Yup. I am typing lots LMAO. Surprise surprise. To make people's lives easier, i'm goign to post separate posts.
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Originally Posted by buxiaohui
add muscle (which will replace/burn the fat in the process, right?).
About my diet: I’ve read your recommendations, but still have several questions. I calculated (not sure if correct) my BMR at 1134; calories I need between 1580 (on off days)-1683 (on ‘on’ days) calories. Does anyone do zig-zag program dieting? If so, how do you do that? Zig-zag makes sense, but I admit that it doesn’t make sense to me to eat the SAME amount of calories on my off days.?..(Obviously, I’ll burn less calories on off days. I thought that weight loss came from calorie deficits, not surplus?!).
I’m terrible at math, but it’s extremely hard to add calories up- I’ve been to fitday.com, but they don’t have several items listed that I eat (such as, tonight I made this: grilled chicken breast, fresh tomatoes, fresh spinach, fresh bell pepper, and some vinaigrette wrapped in a corn tortilla. Of course, that wasn’t in there, and I would’ve had to calculate 6 different ingredients in miniscule portions). Can anyone else share how they calculate cals??
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It's hard to get a decent guestimate on your BMR unless you know what your bodyfat % is. Getting your bodyfat tested via callipers is usually cheap and effective. I wouldn't use those bioelectrical impedance ones that come on scales now... i remember just for fun, getting on mine 3 days prior a show and it read at 21%. No way in HECK i was at 21%, as i was competition-lean...so you see, that is QUITE the difference. Too many variables come into play with those things. The person doing the pinching on you (for calliper readings) should use 7-9 sites, and hopefully you can have the same person do it again for you later. Although calliper isn't 100% accurate either, it can get you pretty darn close. You take your weight and then using your bodyfat % do the math to acquire your LBM weight. From there, you can get an idea of a BMR, and remember, your BMR is not your "dieting range"...it is your caloric requirements to sustain life if you were laying in bed and not moving.
I am also a HUGE believer in tapering...what i mean is, for example. Maybe for some reason you are consuming 1,000 cal a day and have been doing this for quire some time. One day, you go and decide figure out what you need, so you calculate your LBM, your BMR and all that jazz, and voila. You learn that you should be eating in the 1,800 cal/day range. Maybe you are missing 800 cal/day but what would happen if you suddenly added that without working up to it? Yup. I can bet you it is very likely your body will go "what the hell do i do with this?!" and decide to store it. I've fallen into this trap myself LOL after the first year of competing, i went straight from high cardio and low cal to a "maintenance" diet & training. I didn't binge-eat, i still ate clean. And i STILL gained 30 lbs in no time, and boy did that suck! Not the smartest LOL. Since i have learned that tapering out (gradually reducing cardio and increasing calories) is a MUCH better system....physically AND mentally. So when you are creating and calculating a new diet, take into consideration where you are coming from. Generally it is a good idea to avoid steep "peaks and valleys" (weight gains and fluctuations) and aim for a weight loss/gain with a more gradual decline/incline grade.
Zig-zagging is a highly effective method of dieting. I use it myself. Some people will zig-zag calories, some just the macro nutrients (percentage of proteins, carbs, and fat). Usually for instance, if you train legs (generally a pretty intense workout for most people) you'd eat more than a day that was a rest day. I've subscribed to this idea in the past. Currently i've got this super-fantastic diet coach and i've been working with him for only a month, and i am LOVING his system...as i am seeing some awesome results. He actually has me on the same daily amount of calories, no matter what i'm training (and i get one rest day), but it's my macro nutrients that fluctuate. So a rest day (for me) has only approx. 40g of carbs. My heaviest training day has 150g of carbs, and the other days range between 70g-110g. But every day is always roughly the same amount of total calories. My fat grams are almost the same every day....so this means, when i have a higher carb day, i eat less protein, and vice versa (I"m not saying do MY diet, i'm just trying to illustrate with an example
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Now everyone diet is (and should be) slightly different, so don't be afraid to experiment a little. It also depends on what your goals are and if you are doing something sport-specific. For example, an on-season bodybuilding competition diet should NOT look like a marathoner or triathlete's diet.
Weight loss does come from a caloric deficit but there is also something to be said about the qualities of those calories. This is where 2+2 can equal 5. Make those calorie choices "clean", wholesome foods and you will have better results, guaranteed!!
Fitday is great, i calculate my cals on there. My diet is extremely boring...and i'm not goign to lie LMAO it took me years to get to this point where i can accept eating bland foods without feeling deprived or sorry for myself LMAO (don't get me wrong, i still LOVE taste, and junk food for that matter). I don't actually count vegetables as carbs or calories. I mean, i'm not eating 500 cal of broccoli (can you imagine? that's a LOT of broccoli). So in your example above (...way above LOL) i would, if it were me, just "count" the chicken and the tortilla. And depending on the vinegrette, probably that too. I don't have a lot of condiments so i don't worry about this stuff. I usually only use a bit of tabasco, franks' hot sauce, or maybe a wee bit of salsa (no sugar added). I never count these. You can rely on spices for taste too. (i wasn't lying when i said my diet is very boring LOL).