The Big Picture: Your Body Blueprint

"If you don't have your diet down, don't waste time going to the gym."


Jay Cutler said it and guess what, he's right!!! I will make sure this is where you find the answers to the real tips no one is telling you! I will bullshit you not!


The most gains I have ever seen have been when I was on my balanced diet AND doing the damn thing at the gym.  Some studies argue that at least 70-90% of how you look is based on your diet and training is only 10-30% impacting on your body.  Yup! If you thought that going to the gym is the only thing you should do, think again!!! Your body WILL get used to the gym if you are one of those people who just try to "work it off" after cheating.


Your Body Blueprint
To piggyback off of last week's blog on your physique/somatotype (ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph), the answer to getting and maintaining your ideal physique is largely based on your breakdown of macronutrients; carbs, protein and fat, usually, in that order. For example, bodybuilders are recommended to be on a diet that is comprised of 50% carb, 30% protein and 20% fat. These are breakdowns I only wish someone had informed me on years ago. Which is exactly why I'm telling you. Tom Venuto, author of Feed the Muscle, Burn the Fat, has appropriately named this diet the "Baseline Diet". This is the normal recommended balanced diet for anyone of any body type that is moderately active.You can do as many push ups as you want in a day, but if you are an advanced athlete that does NOT have this knowledge I'm not sure how far, if anywhere at all, what you do in the gym will get you.  You see because the macronutrient breakdown is your blueprint to looking hard, soft, or in-between...whatever your goal is.  And because everyone's body is different and everyone has different specific goals the same exact macronutrient breakdown won't work for everyone. This is exactly why it is just that, a "baseline". So you can begin to customize/alter your macronutrients for yourself to see what works.


After struggling myself for a year or so, in limbo, I tried to figure out what to do next to take my body to the next level. I had hit a wall where I was seeing gains very slowly until I decided to take a friend's advice to change up my macronutrient breakdown--one that would be conducive for my body type; mesomorph. Within a week of doing my usual 5 meals a day, timed, with carbs, protein and fat in each meal and sometimes eating oatmeal at night two hours before bed but reaching my carb macronutrient count I saw fabulous gains within one week.  Areas tightened up that I had worked on vigorously in the gym morphed almost overnight it seemed. I had been starving myself on low carb diet that I had made my lifestyle. This put me in starvation mode.  Folks, you really can't do the same thing over and over again. Even your macronutrient count which I will, for now, call your body blueprint MUST be altered. It will stop working. Steady state cardio WILL stop working. Switch it up!!


Fiber: A Miracle Nutrient
I was so elated when I finally figured it out. I was eating more real food and more carbs and getting smaller. I was taking the advice that carbs are NOT bad, (after realizing I wasn't as 'carb-sensitive' as I had thought) if you eat them right and know which ones to eat AND expel them right (HIIT training :) for optimal results.


I have never felt soo good eating soo much fiber. It is said to boost metabolism, make you feel fuller which in turn makes you eat less. I actually don't feel hungry after eating my meals when I have damn near every meal with at least 5 grams of fiber! Women typically need around 25 and men 30 grams. Your body needs this nutrient or you may always be hungry! Ever heard of the term "Net carbs"? For example, if you are trying to reach a macronutrient count of 150 grams of carbs per day and 30 grams of those carbs are fiber you can take:


150-30 = 120 grams of carbs that will stay with you until burnt off. The 120 grams of carbs are your NET carbs. The other 30 that were fiber will run straight through you so its like you don't have to count them because they were disposable carbs just from digestion. Fabulous picture huh?? This is important to know if you are on a diet and you have specific grams you need to reach for your body blueprint where you can decide if you want some leeway in undercutting the grams if you know you have NOT expelled that extra energy.


How to figure out Your Macronutrient Breakdown
Alright, here's the real talk to figure out all this mumbo jumbo trainer jargon. In this month's issue of Muscle and Body Magazine (that GNC magazine) shared this important info with its readers on macronutrient breakdown.


For example, if you are a female on a 1500 calorie diet going by the "baseline diet" (50,30, 20) and you know that's the amount of calories it takes for you to lose weight (when trying to lose specific pounds per week, to lose one its suggested -500 calories from your regular intake) you then multiply:
 1500 x .5 = 750 calories of carbs for the day
750 / 4 = 187.5 grams of carbs - You divide by 4 because 4 is the "fuel factor" for carbs


Next we will figure out grams of protein:
1500 x .3 = 450 calories of protein for the day
450 / 4 = 112.5 grams of protein for the day  - 4 is also the fuel factor for protein. The amount of energy it takes to burn off carbs is the same amount of energy it takes to burn off protein. However, your body uses carbs as its first source. So if you are trying to maintain or build muscle it is important you have sufficient carbs to preserve the muscle and be able to build new muscle with sufficient carbs! I learned this the hard way....of course!!


Lastly, grams of fat:
1500 x .2 = 300
300 / 9 = 33 grams of fat - You will notice here that the fuel factor for fat is 9. This is because fat takes the longest to burn which is why steady state cardio is soo popular when trying to lower bodyfat while still preserving muscle. The problem with that is I know few people who like to be on the treadmill for hours in a day. (I will cover that more in-depth on Thursday.) This is why it is important to keep your fat low. Don't ever exclude it just keep it low.  Saturated fat is a big no-no as it tends to have the effect of being that gross sticky fat that clings to you. It is the hardest to burn off and is also said to be a fat that stays with you "permanently" after a certain point of eating so much of it. Your body can't catch up with burning it off as soon as you put more of it in your mouth. If you take nothing from this at all, check your saturated fat intake. I try to keep mine as close to 0 as possible with the exception of egg yolks. Egg yolks are the only good trans fat, yes i did say trans, that has the ability to burn bad fat. Its also known as CLA, (Conjugated linoleic acid- egg yolk fat) at your local vitamin or food stores in the supplement aisle. It is one of the few supplements I have actually seen a noticeable effect in decreasing the fat off of my abs. It is worth the buy!! I digress....


Recap: The Macronutrient Factors
Step 1: Calories for the day multiplied by  percentage of carbs/protein (in your macronutrient breakdown) = total carb and/or protein calories for the day


Step 2: Total carb/protein calories for the day divided by 4 (fuel factor) = total grams of protein or carbs to reach for the day


Step 3: Calories for the day X percentage of fat = total fat calories for the day /  9 (fuel factor for fat) = grams of fat for the day


Dare you to try out your macronutrient breakdown for a week on the 'baseline diet' and see what happens!


Kristened Results:
I recommend when doing your carbs start off with the first two meals with starchier carbs like oatmeal, oat bran or cream of wheat, the next two servings to be fibrous carbs; like beans and lentils and the last one or two servings closer to bedtime, green veggies.


Fat in your starchy carbs should be taken into account. Good fats like almonds, walnuts, olive oil, flaxseed should be used as main fatty items.


Protein should always be lean; extra lean turkey, extra lean beef, fish, chicken breasts and egg whites with the exception of a yolk or two.




"More than just a workout or diet...its a lifestyle." -Kristened


Don't take my word for it. READ!!!!!!!


Reading Sources/ E-Books:
Venuto, Tom. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. 
Geary, Michael. The Truth About Abs