and protein rich meals can affect energy availability, muscle growth, recovery, weight loss progress, and the regulation of many internal functions. An easy to follow eating schedule also gives our diet consistency and predictability, allowing new routines to become habits. By eating at predetermined times, rather than impulsively and in response to hunger, long-term diet adherence is easier and general program satisfaction is higher.

I recommend most people consume four meals per day, each separated by four hours. This results in 12 hours of feeding and 12 hours of fasting daily. Some example schedules are listed below. This suggested routine can fit into nearly any schedule as it essentially breaks down into a breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner split. At least three of these meals should come from whole food sources, not shakes or bars.

Our four empty plates are ready to go. How much food should each contain?

As covered earlier, our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) represents all of the calories we burn per day, while energy intake (EI) is the total number of daily calories we consume. Calories in versus calories out is ultimately what determines changes in weight, so our total daily intake should reflect our daily expenditure. This means that before we can discuss which foods help us gain muscle or lose fat, we need to calculate TDEE and establish energy balance.

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) can be estimated in two easy steps.

Keep a detailed record of your normal diet for at least one week by using a free calorie tracking app (Lose It, Cronometer, MyFitnessPal, etc) and reading food labels. During this seven day period, refrain from making major changes to your diet. Record absolutely everything you put in your body. At the end of each day, look back over your eating habits and take note of the caloric totals along with the macronutrient contents of each meal. Are you eating more or less than you thought? Are certain macronutrients dominating your diet while others are nearly absent? This number can help explain any recent changes in body composition and/or energy levels.
Estimate your total daily expenditure by using a simple online TDEE calculator. For the most accurate number, have your body fat percentage measured at a local gym or university. How does your estimated TDEE compare to the seven day tracking average? If this calculated TDEE is lower than your tracked intake average and weight gain is an issue for you, this difference could explain the problem. If you have a pedometer, use it. Keep track of your step count throughout the day and use this activity data to help form your TDEE estimation.

By combining these two data points with what you intuitively know about your dietary needs and the way your body responds to certain meal sizes, you should be able to narrow down your TDEE to a reasonably narrow intake window that can be further refined over time. It will require a little experimentation to dial in energy balance intake correctly, but this discovery process shouldn’t take too long if you pay attention to what you eat and how those dietary habits make you look and feel. It’s important to note that neither one of these two TDEE calculation methods are perfectly accurate on their own. They’re only estimations. If your gym offers metabolic testing and can provide you with an accurate assessment of your BMR, take advantage of it. The more information you can gather, the better.

Now that we know how to calculate our intake requirements for energy balance, let’s discuss the composition of those calories from a macronutrient perspective. The table on the next page contains my recommended intake ranges for each macronutrient. 2000 and 2500 total daily calorie versions are listed as examples. These examples illustrate how caloric totals affect macronutrient quantities, both on a per day and per meal basis.

As seen above, each macronutrient is associated with a recommended intake range. 25-40% of the 2000 calorie daily total should come from protein, 20-45% from carbohydrates, and 20-50% from fat. Notice that none of these ranges include a 0% intake option. All three macros should be present in significant quantities. A 30% protein, 35% carbohydrate, and 35% fat split is my recommended starting point if you have no idea where to begin. However, there are many different viable macronutrient intake combination possibilities, so feel free to experiment with your meal compositions to find what works best for you.

These caloric percentages can be converted into grams of food to make meal preparation and tracking easier. The gram (g) is our unit of measurement for macronutrient intake quantities. Let’s use the low end of protein intake (25%) as an example of this conversion process.

25% of 2000 calories is 500 calories (2000 x 0.25 = 500) of protein. Those 500 total daily protein calories are then divided by 4 kcal/g (energy density of protein) to determine their weight in grams. 500 calories divided by 4 kcal/g equals 125g of protein per day. We then divide 125g of protein by four to evenly distribute daily protein content across each of our four meals. 125g of total daily protein divided by four meals equals roughly 30g of protein per meal.

This conversion process can be used to calculate the intake quantities of all three macronutrients. Be sure to remember the specific energy densities of protein (4 kcal/g), carbohydrates (4 kcal/g), and fat (9 kcal/g) when converting units.

If you enjoy maximizing exercise performance and tracking fitness progress, you’ll likely find the process of macronutrient intake experimentation enjoyable. Discovering your unique meal composition sweet spot is a satisfying feeling. However, if a majority of the content in this chapter is new to you and the subject of nutrition is a relatively foreign topic, it’s not necessary to obsess over the intake information listed above.

Food should be fun and a source of joy during preparation and consumption. If we fixate on the macronutrient percentages of everything we eat, we’ll inevitably develop an unhealthy relationship with food. Use my suggested intake ranges and your newly acquired calories-to-grams conversion skills to help shape your diet, but don’t let either of these things control you. Try to be aware of what you eat, do your best to make smart choices, and keep working towards your goals. Aim for structure and consistency, not perfection.

To help make smart choices a bit easier, the table on the next page contains some foods from each macronutrient category. Vegetable/fiber sources are included. This is not a comprehensive list of suggested foods to eat.

Notice that most foods listed contain a mixed macronutrient profile and only a handful of items consist solely of protein, carbohydrates, or fat. It’s important to be mindful of nutrient composition differences as you plan out your meals.

For example, 100g of chickpeas contain 6g of fat, 61g of carbohydrates, and 19g of protein. Chickpeas are a great source of protein but this food’s nutrient profile can lead to excessive carbohydrate intake if that particular macronutrient is not accounted for. Most foods also vary widely in the composition of their macronutrient subcomponents. Almonds and walnuts both are great sources of fat, but they contain very different levels of mono and polyunsaturated fats. Use your tracking app and read food labels to know what you’re eating.

Along with protein, carbohydrates, and fats, the table also includes a list of non-starchy and leafy green vegetables. I recommend that 1-2 of your daily meals include healthy portion sizes of items from that list. A fiber-rich vegetable source at lunch and at dinner easily accomplishes this. Track these foods.

With so many different foods to choose from and macronutrient intake ranges to work with, there are endless combination possibilities for your diet. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought of using the information in this section to completely restructure your diet, that’s normal. It’s a lot to take in. Limitless variety is great for some, but it can be mentally paralyzing for others. Most lifestyle changes need to be easy to implement or they’ll never last long enough to become long-term habits. Let’s take the key points from this section and condense them down into a simple, step-by-step plan.

Start tracking your current diet with a calorie tracking app and by reading food labels. If you put it in your body, count it.
Compare one week of your normal eating habits with my recommendations and note the differences between the two. Assess which factors will be easy to fix and those that will take more discipline. If you don’t know what intake ranges to aim for, start with a 30% protein, 35% carbohydrate, and 35% fat split. Try to consume at least 30g of protein per meal.
Over the course of a few days or weeks, gradually restructure your meals until their contents and timings fall in line with my suggestions. For example, is your protein intake a little low? If so, slightly increase your portion size per meal. Focus on a transition process that occurs along a realistic timeline and promotes long-term program adherence.
When you finally hit your intake goals and are able to meet them consistently, assess your energy levels and exercise performance. Do you feel mentally sharp and energetic, or have these recent changes resulted in fatigue, mental fog, and/or undesirable changes in body composition? If you don’t feel amazing, play with your food options and intake percentages. Experimentation is essential here.
Keep tracking your food and trying new things. Use this documentation process to truly learn the macronutrient contents of your meals. Calorie counting apps are incredibly useful because they teach us about our habits, but we do not want to manually track intake forever. Teach your eyes to accurately identify what you’re consuming.
When you feel confident that everything’s dialed in for energy balance, start playing with a slight deficit for weight loss or a surplus for weight gain. Building muscle and losing fat will be simple because you took the time to understand your individual dietary needs.

Some will find the process of TDEE calculation and meal remodeling to be easy and straightforward. If you’re currently mindful of what you eat, transitioning to something slightly more structured won’t be too difficult. However, this won’t be the case for everyone. Nutrition can be a difficult subject to understand and breaking bad dietary habits is even harder. If your relationship with food has historically been more problematic than beneficial and you’ve felt discouraged by a lack of progress, focus on the little victories moving forward. Take your time as you form new habits. It’s not a race.

With energy balance requirements calculated and new healthy eating habits formed, our dietary foundation is built. We now know what, when, and how much to eat because we took the time and put in the effort necessary to discover what our body needs. This equilibrium between intake and expenditure is a great place to start a fitness journey, but it can also be an acceptable endpoint for many different training goals. A diet that focuses on energy balance can be a fantastic nutritional strategy to gradually lose fat and build lean tissue at the same time. However, ambitious fat loss and muscle growth goals require more aggressive strategies.

Let’s talk about building muscle.

Maximizing Muscle Growth

Maximizing muscle growth through diet requires a bit of work and planning, but the overall strategy is super simple. Eat more food and eat more often. This section is written to help you understand why eating frequency is critical for hypertrophy and how different macronutrient quantities affect our growth potential.

Don’t try to follow everything in this section perfectly. Focus on the broad strokes and general concepts.

We now know that muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is how our bodies create new muscle tissue. And by combining resistance training with protein-rich meals, we stimulate MPS to a significantly greater degree than that of muscle protein breakdown (MPB). This leads to muscle growth. To maximize our muscle building potential, we need to follow a great exercise program and eat as frequently enough to keep MPS active all day. But we can only utilize this anabolic response to feeding so often.

After being stimulated to peak levels by a meal of 20-40g of protein, MPS rates drop back down to baseline levels after ~90 minutes and the process enters a 3-5 hour refractory period. During this recovery time, the pathways responsible for growth cannot be re-stimulated and any protein or BCAAs consumed between meals will not be used for tissue synthesis. This brief dormancy of MPS activity following stimulation is known as the muscle full effect and it’s the main factor that limits our eating frequency. Because dietary protein is unable to activate MPS for a short amount of time after a meal, it’s important that our eating schedule takes advantage of every feeding opportunity we have. We want to eat as soon as we can fully utilize a meal but not before.

My suggested 4X4 frequency for energy balance does a great job of stimulating muscle protein synthesis throughout the day, and it can be a fantastic plan for most people. But if our goals are to maximize lean tissue development and get the absolute most out of our diet, we can do better. We can theoretically achieve five or six MPS stimulating meals per day by shortening the gaps between meals. This results in a 25-50% increase in MPS activation over the standard 4X4 strategy.

As shown in the examples above, both the 5X and 6X versions are pretty ambitious eating endeavors. Each requires a serious level of dietary dedication. You won’t be able to consistently hit either of these frequencies with an improvised eating schedule. Eating every three hours to achieve six high quality meals per day requires meal preparation, an obsessive level of scheduling, and the elimination of most spontaneous social activities. This eating routine will rule your life and isn’t realistic or emotionally healthy for anyone who isn’t a competitive bodybuilder. However, five meals per day is more manageable and can be accomplished relatively easily by introducing one super useful supplement, casein.

Whey and casein are the two proteins in milk. Whey is more commonly used in protein supplements due to its high BCAA content, quick digestion, water solubility, low cost, and general availability. Casein is also a complete protein, but has slightly lower concentrations of BCAAs and a significantly slower digestion rate. This makes it less desirable for most recovery and meal replacement applications, but casein can be incredibly beneficial when used in the right setting.

Unlike the rapid digestion process of whey, casein coagulates in the digestive tract and drastically slows down nutrient metabolism and transport. When taken before bed as a fifth meal, a casein protein shake mixed with water allows us to stimulate MPS while we sleep without hindering the normal nighttime metabolism of fat. Other protein sources like whey and solid foods can cause an insulin response that interferes with lipolysis (fat metabolism). If you don’t have a dairy allergy and are looking for a simple fifth meal solution to maximize lean gains without putting on extra fat, the slower digestion speed and sustained MPS activity from casein can make it a great option.
Regardless of your meal frequency goals or the strategies you use to accomplish them, you’ll grow faster the more often you stimulate MPS with protein-rich meals.

With our modified meal timing schedule covered, let’s shift gears and look at the macronutrient quantities and caloric distributions necessary to maximize growth.

To build muscle, we need to maintain a daily caloric surplus that’s mainly achieved by increasing our intake of protein and carbohydrates. This surplus should elevate caloric totals ~10-20% above baseline energy balance. If you’re using my recommended starting macronutrient split (30% protein/35% carbohydrate/35% fat), the extra calories may restructure your daily intake percentages to something closer to 35-40% protein, 40-45% carbohydrates, and 20-25% fat. The overall concept here is pretty simple, but to get the most out of this strategy and find long-term success, we need to understand why protein and carbohydrates are so important for growth.

Starting with protein, how much is enough?

A 20-40g serving of quality, complete protein can maximally stimulate MPS. Some studies show there’s only a ~10% difference in MPS activity between 20g and 40g intakes, regardless of body size, with no significant increase seen above 40g. Therefore, doses that exceed this range do not necessarily result in higher rates of MPS. But excess protein is not wasted. High intake quantities don’t stimulate MPS much more than normal (20-40g) doses, but additional protein supports overall tissue development by suppressing the breakdown of existing muscle mass. This means a little extra protein intake can maximally stimulate MPS and suppress breakdown. We can keep more of what we have while building new tissue.

However, completely suppressing breakdown with a high-protein diet might not be the best long-term plan. The normal catabolic process of tissue breakdown likely serves an important role in the maintenance of muscle quality. The MPS/MPB cycle of breaking down structurally compromised muscle mass and replacing it with newly synthesized tissue might be critical to overall muscle health and performance. So, it’s probably not the smartest idea to disrupt this internal regulation system. Therefore, our intake should aim for quantities that help us get the absolute most out of MPS and provide a little extra to slightly suppress MPB.

Most people looking to maximize muscle gains should aim for roughly 30-60g of protein per meal. This range falls in line with my macronutrient intake percentages listed earlier, keeping everything consistent and simple. Studies show that higher protein intakes can be a safe dietary choice as long as you don’t have any kidney health concerns. As always, use this information as a guide to help find what’s best for you.

With protein covered, let’s discuss why we need carbohydrates for maximum muscle growth.

Nutritional choices shape our physiques in drastic ways, but we can’t build bigger and stronger muscles without resistance training. It’s important that each workout is as productive as possible because lean tissue development is largely dependent on the quality of our exercise sessions. Carbohydrates assist with hypertrophy in many different ways, but they contribute to muscle growth most directly by serving as an unrivaled fuel source for high-intensity and high-volume workouts.

Fully saturated glycogen stores in the muscles and liver provide an immediate source of fuel for high-intensity fitness activities that rely on anaerobic glycolysis. Anaerobic glycolysis is a rapid energy delivery system that quickly metabolizes carbohydrates without oxygen. A properly fueled glycolytic energy system helps us lift heavier weight for more reps, stimulate MPS to a greater degree, run farther and faster, and generally improve performance of all max effort exercise endeavors. Carbs give us the energy to get the most out of our muscle building workouts, and we lose top end performance when they’re restricted. If hypertrophy is the goal, consuming an adequate intake of carbohydrates should be a top dietary priority.

Carbohydrates also aid in post-workout recovery and help us sustain an anabolic state outside of the gym. Despite the popularity of the idea, there’s not a small anabolic window for protein consumption immediately following a workout. Studies show that total daily protein intake and overall feeding frequency contribute significantly more to long-term muscle growth than the proximity of any single meal to a workout session. This means if we simply stick to a solid eating schedule and exercise between regularly planned meals, protein timing will be taken care of and no gains will be lost. However, post-workout carbohydrate intake is a little different.

As we increase muscle mass and our bodies become more familiar with carbohydrate fueled lifting, our storage capacity and metabolic efficiency of glycogen increase. Conditioning our muscles to use glycogen results in great workout sessions, but it also creates a metabolic dependency. If we burn through a significant amount of our glycogen stores during a workout, our bodies will recognize this depletion and prioritize carbohydrate replenishment over other post-workout anabolic processes.

Gluconeogenesis is the synthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate substances. This commonly involves the conversion of amino acids to glucose. Gluconeogenesis can occur following any protein-rich meal but is more common after high-intensity workouts. This means if we don’t place an emphasis on restoring depleted glycogen stores after a tough workout, our bodies will take post-workout protein and turn it into glucose/glycogen. This can reduce MPS activity and increase muscle protein breakdown. Luckily, it’s easily avoidable by consuming carbohydrates and protein together post-workout.

I recommend you consume roughly 35-40% of total daily carbohydrates in your post-workout meal. The examples listed below focus on a 5X feeding frequency, but the same general concept of glycogen replenishment applies to all eating schedules.

As seen above, carbohydrate intake percentages are distributed across five meals. Post-workout meals contain 40% of all daily carbohydrates, while the other meals hold 20%. The last meal of the day is a casein shake mixed with water, so it contains little to no carbohydrates. Don’t get too hung up on the exact percentages here. Focus on the overall strategy.

Carbohydrate sources with higher glycemic index values might be better options for post-workout recovery, but some studies indicate total quantity is the most important factor in glycogen restoration. The opposite may apply to our other meals throughout the day that don’t immediately follow a workout. Lower glycemic index carbohydrates that digest a bit slower can help regulate blood sugar and hormone levels (primarily insulin and testosterone) during the day, leading to a more anabolic environment for muscle growth. Many different strategies can work. Be sure to experiment and stay open minded with your carbohydrates.

There are many other hypertrophy related nutritional factors not covered here, but these few points on protein and carbohydrate intake should give you a great place to start. When combined with an effective weight training program, proper hydration, and a smart sleep schedule, the suggestions listed in this section can help you build the muscle you want.

Now that we’ve covered some of the major dietary factors for growth, let’s discuss strategies for efficient and sustainable fat loss.

Periodized Nutrition for Fat Loss

Weight loss is really simple. Eat a little less and burn a little more to create a daily caloric deficit. This can be accomplished in a number of different ways if you only care to see the scale go down. However, if you want to selectively target fat, keep the muscle you’ve worked so hard to build, and actually feel good during the process, things become more complicated. An effective fat loss strategy requires a personalized approach that promotes healthy and sustainable dietary habits.

In this section, we’ll cover some of the most important components of a fat loss diet. With a little self-control, intake consistency, and nutritional knowledge, you can drop those unwanted pounds and keep them off with less effort than you may think.

To begin, let’s address the section title. Periodized nutrition?

As covered in chapter one, periodization is a way to organize and plan out a schedule. A periodized exercise program is one that implements change by manipulating different variables at predetermined times, creating a cyclic routine when repeated. In contrast, a non-periodized program is the same workout performed forever with no planned changes in weight, reps, or duration. Periodization is most commonly associated with exercise, but it’s also the foundation for many different dietary strategies.

The eating schedules, post-workout glycogen replenishment emphasis, and general macronutrient intake quantities listed throughout this chapter are all components of a structured plan designed to be followed for a set amount of time to achieve a specific goal. That’s periodization. Other areas of fitness, like competitive sports, also employ periodized nutritional tactics by changing up an athlete’s diet to target their in-season versus off-season performance goals.

So, what is periodized nutrition?

It’s a dietary plan that changes over time at predetermined points to help us accomplish specific goals. Periodized nutrition is the opposite of improvised, hunger-driven eating. If not approached correctly, certain dietary habits can wreck our metabolism, make us more likely to gain additional weight in the future, drastically slow down fitness progress, and decrease our quality of life. To keep these unpleasant side effects from occurring, we need to follow an eating strategy that allows us to drop unwanted pounds without slowing us down.

The very basics of this fat loss program aren’t too complicated. We want to combine a slight intake deficit with fat loss cardio, sprinkle in some carbohydrate refeed days, and incorporate ketogenic inspired eating styles at regular intervals to improve fat utilization.

Below is a summary of the fat loss strategy.

Caloric Restriction
Reduce carbohydrate and fat intake ~10% below your normal energy balance needs. Pair this minor caloric reduction with 10-30 minutes of daily fat loss cardio to create a daily energy deficit of 350-700 calories.

Refeed Days
Break up sustained caloric deficit periods with a single carbohydrate refeed day every 4-6 days, resulting in an energy restricted state ~80% of the time. Refeeding back to energy balance or a slight (<5%) surplus allows us to reset the catabolic environment that prolonged deficits create and restore normal hormone balance/sensitivity. This deficit+refeed pattern combined with smart cardiovascular exercise can help us drop 0.5-1% of our body weight per week. Within this range, expect larger losses at the beginning and smaller, consistent progress later.

Macronutrient Split
Most of the time, your diet should be high in protein at ~40% of total daily calories (40-60g per meal) and contain a significant amount of carbohydrates (~30%) and fats (~30%). All three macronutrients are important to exercise performance. Do not eliminate fats or carbohydrates. If you’re lifting weights, eat carbs to fuel and recover from your workouts with the 40% post-workout intake quantity discussed in the Maximizing Muscle Growth section. Experiment with different glycemic-index-value carbohydrates to find what makes you feel the best, perform well, and maintain a consistent rate of fat loss.

Metabolic Flexibility/Keto
Occasionally going “keto” can increase our metabolism of fats and make subsequent fat loss exercise more effective. Every 4th or 5th week, drop carbohydrate intake to ~5-10% (keep fiber rich vegetable intake normal) and increase fats to result in a 40-45% protein, 45-50% fat, and 5-10% carbohydrate split. This mock-keto week maintains energy balance and contains fat loss cardiovascular exercise with no resistance work. If you follow my weight training programs, this ketogenic period occurs during each off week. The last day of the keto week (24 hours before your next resistance training session) should be a carbohydrate refeed day to fuel up for the upcoming resistance workout.

An example calendar is listed below to make all of this a little easier to comprehend. Take note of the day-to-day differences. Some days have lifting and cardio, some only cardio, while the weekends are meant for rest and recovery. This routine follows a Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri lifting schedule with refeed days occurring every fifth day, but the general concept can be modified and adapted to fit any routine.

Fat loss without exercise is totally possible, but that’s not what we’re doing here. This strategy relies on a combination of intake restriction and cardiovascular exercise to create daily energy deficits. By utilizing these two methods, the intensity and demand of each component is reduced. A flexible diet and reasonable exercise program will be easier to adhere to and more effective long-term than caloric restriction alone. You don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight if exercise is included in your weight loss strategy.

For example, reducing a 2000 calorie energy balance diet by 10% is a difference of 200 calories. We can hit this target by simply removing 9g (9 calories/g) of fat and 30g (4 calories/g) of carbohydrates a day, or with a variety of other carbohydrate/fat combinations. When this minor intake reduction is paired with cardiovascular exercise, the total daily energy deficit can easily double. As few as 10 additional cardio minutes per day on top of your current resistance training routine could be enough to move the scale. Achieving a daily deficit is not that difficult if approached the right way. Use diet and exercise together to make it easy.

With the broad strokes of the calendar covered, let’s dive into the why behind the main points.
If a caloric deficit is our main goal and it can theoretically be achieved without too much effort, why can’t we maintain it indefinitely for faster fat loss? Why are carbohydrate refeed days required?

Losing weight is emotionally and physiologically stressful. Eating less and exercising more essentially puts us in starvation mode where our bodies consume themselves for energy. This catabolic environment is essential for efficient fat loss, but we can’t stay in the red forever. When we maintain a long-term deficit or attempt to crash diet our way to a leaner physique, some pretty unfavorable changes can happen to our sex hormones, thyroid function, and cortisol levels. Side effects like decreased testosterone, male hypogonadism, female athlete triad, increased muscle breakdown, decreased MPS, decreased glycogen synthesis/storage, lower insulin concentrations caused by an impaired endocrine system, and dramatically elevated cortisol levels are all significant issues to consider. But our primary areas of concern relate to thyroid function and energy expenditure.

If sustained for too long, a constant caloric deficit can slow down our metabolism and cause a noticeable drop in total daily energy expenditure. This metabolic downshift is called adaptive thermogenesis, and it’s a calorie sparing response that our bodies initiate in times of starvation. To keep losing weight in a state of adaptive thermogenesis, we’re forced to consistently eat less and exercise more. This can cause us to develop quite a few unhealthy and unsustainable habits. Our general exercise performance can also be negatively affected due to limited energy availability (glycogen delivery and synthesis). This can lead to emotional distress and a loss in muscle mass due to a steady decline in workout quality. Adaptive thermogenesis can also cause us to gain more weight than what we started with.

Under normal conditions, our fat cells (adipocytes) shrink when we lose fat and expand to hold more stored triglycerides when we gain fat. This means our bodies maintain roughly the same number of adipocytes during normal fluctuations in weight, but this quantity can change. Adipocytes can become more sensitive to glucose after periods of rapid weight loss. In this hyper-sensitive state, small fat cells absorb glucose faster than they can store it. Instead of expanding in size to hold newly synthesized triglyceride content, some adipocytes will split to form entirely new cells in a process called hyperplasia. When this increased fat storage capacity (more glucose-sensitive fat cells) is combined with a drastically slowed metabolism due to adaptive thermogenesis, rapid weight gain can cause us to exceed our heaviest starting point. This is why many overweight people can successfully lose weight with crash diets, but tend to gain it back quickly when they return to their previously established energy balance diet. We want healthy sustainability, not miserable starvation.

While it’s important to understand what can go wrong if we don’t approach fat loss in a sensible and safe manner, there’s no need to worry about anything mentioned here. We can successfully avoid these issues by implementing carbohydrate refeed days that replenish glycogen stores, acutely spike insulin levels, and reset many of the hormonal imbalances that occur after longer deficits. Refeed days force us to embrace sustainable lifestyle changes, develop healthy fat loss habits, and they eliminate our ability to crash diet down to a smaller size.

Regarding carbohydrate food sources, you may find higher glycemic index complex carbs that acutely spike insulin and blood sugar to be more effective for fat loss than lower GI options that result in prolonged insulin production. Insulin suppresses fat oxidation and it’s possible that lower GI foods might slow down your progress. But you might find the opposite to be true. Experiment with different carbohydrate sources to learn what makes you feel and perform best.

Refeed days are important, but they do slow us down. How much longer will it take to reach our goals with them added?

A weekly body weight reduction of 0.5-1% is my recommended fat loss range, but you’ll probably find yourself on either side of this window during your fat loss journey. For most people, losses will be greater at the beginning then slowly decrease due to a mixture of physiological, behavioral, and emotional factors. That’s totally fine. Embrace this common progress decline, set your expectations accordingly, and intentionally taper your losses as the last few pounds drop and you close in on your goals. Slowly phasing out of a fat loss mindset and into a normal routine can help solidify newly formed healthy habits. Work with, not against, natural changes in energy expenditure.

You’ve accepted this extended timeline. Great. But why isn’t weight loss progress linear?

Fading program enthusiasm can partially be to blame for a decrease in fat loss, but the main culprit is a normal drop in TDEE due to changes in body mass. Whether you successfully lose 10 or 50 pounds, a leaner version of you will expend fewer calories per day than heavier you did. Weighing less means you won’t require as much energy to move around, sustain basic bodily functions, or fuel exercise. This drop in TDEE also means that intake for energy balance will decrease. Many weight-loss diets stall here because changes in energy balance are not considered and intake stays the same despite lower EB requirements. But if we’re consistently tracking our intake, monitoring changes in weight, and regularly assessing energy levels, we can modify daily caloric totals to reflect fluctuations in TDEE. However, we can’t cut all macronutrients equally.

Fat and carbohydrate intake quantities can be modified to help you achieve your desired deficit, but protein needs to stay high due to its effect on muscle retention and appetite control. Protein is arguably the most important macronutrient for fat loss.

Even the best fat loss diets have some issues with muscle protein synthesis and lean tissue breakdown. The catabolic environment induced by energy restriction has been shown to decrease peak MPS rates by over 25% and significantly increase MPB. Less metabolically active tissue slows fat loss progress, hinders exercise performance, and can lead to injury if MPB is severe enough. These issues are minimized with carbohydrate refeed days, but they’re not completely eliminated. We probably won’t experience much muscle growth during extended periods of fat loss, but we can work to maintain everything we’ve built by eating more protein. Aim for roughly 40-60g of protein per meal to maximally stimulate MPS, minimize muscle breakdown, and suppress the most annoying side effect of all fat loss diets, hunger.

Healthy appetite suppressing strategies are key components of long-term fat loss success because losing weight ultimately depends on intake control. When macronutrients are listed in order of most to least satiating, protein is first, carbohydrates are second, and fats are third. Fats slow down gastric emptying, delaying hunger, but they do not produce the same satiety hormone response as protein or carbohydrates. This means high-protein meals, especially at breakfast and lunch, can help us feel more satisfied and stay full throughout the day. Some studies have shown that slightly shifting calories to the front half of the day can reduce evening cravings and improve self-control during nighttime hours. We shouldn’t have to suffer through ravenous hunger to see progress in our weight loss journey, and a high-protein diet can keep that from happening.

Feeling more satisfied and full helps us adhere to new diets and maintain deficits with less effort, but the emotional response to dietary fulfillment is just as important. This is especially true for those who struggle with mild to severe eating disorders. The satiating effect of high-protein meals can decrease reward style eating habits, produce fewer incidents of mindless snacking, decrease emotion fueled binging, lessen symptoms of eating addiction, and help us establish healthier relationships with food. Protein won’t solve all of our problems, but it can help us consistently make smarter choices.

The last component of this fat loss diet is nutritional ketosis.

When fasting, exercising, or in a carbohydrate restricted state, our livers produce water soluble molecules called ketones. Ketones are synthesized from free fatty acids and glycogen in a process called ketogenesis. Ketones are used by our muscles, heart, and brain for energy. This makes them a viable fuel alternative to glucose for many different biological functions. However, when carbohydrates are consistently present in our diet at moderate to high intake quantities, ketone production will be low because our bodies won’t have a reason to abandon glycolysis. As long as carbs are present, insulin will suppress ketone production and glucose will support brain function and physical activity. Ketosis requires us to starve the body of carbohydrates long enough to force a metabolic shift away from glucose to ketone bodies. This is typically accomplished by following a diet that’s high in fat, very low in carbs, and contains a moderate amount of protein.

After multiple weeks (4+) of strict adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet (less than 25-50g/day or 5-10% of daily calories), our metabolism can shift into a state of nutritional ketosis. When in ketosis, fats and ketone bodies are our primary fuel sources and carbohydrate reliance is minimized. With fats being burned for the majority of our mental and physical energy, blood levels of ketones rise, insulin levels drop, fat oxidation enzyme (lipase) production and mitochondrial activity is increased, and glycogen utilization declines. We basically become supercharged, fat burning machines. And because most of us carry around at least a few pounds of stored body fat, we have a nearly endless supply of energy to fuel daily activities.

A successful ketogenic diet combined with a slight caloric deficit or certain fasting techniques can help us rapidly drop weight, but the health benefits of ketosis are not limited to fat loss. Improved blood lipid profiles, cancer growth suppression, fewer epileptic symptoms, better blood sugar control, increased endurance exercise performance, and a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease can all result from this dietary change. When incorporated correctly and in the right situations, a ketogenic diet can be an excellent alternative macronutrient split for some people.

If nutritional ketosis is potentially a superior fat loss strategy and associated with an impressive list of health benefits, why are we implementing it so infrequently?

Unfortunately, true nutritional ketosis can be very difficult to achieve and even harder to maintain. It can take a minimum of one month for our bodies to metabolically switch from carbohydrates to fats and ketones. This means our diet has to be nearly perfect for at least four weeks before we can reach a state of ketosis, and that same level of intake precision must be sustained for the adaptation to be maintained. If we don’t successfully force a fuel swap during that time, our keto diet can turn into an unpleasant, low-carb diet that leaves us fatigued and unmotivated to exercise.

Due to these demanding requirements, I don’t believe nutritional ketosis is a realistic strategy for most people. A ketogenic state is achievable and far from impossible, but there are too many obstacles in the way of a sustained metabolic adaptation for me to recommend it as a long-term dietary plan for the average person. Instead of trying to implement difficult, high-maintenance diets, I’d rather you focus on realistic fat loss practices that give you more intake flexibility.

Along with being difficult to adhere to, a high-fat diet can also lead to weight gain because fat is the most calorically dense, yet the least satiating macronutrient. Some studies show that long-term high-fat diets can decrease the satiety hormone response to fats by lowering the sensitivity of gut lipid receptors. This means if we have a tendency to eat until we’re full and consume large quantities of fat, we could easily exceed energy balance. Research shows that high-fat diets do not result in more fat loss if our eating habits put us at a caloric surplus. Because weight loss ultimately depends on an energy deficit, a high-fat diet might not be the best plan for long-term fat loss success if you struggle with intake control.

Eliminating carbohydrates and going keto can also drastically limit our high-intensity exercise performance. Because resistance training is a key component to any good fat loss program, it’s important that we have the energy to lift weights well. Fats and ketones are incredible fuel sources for endurance exercise and low-intensity activities, but they can’t compete with carbohydrates for hypertrophy training or HIIT style workouts. A long-term ketogenic diet that hinders the anaerobic glycolytic energy system could cause us to chronically underperform in many fitness settings, build less muscle, lose strength, and see fewer top end cardiovascular improvements.

Carbohydrates are essential for high-intensity exercise, but it can be beneficial to periodically remove them. How can systematically reducing carbs make us better at burning fat?

A long-term ketogenic diet might not be the best nutritional strategy due to its strict intake requirements, weight gain potential, and possible negative effects on exercise performance, but short term applications are very different. Some studies show that lipid oxidation activity can be increased in as little as five days when a ketogenic diet is paired with endurance focused cardiovascular exercise. This research suggests it’s not necessary for us to achieve true nutritional ketosis to improve fat utilization. We most likely won’t reach ketogenic levels of fat oxidation in a week, but 5-10 days can cause a slight metabolic adaptation and train our bodies to rely a bit more on fat and a little less on carbs for energy. This can be easily accomplished by implementing a keto recovery week within a resistance training program. A keto week allows us to drop carbohydrate intake without interfering with resistance training performance. This low-carb period improves fat utilization through a combination of cardio and macronutrient manipulation.

We can theoretically get better and better at using fats for fuel by repeating this pattern. This makes subsequent post-resistance training cardio even more effective. An entire month of keto might be tough to complete successfully, but most of us can handle a week of limited carbs. And we’re not actually trying to achieve nutritional ketosis with this approach, so minor setbacks or accidental high-carb days won’t completely derail progress. When paired with intermittent fasting, this a more realistic and sustainable implementation of a ketogenic diet that allows us to simultaneously pursue resistance training at a high level.

To summarize, focus on a slight daily deficit, incorporate carbohydrate refeed days, and play with keto while lifting weights and following a smart fat loss cardiovascular exercise program. Be smart about your intake levels so you can properly fuel yourself to perform well in the gym and in life. Food is not your enemy, exercise is not a punishment, and this fat loss strategy should be temporary. Reach your goal and work to maintain it. Take the time to learn what your body needs and form healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Change takes time and a considerable amount of effort, so be sure to celebrate every minor victory along the way.

I believe the plan outlined above is an effective fat loss strategy, but you should do what works best for you. Follow this plan perfectly, modify it slightly to fit your needs, or take a few ideas and add them to your existing routine. Whatever you choose to do, take the time to track your eating habits so you can accurately calculate your individual needs. This approach doesn’t work if you’re guessing.

Fasting & Fat Loss

I don’t recommend regularly occurring, extended periods of fasting for most people. However, moderate fasting strategies can be effective for heavier individuals looking to safely expedite their fat loss progress.

If you’re interested in fasting beyond 12 hours daily, consider modifying the 4X4 outline to 3X4 and implementing a 16:8 (Hours Fasting : Hours Feeding) fasting routine. This results in three meals per day, each separated by four hours, with 16 hours of fasting. Pay close attention to any changes in exercise performance or mood/energy levels during this time. Modify your eating windows to fit what’s best for you. I personally like to begin my fast 3-5 hours before bed.

Alcohol & Exercise

Alcohol is fun. An occasional drink or three can be a great way to unwind after a long day, celebrate a special occasion, or be more social in a group setting. And when consumed in moderation, alcohol and fitness can coexist peacefully. Alcohol might not be part of the food pyramid, but it’s common enough in most of our diets to deserve brief attention.

In this section, we’ll quickly cover some major side effects associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

At about seven calories per gram, alcohol is an energy-dense substance. And because we typically don’t chug pure ethanol, the extra calories in our drinks can add up fast. Gaining a little extra weight might be your only drinking concern, but alcohol is a powerful drug that can disrupt fitness progress if intake is too high.

Some possible side effects include –

Decreased lipid oxidation can hinder fat loss progress and endurance exercise performance.
Decreased glycogen storage/synthesis can negatively impact resistance training intensity.
Decreased baseline hydration/rates of rehydration can impact exercise performance, cognitive ability, and recovery.
Decreased blood flow to muscles can hurt exercise performance and recovery.
Decreased MPS can result in slower muscle growth/recovery and possibly muscle loss.
Decreased CNS excitability can negatively affect motor unit recruitment and fiber activation, resulting in strength and size losses.
Decreased brain phospholipid levels can negatively affect cognitive ability and mood.
Decreased immune function can keep us out of the gym due to frequent illness.
Increased inflammation can slow down recovery, hinder exercise performance, impact digestion, and hurt cognitive ability.
Decreased sleep quality can alter hormone levels, mood, energy, and recovery.
Decreased testosterone can limit growth and general exercise performance.

It’s important to note that nearly all of these issues are caused by frequent, high volume consumption and aren’t common with moderate intake. While that’s probably a comforting point, there isn’t a clear line between low and high quantities of alcohol. Differences in body size, composition, hydration levels, and stomach food contents mean the same drink can affect us all differently.

So, how much can you drink and still see progress? That’s for you to figure out.

If fitness really matters to you and you’re determined to completely eliminate all of the problems listed above, don’t drink. Alcohol can’t slow us down if we don’t consume it. To avoid hangovers and the speed bumps caused by drinking, abstinence is by far the most effective strategy. But that approach is unrealistic for many.

Life is all about priorities and choices. Reaching your performance potential requires a high level of self-control and restriction. To be the best, you can’t afford any missteps. In contrast, exercise goals that are centered on being healthy, generally fit, and looking good have plenty of room for fun. You don’t have to avoid alcohol to get the most out of your workouts, but you can’t drink excessively and expect to see consistent progress either. So, if you aren’t willing to give up your favorite vice, be a responsible adult, drink in moderation, stay hydrated, and avoid getting drunk.

If you’re consistent in the gym and in the kitchen, but aren’t seeing the results you expect, reevaluate your drinking habits. Track alcohol intake just like carbs, fats, and protein.

Make smart choices.

Registered Dietitians & Supplements

I am not a nutrition expert. My degrees and education are exercise-based, not dietetic. I have multiple personal training certifications, but none of them focus on nutrition. And I’ve never shadowed or interned with any nutrition professional. Yet, I can legally call myself a Nutritionist in the United States because that title is not legally protected. This low barrier to entry means your nutrition coach may be vastly underqualified to give you detailed health advice and might not fully understand many of the topics they’re so opinionated about.

Job opportunities for beginners are great, but so are minimum qualifications. To get the best nutrition advice, work with a registered dietitian (RD). Registered dietitians in the United States must have at least a bachelor’s degree, are required to complete a dietetic internship program, and must pass a state regulated exam to obtain their license. Quality and knowledge will vary between RDs and it’s up to you to research the best reviewed options, but the years of work that are required to obtain those two little letters make most RDs knowledgeable and trustworthy sources of information.

Registered dietitians also offer specific services not available to trainers or general nutritionists. By working with local labs, RDs can order specific blood tests that check for food sensitivities/allergies, micronutrient deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, blood lipid profiles, causes of inflammation, and many other food related issues. A great RD will alter your current eating habits and/or prescribe certain supplements to successfully treat any problems detected.

What about supplements? This chapter is focused primarily on macronutrients because I believe that the overwhelming majority of our diet should come from whole foods and not shakes, bars, pills, or powders. However, there are quite a few dietary supplements that can be really beneficial to our general health and exercise performance.

Some examples of helpful supplements include but are not limited to –

Fish Oil/Omega-3
Vitamin D
Multivitamin
Probiotic
Creatine

These supplements can probably help most people, but results will vary. We’re all unique and require different things. To really know what’s best for your body, where you may be deficient, and how to optimally strategize for nutritional success, work with a registered dietitian.

Final Thoughts

This chapter contains quite a few nutritional suggestions, but many variables were intentionally left open to experimentation. What works best for you will be different than what’s most successful for your neighbor. There’s no one-size-fits-all for food choices, portion sizes, or meal compositions. An effective dietary strategy is one that’s designed to target certain goals, full of all three macronutrients, and built around the needs of the individual following it.

If most of the information in this guide has been new to you, just focus on the basics. Be a little better each day, try to stay consistent with your intake targets, track what you eat, focus on your goals, and don’t beat yourself up if you occasionally get sidetracked.

Dietary goals require dedication and hard work to accomplish, but food should be fun. Keep it that way.

Experiment by manipulating different variables. Find what works best for you. Share what you discover. Have fun.

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