Its been a long time since my last post. I am really sorry about it, but things have been crazy. I have been setting up a new enterprise dedicated to strength training. I will post links to it shortly.
I was thinking about the posts that I have done, and realized that I am yet to write anything about dieting. So I thought it would be appropriate.
First of all, I want to state the obvious that dieting is not eating less or more, it is following a certain dietary pattern for a pre determined amount of time in order to achieve certain clear objectives. In this sense, it is no different from training.
All right, let me first state what I think are the golden rules of making any dietary regime work-
1. HAVE CLEAR OBJECTIVES. Know exactly what you want. Too many people try to do too many things at the same time, just like in training. It is simply not possible to pursue more than 2 or 3 objectives simultaneously.
2. Reconcile these objectives with your long term goals. If you ultimate goal is to compete in weightlifting in the 82 kg weight category at 10% bodyfat, and you are currently 13% bodyfat at 76 kg, don't lose fat first. Get to 85-86 at 13%, then cut to 81-82. The point is, you objectives should help you reach your goals, not hinder you.
3. Have clear time lines. How long do you have to reach your goals? Break them into objectives and work backwards.
4. Focus on no more than 2-3 related objectives at a time.
Beyond these four I have some secondary principles, which I think all diets should have, but are not deal breakers-
1. Prioritize overall cardiovascular and Endocrinol health in the long run.
2. Prioritize unprocessed foods.
3. Prioritize vegetables first, then fruits. then proteins, then nuts, seeds and shoots and then everything else.
4. High water intake is essential.
5. High fiber is important
6. High anti oxidant consumption is very useful.
7. Do not fluctuate from your weight maintenance levels (adjusting for activity) by more than 500 calories a day.
8. Carb cycling is essential. Some days you need to eat more, some days a little less.
9. Infrequent and occasional over eating is essential for psychological satisfaction.
10. Infrequent and occasional starvation is essential for detoxification and Endocrinol health.
11. Generally (80% of the time) maintain a consistent eating pattern.
I realize that these are a lot of principles and most of the time you will not be able to follow all of them. This is fine, but my rule of thumb is that if a diet breaks more than 5 rules completely, it will not be sustainable or healthy and may not even fulfill its objectives. There are exceptions, but even those exceptions will not be beneficial in the long run.
Having gotten that out of the way, lets talk about how to construct a diet. All diets aim at one or more of the following objectives-
1. Gain Muscle- You will need to eat more calories than you expend, and get a decent protein intake.
2. Maintain Body fat- You will need to focus on eating clean food with a lot of fiber and water, and staying generally satisfied while avoiding extreme carbs and extreme high calorie foods.
3. Reduce bodyfat- A high protein intake combined with the right exercise regime, reduced carb consumption, consistent carb cycling and ensuring healthy endocrine function are essential.
4. Reduce weight- Eat less calories than you expend.
5. Improve Endocrinol Health- Regular detoxification, high anti oxidant consumption, periodic carb reduction and carb increase with a consistent volume of food and infrequent starvation and over eating are important.
6. Improve Cardiovascular health- Reduce bodyfat and increase activity levels. Restricting of certain foods will be necessary. Please speak to your doctor for this.
7. Improve blood work- Specific increase or decrease of macro and micro nutrients.
In the next post, we will analyse how to pursue these objectives in detail, which ones can be pursued together and how to combine this with an exercise program.
I was thinking about the posts that I have done, and realized that I am yet to write anything about dieting. So I thought it would be appropriate.
First of all, I want to state the obvious that dieting is not eating less or more, it is following a certain dietary pattern for a pre determined amount of time in order to achieve certain clear objectives. In this sense, it is no different from training.
All right, let me first state what I think are the golden rules of making any dietary regime work-
1. HAVE CLEAR OBJECTIVES. Know exactly what you want. Too many people try to do too many things at the same time, just like in training. It is simply not possible to pursue more than 2 or 3 objectives simultaneously.
2. Reconcile these objectives with your long term goals. If you ultimate goal is to compete in weightlifting in the 82 kg weight category at 10% bodyfat, and you are currently 13% bodyfat at 76 kg, don't lose fat first. Get to 85-86 at 13%, then cut to 81-82. The point is, you objectives should help you reach your goals, not hinder you.
3. Have clear time lines. How long do you have to reach your goals? Break them into objectives and work backwards.
4. Focus on no more than 2-3 related objectives at a time.
Beyond these four I have some secondary principles, which I think all diets should have, but are not deal breakers-
1. Prioritize overall cardiovascular and Endocrinol health in the long run.
2. Prioritize unprocessed foods.
3. Prioritize vegetables first, then fruits. then proteins, then nuts, seeds and shoots and then everything else.
4. High water intake is essential.
5. High fiber is important
6. High anti oxidant consumption is very useful.
7. Do not fluctuate from your weight maintenance levels (adjusting for activity) by more than 500 calories a day.
8. Carb cycling is essential. Some days you need to eat more, some days a little less.
9. Infrequent and occasional over eating is essential for psychological satisfaction.
10. Infrequent and occasional starvation is essential for detoxification and Endocrinol health.
11. Generally (80% of the time) maintain a consistent eating pattern.
I realize that these are a lot of principles and most of the time you will not be able to follow all of them. This is fine, but my rule of thumb is that if a diet breaks more than 5 rules completely, it will not be sustainable or healthy and may not even fulfill its objectives. There are exceptions, but even those exceptions will not be beneficial in the long run.
Having gotten that out of the way, lets talk about how to construct a diet. All diets aim at one or more of the following objectives-
1. Gain Muscle- You will need to eat more calories than you expend, and get a decent protein intake.
2. Maintain Body fat- You will need to focus on eating clean food with a lot of fiber and water, and staying generally satisfied while avoiding extreme carbs and extreme high calorie foods.
3. Reduce bodyfat- A high protein intake combined with the right exercise regime, reduced carb consumption, consistent carb cycling and ensuring healthy endocrine function are essential.
4. Reduce weight- Eat less calories than you expend.
5. Improve Endocrinol Health- Regular detoxification, high anti oxidant consumption, periodic carb reduction and carb increase with a consistent volume of food and infrequent starvation and over eating are important.
6. Improve Cardiovascular health- Reduce bodyfat and increase activity levels. Restricting of certain foods will be necessary. Please speak to your doctor for this.
7. Improve blood work- Specific increase or decrease of macro and micro nutrients.
In the next post, we will analyse how to pursue these objectives in detail, which ones can be pursued together and how to combine this with an exercise program.
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