I have been doing a lot of research lately, nothing new there, but lately it seems to all focus around one thing - what is the amount of calories we "actually" need to consume each day to succeed at fat loss? And also how we seem to be constantly over-eating way past the recommended amount of calories and getting unhealthier.
So let's take a look at how and why a lot of this happened.
What started out nearly a decade ago with the Body For Life program by E.A.S. to promote the education of non-bodybuilders in how nutrition supplements can assist limiting excess calories and increase nutrients continues to sweep the world today.
I even developed my own program that I ran within my Private Training Studio for my clients back in 1997/98 and the following year I designed a larger scale version that I offered to the fitness industry called "Mission Possible - It's all about RESULTS" but only a few clubs adopted it which led to them having renewed success with client retention. Of course any program that has a limited time frame for fat loss success instead of just offering improved fitness will attract the masses.
In the beginning of these "lifestyle programs" it used to be just supplement companies who ran these programs for large amounts of prize money for the "most successful" person who used their products (with the obligatory sad life story). Then there were a number of online programs and companies who after seeing the numbers of people who wanted to do this, which for E.A.S. was in the millions, adopted similar methods. So it has now become a mainstream phenomenum.
To compete and maintain their market share, even the major weight loss companies had trainer educators and nutritionists develop their own versions, to now even the Shopping Channels have versions that you can buy on monthly installments and from there it exploded to the present day where even the corner Chemist shops are promoting these programs that are based around a number of weeks, such as either 6/8/10/ or 12 weeks with a protein supplement.
But with so many of this type of "programs" now on the market today I am consistently challenged and question the people who are putting these programs together. They seem to be targeting the masses and encourage individuals to eat the same amount of calories each day. Why, as I believe this is contributing to the "growth" in the obesity statistics.
Now don't be confused. I will be the biggest advocate that we should be consuming more protein but put simply if you eat the same amount of calories everyday and do not exercise everyday then you may be contributing to your own ill-health. It doesn't make logical sense from a health perspective if we know most people are eating too much for me not to explore this further.
Let's try some basic mathematics.
If a program asks you to try to eat 2000-2400 calories everyday that means you consume between 14,000 and 16,800 calories a week. Is it me or does that seem a lot to then have to balance out with your personal "energy requirements" of daily living and then be supported by your levels of exercise.
Let's go further. If you work out three times a week, which is more than most people workout on average, and I will be generous here with your intensity expenditure, you "could be burning up to 500 calories" a workout, which is rare but means you ONLY account for 1,500 (output) calories of your 14,000 (intake) calories. Not really that many is it ....... which means you need to adjust or manipulate your calorie intake to meet your output.
Now to my latest "evolutionary" plan.
It's termed "Calorie Manipulation".
Remember we should constantly challenge what we are doing for our fat loss goal so that we continue to get better results (and healthier) and forms part of the ongoing education that I think we all need to learn about our Human ECO System. It encourages you to look at the way you adjust your daily intake of calories based upon your needs AND your fat loss goal. Simply if you don't exercise everyday then there seems to be no basis for consuming the same amount of calories or nutrients that would be required to cope with your daily demands on days you DO exercise.
Here is what I do.
My eating plan is simple yet effective.
Knowing that we are all time poor (and I am no exception) I try to look for easy, fast ways to get maximum nutrients. For me this means EVERY morning I do an "energy shake" focussing on 40-45g or protein mixed with water, some form of "Green foods powder" like barley and wheat grass, and I also take a multi-vitamin / multi-mineral tablet.
Mid morning snack can be either handful of almonds or green apple. Lunch is either salad with some form of leftover protein from previous evening meal or tin of tuna. Mid afternoon snack needs to be easy, so I always do another shake. Dinner is mostly salmon and salad or chicken or lean steak and depending on exercise I may have it with brown rice or cous cous.
Mandatory is regular glasses of water which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 depending on heat of day and yes it is normal to have regular toilet breaks (pee) regularly so stop telling me that you can't do it.
I do some form of activity five (5) days a week, so I manipulate my eating plan on exercise days to slightly increase consumption of carbohydrate intake with either brown rice (1 cup during the day and mostly eaten at lunchtime) or small amounts of cous cous.
Which ever I choose to consume it is still supported by my protein intake at EVERY meal as well as a source of good fats (like avocado or nuts or organic coconut oil in shakes) but not exceeding 30g a day. Those days that I don't exercise I maintain my protein and good fats intake with my sources of carbodydrate coming from salads and vegetables but NOT any other source.
Why focus on intensity?
Over the 20+ years I have been involved in changing the lives of others with training and education it is more often than not "those voices in our head" that limit our success by limiting our belief. These voices are very loud when we exercise with intensity - "it hurts", "this is hard", "I can't do it" are all limiting beliefs that can be "tuned out".
Intensity will ensure that no matter how long you exercise for whether it is 30 mins or 60 mins, you will be achieving your best effort every time which will further influence your metabolic results.
This slight reduction in total daily calories is then also supported by the days that I do train where I aim to be consistent with the intensity of my activities. For example on two of the days I teach an hour Spin (cycle) class and I encourage the class to focus on challenging their personal beliefs of what we are capable of doing. I know that personally I am working to the best of my ability to "use or burn" as many calories as I can which is both good for improving fitness levels and also for changing bodyshape.
I also do three days of lean muscle conditioning and this could either be a class (like PUMP or Bodybar) or it could be and all body free weight workout. This increases caloric expenditure both when working out and at all other times when lean muscle influences your metabolism.
Try this plan for one week. Write down what you eat and what exercise you do and see if you are achieving the best outcome for your health goals.
Remember - it's YOUR Body and it's YOUR Life !
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