Flexible Dieting

Oh Hi! You kinda snuck up on me there! How are you?

Oh me?

I am doing fine, just fine.

No, don’t look behind that shower curtain, that’s, uh, syrup, yeah, maple syrup. I’m all thumbs today.

No you don’t wanna taste floor syrup, get up from there, you’re not an animal!

Speaking of maple syrup, isn’t it tasty? Wouldn’t it be nice to eat the foods you love and still reach your fitness goals? Well, come away from there, you nosy Nellie, and let’s discuss flexible dieting!

Flexible Dieting is basically setting up your calorie goals and eating how you want while still staying within your caloric limit. Do like Pop Tarts? If you don’t, well, there is no saving you, you are wrong, and you may very well be the anti-christ, but we’ll deal with that in a later article (we could rule the world together! Just let that soak in, you don’t have to answer now.)

Back to Flexible Dieting, in a previous article I discussed finding your caloric needs via the Harris-Benedict equation. So do that. Now whatever your goals may be we can break down your caloric needs into macro-nutrient categories: Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat. Now the macro breakdown will be different for everyone based on their personal goals and body chemistry. I can set them up for you for free but only if you are a member of TMAR, provided I don’t currently hate you. But, shameless plug alert, my gym offers a few different nutritional services for a reasonable fee, (cheaper than most people you may find online) just send an email using our contact form. My wife has her nutrition certification and is very good at her job! An example, you say? So glad you asked! I love examples!

Macro nutrient caloric breakdown is as follows: 4 calories per gram of Carbohydrates, 4 calories per gram of Protein, and 9 calories per gram of Fat. So if we know your caloric needs based on your goals we can further tailor your diet to make that goal easier to hit.

Example (totally random numbers here):

Calories per Day: 2750

Macro Break Down: 206 g of Protein (About 30%) 824 calories

275g of Carbs (About 40%) 1100 calories

92 g of Fat (About 30%) 828 calories

Now the numbers are not exact because the 4, 4, 9 calorie count per gram of protein, carbs, and fats respectively, is just a good estimate. So how do you use these numbers? Your goal would be to hit these numbers every day, so if these were your numbers (they’re not), you would need 206 g of protein, 275 g of carbs and 92 g of fat every day, throughout your meals.

One thing most would suggest is to eat around 50% of your carbs per day, in your pre and post workout meals, to help fuel you in the gym and recover, but there are many other protocols out there like Intermittent Fasting, that can help with plateaus and such, but I’m not getting into that here.

There are basic macro splits that will help you to either shed fat or build muscle, but the caveat is that everyone’s body chemistry is different so two people on the same calorie intake with the same split may experience entirely different results. You have to monitor your progress and adjust your macros and calories accordingly. Or hire a professional, wink, wink…

Now if you know your macro-nutrient split you can have fun with it. Think of it as a budget. You can spend your calories however you want. 4g of protein, 17g of carbs, and 9 g of fat in a ½ cup of ice cream! Can you make it fit your macro budget? Then eat that shit bro! Are there only 19 g of carbs in 1 oz of maple syrup? Drink up; an 8 oz glass would be 152 calories! (Seriously though, diabetes) The overall idea is to not just eat brown rice, chicken breast, and broccoli all the damn time. You want to eat healthy and get your vitamins and such but be flexible and eat good fucking food! Food is a huge part of all of our lives, every time we get together it is around food. Do your own research, measure your food and make your diet interesting. You can have fun foods in moderation and still reach your fitness goals!

PS: I am not a nutritionist; I am a bro-science practitioner. I cannot be held responsible if you follow my advice and end up fat, or dead, like maple syrup boy over there, uh, I mean….let’s just forget you ever met me…..ok?

Love and Kisses,

Darth Hype