Maintenance/Fat loss Menu Template

Calorie rations should be as following: 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat.

Meal 1 – Lean Protein (small serving), Starchy carbs (large serving), Simple carb (fruit) or Fibrous carbs (vegetables)

Meal 2 – Lean Protein (medium serving), Starchy carbs (medium serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables)

Meal 3 - Lean Protein (medium serving), Starchy carbs (medium serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables)

Meal 4 - Lean Protein (large serving), Starchy carbs (small serving), Fibrous carbs (vegetables), good fats

Observations:

• We will discuss what a large/medium/small serving is in the next section of this chapter.
• You can lose weight even on the Maintenance Menu if you decrease calories appropriately.

Protein

Protein is derived from animal foods (meat & dairy products).

1 gram of protein equals 4 calories.

Protein when digested is broken down and absorbed as amino acids. The body is constantly replacing old cells with new ones and the amino acids are the “building blocks” of the new cells.

What happens when you don’t eat enough protein is that your body goes in a state of catabolism (fancy word for cannibalism) - the body in desperate need of amino acids to maintain life itself starts to strip apart muscle tissues and organs ( as they are made out of amino acids) in order to get them.

A decrease in lean muscle mass leads to a decrease in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which translates into a decrease in total energy expenditure. If you look again at the calorie deficit equality you will realize that a decrease in total energy expenditure means a decrease in the calorie deficit so the fat loss rate will decrease or even worse hinder.

Now that you know why it’s important to consume enough protein, let’s established how much is enough.

The protein consumption recommended for people that try to lose fat and engage in physical activities (exercising) is about 30% - 40% of total calories.

The approved list of protein sources

Source	Portion size	Protein/portion
Chicken breast	1 oz or 28.35 g	7 g
Turkey breast	1 oz or 28.35 g	7 g
Fresh fish (cod, haddock, halibut, tuna)	1 oz or 28.35 g	7 g
Lean beef	1 oz or 28.35 g	7 g
Milk	1 cup	7 g
Egg whites	1 egg whites or 67 g	7 g

Where to get your calories from?

Calories are derived from food. There are 3 types of calories:

• carbohydrates
• protein
• fat

Super Food List part I

This is post is the second in a series of 7 posts aimed at detailing the official burn-body-fat.blogspot.com nutritional plan. More info about the series here. Also, make sure you check out:

Setting up the burn body fat fast nutritional plan - Part I

The following list contains the best choices you can make with regards to food selection.

For every piece of food mentioned you will find listed:

• The type of nutrient it is
• It’s role in maintaining optimal health
• Other things you need to be aware of

1. Lean Meats

Meat is a source of protein. The reason why lean meat is preferred is because of it’s low content of saturated fats.

Chicken and Turkey
Chicken and turkey meat (skinless and boneless) are two of the leanest meats you can find. Besides being very lean, they are also packed with vitamins and minerals: vitamin B6, zinc and iron.

Beef
Beef is another classic muscle building protein. Beef is the top food source of creatine – an amino acid compound that increases energy levels and protein synthesis.

The thing you have to look out for when buying beef is it’s saturated fat content, some cuts having more saturated fats then others.

Below is a chart with the caloric value and saturated fats content for different cuts of beef.

	Category	Cut of Beef	calories	Saturated fats (gr)
1	Lean Beef	Flank Steak	aprox 55 cal per 1 oz	2-3 gr per 1 oz
		Ground Beef
		Roast Beef
		Tender Lion
2	Medium fat Beef	Corned beef	aprox 75 cal per 1 oz	5 gr per 1 oz
		Ground beef (not marked extra lion)
		Prime Cut

Choose lean and extra lean beef cuts and you will be ok.

Pork

Pork is not recommended because of it’s high content of saturated fats.

You should avoid: sausages, bacon, cured meats, ham and fatty cuts of steak like T-bone and rib-eye.

Fish

Fish is a great choice because it’s a good source of protein. Also, fish meat contains a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids while containing little amounts of saturated fats.

Because of it’s rich omega-3 essential fatty acid content, fish should be a part of your diet.

Fish like salmon, tuna, cod, rough are all great choices.

Also, needless to say, you should try to eat fresh fish as much as possible. If you have to resort to canned fish, make sure they are water packed. This way you avoid the extra calories and saturated fats from oiled packed fish and/or other forms of packing.

2. Eggs

The protein in eggs has the highest biological value of protein of any other food. What this means is that it provides the body most of the amino acids it needs. Eggs are also a source of vitamin B12, essential for fat breakdown.

For a long time doctors and nutritionists advised people to avoid consuming eggs. The reason for this recommendation was that 2 eggs contain enough cholesterol to put you over your daily recommended value. Later research has shown that dietary cholesterol levels have a very little effect on blood cholesterol levels.

Some of the cholesterol can be cut out by removing the egg yolk.

You can best take advantage of the complete found in eggs by consuming mainly egg whites with the occasional whole egg.

3. Fat Free or Low Fat Dairy Products

Dairy products are a good protein source and contain high amounts of calcium. Adequate amounts of calcium are critical for building strong bones and fighting osteoporosis.

Also, A University of Tennessee study has found a link between calcium consumption and weight loss, people with high calcium intake losing twice the amount of body weight compared to those on low-calcium diets.

Based on these results, low fat yogurt, low fat milk, low fat cheese and cottage cheese can play an important role in your fat loss efforts.

Also, I recommend low fat milk as your primary source of calcium. Because it is a liquid, it takes a larger space in the stomach giving a sensation of satiety.

4. Protein Supplements

While your food intake should come from high quality whole food sources most of the time, during times when you can’t eat them, protein powders can be used to compensate.

The best protein powders are those containing milk protein isolate, whey protein isolates or rice protein isolates.

5. Green Vegetables

Green vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals that help neutralize free radicals (molecules that accelerate the aging process) and fight against cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity and osteoporosis.

Also, they are a critical part in your body changing diet. Their low caloric density, high fiber content and low glycemic index help keep insulin levels stable, making them great carbohydrate choices for non-post-workout meals.

The best vegetables are:

• Spinach
• Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, brussele sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage
• Salad: romaine, arugula, watercress
• Tomatoes
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Carrots
• Peppers
• Peas
• Mushrooms

An important detail is how vegetables are cooked. Deep frying them or covering them in heavy sauce is a big no-no. Preferably use alternative methods of cooking like: boiling, steaming or grilling.

Update (April 30, 2008): part two is available Super Food List part II

How meal composition affects fat loss

Insulin and glucagon – the unsuspected keys to successful fat loss

Insulin and glucagon play important metabolic roles.

Insulin is a storage hormone, promoting the storage of glucose as muscle and liver glycogen and the storage of dietary fat as triglycerides in the adipose tissue.

Glucagon is a release hormone. It triggers the release of stored fat and the breakdown of glycogen into glucose.

Insulin and glucagon are inversely pared hormones – when one is high the other is low. For this reason storage and release do not occur at the same time. Which process occurs at any given time depends on the insulin to glucagon ratio:

• insulin levels are higher then glucagon levels => glucose and fatty acid storage occurs
  
• glucagon levels are higher the insulin levels =>triglyceride release and glycogen breakdown occurs

For optimum fat loss glucagon levels must be, most of the time, higher then insulin levels so as to maximize the amount of triglycerides “broken down” and used for energy production.

The exception to this rule is the post workout state. Engaging in demanding physical activities leads to the depletion of glycogen stores. The aim of your post workout meal should be to increase insulin levels so as to promote the storage of dietary glucose as glycogen (replenish glycogen stores).

How does meal composition affect the insulin to glucagon ratio?

Kelly Monaco swears she is using my tips to look like this.

Insulin is secreted as a response to increased blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels are increased after carbohydrate consumption so insulin is super sensitive to carbohydrates.

Glucagon is secreted as a response to a decrease in blood sugar levels. Also, glucagon production is stimulated by protein intake.

Studies made on how meal composition affects the insulin to glucagon ratio have concluded that:

• After a mixed meal containing carbohydrates, protein and fats both insulin and glucagon levels rise but the insulin raise exceeds that of glucagon.
  
  
• After a protein and fat rich meal containing little or no carbohydrates, glucagon raises much more then insulin.

Based on these conclusions, you should make the following optimization

Include protein with every meal and limit the amount of carbohydrates eaten at every non post workout meal.

to make sure that a good amount of body fat is mobilized and "used for fuel".

Increased protein intake, faster fat loss?

Before laying out the guidelines for optimum protein consumption, let’s take a moment to examine what happens when not enough protein is consumed and to address the question of “How much protein does an active person need?”

How much protein does an active person need?

Protein has a mainly structural purpose in the body; the amino acids that result from the digestion of protein are used for the synthesis of non essential amino acids and other various compounds (different hormones, cell components etc.).

Besides the small amount of amino acids floating around in the blood stream and in the muscles, the body has no “real” storage mechanism for amino acids.

Because of this, it is critical to supply through your diet the amino acids the body needs for synthesis purposes. Failing to do so causes protein deficiency. When in a prolonged state of protein deficiency the body reacts by breaking down muscle tissue and, eventually, organ tissue to provide for it’s basic amino acid needs.

Now that you now what happens when the body is protein deprived, let’s tackle the issue of what is the minimum amount of protein a person needs to ingest in order to prevent muscle and organ tissue wastage and eventual death.

Before we talk numbers, a quick word on how protein needs are measured. The technique used to measure protein needs in different populations is the nitrogen balance technique.

The technique involves measuring the amount of nitrogen ingested (found in protein sources) and the amount eliminated through urine, sweat and feces.

When nitrogen coming in is equivalent to the amount being eliminated then there is nitrogen balance. What this means is that you are eating enough protein to prevent muscle and organ tissue breakdown but not enough to support the “building” of additional muscle tissue.

The results of studies conducted on nitrogen balance suggest that an amount of 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body mass should be consumed by sedentary people in order to maintain nitrogen balance.

As for minimal protein need of active people:

• A Rennie et al (1999) study showed that undergoing new training programs leads to a short term increase in protein needs and that this increase does not persist in the long term.
• A Butterfield and Calloway (1984) study suggests that chronical training leads to increased anabolic efficiency (more efficient protein use) therefore reducing the minimal amount of protein needed to maintain nitrogen balance. What this means is that active people may need less then the 0.8 g protein per kg required by sedentary people. The amount suggested is around 0.65 g protein per kg.

Now for the actual optimization part

In the section previous section I’ve indicated that studies suggest that a intake between 0.65 and 0.8 g protein per kg of body mass is enough to maintain nitrogen balance.

Protein Powder- a great way to supplement your protein intake.

The amount of protein that is recommended as being optimum, when fat loss is the main goal, is between 1.5 and 2 g per kg.

Some people find these recommendations excessive because, after all 2 g per kg is 2.5 times more then the minimal amount recommended (0.8g per kg). These are the same people that have a limited view of protein, considering it to be a macro nutrient that provides nothing beyond preventing protein deficiency. A better understanding of how protein fits into one’s dietary strategy will erase this fear out of the heads of even the most skeptic people.

Studies made on the effect of increasing protein intake have showed that there are clear benefits to increasing protein intake. Some of the benefits are:

• Increased termic effect of food.
  The digestion, absorption, storage and oxidation of all nutrients require metabolic processing. The termic effect of processing protein is roughly double than that of carbohydrates and fats. So eating protein is termogenic and leads to a faster metabolic rate. This translates to greater fat loss when dieting.
  
  
• Increased glucagon production.
  Protein consumption increases the glucagon to insulin ratio.
  
  
• Increased IGF-1 secretion
  Protein supplementation, above minimum needs, has been proven to increase the IGF-1 response to exercise and feeding. IGF-1 is an anabolic hormone related to muscle growth. Increased IGF-1 levels while dieting translate to better muscle sparring.
  
  
• Improved weight loss profile
  A 2003 Layman et al study has revealed that reducing the carbohydrate to protein ratio from 3.5-1 to 1.4-1 has the following benefits:
  - increased body fat loss
  - spares muscle mass
  - improves satiety
  - better blood glucose management
  
  
• Increased nitrogen status.
  Diets high in protein cause a strong positive nitrogen balance. This coupled with proper exercise leads to the acceleration of muscle growth.

The multiple benefits listed above justify the suggested increase of protein consumption to 2 g per kg or even above.

Further Reading

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• The Protein Roundtable, Refereed by John M. Berardi
• The protein Insider - An Inside Look at the Protein Business, by TC
• The Protein Debate, by Dr. John M. Berardi
• Soy is Still Bad Protein, by Glen Neilson