This is a step-by-step on using all the information presented to build your meal plans. Remember to do through this part once every 5 weeks because as you are losing weight your caloric needs will change so today’s calculations won’t be relevant 5 weeks from now.
=Put together the accelerated fat loss meal plan=
Step 1. Calculate your maintenance level calorie needs.
How to do this was presented in the “How many calories do you need?” section of this chapter.
The activity level coefficient you should choose as a beginner is Light Active (1.35 multiplier) because you will be doing three exercise sessions per week. When you reach intermediate or advanced level you can start using the moderate or very active multipliers.
So for now:
(Maintenance calorie needs) = (BMR calorie needs) x 1.35 (Light Active) [calories]
Example: Maintenance calorie needs for me.
| Stats: male, 20 years, 173 cm height, 81 kg, 12% body fat. BMR (Harris-Benedict) 66 + (13.7 x 81 kg) + (5x 173 cm) – (6.8 x 20 years) = 1904 calories 12% body fat -> 88% lean muscle mass; 0.88 x 81 kg = 71.28 kg lean body mass BMR (Katch-McArdel) 370+ 21.6 x 71.28 kg = 1909 calories You can see that both methods produce about the same result. My activity level multiplier: 1.35 (Light Active) (Maintenance calorie needs) = 1904 x 1.35 = 2570 calories. |
Step 2. Decide by how much you want to reduce your calorie intake.
A 15% to 20% calorie reduction should be enough, when combined with exercising, to produce steady fat loss. But it will take a lot of time with suck a small decrease in calorie intake to lose fat.
If you are impatient and/or very obese make a 25% to 30% calorie reduction.
Don’t go below 30% to prevent the starvation mode response.
So your calorie intake could be:
(Calorie intake) = (Maintenance calorie needs) – 0.20 x (Maintenance calorie needs)
Or for faster fat loss:
(Calorie intake) = (Maintenance calorie needs) – 0.30 x (Maintenance calorie needs)
Example: Calorie reduction needs for me.
| Because my body fat is quite low, 20% calorie reduction is enough for me. (Calorie intake) = (Maintenance calorie needs) – 0.20 x (Maintenance calorie needs) (Maintenance calorie needs) = 2570 calories. (Calorie intake)= 2570 – 0.20 x 2570 = 2056 ≈ 2000 calories |
Step 3. Calculate how much protein, carbs and good fats you should be eating.
All the calculations must be made using the (Calorie intake) calculated at step two.
40% of calories should come from carbs.
1 gram of carbs equals 4 calories.
50% of carbs should be starchy carbs. A portion of starchy carbs equals 15 grams.
50% of carbs should be starchy carbs. A portion of fibrous carbs equals 5 grams.
You should not eat any simple carbs (no fruit and dairy no refined foods; review simple carbs to see what you should not eat).
(Calories from carbs) = 0.40 x (Calorie intake) [calories]
(Grams of carbs) = (Calories from carbs) / 4 [grams]
(Grams of starchy carbs) = 0.50 x (Grams of carbs) [grams]
(Portions of starchy carbs) = (Grams of starchy carbs) / 15 [portions]
(Grams of fibrous carbs) = 0.50 x (Grams of carbs) [grams]
(Portions of fibrous carbs) = (Grams of fibrous carbs) / 5 [portions]
40% of calories should come from protein.
1 gram of protein equals 4 calories. A portion of fats equals 7 grams of protein.
(Calories from protein) = 0.40 x (Calorie intake) [calories]
(Grams of protein) = (Calories from protein) / 4 [grams]
(Portions of protein) = (Grams of protein) / 7 [portions]
20% of calories should come from good fats
1 gram of fat equals 9 calories. A portion of fats equals 5 grams of fats.
(Calories from fats) = 0.20 x (Calorie intake) [calories]
(Grams of fats) = (Calories from fat) / 9 [grams]
(Portions of fat) = (Grams of fats) / 5 [portions]
Example: The calculations made according to my calorie needs.
| (Calorie intake) ≈ 2000 calories (Calories from carbs) = 0.40 x 2000 calories = 800 calories (Grams of carbs) = 800 calories / 4 calories =200 g (Grams of starchy carbs) = 0.5 x 200 g = 100 g (Portions of starchy carbs) = 100 g / 15 g ≈ 6.6 portions (Grams of fibrous carbs) = 0.5 x 200 g = 100 g (Portions of fibrous carbs) = 100 g / 5 g = 20 portions (Calories from protein) = 0.40 x 2000 calories = 800 calories (Grams of protein) = 800 calories / 4 calories = 200 g (Portions of protein) = 200 g / 7 g ≈ 28.5 portions (Calories from fats) = 0.20 x 2000 calories = 400 calories (Grams of fats) = 400 calories / 9 calories ≈ 45 g (Portions of fats) = 45 g / 5 g = 9 portions |
Observation: After doing you will see that the number of portions is large. For example 20 portions of protein sounds a lot but, on this eating system, portion sizes are very small – if you were eating chicken you would get the 7 g of protein found in a portion from a piece of meat the size of a matchbox.
Step 4. Redo step 3, only this time make the calculations for maintenance level caloric intake.
You need to know how many portions of fat, carbs and protein you should be eating to maintain your current weight because, as mentioned in “How to adjust your calorie consumption for fat loss”, you will be zigzagging your calories: 3 days fat loss and one day maintenance.
There’s no point to rewrite the formulas again, just redo step 3 but this time using the (Maintenance calorie needs) calculated at step one.
Example: The calculations made according to my calorie needs.
| (Calorie intake) = (Maintenance calorie needs) = 2570 calories. ≈ 2500 calories The calculations are simple so I won’t waste more time on this. |
Step 5. Calculate the amount of water you should be drinking.
Water consumption should be:
On high calorie days: (Maintenance calorie needs) {calculated at step 1} x 1.25 ml
On low calorie days: (Caloric intake) {calculated at step 2} x 1.25 ml
Feel free to increase the quantity if you want to but no more than 1.5 per calorie “burned” and remember to drink water every 2 hours even if you are not thirsty.
Example: Amount of water I need on a low calorie day.
| (Calorie intake) ≈ 2000 calories (water) = 2000 x 1.25 = 2500 ml = 2.5 liters |
Step 6. Spread your portions over the four meals a day according to the menu template.
You need to do this operation once for maintenance level and once for reduced calorie intake, again because of the zigzag.
The menu template looks like this:
Meal 1 – Lean Protein (medium serving), Starchy carbs (medium serving)
Meal 2 – Lean Protein (medium serving), Starchy carbs (medium serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables)
Meal 3 - Lean Protein (medium serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables), good fats
Meal 4 - Lean Protein (medium serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables), good fats
Your are eating a medium serving of protein with every meal which means that your are eating approximately (Portions of protein)/4 portions of protein at every meal.
The same with fibrous carbs and good fats: you are eating (Portions of fibrous carbs)/3 portions of fibrous carbs at every one of the 3 meal you will be serving fibrous carbs at and eating (Portions of fat)/2 portions of good fats at each of the 2 meals involving good fats consumption.
The way you should eat starchy carbs is 2/3 of total starchy carb portions at the first meal and the rest (1/2) at the second one.
When the number of portions per meal is not a round number round; example if you would calculate that you need 6.34 portions of something per meal then round the number to 6.
After you calculate the portions rewrite the menu template using the appropriate portions for every meal.
Example:
| The protein, carb and fat portions that should be used are the ones calculated at step 3 and 4. Calculations for reduced calorie intake(using the number of portions calculated at step 3): Protein: 28.5 portions / 4 meals = 7 portions per meal. Fibrous carbs: 20 portions / 3 meals ≈ 6 portions per meal Starchy carbs - first meal: 6.6 portions x 2/3 of number of portions ≈ 4 portions - second meal: (rest of starch carb portions) = 2 Healthy fats: 9 portions / 2 meals ≈ 4 portions per meal The menu rewritten: Meal 1 – 7 portions protein, 3 portions starchy carbs Meal 2 – 7 portions protein, 3 portions starchy carbs, 6 portions fibrous carbs Meal 3 – 7 portions protein, 6 portions fibrous carbs, 4 portions fats Meal 4 – 7 portions protein, 6 portions fibrous carbs, 4 portions fats ------------------------------------- Total: 28 portions protein, 6 portions Starchy carbs, 18 portions fibrous carbs, 8 portions good fats Calculations for maintenance level calorie consumption using the number of portions calculated at step 4): It’s pretty straight forward so I’ll let you crunch the numbers. |
Step 7. Combine step 6 with foods from the approved lists to build efficient fat burning meals.
By step 7 you have 2 menu templates that present the amount of portions of protein, carbs and fat you should be eating in total and the way to arrange them in meals – one for maintenance level calorie intake (high calorie day) and the other of reduced calorie intake (low calorie day). Now all you got to do is look in the approved lists of foods and pic which ones you want to eat on a given day.
In the approved food lists, next to every food you will find the amount of it that should be considered a portion.
| Source | Portion size | Protein/portion |
| Chicken breast | 1 oz or 28.35 g | 7 g |
| … | …. | 7 g |
| Egg whites | 1 egg white | 7 g |
For example if I would have to eat 7 portions of protein at a meal, I could look at the approved list of protein sources (fragment of it presented above) and pick:
- a 7 oz piece of chicken or
- 7 egg whites or
- a 5 oz chicken breast and 2 egg whites.
| Source | Portion size | Starchy carbs/portion |
| Baked potato | 2 oz or 57 g | 15 g |
| … | … | … |
| Brown rice | 2.5 oz or 70g | 15 g |
For example if I would have to eat 2 portions of starchy at a meal, I could look at the approved list of starchy carb sources (fragment of it presented above) and pick:
· A 4 oz baked potato
· 5 oz brown rice
Example on how I could choose my portions on a low calorie day. The principles are the same for the high calorie day just there are more portions to eat then on the low calorie day.
| Here’s my menu template: Meal 1 – 7 portions protein, 4 portions starchy carbs Meal 2 – 7 portions protein, 2 portions starchy carbs, 6 portions fibrous carbs Meal 3 – 7 portions protein, 6 portions fibrous carbs, 4 portions fats Meal 4 – 7 portions protein, 6 portions fibrous carbs, 4 portions fats A meal build on this template: Meal 1 4 oz turkey breast boiled [4 portions of protein] 3 egg white omelet [3 portions protein] 4 oz oatmeal [4 portions starchy carbs] Meal 2 7oz Chicken breast [7 portions of protein] 4 oz baked potato (no butter toping) [2 portions starchy carbs] Green paper, tomato and cucumber salad (use some olive oil) [6 portions of fibrous carbs] Meal 3 7 oz water packed tuna [7 portions of protein] 3 cups broccoli [6 portions of fibrous carbs] a piece of avocado [4 portions good fats] Meal 4 7 oz lean beef [7 portions of protein] Peas and a carrot-celery salad [6 portions of fibrous carbs] A hand full of peanuts [4 portions good fats] |
Observations:
- Usually, it’s best to stick with one protein and starchy carb source per meal, but you can combine fibrous carb and fat sources.
- Always eat your protein first!
- Because fibrous carbs have very low calorie density you will be eating large quantities of them. The probability that you won’t be able to eat the recommended number of portions of fibrous carbs is very high. It’s not a problem if you can’t eat all of your fibrous carbs. Listen to your body, if you fill full don’t force feed yourself in order to meet the recommended number of portions, you’ll just be hurting yourself.
- It is possible to even gain weight first before you start losing fat .That’s because you are building your muscles and the bodies is receiving nutrients that it never received before that help it flourish. Don’t rely on your weight as a measurement for your progress – muscle is denser than fat meaning that roughly 3 lbs of muscle occupies the same amount of volume as 1 lb of fat. Remember that your goal is to lose fat not weight. There are situations where a person’s weight stayed the same during the diet but he replaced all of the fat with muscle mass and so, even if he weighed the same, his appearance changed completely – he reengineered a blob of fat into a lean, chiseled physic that is turning heads and demanding respect.
- Because of the amount of food that you will be eating the only way to make the diet work is to eat as clean as possible and pay special attention to the way your food is cooked (review “IV. How to eat your food for maximum fat loss.” )“Don’t eat food that is not found in the approved food lists.” for reasons why you should do this and how to do this).
- Don’t ruin your diet by eating junk food and simple carbs, saturated fats and trans fatty acid containing products (review the sections on simple carbs, saturated fats and trans fatty acids)
- Never drink your calories; the only liquid accepted is water!
- Zigzag your calorie intake for the best results: 3 low calorie days, followed by a high calorie day.
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