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Flexible Dieting:
A Guide to Macros & Eating for Life
by Krissy Mae Cagney

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2014 Krissy Mae Cagney

Introduction

I do not know where you currently stand with your fitness and nutrition journey. You may be a weight room
veteran or you may have just signed up for your first gym
membership yesterday. There is no right or wrong when
it comes to fitness. The most important thing is finding
what works best for YOU. Whether you run marathons,
powerlift, bodybuild, Crossfit, or take Zumba classes, we
all have one thing in common: We all need to eat properly and adequately to sustain our training and maintain
a healthy body fat percentage. But what does that entail?
The point of this book is to educate you and help you
become a healthier and happier version of yourself. So
with this book, I offer guidance. I have literally compiled
every iota of information I have in order to help you help
yourself. (Of course there are going to some special cases
where this book wont be enough for you. In which case
you can further seek my guidance and I am more than
happy to work with you. I will touch on this more at the
end.)

ence and yet sometimes I still feel like I hardly know anything. Why? The human body is a very complex organism. Macronutrients, micronutrients, protein synthesis,
insulin, cortisol, testosterone, blood glucose, etc. are all
things that one needs to take into account. Every aspect is
individual because we are all individuals. The amount of
information-and maybe even more importantly misinformation-out there is completely mind blowing.
I try not to get angry over peoples ignorance when it
comes to food and nutrition, but unfortunately I cant
control the fact that 90% of the people giving nutrition
advice arent qualified to do so. I wish people would keep
their shitty opinions and shitty information in their own
shitty mouths. I know people who know everything there
is to know about fitness, human movement, and training,
yet lack any sufficient knowledge about nutrition. Even
though nutrition is the single most important aspect of
everything we work toward. All I can do is keep fighting
the good fight and provide you with as much knowledge
and information as I can to help you think for yourself in
an educated manner.

Wrapping your head around nutrition can be extremely


difficult. I have a four year degree, half a masters degree,
several certifications/licenses, and a fuck ton of experi- You will notice that throughout this book I state the ob

vious. For example, it is no secret that how you eat determines how you look, feel, and perform. I think it is safe to
say that most people want a killer rig. I think its also safe
to say that we all like to feel good.

Do you have to track macros in order to get lean? No.


You can certainly starve yourself to 800 calories a day and
become lean. It wont necessarily be a good lean more
of a concentration camp sort of lean. But yeah, sure, it can
be done without tracking macros. Do you have to track
You do not need to starve and restrict yourself to lower macros in order to get big? No, you can eat everything in
your body fat. This book will hopefully open your eyes sight and become big. It wont be necessarily be a good
to better ways to eat, how to eat your favorite foods guilt big more of fluffy, soft marshmallow sort of big. But
free, how to maximize muscular development, how to yeah, sure, it can be done without tracking macros.
maximize fat loss, and the best part is it will teach how
to do all these things permanently. It may be difficult to I know I was sort of an extremist asshole with what I
wrap your head around at first, but please keep an open just said. People have gotten results by simply eating less
mind while reading and absorbing this. You may have a and maybe changing their food choices. Great. Good for
hard time accepting the fact that you can be shredded them. There are plenty of ways to live and eat healthily
AND eat ice cream everyday. You dont want to believe without ever needing a food scale. I am well aware of this.
this because of how much bullshit the health and fitness BUT, those people probably arent logging HOURS of seindustry has hammered into the minds of consumers over rious training in the gym each week, so they do not need
the years. But it can be done. I will teach you, and explain to know how much protein, carbs, and fats their bodhow its possible through flexible dieting.
ies need to recover and transform. If you are concerned
with your training (and you should be), you are definitely
Its no secret that in order to lose weight/body fat one concerned with your eating. If you are someone who gets
must eat at a caloric deficit (consuming fewer calories than consumed by overthinking your diet, the eat less, eat
your body needs to maintain its weight) and in order to better method just simply doesnt work.
gain weight one must eat a caloric surplus. The goal (with
either of these) is to be SMART about it. Being smart Eating disorders run rampant in men and women, young
about it will give you quick and permanent results. When and old, especially in the health and fitness industry.
leaning out, the goal is to eat as much as you can get Flexible dieting and macro counting/tracking is what got
away with, without hindering your results. With making me over my severe eating disorder and years of yo-yo dietgains, you want to be consuming just the right amount to ing. I want to engrain in you a healthy relationship with
promote muscular growth but not consume so much that food. You dont have to eat reheated food from a Tupperyour body stores excessive fat. There is really only one ware container 6 times a day to look good because that
smart way to do these things count and track macros. surely doesnt make you feel good. You shouldnt live a
It is precise, efficient, and operative. It is also scientific.
life where you feel as though you are a slave to food. You
shouldnt EVER experience feelings of guilt after eating.
With the tools in this book, I will teach you how to calcu- You need to eat for both physical and mental health. Eat
late, count, and track your macros. You will never again for life, not for abs, or a wedding, or a birthday or any
have to worry about counting calories (I will go into why). other special occasion. Never sacrifice feeling good just to
You can quit worrying about whether you ate too much. look good. Thats absurd.
You can give up feeling guilty about having a donut (or
four if you are anything like myself) because everything Hopefully you trust me and trust the scientific informais allowed in moderation. No food is off limits. Being able tion I am providing you with in this book. Once you get
to manage your own diet and macros is an invaluable skill it right and you experience the power of proper nutrition,
that you will have in your back pocket forever. It is lib- it gets much easier to wrap your head around and you
erating. You will now be able to be independent as far as wont need to be sold on anything.
nutrition is concerned. You do not need a coach, dietitian,
or nutritionist to hold your hand forever. It takes trial and I would wish you good luck, but there is no such thing as
error, but it is crucial that you become so familiar and luck so here we go.
in tune with your body that that you know exactly how
much of what it needs in order to look, feel, and perform
at its very best. And it will happen.
4

WTF Is a Macro?

The word macros gets thrown around a lot by me and


by countless others in the health and fitness industry.
Macro is the shorthand term for Macronutrient.
Nutrients are the substances that living organisms require
to live, function, and thrive. Nutrients are divided into
two categories: Macronutrients and micronutrients. Some
nutrients are only required in trace amounts. Because of
this, they are collectively referred to as micronutrients.
Vitamins and minerals fall into this category. Micronutrients play a supporting role in the bodys metabolism and
help with the continuous, complex chemical reactions in
the body that keep it alive.
Other nutrients are required in large quantities. This is
where macronutrients come in. Macronutrients are
what the body uses for energy. There are three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
Now lets go over these macros and their roles in more
detail and explore why each is crucial to the human body.

Protein Protein is the blanket term for amino acids

ly known as sugar. Complex carbs are substantially more


difficult for our bodies to digest. They are broken down
which the body requires for a wide variety of functions. gradually and released into the bloodstream at a slower
In my professional opinion, protein is definitely the most place. We also have fiber to consider; a certain type of caressential macronutrient because of the role it plays. Any- bohydrate our body cant digest (which is a good thing).
one into fitness knows the importance of protein. Protein Carbs unfortunately have a very bad reputation. They are
is one of the building blocks of the body. It is crucial for not the enemy. Ill also elaborate on this further later on.
both muscle growth (hypertrophy) and muscular repair.
Proteins function also extends beyond simply muscle.
Proteins are essential for catalyzing biochemical reactions
(enzymes), repairing and replicating your DNA, immune
function, maintaining cellular function and cell structure. The list really goes on and on but this isnt a college
science course. For our purposes, we want to know its role
in shaping how our body looks, works and feels, and I
think we all know protein is important.
You MUST consume enough protein. Inadequate
amounts of protein will result in loss of muscle, especially
whilst eating at a deficit. This is often called a catabolic
state. This is precisely why protein needs to be prioritized. But just as too little protein can be a bad thing,
too much can also be a bad thing. In short, it can spike
insulin levels though the roof, which can cause a whole
myriad of problems. We will also go over this in further
detail later on.

Carbohydrates Being alive requires energy.

When we partake in activities that demand energy, carbs


provide that energy. I said protein is the most important, but carbs are typically the macro that most people
(both athletic and non-athletic) need the most of. If you
are training hard, you need ample carbs in order to perform optimally, as the body easily uses them. Not only do
we need carbs to perform physically, but also to perform
mentally. Our brains need fuel too. Leftover carbs get
stored in our liver and muscle as glycogen and then used
later when energy is needed.
Every tissue and cell in the body can use glucose for energy. Our central nervous system, our heart, our brain, our
muscles, and our organs are all dependent upon carbohydrates in order to function properly. We need them for
intestinal health and proper waste elimination.
Carbs are broken down into simple and complex forms.
Simple carbs are fast digesting and easily broken down
for immediate energy. Simple carbs are more common6

Fat Fats. Like carbs, fats also have an unfortunate rep-

utation. Fat does not make you fat. They are essential and
crucial for our bodies to function at 100%. We need fat
to survive. We need fat for growth and development, for a
secondary source of energy, to maintain cell membranes,
and absorbing fat-soluble vitamins. Healthy skin and
healthy hair are products of a diet rich in fat. Fat provides
cushioning for our organs and joints. Essential fatty acids
cant be synthesized by the human body.. this means they
must be ingested by way of food.

Sources of PROTEIN:

Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy (except butter and


cream), protein powders, plant-based protein supplements,
tofu, soy-based meat alternatives. Note that almost all sources
of protein contain at least trace amounts of fats.

Sources of FATS:

Most red meat, most pork (BACON!), fish, olive oil, coconut oil,
other oils, lard, tree nuts, seeds, peanuts, nut butters, avocado,
full fat dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream),
and egg yolk. Note that many sources of fat are also sources of
protein and/or carbohydrates.

Sources of CARBOHYDRATES:

Sources are vast. Mostly found in starchy foods (oats, flour,


quinoa, rice, wheat, couscous, yams, potatoes, etc), fruit, vegetables, and anything high in sugar such as candy, juice, soda,
etc. Beans, legumes, nuts, and dairy also contain carbs but in
much lower amounts.

Why Counting
Macros Wins

The battle is everywhere all over the Internet and on I mentioned previously that you dont need to have a
the social networks. There is a heated debate between the coach holding your hand for the rest of your life. The ultimacro people and Tupperware tilapia people.
mate goal here is to become an educated and independent
individual. A structured meal plan keeps you extremely
I was once a Tupperware tilapia person. I can admit it. I dependent on your coach. You keep going back to your
was brainwashed into thinking that structured meal plans coach, giving that person more money, and all you get in
were the only way to successfully stay on track. I thought return is a meal plan you know nothing about and an eatthere were good foods and bad foods. The bad foods ing disorder. You are left with no knowledge probably
were ANYTHING that wasnt on the meal plan. I get because your coach has none either.
it some people REALLY like structured meal plans.
You get a list of foods, you dont have to think, you dont Now lets get back to the skill of macro counting. By
have to understand the science of anything, you cook, you learning how to determine and track your macros, you
eat, you repeat: no knowing, just doing. THIS IS THE are thinking for yourself. If you dont want to think for
PROBLEM. There is absolutely nothing sustainable yourself and you want to pay someone to be a crutch, by
about following a meal plan.
all means, go for it. You will be controlled by food. But
by knowing food substitutions and knowing how to eat
People on strict meal plans usually feel bound to it and donuts without any negative consequences, YOU have the
even the slightest hiccup will produce a massive anxiety upper hand on food and YOU are in control. If you want
attack and overwhelming feelings of failure. If you want to eat for life, you need to learn the ins and outs of macto enjoy your life and briefly step away from your rigid ros. Because no adult should have another adult telling
plan, you typically cant do it without crying yourself to them what to eat until the end of time.
sleep after. I know people who avoid birthday parties and
weddings - some of lifes most cherished moments out When you fall off the meal plan, its fucking hard to get
of fear of the food. Thats no fucking way to live, dudes. back on. I know first hand. You have half a cookie, get
7

a case of the fuck its, call it a day, and binge. This isnt
the case with macros. If you have half a cookie, you track
it, the macros in that cookie get subtracted from your daily intake, and you keep on going throughout your day. A
little 200 calorie whoops wont kill your vibe, where as a
2500 calorie binge will destroy a weeks progress. You can
adjust your intake with a 200 calorie hiccup. Not so much
with a 2500 calorie bender. Is macro counting sounding
more appealing yet?
Egg whites, steamed broccoli, tilapia, and oatmeal every
single day gets old. When you eat the same thing daily,
it loses its appeal. You can LOVE chicken but eating it
38 times a week may very well ruin chicken for you. You
become resentful of food. You crave things but you have
been brainwashed to think you cant have something if its
not on the meal plan. A lettuce wrapped turkey burger is
a GREAT meal, but since its not on your structured meal
plan, its not allowed. Who wants to live that way?
Fitness and nutrition come hand in hand. Fitness is not a
temporary thing. Nutrition shouldnt be either. Its a lifestyle. You have to be active and train year round, so you
need to have your nutrition in check year round as well.
You need to go into this realizing its a full lifestyle change
that needs to become permanent. If you want to get on
a strict meal plan or go on a diet in order to prep for
something or to get quick results, I am sorry to inform
you that you are contributing to everything that is wrong
with the industry. This is not the point of health and fitness. You are ruining something good.
It IS possible to be lean year round and have a banging
bod 365 days out of the year. The people who are able to
look good year round without major weight fluctuations
are people who have flexible diets. They train and eat for
life. Not for an upcoming event.

How to Determine
YOUR Macros

If I have already helped you with your macros (or perhaps


another coach has given you numbers or maybe you have
even determined them on your own), you most likely already know your intake. Even if you think youve got it
down, I still suggest you read this carefully.

will put all their athletes and clients (who all have different goals) on a diet with the same macro breakdown.
How does that make sense? That means the diets are not
catered specifically to each person, theyre a generalization. This is completely backwards: A certain macro ratio
shouldnt be the goal of your diet, it should reflect the
I know how much conflicting information is available out goals of your diet. What works for you might not work for
there, and I know it can be extremely frustrating. Deter- the next person, and what works for them might not work
mining how many calories to consume a day and then for you. Your needs and goals are individual and you need
determining how many grams of each macro to consume to determine your food intake based on YOU.
within that daily intake is enough to give most people
a headache. But Im going to walk you through it. And There are many ways to do this, but I am going to share
once you have it, its easy to see how your macros add up the method that works best, which I have been successand fit together.
fully using for quite some time now. Ive done my research
and have applied it to my clients and myself. It works for
You will often hear macro trackers talk about their per- just about everyone. The result will be an individualized
centages. This is in reference to the ratios of macros for macro calculation that is derived from your caloric needs
their diet. This on its own is bullshit. Well, it can be. based off your training and physique goals.
Percentages on their own mean nothing. Stating percentages alone does not leave any clues about overall calorie Most of my clientele is interested in fat loss (and of course
intake, which could be dramatically wrong. There is also muscle gain), so I will go through what it takes to accomno magical macro percentage that gets people lean.
plish both.
There are quite a few coaches and trainers out there who
9

Determining Your Calories

with 13% body fat has an LBM of 130.5 lbs. Even though
the two people weigh the same, the person with lower
body fat will have more muscle. The person with more
Before we can get into what your macros will be, we first muscle is going to have a higher metabolic capacity and
need to determine how many calories you need. Here is require more calories. The leaner you are, the more you
my professional opinion: When it comes to lowering body get to eat.
fat, you want to be eating as much as possible while still
making progress. If you can cut fat eating 1750 calories For people who are extremely overweight (> 40% body(kcal) a day, why only eat 1400 calories? A larger than fat), it is best to formulate your calories based off your
necessary cut in calories leaves very little wiggle room to GOAL weight, or a weight between your goal weight and
drop calories further as your body adjusts and progress your current weight. If you are at a high bodyfat percentslows down. Too large of a drop will also cause a dip in age, you will have a longer journey than others. BUT out
performance. All of this adds up and means youll plateau of everyone, you will drop pounds the fastest initially.
and quit making progress all together.
You may not know your lean body mass but you can
Everyone wants overnight results. Well, its not going to make a very educated guess. Ideally you should get your
happen that way. You are making a shift in the way you body fat tested, but I understand that you may not want
think about and interact with food that will bring about to or you may not have the means to do so. Knowing your
positive changes which will last a lifetime. So dont take LBM is important so that you can formulate the most
dumbass shortcuts that arent long term. I know this isnt precise macros for yourself.
what you want to hear, but the slower your progress is, the
more permanent your results will be. Be patient. It will be
well worth the wait.
Now Im going to walk you through it.
So first things first: You will need to determine your
maintenance calories. Maintenance calories means exactly what it sounds like: The number of calories you need to
consume a day to maintain your current size. To do this,
take your current bodyweight in pounds and multiply it
by 11-14. This multiplier is how many calories per pound
(kcal/lb) you will be consuming. So which multiplier
should YOU use?

Let me use myself for an example here. I currently weigh


about 172lbs (shocking, I know, but I do). Now lets consider my activity level. We can all agree that I fall into the
VERY active category. So I use 14 as my multiplier:
172 lbs x14kcal/lb =2408 kcal

That would mean I should consume 2,408 calories a day


to maintain my current weight. This might seem like a
If you are VERY active and/or young and/or have a nice lot of food, but this is the amount of calories I need with
revving metabolism, use the higher multiplier (13-14). If my activity level to maintain my current weight.
you are sedentary and/or have some years under your belt
and/or have metabolic damage, use a lower multiplier (11- Now lets say I want to start a cut. I want subtract a small
12). Theres no need email me panicking over whether amount of calories to begin. That way if I dont see results
you think you should multiply by 12 or 13 or anything or my results slow, I have room to cut more if I need to.
like that. There is not much caloric difference between I start with 250 kcal a day reduction:
multipliers, so just choose one and stick with it for at least
TWO WEEKS before messing with it. There is no way
2408kcal -250kcal =2158 kcal
to know what works and what doesnt work if youre not
sticking with it for long enough to know.
I now have my goal calories for fat loss. Awesome. But I
want to see faster results, so I will also add 20 minutes
This is the hardest thing to determine for most people. of HIIT cardio to my training. By adding 20 minutes of
Dont overthink this step. Be realistic with yourself, where HIIT, I am creating a further caloric deficit of (approxiyour body is, and your level of activity. Eating right is all mately) 250 kcal through exercise. This puts me at a 500
about being honest and realistic with yourself, your goals, kcal/day deficit which would result in a pound of fat loss
and your progress.
per week. And I still get to consume 2158 kcal a day.
I personally believe one should take into account their Lets say I want to bulk. I would omit all cardio, and hit
LEAN BODY MASS (LBM) when calculating this num- a 500-700 calorie a day surplus. Its that simple. This forber. A 150 lb person with 30% body fat will be different mula works for most people.
from a 150 lb person with 13% body fat. The person with
30% body fat has an LBM of 105 lbs while the person
10

Determining YOUR Macros

CARBOHYDRATES:

Next you need to determine your carb intake. This may


be where you start to panic, because surely you are more
We have determined calories, now what? Well, now we get afraid of carbs than you are of the Devil himself. The first
to determine your macros. How do we determine macros? thing you need to know is that carb intake depends upon
We break up the calories you just calculated into macros. many things. The most important factor being your level
Lets walk through the whole process.
of activity. If you are extremely active and your training
is demanding (so if you are on any one of my training
programs), you will need a substantial amount of carbs.
PROTEIN:
The harder and more often you train, the more carbs you
I mentioned earlier that protein is the most important are going to need.
macronutrient, so its the macro we will determine first.
There are a few factors that you need to consider when The second most important thing to take into considerdetermining your protein intake. Firstly, you need to con- ation is your diet preference. I personally enjoy fats more
sider your goals:
than I enjoy carbs. I have no problem lowering my carb
CUTTING/MAINTAINING
If your goal is to maintain your current weight or lose fat,
set your protein between your LEAN BODY MASS and
your TOTAL MASS. Never set your protein intake below your LBM or above your current weight in grams of
protein. If you set your protein too low, your body wont
have adequate means to rebuild and grow your muscles.
If you are not sure what your exact number should be, set
your protein at your goal weight. For example: Lets say
you weigh 180 lbs but want to get down to 140 lbs. You
dont know exact your lean body mass, but you guess it to
be about 120 lbs. If you set your protein at 140g, you are
getting adequate protein intake.

intake if it means I get increase my fat intake. This is not


the case for most people, as I have noticed 90% of my clients would rather have all the carbs. Which is fine. That
just means a little less fat.

The last thing to take into account is how your body responds to carbs. Now when I say this, I dont mean how
you THINK your body responds to carbs. I mean how
your body actually responds to them. For example, people
with diabetes or celiac disease really need to be careful
with sugar and wheat, two of the most common forms of
carbohydrates, their bodies will not respond well to either.
Taking all these things into account, a sufficient amount
is 1.0-1.5g of carbs per pound of LEAN BODY MASS.
The lower end of that for a cut and the higher end of
that for a bulk. Take the number you determined for your
protein intake and start there. Match it to your protein if
you want to remain fairly low carb, slowly increase from
there as you see fit. Dont overthink this too much. You
can keep tweaking. I would suggest for MOST people
1.1xLBM in grams of carbs a day.

It is a common misconception to consume 1g per pound


of total bodyweight. That number is too high. It doesnt
consider your bodyfat percentage and could easily cause
you to set your protein far too high, leaving you too few
calories from carbohydrates and fat to work with, or it
could cause you to consume a surplus of calories, which
defeats your goals. Someone who is 300 lbs but has 50%
bodyfat should not be consuming 300g of protein. Excessive protein consumption can cause the same kind of inContinuing with our example, I set my protein at 155g, if
sulin response that gives carbohydrates a bad reputation.
I were taking my own advice, and consuming 1.1xLBM,
Excessive protein can also be hard on the kidneys.
I would consume 170g of carbs a day. Because I know I
perform better and I love that fat, Im keeping my carbs
at 155g. Keep in mind 155g carbs is considered fairly low
BULKING
If your goal is to add muscle, setting your protein at your carb for someone who is 58 and a buck seventy. I am not
goal weight typically works too, as long as you are be- afraid of carbs and my body responds fine to them, I just
ing realistic about your goals (youre not going to gain 40 have a pallet that prefers the taste of fat most of the time.
pounds of muscle in a few weeks). Remember; dont go Remember this is for maintenance.
balls to the wall right out of the gate. For adding muscle
with minimal fat gain, you want to add mass slowly. Sure If I were cutting, I would match my carbs to the protein
you can put on 20 lbs in a few weeks, but its not going to number I determined in order to cut (which was 140-145g
be 20 lbs of muscle.
a day). If I were bulking I would far surpass my protein in
carbs. My bulk protein number was 165g, so I would set
my carbs at 247g (165gx1.5=247.5g).
11

Now that I have protein and carbs set, I need to determine my fat. To do this, I first need to determine the
number of calories that make up my protein and carbs.
Remember that both protein and carbs have 4 calories per
gram (4 kcal/g). All I do is multiply my protein and carbs
by 4. Then I add them together:
155g protein (4 kcal/g)+155g carbs (4 kcal/g)=1,240 kcal
Take that number then subtract it from my total calories:
2158 (total kcal)-1240 (protein + carbs kcal)=918 kcal
I have 918 kcal left which needs to come from fat. Since
fat is 9 calories per gram (9kcal/g), I take the calories
and divide that number by 9. The result is how many
grams of fat I will need:
918 kcal9 kcal/g= 102 grams of fat
My MAINTENANCE Macros are:
155g Protein, 155g Carbs, 102g Fat.
Now just to give you more examples, lets say I decided
to intensify my training a bit. I would increase my carb
intake to help my performance. The number I choose is
somewhat arbitrary, but sticks to being between 1-1.5 g of
carbs per pound of LBM:
(155g protein x4kcal/g)+(195 g carbs x4kcal/g)=1,400 kcal

Now for some cut and bulk examples:


FOR A CUT: I calculated my calories and determined
that I can sit at 1780 kcal a day (if I add cardio to my
training). I then set my protein to be around 145g a day.
Since its a cut, I will match my carbs to my protein.
(145g pro x 4kcal/g) + (145g carb x 4kcal/g)= 1,160 kcal
And then from that we determine fat:
1780 total kcal -1160 (pro+ carb) kcal =620 kcal left.
620kcal9kcal/g= 69g Fat
CUT Macros:
145g Protein, 145g Carbs, 69g Fat
FOR A BULK: I calculated my calories for bulking and
determined that I can go up to 2630 kcal. My bulk protein/carbs were determined to be: 165g protein (my goal
weight) and 247g carbs (goal weight x 1.5). Once again, I
add them together:
(165g pro x4kcal/g) + (247g carb x4kcal/g)=1648 kcal
Then I subtract that number from my total calories:
2,630 total kcal-1,648 (pro +carb) kcal =982 kcal left
9829=109g Fat
BULK Macros:
165g Protein, 247g Carbs, 109g Fat

The total calories remains the same, but since there are
more calories coming from protein and carbs, my fat intake will drop:
2,158 total kcal-1,400 (protein + carbs kcal)=758 kcal
758 kcal9 kcal/g= 84 grams of fat
My MAINTENANCE Macros TWEAKED are:
155g Protein, 195g Carbs, 84g Fat.
Two VERY different sets of macros all because of a change
in my training; keep in mind that you will have to tweak
and occasionally recalculate as your body and your training changes.

12

When it comes to calories, one gram of both protein and carbs has
4 calories (4 kcal/g). You will notice fat has more than 2x the calories per gram (9 kcal/g). This is what partially led to the myth that
fat makes you fat. Its simply not true. However, it is important to
remember this difference in calories when calculating your macros.

Now we need to briefly address training days and


non-training days. It is very common for people to consume more carbs on training days (training days being
days where large amounts of strength/conditioning is taking place, not days where you go for a 2 mile run) and
fewer carbs on non-training days. This does not mean
you should eat less on your non-training days; if you lower your carbs, you must increase your fat. This is a simple
recalculation using the formula I provided. You do not
HAVE to do this; again, it is going to take some trial and
error to configure what works best for you. I personally
think we need carbs on our day off in order for our muscles to recover quicker (this is usually where the concept
of re-feeds comes in). We will go into re-feeds later on as
that info basically requires its own chapter.
The more you experiment, the more youll learn. The other thing to remember is that you need to NOT constantly tweak your macros. If you are tweaking every week,
you arent giving yourself enough time to REALLY set
and feel your body react. Give yourself a SOLID two
weeks (minimum) before messing with your macros. If
you are making solid progress in two weeks times, dont
go switching them up as that means they are working. If
you are losing weight, there is absolutely no need to lower
your calories. This goes for making gains as well. With
both cutting and bulking, you only need to recalculate
every six weeks, or when you notice progress has slowed.
Just NEVER go lower then 10xLBM or Goal Weight in
calories when dieting as that is getting dangerously low.

13

Recalculating vs
Tweaking

What the Difference Is and When to Do Each

Tweaking your macros and recalculating your macros are


VERY different things. The easiest way I can put it is like
this: your calories and protein wont change when tweakingusually tweaking involves manipulating carbs and
fat so you can realistically and consistently hit your macros daily. You are basically playing with minor tweaks
in order to get yourself dialed in without changing your
total calories. A macro recalculation will usually result in
a change of daily caloric intake therefore a change in all
three macronutrients. A macro calculation doesnt need
to happen often.

MACRO TWEAKING
Tweaking is much different than a recalculation. Tweaking usually only takes place in the first few days after you
macro calculation; during this time you are testing out
the waters of your macros.
14

Lets say you set your carbs fairly low and your fat a little high because you think thats what you prefer well
you get a few days in and feel like your training is suffering and you are lacking energy. You should tweak by
increasing your carbs and lowering your fat (make sure
that you are still hitting your daily caloric intake). More
carbs mean more fuel.
Or maybe you are getting to the end of each day 10 grams
over on your fat and 30 grams under on your carbs. You
cant for the life of you figure out how to lower the fat and
increase the carbs. This is usually a pretty big indicator
that your lifestyle would prefer the increase in fat and the
decrease in carbs. That is completely ok if you are still
right around your calculated caloric intake.
You by no means should be tweaking very often. Continuously tweaking daily or weekly will get you nowhere. It
is simply playing with your numbers to find the best way
to consistently hit one set of numbers for a longer duration of time (about 6 weeks).

MACRO RECALCULATING
I would suggest a full macro recalculation should be done
every 6 weeks (4 weeks at the VERY minimum). I say six
weeks for two reasons:
1) I think that ones body composition can drastically
change in about six weeks timeboth body fat percentage and body weight. Keep in mind that just because the
scale has not changed, it doesnt quite mean your lean
body mass has not changed. You might stay at 180lbs but
180 at 20% bodyfat is a lot different than 180 at 15% bodyfat. Lets say you dropped 1-5 pounds in six weeks time
but your body fat went down 3-4%. That could be anywhere from 3-10 pounds of fat loss (depending on your
weight), but it also means that you increased muscle mass
therefore increased your lean body mass.

You need to make sure you arent only tracking your macros but tracking your progress. How will you know what
works best for you if you arent taking notes? I am not
telling you to weigh yourself every single day. I personally have a scale obsession so I choose to stay off of it. I
track my progress by way of photos and measurements.
(I would take note of how my clothes fit but I only wear
spandex so thats not realistic for me.) Keep a journal.
Note your macros for each current phase and write down
how you look and feel. This is how you learn. It is ALL
trial and error. Whether you calculate your own macros
or I calculate your macros, its all one big experiment. You
are going to know how your body is and/or will react far
better than I am able to. This is why I am teaching you
this skill. You arent going to nail it right off the bat, the
first few weeks may be rocky but I can tell you this it
only gets easier and easier.

Or perhaps you lost 25 pounds in six weeks time by tracking macros and training hard. You clearly are going to
need to recalculate because your weight and body composition is entirely different than what you started with.
I do not think you should recalculate sooner than six
weeks because any less time wouldnt yield significant results that would need a full recalculation. The only time
you would need to recalculate often would be if you were
competing in bodybuilding, in which case you are working with a coach who hopefully knows what they are doing.
IMPORTANT: If your initial macro calculation is still
continuing to get you awesome results at 6 weeks, there is
absolutely no need to recalculate it. Do not fix something
if it isnt broken. If you hit the six week mark and are
still getting results, keep going and recalculate once you
plateau.
2) The second reason I highly suggest a full macro recalculation every six weeks is because typically most peoples
training regime changes every six weeks (if you are on
my programming, you know a majority of my programs
run for six weeks). When your style of training changes,
your eating needs to change with it. For example, when I
start a strength training program I need to reevaluate my
carb intake, as I will surely need more in order to sustain
strength training. If your training is drastically changing
every four weeks, you can recalculate your macros every
four weeks if you feel it necessary to do so.
15

Meal Timing &


Hitting Your Numbers

If calculating macros gave you a headache, this is where


youll most likely feel a migraine coming on. My goal here
is to prevent that from happening. The whole point of
this is that you are trying to eat the right quantities of
foods so that you are hitting your macros accurately- all
your protein, all your carbs, all your fat. You dont want
to consume more than you are supposed to, but you dont
want to consume less than you are supposed to either. You
want to be dead on (i.e. within 1-2 grams of) your goal
for every single macro. Every day. As with everything, you
are aiming for consistency.

we will go over shortly. If youre concerned about meal


timing, well, you can forget that bullshit myth too. Meal
timing is not important, at all, whatsoever.

Let me say it again: Meal timing is horseshit. The biggest myth in the fitness industry is that you need to eat
six small meals a day. If anyone has ever tried to tell you
that eating small meals more frequently boosts your metabolism, that person is a complete moron. Anyone who
has ever said, Eating every two hours tricks your body
into burning more calories! clearly doesnt have much
knowledge of the human body. The human body is a
I can tell you, you are probably overthinking it already. complex and advanced living organism that has evolved
You are most likely NOT going to hit your exact mac- over millions and millions of years and learned to survive
ros on day one. Itll take a week. Maybe even two if this at extremes. It is not easily tricked. That is absurd. Long
whole process is new to you, and thats OKAY.
story short: Do not think you need to consume multiple
small meals a day. That is an old school bodybuilding
Before we even begin to set up your diet, lets get sassy. technique that doesnt have any scientific evidence supIm going to address some common misconceptions and porting that it works better than any other method. Eat
myths: dairy is bad, gluten is bad, sugar is bad, dont eat when you are hungry and eat until you are full. Just track
after 8pm, you have to eat 6 small meals a day to stoke the it and carry on with your day until you are hungry again.
metabolic fire, and so on. All of this is bullshit. Nothing Science and practicality prove that you need to eat when it
is automatically good or bad. The only food consumption best suits you. Just stop once youve reached your macros.
that matters is what you consume post workout, which So you can take the concept of meal timing, tie it to a
16

rock, and throw it into the bottom of a lake.

As for the food scale: Get one. Use it. It keeps you aware
and honest. It doesnt need to be fancy or expensive. Just
get a digital scale so you can have accurate measurements.
You literally have absolutely zero way of knowing if you
are hitting your macros if you arent weighing and measuring your food. Period. How else will you know that six
ounces of chicken breast is really six ounces? That tablespoon of peanut butter needs to be ONE tablespoon. Not
one and a half as that half can completely throw you off.
MEASURE.

Hitting your daily macros is far more important than


meal timing. You can literally eat one GIANT meal if
you want to and you will get the exact same results as you
would if you divided your food into to multiple meals
throughout the day. But good luck with that, Kobayashi.
I am not saying that its bad to eat six small meals a day.
If thats what works for you, do the damn thing! Do what
works for YOU. Again, this will take some trial and error.
I personally like to eat two big meals and snack throughout the day because thats whats realistic for my lifestyle. How do you hit your macros? To put it in the simplest
words possible: eat until you hit your daily macros, then
If you intermittent fast (IF) you basically have a feeding stop eating until tomorrow. Sure its a bit more complex
window where you will consume ALL your calories/mac- than that, but I am making this as basic as possible.
ros in a 4-8 hour window. This is fine too. I can go on
and on about IF, but I will save that for another article.
Plan it out. Weigh and measure your food. Prep it. Now
put it into your mouth hole. If youve read my This is Not
Whatever meal timing method you choose, try to be fair- a Cookbook meal prep guide you will know how to prep
ly consistent with it. For example, IF only works if you for one meal or a whole weeks worth of meals. You can
do it every day and not just on some days. The more con- use the skills and strategies from that book to make hitsistent you are with things, the easier it becomes. Try to ting your macros easy and painless. The process just takes
have the same training time daily and your eating habits a little effort and planning.
will consequently become more consistent as well. These
things will help your body avoid metabolic confusion.
Like I said before, meal timing isnt important (I think I
made that clear). However, macro timing is. It is in your
MACROS ONLY WORK WHEN YOU HIT THEM. best interest to consume your carbs around your training
time. Proper macro distribution will help you optimize
The first thing we need to go over is tracking. You are your results:
going to need an app to track your food. It is damn near
impossible to count/track macros without an app to help Protein: It is best to make an attempt to distribute your
you. MyFitnessPal (MFP) is the best one. By tracking, protein evenly between however many meals you chose
you know EXACTLY what you have consumed for the to consume on a daily basis. This will maximize protein
day and you know EXACTLY what you have left. MFP synthesis response. No, it doesnt have to be exact and
has a barcode scanner; therefore, you can literally scan there will be necessary fluctuations between meals. As
everything you eat into the app and it will do all the work an example: if you are consuming 150 grams of protein a
for you. You are going to need a food scale because you day, and like to eat five times a day, shoot for 30 grams of
need to weigh or measure just about everything you con- protein at each meal. Dont drive yourself crazy trying to
sume. This is a pain in the ass, I know. But you get used be exact, just generally attempt to spread out your protein
to it, it gets easier, and eventually you become a pro and distribution. Dont save it up and somehow eat 150 grams
you will no longer have to do it because you start to know of protein all at once.
portion sizes just by looking at them. Until then, scan and
weigh all your food. Everything has a barcode, even the Carbs/Fats: You have probably heard lots of conflicting
little stickers on produce. Scan, weigh, eat.
info when it comes to what time of the day you should
consume carbs and fats. I will only give you my proThe default goal macros on MFP are going to be com- fessional opinion: As I said before, consume your carbs
pletely wrong. Dont pay attention to them. Focus on around your training time. This means your pre and
what YOU calculated. You can manually change them by post-workout meals should be carb heavy. If you train in
going to their website and selecting change goals.
the evening, you will be eating carbs at night. Start your
day eating fats with your protein and taper into protein
17

and carbs right before you train and continue eating your
carbs post workout until you hit your macros. If you train
at 7pm, you will ideally be eating your carbs from 5pm
until bedtime. So ignore that whole no carbs after 7
nonsense. Theres no night time insulin fairy waiting to
magically store your carbs in your fat tissue when the sun
goes down. Your bodys metabolism doesnt slow down at
night.
I am not saying that your evening meals should contain
ZERO fat, as that would be damn near impossible. Its
just a loose guideline.
If you train in the morning, eat carbs and protein right
before and right after your workout and taper it into protein and fats as the day goes on.
There may be times when your macro timing gets skewed.
It happens. If you ate all your carbs before you worked
out, oh well. You simply adjust and wont eat any carbs
post-workout that day. Which is FINE. It wouldnt be
called Flexible Dieting if it werent flexible.

Carb Timing for Pre-Workout Period


Timing the consumption of your carbs to have most of them
of them fall in the period after working out for the day will
optimize their use for fuel as well as muscle repair and growth.
Consuming carbs in a short window before training will help
fuel your workout. Timing is important, and depending on the
circumstances, you can change what you consume:

Time Before Training


90-60 minutes: Carbs with some fats
60-30 minutes: A combo of slow & fast digesting carbs
30- 0 minutes: Fast digesting carbs (fruits, sugars) only
This is for digestion purposes. You want the food you put in your
body to be digested and ready to fuel your workout, not having
it be a brick sitting in your stomach unabsorbed, unable to fuel
your workout.

18

Again, be consistent with it. But life happens. This will help you
optimize your results.

Flexible Dieting
AKA The Fun Stuff

This is surely what you have been waiting for. You see
it everywhere more commonly known as If It Fits
Your Macros (IIFYM); people with insane bodies stuffing their faces with donuts, burgers, pop tarts, pizza, you
name it. Before we dive in, let me say this: I dont necessarily support IIFYM as that form of dieting doesnt
exactly support eating for health, but IIFYM works for
aesthetics. You can literally get jacked by eating nothing
but non-nutrient dense foods (aka crap) and hitting your
macros. But eating this way does not take into account
the health of the brain, heart, or other organs. I prefer
the term flexible dieting as that is exactly what it is: being able to be flexible and non restrictive with your food
choices while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Your
food possibilities are endless, you dont have to eat the
same meals day after day if you dont want to, there is
nothing off limits. You can have what youre craving. It
just takes some simple tracking/planning. Then you develop an overall healthy relationship with food as opposed
to fearing it. By no means am I suggesting that ANYONE
eat pure crap; you may not see negative repercussions on
the outside, but they will be taking a toll on your insides.

eting, and the notion that anyone who wants to get in


shape has to eat a rigorous diet, composed of a narrow
number of clean foods. It opposes the need to eat at
precise times throughout the day, and that any deviation
from this strict structure is breaking the rules, thus failing. Flexible dieting is simple you eat whatever foods
you like that fill your allowance of proteins, carbs and
fats.
Now, lets get to it. In order to be able to mentally handle
flexible dieting and macro counting, you need to get rid of
the notions that there are good foods and bad foods.
Food is food. Fat is fat and carbs are carbs. There are no
bad foods; there are essentially only bad portions. Wipe
the concept of clean eating from your head. There is
no such thing as eating clean, its a term the health and
fitness industry made up in order to warp your brain and
make money. There are nutrient dense foods (vegetables
for example) and foods that arent so nutrient dense (the
delicious processed stuff we all spent years shunning).
When you count macros, you are in complete control of
what goes into your mouth. It is up to you to be responsible and not overdo it everything in moderation.

Flexible dieting completely goes against conventional di19

There are literally zero restrictions with counting and


tracking macros as long as you are hitting your carefully calculated daily intake. Its a given that most people
reading this lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Therefore,
I can go ahead and assume that you maintain a diet containing plenty of nutrient dense foods. So now its just a
matter of fine tuning and filling up those macros. You
can continue to eat clean (for lack of a better word) and
fill your intake with nutrient dense foods, which will allow you to eat more by volume, (for example 50g carbs
of a pastry is going to be smaller by volume than 50g of
carbs from of veggies). However if you cheat or indulge,
you arent throwing yourself off track because you are remaining balanced. You see, 50 grams of carbs is 50g of
carbs no matter what you eat; a banana is carbs, gummy
worms are carbs, bread is carbs, broccoli is carbs its
all the same (dont take that TOO literally). The actual
size of what 50 grams carbs will look like is what will
differ, but 50 grams is 50 grams. Both are supplying your
body with exactly that, regardless of what you eat. If you
slam down a cupcake or two, track them and eat a little
healthier the remainder of the day. If you use your fat and
carbs up on cupcakes (again, cupcakes is just the example
I am using), that means you need to lay off carbs/fats the
remainder of the day, which will all balance out with your
body because your macronutrient needs have been met for
the day.

try, potatoes, oats, vegetable, fish, etc unless you plan on


living on protein shakes. Sure, you definitely will have
some wiggle room for the fun stuff each day, but dont
kid yourself and think that you can spend your days eating whatever the hell you please. It doesnt quite work that
way; especially when it comes to carbs... Which brings me
to fiber.
Fiber. Foods that are rich in fiber are typically not calorically dense; they will allow you to eat a large volume of
food, without consuming a lot of calories. Think leafy
greens, veggies etc. Because fibrous foods are complex
carbohydrates, they are slower digesting and will help
you remain full longer. Fiber also has health benefits for
diabetics because it helps to regulate blood sugar. It can
also lower cholesterol and help prevent certain types of
cancers.

Do not attempt to fill your carb intake for the day by eating a shit load of green veggies. They are exteremely difficult for your body to break down and believe it or not,
you will begin to feel sluggish because too much energy is
going into breaking down your food. Too much fiber can
almost be worse than not enough. Aim for 25-40 grams
depending on your size and carb intake. Fiber IS included in your total daily carbs. You are not counting net
carbs you are counting your actual carbohydrate intake.
Therefore, do not subtract your fiber from your total carBeing super restrictive all the time sets you up for mas- bohydrate intake.
sive binges and its not healthy to completely deprive your
body and deny its cravings. But I will say this: If you do One thing that will become very normal to you is savget all your calories from junk, youll probably feel ing your macros. This is the fun part, and where you can
like junk definitely not what you want before a heavy get REALLY flexible. This is my favorite part. I know my
squat session. Even though 50g carbs is the same whether sweet tooth is going to kick in every single night. So I peryou consume it by way of processed sugar or by way of sonally make good choices all day, dont eat anything that
green veggies, one is obviously more nutrient dense thus is going to take up too many macros, and save as many
healthier.
as I can for nighttime. So with my leftover protein, carbs,
and fat I am usually able to make some frozen yogurt,
As I previously mentioned, there is a common miscon- peanut butter, cereal, and fruit concoction. Getting to
ception that macro counting and flexible dieting means make these sweet creations every night is what keeps me
eating whatever the hell you want. This couldnt be more on track all day. And, because we know that its calories in
false. Its not just a free for all bacon wrapped donut fes- vs. calories out, as long as I stay within my allotted mactival. I know at times I make it look that way, but thats ros, I do not need to be worried about #carbsafterdark or
hardly the case. Let me put it this way: Lets say you are eating past 7pm. We have debunked these myths already.
on a cut and you are consuming 170 grams of protein a
day, 190 grams of carbs a day, and 65 grams of fat a day,
good luck filling your macros with pop tarts, french fries,
and ice cream. In order to get that much protein, while
somewhat restricting carbs/fats, you are going to have no
choice but to rely heavily on things like eggs, meat, poul20

Refeed vs Rest Days

The concept of rest days and refeeds can be a bit confusing. Youre probably wondering how your macros should
change on your rest days, or whether or not you need to
give yourself a re-feed day. Ill discuss the importance of
both in this chapter.

with recovery. Again... its going to take some trial and


error here.

Here is the best advice I can give on rest days: if your


training is rigorous and you are on a cut, do not lower
your macros on your rest day as I think you need the calories/carbs for sanity purposes (and to avoid a plateau and
Rest days.
When I say rest day, I mean a day you are not weight metabolic damage). If you are on a bulk, you can lower
training. You have a few options here. First, there is abso- your intake on your rest days as you are getting ample
lutely nothing wrong with keeping your macros the same calories/carbs.
on your rest days as your training days. The exception to
this being those of you who are eating over 200g of carbs Refeeds.
per day. Which leads us to the second rest day option: A refeed is crucial when on a caloric deficit for a long peSlightly lowering your daily caloric intake. You want to riod of time. The purpose of a re-feed is to replenish your
keep your protein the same, but your carbs and fat can glycogen stores and raise leptin levels, which will balance
come down.
hormones and metabolism. When planning a re-feed, you
are going to increase the amount of carbohydrates that
This is all going to be personal preference and it may even you consume by 50-100% of your daily intake (higher
be trial and error. I dont have a magic formula for this. end of that if you are lean; lower end of that if you are
The idea is that because you arent training you dont need not). It is important to keep your protein intake the same,
to fuel your body as if you are. Your energy expenditure maybe even slightly lower, and lowering your fat by at
is going to be less on rest days, therefore you will need least 10g as well. Ideally you want to keep fat as low as
less fuel. If youre particularly fatigued or taking an active possible.
recovery day you may want to keep your intake up to help
21

Why is it important that your refeed only consist of an increase in carbs? Because, carbohydrates turn into glucose
and leptin responds directly to glucose metabolism.
Leptin may be a new term for some of you, or you may
have heard it but never understood its function. Leptin
is the mother of all fat burning hormones according to
Dr. Layne Norton. Its a hormone in our bodies that is
essentially a metabolism controller and hunger regulator.
Its job is to tell the brain that we are full after a meal,
however when on a deficit for too long, the levels of leptin
can become so low that the message never makes it to
the brain. Our brains actually realize that leptin is low
and assumes that we are not properly fueled, thus causing
hunger pains and cravings. Re-feeds will raise leptin levels, regulate metabolism and decrease cravings.
In order to determine whether you need a re-feed or not
you need to think about a few things. Anyone with a lower body fat percentage (10% or lower for men and 15% or
lower for women) is going to need at least one re-feed a
week. If you have been on a particularly long cut (15-16
weeks) you will most likely want to incorporate 2 re-feeds
a week. If you have only been on a deficit for a few weeks,
you will probably not need a re-feed. I recommend implementing a re-feed day no sooner than 4 weeks into your
cut, and that is only if you have plateaued.
The timing of your re-feed day is important as well. Your
re-feed should be planned on the day you work your
weakest body part, or the day you train the body part
that is most taxing for you. If you train in the morning,
then you should re-feed the day prior so that your glycogen stores are replenished by the time you train. Although
it is less common, some people choose to re-feed on their
off days, this is an excellent way to allow your muscles to
recover. If you choose to do this, make sure that you have
a heavy training day the following day. Never plan your
re-feed on the day before a rest day.

22

Planning Ahead

A good amount of you are most likely owners of my meal


prep book, This Is Not A Cookbook. In that book I stress
and address the importance of planning ahead. Whether
you meal prep or food prep (the differences are explained
in the the book) for the following day or the next six days,
having a plan will really help you out with this. Just like
how you should have a plan as to what you are going to
do in the gym before you get there each day, you should
also have an idea as to how you are going to execute your
macros. I could go into meal prep and macros for hours
and hours, and I did, when I wrote my meal prep book.
If takes a lot of practice and experience with macros to be
able to wing it day in and day out successfully. I have
been doing this a long time and I still like to plan at least
a day ahead in order to hit my macros dead on. You may
be the type of person who needs to plot their entire week
out or you may be the type of person to figure it out the
night before; either way, I strongly advise you to make an
attempt to plan ahead in order to make this a little easier
on yourself. If and when you do in fact wing it, you have
probably noticed you are left with a ton of carbs or a ton
of protein at the end of each day. If this has happened you
are now stuck eating fruit (sugar) to fill your carbs or egg
whites to fill your protein. Not fun and not optimal for
your physique.

is how I make a plan to ensure I hit my macros without


screwing myself at the end of the day and blindly tracking, in hopes I hit my numbers. Upon getting my most
important meals entered, I am left with some wiggle room
so I can still be flexible but not so flexible that I fall off
track. Seeing your whole day ahead of time gives you the
upper hand.
Pre entering also helps familiarize you with portion sizes.
Youll start to know exactly what 6oz of chicken looks like
and how much of your macros it fills; same goes for other
foods you eat often, like 4oz of sweet potatoes or a tablespoon of peanut butter. Being able to visually measure
your portions will benefit you immensely at times when
you may not actually be able to measure.

I personally enter all my food the night before. I take my


schedule into consideration and I enter the food I know I
will be consuming, for instance anything I have prepped
and my pre/post workout meals (these are my carb heavy
meals and low fat meals). I think about what I have available to cook/eat and what I want to eat and I enter it. This
23

Eating Out
Eating out does not have to be a thing of the past when
following a macro plan. I want to stress that this is supposed to be a lifestyle, the goal here is to find something
that allows you to meet your health and fitness goals but
still allows you to live your life. You should not have to
sacrifice any sort of social life in order to achieve your
goals. Similarly, you do not want to be that person who
brings their tupperware meals or their food scale to a nice
restaurant. Dont be a dickhead. Learn your portion sizes,
look at the menu ahead of time, ask for substitutions and
use common sense so that eating out will be a breeze.

isnt a nutritional menu available, you can almost always


look at the menu ahead of time online, that way when
you get to the restaurant you already have a game plan
and will be less tempted. It should go without saying that
itll be in your best interest to pass on the bread baskets,
dont order sugary drinks and stay away from alcohol and
fried foods.

When ordering, choose your protein source first. Build


your meal around your protein. Fish or chicken will usually be your leanest options, remember that steak will
have a good amount of fat in it and its harder to guessLearn your portions! If youre in the habit of weighing timate the nutritional value since every cut of meat will
your food, which you damn well better be if youre track- have a different marble and different fat content. Once
ing properly, then you should pay attention to the visu- youve decided on your protein, you can choose your carb
al size of your portions. Get familiar with what 6oz of and fat sources. You can almost always get a side order of
chicken breast looks like. This way, when you go out to steamed veggies, or even a plain baked potato.
eat you can order grilled chicken and be able to estimate
the proper amount of protein youre consuming. Also, Another method to think about when going out to eat
dont be afraid to ask. You typically wont see meat listed would be to save up most of your macros for that meal.
by the ounce on a menu unless youre ordering a steak, but Essentially, eat less throughout the day so that youll have
if you really need to know and youre not able to eyeball more to work with when you do go out. For example,
it, ask your server. Chances are they can weigh it for you, if you know youre planning on having pizza for dinner,
or at least give you a general idea.
stick to meals consisting of mostly protein for breakfast
and lunch. This way youll have ample carbs and fat left
Dont be afraid to ask how something is prepared. You for your pizza.
can always ask to have your food cooked with no seasonings, no butter and no oil. Ordering plain food is going Remember, this lifestyle is a choice. You can easily stay
to be your best bet. Dont go crazy and order something on track without sacrificing your social life or alienating
with 17 ingredients.. and avoid anything with a creamy yourself because youve chosen to be on a diet. There is
sauce. Watch out for salads, you might think that would no reason that food should come between you and your
be your best option, but theyre typically drowning in social life. Or between you and your goals for that matter.
dressing and have all kinds of sneaky toppings. Keep it There is always a healthier or better option on the menu,
simple.
its about choosing correctly and making sure you stick to
Planning ahead can help as well. Most restaurant chains your macros.
will have a nutritional menu available either online or by
request. If so, all the guess work is taken out. Even if there
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Special Cases

Obviously there are going to be exceptions and special


cases where the macro equations and examples that have
been given wont apply. There are four cases I have come
up with (I originally came up with 5, but chose to exclude
illness/medical conditions as I do not think its appropriate for the subject of flexible dieting or tracking macros).
The first special (and most obvious) case is obesity. If
you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, I am
going to highly suggest you work closely with me to track
your progress at first. Being significantly overweight can
be tricky. You dont want drop your intake too low right
away, you need to slowly lower your caloric intake and
your macros need to be very specific based on your body
fat and lean body mass. Dropping too low right away will
cause a plateau as well as metabolic damage. We want
permanent results, not extreme overnight results. This
isnt The Biggest Loser, this is your life.
The second special case is rehabbing a damaged metabolism and reverse dieting. The first thing I will say is this:
it is extremely difficult for metabolic damage to occur, as
it typically takes HARD training and even harder dieting. Do not self diagnose yourself with metabolic dam-

age just because your weight loss has plateaued... in fact


I can safely assume that a majority of you dont know
what metabolic damage actually is and have just heard it
thrown around loosely on the internet. Do your research
and investigate the symptomswhich are quite severe
before you email me telling me that you have metabolic damage. You may very well be in the pre-stages of it,
which we can easily fix together by reverse dieting. Reverse dieting, simply put, is slowing upping macro intake
(specifically carbs) in order to improve a weak metabolism
and increase energy. By reverse dieting, we can increase
your metabolic capacity. I highly suggest you work closely with me if you have ever done the following: crashed
dieted multiple times, consumed under 1000 calories for
a prolonged period of time, have suffered from an eating
disorder, or if you have been eating under 100 grams of
carbs daily for a prolonged period of time. When rehabbing a damaged metabolism and reverse dieting, we need
to monitor your carbohydrate/calories intake very closely
and we will need to make tweaks very often, as we will
very slowly and steadily increase your carb intake and
strengthen your metabolism one week at a time. You will
not gain weight while reverse dieting. You will maintain
weight and once we have your metabolism revving
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again, we can get start the fat loss process over again the
HEALTHY way opposed to the starvation way.

The fourth special case (which isnt exactly a special case)


is anyone who is completely lost and has no clue what the
hell any of this means. I understand that not everyone is
The third special case is athleticism. Athletes eat very dif- going to be able to pick this up right away. If you have
ferently than most people. Athletes do not eat for aesthet- anxiety about calculating your own macros, determining
ics but rather for strength, endurance, speed, power, and what to do on rest days, deciding if you need a re-feed day,
overall performance. A sport specific athletic diet needs to etc., I can help you get on track. By having me help you,
contain ample carbohydrates for fuel, recovery, and injury one of two things can happen:
prevention. A poor diet will hinder athletic performance.
An athlete typically does not cut nor bulk. It is all about 1) You will see we got almost identical numbers and you
performance. For example, an athlete who is getting ready can put your mind at ease because you will know you
for the Crossfit games and is training three times a day, is have it down far more than you thought you did.
going to need an insane amount of carbohydrates in order 2) You will see that we got almost opposite numbers and
to support that training and gain strength and endurance. you will be so happy that you asked for help because now
Any sport that requires many hours of training/practice a you will have the proper numbers with an explanation.
week is going to require a special diet to meet the athletes
needs. If you need an athletic macro diet, feel free to con- Should you choose to have me help you with you macros,
tact me for help
the following steps must take place:
com.
will send you a VERY detailed form to fill out. I am basically going to ask for your life story.
ing your life story, I will configure your daily caloric
need, your training day macros, your rest day macros, if/
when you need a refeed, your refeed macros should you
need one, and I will do a rough breakdown of macro distribution based on your training time and preferred meal
frequency. THIS IS EXTENSIVE. You will not fail by
having all this on point.
Upon reading this book, you may pay at any time.

26

Conclusion

Hopefully after reading this book you now feel a lot more
comfortable with the concept of macros and nutrition in
general. I have laid everything out for you in an effort to
teach you how to fuel your body properly. You now have
a formula for determining macros at your finger tips. In
addition to that Ive given you several tips on how to diet
flexibly, how to properly track your macros and even how
to handle going out to eat. Ive given you all the tools
necessary to make this lifestyle choice an easy and maintainable one.

wont have a damn clue if youre logging your intake properly. I know Ive said that youll get to a point where you
are familiar with portion sizes and will most likely be able
to visually measure; however, when you have the technology available to be precise, do so.

Give it TIME.. do not think that you need to tweak or


recalculate your macros every week. You need to give your
body time to adjust. Constantly changing your macros
will hinder your progress and leave you feeling frustrated.
I dont want to hear that macros dont work for you..
A few things to remember, consistency is key. Hit your yes, they do. Science didnt throw a secret party without
numbers every damn day. Make it a habit, do not get in inviting you. You just have to have the patience and dethe habit of allowing yourself to be over or under and termination to put in the work. Ive given you the tools,
thinking oh itll all balance out. It wont. Being a few its up to you to use them.
grams over or under your macros-and by a few I mean
1 or 2-is not going to hurt you. You dont want to get to Yours in Bacon & Barbells,
the point where youre off by 5 grams or more in either
direction. That will defeat the purpose and you will not Krissy
see the same results.
With macro counting, the calories take care of themselves. As you learned, each macro has its own caloric
value. When added up, your macro needs will meet your
caloric needs. When you are consistent with your macros,
you are consistent with your calories. As youve probably
noticed by now, the journey towards losing fat and gaining muscle is more complicated than simply eating less
than you take in. Macros make it easier for you to find
your path and keep on it.
Be precise! Get a damn food scale, use your measuring
cups. If youre not weighing and measuring your food you
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