Easter. Honestly, I’m not kidding when I say that literally every month has a national holiday. The first week of this month saw the continuation of the nutrition kick that started in the twilight days of February. The first weekend in March I went out and bought foods that checked every box on my list (protein-rich, filling, low calorie, low fat, low carb, and low sugar). I landed on these categories for a variety of reasons.
Protein-rich because my reduction of calories resulted in less protein which would lead to muscle atrophy (muscles shrinking because there isn’t enough protein coming in per day to maintain/build them). This is the main thing that anyone out there wishing to build muscle mass needs to worry about. I will go more in-depth on this topic in a future weightlifting article. For now, this chart will help those wanting a quick guide to the ideal amount of protein (in grams) needed for each stage of bodybuilding. Keep in mind this is a generalistic chart and each person has a different composition and therefore need a different amount of protein based off of that.
Lose Muscle: <0.5% of current body weight (in grams)
Maintain Muscle: 0.5-0.8% of current body weight (in grams)
Gain Muscle: 0.8-1.3% of current body weight (in grams)
In order to figure out the ideal amount of protein on a case by case basis, simply take someone’s current weight, and multiply it by the multipliers shown above.
Moving on to filling. Foods that are high in protein tend to naturally be quite filling in general. But it’s very important that any weight loss diet consists of filling food. This is because, filling foods tend to reduce hunger as they take much longer to digest. In addition to feeling more full, the digestive system is active for longer when someone eats filling foods. The longer it’s active, the higher the BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
Low calorie was a pretty straightforward requirement. As I had a 1500 calorie per day limit, each of my meals had to have less calories in order for me to meet that goal.
Low fat is also a pretty straightforward requirement. The entire purpose of weight loss is usually to lose fat. If I was to eat fatty foods, I would unknowingly undo all the work I had done up until that point.
Low carbs. Clean carbohydrates such as whole grains and fruits are good for the body. There are two types of clean carbohydrates; complex and simple. Complex carbs are foods that are high in fiber and low in sugar. Foods such as legumes, peas, whole grains, and potatoes fall under this category of carbs. These are healthy as they contain fiber. The second type of carbs are simple. Foods such as fruits, milk, soda, and corn syrup. Naturally occurring simple carbs are good for you (fruit and milk) whereas artificial simple carbs are often high in sugar (soda and corn syrup). The final type of carbohydrates are known as refined carbs. Such foods include pasta and white bread. These foods are high in starch and low in nutritional ingredients. When I say low carbs, I’m referring to reducing the amount of refined and artificial simple ones while increasing complex carbs to compensate. I will go much further in-depth in my carbs article. For now, low carbs simply means, less artificial foods that are high in carbohydrates (certain protein bars and some types of jerky fall under this category).
Lastly, low sugar. Similar to the carbs, I only sought to eliminate refined sugars (cane sugar and refined honey) while increasing the amount of natural sugars (fruits and vegetables) to compensate.
The question then becomes; if I cut out all the things listed above, what did I eat? Well, some of the most readily available, protein-rich foods tend to be protein bars. The main issue with that is, protein bars tend to be high in sugar and artificial carbs to make them taste better. Same is true for many types of jerky. To counteract this, I bought protein bars that had low amounts of both and stuck to naturally flavored chicken and turkey jerky. This is because, beef jerky is red meat which tends to have a higher fat content than white meat (chicken and turkey). As for my other nutritional needs (vitamins and minerals), I bought vitamins, ate three fruits per day, and made sure to eat at least three servings of green vegetables per day.
As far as my cardio/weightlifting went, I improved across the board in weightlifting while my cardio remained at 45 minutes per day. This resulted in a regimen that looked something like this:
Chest Day:
10 minutes of pectoral flys (10 sets of 5 reps at 165 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of weighted crunches (10 sets of 5 reps at 95 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of chest press (10 sets of 5 reps at 80 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
Leg Day:
10 minutes of leg press (10 sets of 5 reps at 250 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of leg extensions (10 sets of 5 reps at 100 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of outward hip abductions (10 sets of 5 reps at 125 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
Overall, this month saw less work on my regimen and more work on my food. I recommend everyone who wishes to lose weight dedicate at least a week or two beforehand to research what foods they should be eating. Had I done this at the start of my journey, I’m sure I would have been able to lose the weight faster. This month also saw slight increases in my weightlifting. I ended the month at 158 pounds for a 6.1 pound loss that month and a total weight loss of 50.1 pounds. I had finally reached my goal which had me ecstatic. At the end of March, I made another goal: Weigh 150 pounds by the end of May. This goal was less weight per month, but it was harder to achieve as I didn’t have as much extra weight available to be lost. This meant, my body would fight harder to not lose the weight.
Right: I did myself a big service this month in fixing my nutrition. A big part of any fitness program is nutrition.
Wrong: As a consequence of focusing on nutrition, I didn’t really take the time to see if I needed to change my regimen.
