# Having Trouble Losing Fat From ....



## SiRSKiNBAD (Mar 12, 2004)

Hi

Im really looking for sum help , I having a lot of trouble trying to lose fat from my tummy and chest .

I train 4 times a week and my diet is pretty good but I just cant seem to trim of fat .

Has any1 had similar problems ??

I really wanna trim down for the summer .

Any help or diet tips would be really helpful .

Thankz


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Post your diet and we can have a look at it.

Personally if you are just going to diet down and lose some fat then I would try the atkins aproach. It is fast and you can lose alot of fat on it.

Some guys on the board like this approach and some dont. If you want more information then Private Message me and I will type it up for you.


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## Lorian (Apr 9, 2003)

hackskii said:


> Some guys on the board like this approach and some dont. If you want more information then Private Message me and I will type it up for you.


And some like a half-way house between the two 

Certainly look at reducing your carb intake, expecially in the evenings. Essentially you want to be consuming the majority of your carbs earlier in the day. You also want to have simple carbs immediatley post-workout.

As hackskii said, post a sample daily diet and people will be able to help more 



L


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

Firstly, do you know how many calories ur eating a day, do you know your maintance calories. Law of energy balance, you eat less than mainance (e.g 500 kcals less) U WILL LOOSE WEIGHT. And are you doing the follwing things.

(As lorain said P+C in morning and 2 meals after w/o. P + F the rest of the time

• Eat protein in every meal and eat about six meals a day.

• Don't eat meals high in carbs alone.

• Don't eat fat and carbs together in substantial amounts.

• In some meals, eat protein with carbs, but very little fat (less than 5 grams).

• In other meals, eat protein with fat, but very little carbs (less than 10 grams).

Protein - Eggs, dairy sources including cottage cheese and plain yogurt, lean meat sources including salmon, tuna, chicken, beef; protein powders such as milk protein isolates and whey/casein blends.

Carbohydrates - Vegetables (all types), mixed beans, fruit, oatmeal, whole grain breads.

Fats - Fish oil (in salmon or as a salmon/fish or isolated EPA/DHA supplement), flax oil, mixed nuts, olive oil. (make sure your getting enough of these)

Hope some of this helps, sorry if you know all this too, and i sound like a condescending ****

Dave


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I know I am going to get some flack form some of the guys on the board but here is a brief overview of the Atkins aproach.

What basically the Atkins diet is about is using fat for fuel instead of carbs for fuel. So to tip into the fat burning stage you basically have to starve the body of carbs and in about 2 to 3 days you will slip into ketosis and burn massive amounts of fat. The diet is nice as you don't go hungry and can eat rather large portions of food. Simply by cutting back on the carbs the body will start using more fat than carbs.

This is done by restricting the carbs to 20 grams per day. That is not a lot as 1 small apple equals that @ 22 grams of carbs. So you have to be careful not to go over or you will slip out of ketosis. Now you still can lose weight going higher than the 20 grams but the fat loss is not as fast.

You might crave carbohydrates for like the first few days but then you wont and your energy level will go through the roof.

You should have more energy and feel pretty good.

One of the problems with Atkins is you will need to take some vitamins as most of your minerals and vitamins come from carbs. Not a problem take some supplements and you will be ok.

You can lose about 12 lbs in 2-3 weeks. Even for stubborn losers you can lose pretty easy.

Pretty much you can eat all the eggs, meat, cheese, chicken, fish, and stuff like that you want. As long as you are getting fat in your diet you will burn fat.

You can lose more fat than if you did not eat anything. That's right even fasting. Oh the weight will be the same but your muscle mass will be lower and body fat higher on fasting than on the Atkins. Sounds good huh?

Here is why it works. Most people think fat stores as fat. This is just wrong, carbohydrates store as fat because carbs raise blood sugars and raised blood sugars trigger a response for insulin and insulin is a storage hormone.

You can slow down insulin's response from carbs by adding a fat to it. Oh, not only does fat not store as fat but suppresses insulin. So you can slow down carbs spiking blood sugars by adding fats, protein, and fiber.

Insulin will lock the body out from tapping into stored fat. Not only carbs store as fat but insulin's response will stop you from burning your own fat. So this is kind of a catch 22 if you are trying to lose body fat.

Another thing, if you eat carbs before you go to bed and the insulin is there the pituitary gland wont produce HGH while you sleep.

The pituitary gland produces GH the first couple hours of sleep (REM sleep). Insulin stops the pituitary gland from producing GH.

When going off of Atkins you simply add carbs slowly like 5 grams a week and use the lower glycemic index carbs and you will be just fine. On Atkins you wont be able to eat pasta, sugar, white flower, white rice and crap like that. No chips and stuff as they are high on the glycemic index and also are high in hydrogenated oils (man made fats) those are vary bad.

So drop the carbs to 20 or less a day (total).

Drink lots of water.

Eat all the protein you want

Up the fat.

Take some vitamins.


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## Panthro (Jan 12, 2004)

personally i dont think the atkins diet is that good for BBing.. low carbs, yes, almost zero, no!

and another great post from musclehead!


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I did not say it was good for body building. Body building is just that building the body. But fat loss is fat loss and that is how the thread started. This is quite helpfull for the guys that have a problem losing weight eating carbs or insulin resistant.

If you want to bulk up or are a bicycle racer then I would say eat the carbs.

But if you want to lose body fat and other diets have failed then by all means consider Atkins aproach. There are some people that do have problems with blood sugars and keeping insulin in check for these individules is a must.


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

Come on lets see your diet, in my experience when people think their diet is 'pretty good' there can be some fundamental flaws.

I am going to have to side with Panthro with this debate (and not just because of nice comment - cheers). I am not a fan of zero carb diets for long periods of time (I loose LBM without stong prohormones). I much rather see a diet that represents more of a lifestyle approach rather than just a "quick-fix" diet;

1. Multiply lean body mass in kg by 22.

2. Next add 500 to this number and this gives the resting metabolic rate.

3. Next, multiply this number above by an activity factor (somewhere between 1.2-2.1). This gives the resting metabolic rate plus activity factor number.

4. Then take the resting metabolic rate and multiply this by 0.10 or 0.15.

5. Add this last number to the number you got when you multiplied your resting metabolic rate by your activity factor in order to determine daily maintenance calorie level.

Then get the maintenance number and take 85% of this number (4160 multiplied by 0.85). This gives us about 3500 calories. This would be what I would need to be eating every day.

you MUST continually recalculate your numbers as you lose weight!!!!

eat the first half of your meals (3 meals) as protein plus carbs, and the last half of your meals (3 meals) as protein plus fat

As far as foods, the guidelines are to stick with only low glycemic carbs (except for the post workout period where you should slam something like protein/dextrose/malto). Acceptable carbs are fruits, vegetables, beans, oatmeal, and a small amount of whole grain bread. As far as protein, stick to the slower digesting proteins like milk protein blends that contain both whey and casein and whole food proteins. For fat sources, a small amount of saturated fat should be eaten while the bulk of your diet should contain polyunsaturated fats (fish oil, flax oil, flax seeds) and monounsaturated fats (olive oil, canola oil, nuts). Below is an example of a 3400-3500 calorie Don't Diet program using the Taper idea:

Meal #1

8 oz. cottage cheese

1 banana

1 scoop of Protein

1 cup of oatmeal (before cooked)

Meal #2

1/2 cup of oatmeal (before cooked)

2 scoops of Protein

1 piece of flax bread

1 piece of fat free cheese

Meal #3 (post workout)

protein/dextrose/malto

Meal #4

7 egg whites

2 whole eggs

1/2 cup vegetables

2 slices of fat free cheese

2 teaspoons of flax oil

Meal #5

1 can of tuna fish

Salad

1 oz mixed nuts

2 teaspoons flax oil

Meal #6

1 can of sockeye salmon (3 times per week, eat 8 oz extra lean beef instead, but take a few concentrated EPA/DHA capsules with this meal when you don't eat fish)

Salad

1 oz mixed nuts

If you do the above the laws of energy balance with force you to loose FAT (1-2lbs a week). And you can even add muscle as you stil have PWO nutrition in check. If you learn to do this it truely is a life style and a lot easier to stick to than a zero carb diet

BTW/ All the above is from beradi (nutritional genious), I would love to claim credit but hey


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

btw if u follow the above guidelines but dont x 0.85 but add 500 kcals instead it make for a great bulking diet.

Man Im soooo bored of revision


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## Panthro (Jan 12, 2004)

Musclehed said:


> Come on lets see your diet, in my experience when people think their diet is 'pretty good' there can be some fundamental flaws.


Very very true! Ive seem some diets that people think are 'pretty good' and they are awful! lol..

great post mate. some good info there. not seen those calculations before, im going to have a play with them.. 

as for revision.. it is a nightmare.. only one exam to go then its over.. till november.. only another 5 years or so of exams left..


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I know formulas and equations work good in math but everyones metabolism is diffrent. There is no way I could eat that much food and lose weight.

I like to keep the cals down to like 500 per meal.

The first meal would have me bogged down and it is too low on the protein.

I feel that the 40-30-30 aproach is the best (for me).

That is 40 percent of the total cals from carbs, then protein, then fats.

Had great success with this some years ago.

Lets break down your first meal

Meal #1

8 oz. cottage cheese= Protein = 15 g, Carb = 6.7 g, Fat = 1.3 g

1 banana= 26.5 grams of carbs.

1 scoop of Protein= 22-25 grams of protein and 4 grams carbs

1 cup of oatmeal (before cooked)= 54 grams carbs and 10 grams protein and 5 grams fat.

Total:

99.5 grams carbs.--------396 total calories

42 grams protein.--------168 total calories

6.3 grams of fat.---------27 total calories

591 total calories. This is a good meal.

Now if I read these numbers right the fat is too low the carbs are too high and the protein is about right.

Also bananas are high on the GI so people that have problems with carbs should avoid those and maybe select berries instead.

Dont get me wrong I am not picking on the diet as it is not bad but it could be imporved. I feel that the ratios are not quite right.


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

i have to agree with musclehed that dieting should be a lifestyle thing rather than a quick fix. the diet jimmy worked out for me is good and most importantly managable which means unlike a fad diet i can stick to it for the forseable future rather than lose loads of weight realy quick on a fad diet then as soon as i eat normaly again put it all back on. a good healthy balance is the key imo which includes protein, fat and carbs.


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

The above meal examples were used for Beradi him self. I think he is 96kg (5% BF), and when bilking goes up to 8% fat WOWW, which no prohormones or AAS. That truely is the power of nutrition. So for for you average person (maybe not Hacskii- being 220lbs) the food would be less. But basically stick to what works for you.

Yeah Panthro I got one more to go too, wooo, Main group chemistry, not too bad. taking some physiology/nutrition optional modules next year, looking forward to it. I find it easier to eat well during revsion though (less nights out), I get to the gym more too, mainly to avoid work, and the uni gym is empty. No metrosexuals doing 20 reps of isolation bicep curls for 8 reps (badly), with the 5kg dumbells.

where the hell is SiRSKiNBAD anyway


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

BTW, my rebuttal Hackskii

- fat is too low

As I have said before I never mix carbs and fat. I realise low GI will not effect insulin so its ok in that situation. So he has high G.I and low fat.. no probs

- carbs are too high

I find in the first meal of the day (and PWO) this is the time you can up the carbs, since you have been fasting for 8 hours (unless ur a old school guy who sets his alarm to down a protein shake). SO when you BREAK this FAST (cleva), your body generally uses the carbs very efficiently. I believe the other P+C meals are a little lower in carbs.

- bananas are high on the GI so people that have problems with carbs should avoid those and maybe select berries instead

Fair point, but once again I feel it should be fine with it being in your first meal for a energy boost for the day.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

I think the best diet is one that you can stick with. I think Beradi's diet is good but 2 meals of oats is a bit much. Get rid of the bannana and low fat cheese and suppliment it with a low insulin spiking carb. I will make it easy for ya. Go here and you can eat anything that falls bellow the number 50.

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1412&highlight=winger

I like the 40-30-30 myself. Anyone can train but diet is way harder. If it was so easy why isn't every body at the gym have 5% bodyfat.

Here is an easy ratio to help you keep the 40-30-30 (zone diet).

9 g carbs

7 g protein

1.5 g fat

We will call this one block of food. For my lean muscle mass I eat 19 blocks a day.

Breakfast, 5 block meal

45g carbs

35g protein

8g fat

Snack, 2 blocks

18g carbs

14g protein

3g fat

Lunch, 5 block meal

Snack, 2 blocks

Dinner, 5 blocks.

This is 3 meals and 2 snacks. In order to come up with the correct amount of blocks for an individual you need to find out your lean muscle mass. Here is a calculator for your bodyfat very nice. This is for men. The women is on the left.

http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages/bodyfatcalmale.jsp

This is not my diet it is from a book called Enter the Zone by Barry Sears.

Here is a summary of The Zone Diet. Good reading I didn't want to copy and past because if the thread looks to long then people will blow it off.

I know you are going to say that you aren't getting enough protein. I did this diet and so did Hackskii about 10 years ago and both of use went from about 22% bf to 10% bf without cardio. All of our lifts stayed the same. Infact in the begging I required less sleep. Check out the link.

http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages/toolssummary.jsp


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I feel that using your own bodys lean muscle mass will deternine the amount of protein requirement the body needs.

All the percentages of carbs and fats are from the protein requirement to support your lean muscle mass.

Factoring in the amount of exercise you do and job (physical) work load all affect the equation.

Your resting requirements for fuel will be different than mine and mine will be different from robdogs and so forth. Not to mention other factors like gear and stress, the amount of sleep you do, etc.

Everybody has lean muscle mass and this is the major focus on how much protein to maintain lean muscle mass.

A guy that weighs 250 with 5 percent body fat will need more protein than a guy 250 at 25 percent body fat. They are the same weight but different amount of lean muscle mass.

Not only will he need more protein but more fuel too (fats and carbs).

No set diet will work for any groups of people. Now when I say diet this can mean ways of eating. It is a lifestyle change.

Fat loss is easy, but allowing fat loss not to target lean muscle mass is a whole other game.

Another problem I saw from that guy that I have never heard of. Must not have written too many books or they aren't for sale in the States.

Oh, by the way 5% body fat is unhealthy so don't use him for the epitome of good health, no Doctor would recommend this.

When you use carbs for fuel you will burn carbs. That morning meal is high in carbs, based on the overall picture of the first meal.

The last meal was high in fats. So if the first meal was high in carbs the response from the body (what you are telling the body to do) is going to think to use the carbs for fuel. The last meal is opposite. The body is looking for carbs and getting fats instead.

Also carbs spike insulin and fats suppress insulin. Not only that, but the presence of insulin stops the body of even burning its own stored fat.

So saying that carbs are ALWAYS eaten with fats as fats will slow down the absorption thus forth keeping the blood sugars more stable and keeping your energy levels more even. Ever been tired after eating a big breakfast? That is an example of spiking blood sugars.

The only time I would run high carbs would be the exception of after a workout.

Many people are addicted to carbs. This is not only unhealthy but can have severe consequences like Adult onset diabetes. So keeping insulin in check is mandatory for this particular candidate people.

I for one feel that we eat too many carbs and the foods in bags, fast foods and cans do not have your health in interest.

While I am at it, meal #2 has almost no fat. But the ratios of carbs to proteins look better.

And you have a half cup of veggies, 1 banana and a salad and you call this healthy?

All your carbs come from other sources than what the vegetables, fruits and all the vitamins and minerals have to offer for supporting everything from immune system to the cellular level (anti-oxidants).

Minerals are very important and most of your minerals come from vegetables. For instance Iron helps oxygen transfer in the blood stream, zinc supports immune system, potassium regulates heart function, magnesium helps muscle contraction and regulates blood pressure. Just examples but where do you find these ingredients? Vegetables!

Also there are other factors that no one talks about like acid ashing and alkaline ashing. Minerals will raise your ph and this is favorable for good health.

I might add that some people can eat all the carbs that they want and never have their insulin spike. That amounts for about 1/3 of the people. So if you are the one third reading this then none of this applies to you. If you are one of the others that have a problem with spiking blood sugars then this needs to be kept in check for weight management and good health.

Hey muscle, if you have a link for his book/books, I would like to read something from this guy. I love to read about stuff I like.

Sorry for the length.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Its pretty simple really. For that 33% just eat the good carbs. You know the ones.  Here is an example of 1200 calories for a woman. But look at all the food.

http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages/toolsdayinzonepg.jsp


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

Hey Hackskii,

as per usual you are right about other factors involved. I detaled before the bare minimum of the calculations. So here it goes. Before you you say it, yes this is overkill but hey i'm a quantitative chemist. Very interesting;

Energy Balance: You might be surprised!

So what is energy balance? Here's the simple equation:

Energy Balance = Energy Intake - Energy Expenditure

Energy intake is made up of what you eat and drink. Energy expenditure is made up of several factors including resting metabolic rate (RMR), calorie cost of activity, thermic effect of food (TEF), and adaptive thermogenesis (the X factor). The balance of intake and expenditure is an important factor in weight gain or loss. If you have a positive energy balance (intake exceeds expenditure), you gain weight. A negative energy balance (intake is less than expenditure) dictates that you'll lose weight. Simple enough.

Remember, however, that energy balance is only one factor in getting massive (or getting lean for that matter). And although it's the most basic and simplest part of understanding your needs for growth, ironically, most people totally screw it up! So let me be your metabolic guide. Below I'll provide some practical ways to navigate through the harsh jungle of energy balance equations so that you'll emerge ready to tackle the challenge of muscle growth. Pick up your pencils again, class. Better yet, grab a calculator!

Step #1: Resting Metabolic Rate

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the energy it costs the body to basically keep alive. This doesn't include the costs of getting your butt out of bed and moving around; those numbers are calculated in later. Although you might not guess it, about 50 to 70 percent of your entire day's calorie expenditure is a result of the RMR. So, let's figure out your RMR right now.

Determining RMR:

To start off with, you need to take your body weight in pounds and convert it to kilograms. (International readers, please bear with us silly non-metric Americans for a moment.) This is a simple conversion. Just divide your body weight by 2.2.

Next you take your percent of fat and multiply it by your body weight (which is now in kilograms). This will give you your fat mass (FM) in kilograms. Next simply subtract this number from your total weight in kilograms and you'll have your fat free mass (FFM) in kilograms.

Before we go on, why don't we try this out on me. Since I'm an athlete with a body weight of 200lbs at 5% body fat, I'd take my total body mass and divide it by 2.2:

Total body mass in kilograms = 200lbs / 2.2 = 91 kg

Next I'd multiply this kilogram number (91 kg) by my percent of body fat. Remember, percents are really decimals so 5% equals 0.05, 12% bodyfat will be .12 etc.

Fat Mass = 91kg x 0.05 = 4.55kg FM

Next I subtract this fat mass number (4.55 kg) from my total body mass (91kg):

Fat Free Mass = 91kg - 4.55kg = 86.45kg

Therefore my fat free mass is 86.45 kilograms. From that I can determine my RMR. The formula for RMR is as follows:

Resting Metabolic Rate for Athletes (in calories per day) = 500 + 22 x fat free mass (in kilograms).

Again, for me, I'd multiply 22 times my fat free mass and add 500 to that number as shown below:

RMR= 22 x 86.45 + 500 = 2402

Therefore my resting metabolic rate is about 2400 calories per day. Everyone have their RMR figured out? Good, let's move on.

Step #2: Cost of Activity

The Cost of Activity represents how many calories are required to move your butt around during the day. This includes the cost of walking out to your car, scraping the ice off the damn thing, driving to work, pinching the secretary's ass, going to lunch with the boys, and of course, training after work. These factors make up about 20 to 40% of your daily caloric intake based on your activity level. So let's figure out your costs of activity. I'll use myself as an example again.

Determining Activity Costs:

Cost of Daily Activity is equal to the RMR you calculated above multiplied by an activity factor that fits your daily routine. I've listed some common activity factors below:

Activity Factors:

1.2-1.3 for Very Light (bed rest)

1.5-1.6 for Light (office work/watching TV)

1.6-1.7 for Moderate (some activity during day)

1.9-2.1 for Heavy (labor type work)

Note: Don't consider your daily workout when choosing a number. We'll do that later.

With this information we can get back to determining my calorie needs. Since I work at a university, most of my day is pretty sedentary. Even though I run back and forth between the lab and classes, I've selected 1.6 as my activity factor. Therefore the amount of calories it takes to breathe and move around during the day is about 3800 calories as shown below:

RMR x Activity Factor = 2400 calories x 1.6 = 3800 calories

Costs of Exercise Activity:

Next, we need to determine how many calories your exercise activity burns so that we can factor this into the totals. Exercise activity can be calculated simply by multiplying your total body mass in kilograms (as calculated above) by the duration of your exercise (in hours). Then you'd multiply that number by the MET value of exercise as listed below. (MET or metabolic equivalent, is simply a way of expressing the rate of energy expenditure from a given physical activity.)

MET values for common activities:

high impact aerobics&#8230; 7

low impact aerobics&#8230; 5

high intensity cycling&#8230; 12

low intensity cycling&#8230; 3

high intensity walking - 6.5

low intensity walking - 2.5

high intensity running&#8230; 18

low intensity running&#8230; 7

circuit-type training&#8230; 8

intense free weight lifting&#8230; 6

moderate machine training&#8230; 3

So here's the formula:

Cost of Exercise Activity = Body Mass (in kg) x Duration (in hours) x MET value

And here's how I calculate it for myself:

Exercise Expenditure for weights = 6 METS X 91kg x 1.5 hours = 819 calories

Exercise Expenditure for cardio = 3 METS X 91 kg x .5 hours = 137 calories

Add these two together and I burn 956 total calories during one of my training sessions.

Since my training includes about 90 minutes of intense free weight training and 30 minutes of low intensity bicycling (four times per week), my exercise energy expenditure might be as high as 1000 calories per training day!

The next step is to add this exercise number to the number you generated when multiplying your RMR by your activity factor (3800 calories per day in my case).

So 3800 calories + about 1000 calories = a whopping 4800 calories per day! And we're not done yet! (Note: I rounded 956 up to 1000 for the sake of simplicity. If you're a thin guy trying to gain muscle, it's better to round up anyway than to round down.)

Step #3: Thermic Effect of Food

TEF is the amount of calories that it takes your body to digest, absorb, and metabolize your ingested food intake. This makes up about 5 to 15% of your total daily calorie expenditure. Since the metabolic rate is elevated via this mechanism 10 to 15% for one to four hours after a meal, the more meals you eat per day, the faster your metabolic rate will be. This is a good thing, though. It's far better to keep the metabolism high and eat above that level, than to allow the metabolism to slow down by eating infrequently. Protein tends to increase TEF to a rate double that of carbs and almost triple that of fats so that's one of the reasons why I'm a big fan of protein meals.

Determining the Thermic Effect of Food:

To determine the TEF, you need to multiply your original RMR value (2400 in my case) by 0.10 for a moderate protein diet or 0.15 for a high protein diet. So this is what the formula looks like:

TEF = RMR x 0.10 for moderate protein diet (1 gram per pound of bodyweight)

TEF = RMR x 0.15 for high protein diet (more than 1 gram per pound of bodyweight)

Since I eat a very high protein diet (about 350 to 400 grams per day), I use the 0.15 factor and my TEF is about 360 calories per day as displayed by the calculation below:

Thermic Effect of Food = 2400 calories x 0.15 = 360 calories per day

Now add that to your calorie total.

Step #4: Adaptive Thermogenesis

I like to call Adaptive Thermogenesis the "X factor" because we just aren't sure how much it can contribute to daily caloric needs. Some have predicted that it can either increase daily needs by 10% or even decrease daily needs by 10%. Because it's still a mystery, we typically don't factor it into the equation.

Just for interest's sake, one factor included in the "X factor" is unconscious or spontaneous activity. Some people, when overfed, get hyper and increase their spontaneous activity and even have been known to be "fidgety." Others just get sleepy when overfed - obviously the fidgeters will be burning more calories that the sleepy ones.

Other factors include hormone responses to feeding, training, and drugs, hormone sensitivity (insulin, thyroid, etc), stress (dramatically increases metabolic rate) or temperature induced metabolic changes (cold weather induces increased metabolic activity and heat production).

With all that said, you don't need to do any math on this part or fiddle with your calorie total. This is just something to keep in mind.

Step #5: Putting it all together

Okay, so how many damn calories do you need to consume each and every day? Well, adding up RMR plus activity factor (3800 calories in my case), cost of weight training (819 calories), cost of cardio (137 calories), and TEF (360 calories), we get a grand total of about 5116 calories! (Remember, that's just my total. You'll get a different number.)

Individual Differences - Are You Sensitive?

In the last section I recommended splitting six daily meals up into about three protein and carb meals and about three protein and fat meals. This plan works well for most people in terms of maximizing muscle gain while minimizing fat gain when overfeeding. However, just like different training programs are necessary for different individuals, individual responses to nutrition are varied. So rather than telling you that there's one program for all, I hope to give you some tips so that you can determine which eating plan is best for you.

The factors governing your response to different nutritional intakes are pretty diverse, but one major factor I've been focusing on lately is insulin and glucose tolerance. In my mind, insulin sensitivity seems to be the most important factor dictating how the body will handle carbs. For those who have high insulin sensitivity, the body responds to carb intake with small insulin surges. Although the insulin surges are small, the cells are very responsive to that little amount of insulin and do a great job of becoming anabolic. Since lots of insulin can inhibit fat loss, the ideal scenario is to become very insulin sensitive so that only small amounts of insulin are required for anabolism and so that those small amounts of insulin don't prevent fat loss.

In my experience, individuals who have high insulin sensitivity maximize their muscle to fat ratio on diets that are high in carbs and lower in fat (50% carbs, 35% protein, 15% fat). Those with moderate insulin sensitivity tend to do best on diets that are more isocaloric (30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% fat). And those with poor insulin sensitivity do best on diets that are low in carbs (50% protein, 35% fat, 15% carbs).

So within the framework of this article, if you're highly insulin sensitive, more than three of your daily meals would be carb plus protein meals. If your insulin sensitivity isn't so great, more than three of your meals will be protein plus fat.

Insulin Sensitivity - I Want Your Blood

So the next question is how do you know if you're sensitive or not? Did you cry at the end of Titanic when Leonardo DiCaprio's character sank like a blue Freezer Pop into the North Atlantic? Well, there you go; you're sensitive. Me? I cried like a baby. Okay, okay, actually there are several methods.

The easiest thing to do is just think about what types of diets you respond to best. If low carb diets work great for you, then you're probably insulin insensitive. If you can eat a lot of carbs and not get fat then you're probably insulin sensitive. If you'd like something more concrete than that, read on.

Some experts use very simplistic recommendations for testing insulin sensitivity, methods I disagree with. For example, I've heard the statement that if you have an apple-shaped physique or if you get sleepy after a carb meal then you're insulin resistant (insensitive). In my opinion, these are way too non-specific and tell you very little about your nutrient needs or if you're making progress.

Instead, I prefer methods that, although more time consuming, are objective. The first is an oral glucose tolerance test. For this you need to go to your local pharmacy and purchase a glucometer, some glucose test strips, and a standard glucose beverage (ask your pharmacist about this because it has to be a specific kind. Pepsi won't work). Once you've got the goods, you'll plan your test.

After going at least 24 hours without exercise (do this test after a day off from training), you'll wake up in the morning (fasted at least 12 hours) and you'll take a blood sample from your finger tip. Write down this number. Then drink your glucose beverage and continue to take blood samples at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. Record all the numbers at each time point. Here's a little chart of what you should expect:

Normal Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance

Excellent Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance

Fasted Blood Glucose

<100mg/dl

<70mg/dl

Peak Blood Glucose

<180mg/dl at peak

<130mg/dl

Time to Maximum Blood Glucose Level

30-60 minutes

15-30 minutes

Time Back to Fasted Glucose Level

30-60 minutes

60-90 minutes

The second test that I like to recommend for assessing insulin sensitivity is a fasted glucose and insulin test. For this you need to see your doctor. This test is simply a blood draw in the fasted state. It's easy to do. Just schedule an appointment, the nurse will do a single blood draw, and then the lab will measure the levels of insulin and glucose in your blood at this time. Using one of the following equations, you'll have both an insulin sensitivity score and a pancreatic responsiveness score:

Insulin Sensitivity =

Fasted Insulin (mU/L) / 22.5 x E to the X e-ln(Fasted Glucose (mmol/L))

or

Fasted Insulin (pmol/L) x (Fasted Glucose (mmol/L) / 135)

Pancreatic Beta Cell Function =

(20 x Fasted Insulin (mU/L)) / (Fasted Glucose (mmol/L)-3.5)

or

(3.33 x Fasted Insulin (pmol/L) / (Fasted Glucose (mmol/L)-3.5)

If you're not a math whiz or don't own a calculator, have your doctor do the math for you. Remember, you have to go to his office to get the test done in the first place. Once you have these values, compare your numbers to the following to see how sensitive you are:

Insulin Sensitivity

Lower score = more sensitive

Normal insulin sensitivity: score should be below 2

Excellent insulin sensitivity: score will be around 0.5

Pancreatic Beta Cell Function

Higher = better pancreatic function and insulin release

Normal pancreatic function: score should be about 100

Excellent pancreatic function: score will be above 200

Once you've collected these measures, you'll have a better indication of what type of diet you need to consume. I recommend doing these tests at least once every few months to see how your diet and training is impacting your insulin sensitivity.

Let's Get Sensitive!

So let's assume that you've done the tests mentioned above and you weren't happy with the results. You're insulin insensitive and, dammit, you don't like it! Well, instead of resigning yourself to a flabby midsection for the remainder of your days there are some things you can do to increase insulin sensitivity.

Both aerobic and resistance training greatly increase insulin sensitivity through a variety of mechanisms. So include both in your program. I've seen tremendous increases in insulin sensitivity with three to four intense weight training sessions per week lasting 1 to 1.5 hours per session. These sessions should be coupled with at least three or four aerobic sessions lasting 30 minutes per session. To really target insulin sensitivity, you'd want to perform weight training and cardio separately.

In addition, supplements like omega 3 fatty acids, fish oils, alpha-lipoic acid, and chromium can increase insulin sensitivity. I typically recommend starting out with 600 mg of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and concentrated fish oils containing a total of six to ten grams of DHA and EPA (the most active omega 3 fats in fish oils).

On the flip side, stimulants like ephedrine and caffeine can decrease insulin sensitivity due to their effects on metabolism. Furthermore, the low carb, high-fat diets that have become popular can also lead to decreased insulin sensitivity. That's why my trainees don't take stimulants or go on no-carb diets (unless they're dieting down for a show and then they'll do occasional no-carb diets every few months for a maximum of three weeks at a time).

So if your insulin sensitivity isn't ideal the first time you measure it, try the approaches I listed above. Then go back after a month or two and re-test. You'll see that the numbers look much better.

Individual Differences - Experimentation

Even though the last section will help you better define where you stand with the insulin issue, probably the most productive way of determining which eating program is best for you is to experiment on yourself. So for eight weeks, I encourage you to follow a 50% carb, 25% protein, and 15% fat diet that exceeds your energy needs (as determined in Part I of this article). During this time, record your gains in terms of muscle mass and fat mass. This will give you a muscle:fat ratio.

Then go back to your normal eating for eight weeks. After those eight weeks, try a new diet of 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat for eight more weeks. Again record the muscle:fat ratio.

After these 24 weeks you should know which type of diet is more effective for your body type. I know it seems like quite a bit of time to devote to figuring out your eating needs, but assuming that you've been training for years or plan to be training for years to come, 24 weeks is only a small period of time. In addition, the results of your efforts will be applicable for the rest of your life.

Remember, however, that when constructing your eating plan you must realize that just because you're following a diet with 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 15% fat or a diet 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat, that doesn't mean that each meal is made up of these proportions. In fact, the meals should not all be of these proportions because this will mean undesirable blood levels of fat, carbs, and insulin. So using the techniques I taught you during the meal combination section, design a plan that has different proportions of macronutrients during different meal times but that achieves the optimal proportions of (40-30-30 or 50-25-15) by the end of the day.

http://t-mag.com/html/146mass.html

http://t-mag.com/html/147mass.html

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_previous/01.html (this outlines adapting it for cutting)


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Hey, before I read this (really long but I like to read). I was thinking alot about the carbs being so high in the morning and fats being so high at night. Im keeping an open mind here and I was thinking alot about this (I think too much). Anyway there might be something here.

I am going to the pub to have a pint or 3 and when I get back I will give this a good read.

Oh, as per uaual I am not always right but thanks for the complament anyway

I tend to over analize everything and my girlfrend hates it.

Give me a minute and thanks for posting back.

Oh Muscle, you have a PM awaiting for you


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Musclehed. I know why you are using the name Musclehed. It is because this is some heavy shiit. I was doing fine with all the numbers and I didn't keep track of the original numbers and when it asked for the TEF I had to start over. This is very impressive. Damn impressive.  Nice going Musclehed.


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## Musclehed (Feb 17, 2004)

http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/july262002/na_masscalculator.htm

There you go guys, a calculator to do it all for you.. It's that easy


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

That thing is awsome. You are the man. I came up with 4100 calories. For some reason I dont think I eat that much. I will have to count it all up.


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Trying to figure out all the numbers got me stressed. Dividing instead of multiplying. Worked at it for about 15 minutes and probably burned about 500 cals from getting frusterated.

I had to give up then I felt like a knucklehead.

Now that the calculator is all there It will be easier.

Thanks I will give it a look over today.


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## dandare (Apr 11, 2004)

Exactly the same problem as i had. Lean arms and legs with love handles and flabby chest! I'm 6 weeks into dieting and have transformed mine. Still a long way to go but can see light at the end of the tunnel!!! I kept things simple weights 3-4 times weekly split routine each body part once weekly, cardio 4-6 times weekly low intensity 30 - 60 mins. Low carb (low gi) high protein healthy fats (don't like saturated in my system) dropped 10 LLbs in 6 weeks lean mass staying static. So much info around and different opions keep it simple its esier to stay strict. I've just started doing cardio before breakfast for 2 of my cardio sessions a week and interested to see how that affects me. Gone from 28% bodyfat now hovering around 19% looking to hit 15% next couple of months. Good luck!! Consistency Consistency Consistency.


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Hey that is good dandare! Keep it up you will get there.


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