We ended our last blog on nutrition myths and secrets with cleaning up the quality of your food as the first place to start. In other words, less processed junk and more whole foods.

Once you have cleaned up your diet and are eating less junk you can start to get more specific on macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) and calories.

This is where the bio-individuality of things comes into play. You need to find what works for you. For instance, some people do well eating a decent amount of carbs, where as some people blow up on a moderate amount.

The best place to start is to find out exactly what you are currently doing. Log your food for 3-5 days on Myfitness pal or any logging software that will give you a breakdown of how many calories, carbs, fats and protein you are eating on a daily basis.

meny plan picOnce you know exactly where you are at you can make an adjustment to see how your body responds. For example if you are currently eating 65% carbs, 15% protein and 20% fat, you can change those percentages and see how you respond. Drop your carbs to 50% and increase your protein 10%. Sometimes a simple shift like this will make all the difference, while some people need a more drastic adjustment.

Generally speaking, the leaner you are the more carbs you can eat, and the more weight/fat you have to lose the less you can get away with. This is a “general” statement, meaning some people are genetic freaks and can get away with eating a ton of carbs and not gain weight, but you need to find out how you respond best.

If you have 20 or more pounds to lose trying a 40/30/30 approach is a good place to start. On a 1500 calorie meal plan that would look like 150 grams of carbs, 112.5 grams of protein, and 50 grams of fat. Those numbers won’t be perfect, but be in the ballpark and you will be fine.

If you commit to this using the 90/10 rule you will know pretty quickly if you are on the right path. If it’s not working you can make some other adjustments with your macros and calories.

A important note to keep in mind when trying a new plan; you have to be CONSISTENT! If you’re not consistent you will never know if it is working or not. Don’t be like most who do a half ass job and then blame the diet or claim they just can’t lose weight.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

 

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