Body Comp and Life Style

[RescueStrong4205]

Hey guys I have a quick question about nutrition and body recomp. I'm about 215 at 6'2 and am really looking to change my body comp and possibly get a little lighter. I'm not a crossfitter but admire their athleticism and body comp. Iv tried counting calories, carb cycling, using templates etc but always fall off after a couple of weeks because it does my head in counting everything and I cant see it as something sustainable long term. I know PN has been mentioned before and was just wondering if eating 4 meals based on hand size is adequate enough to support body comp goals as well as training and life (Im a career firefighter and also am lucky enough to work a great second job overseeing firefighter cpat and skill training.)  My biggest goal is to create a lifestyle that will have me training well into my older age and eating well and practically. Some guys are also interested in this at the hall. We read so much about cutting and bulking bust most of us just want to perform well and look decent year round. I don't need or want to look like a guy who is ready to step on stage but I have always looked at guys like Ross Enamait who are in great shape and are lean and athletic yet don't count calories or macros.  Thanks, Matt.

[K.B.]

I don't normally give out nutrition advice, but in my experience form follows function. As long as you're consistently active and apply a little common sense when eating. Some 'common sense':

Get in 1gm/lb protein every single day.
Eat enough carbohydrate to fuel your activity. If you're too weak (because of low carb) to consistently train you're robbing Peter to pay Paul. Low carb will also affect your recovery.

Diet isn't more important than exercise and exercise isn't more important than diet. The more of one you have dialled-in, the less of the other needs to be picture perfect. But BOTH are needed.
Don't drink copious amounts of alcohol and don't drink alcohol regularly. Same goes with junk food.
Use creatine.
Use creatine.
Exercise 4-6 x week, weights and cardio.

If you really want to get a handle on things once and for all so someday you won't have to count calories or use the terms 'cutting' 'bulking' 'body re-comp' (which are not in the TB vocabulary btw) then I'd recommend:

1. Go to a site or resource that specializes in nutrition for the active like Precision Nutrition or Eat to Perform
2. Use the site/resource calculator. Calculate your daily calories/macros.
3. Buy one months worth of pre-made meals from a body building or fitness food caterer. They're all over the place these days.
4. Eat the premade meals for a month so you meet your daily calculated requirements.
5. After the month is up, you should have a good idea of how to eyeball your meals and prepare them yourself (cheap).

It's going to be a little more expensive up front doing it this way, but - once it's done it's done. You'll have the knowledge and experience for life and you won't be fiddling around with gimmicky diets or eliminating or cycling entire macronutrient categories which will mess around with your performance.

[mikhou]

Take this for what it's worth. I don't have six-pack abs, and I don't look like I could step on a stage, but I am as fit as I've ever been and I feel great at 43yo. Here are just a few thoughts:

-First, I agree with everything that KB said. Build in habits. If you're not exercising regularly then you need to build in that habit. If you are constantly eating junk, then make it a habit to make better food choices. Consistency equals success.
-Second, for a time, you might need to count calories in order to get an idea of how much you should be eating. But use a good calorie calculator like Eat to Perform or Precision Nutrition. Don't try to cut by undereating 1,000 cals/day or anything like that. Figure out what your caloric needs are and adjust to that. Once you get an idea of how much you should be eating, then you can eyeball it. For me, I have the same breakfast and the same snacks everyday, and I don't mind that. It keeps it simple. Outside of that, I try to make healthy choices of what to eat. When in doubt, eat protein.
-Third, drink only water, coffee, or tea (unsweet). So many people get their calories through alcohol or through sugary drinks and this is such a waste of their calories. I drink a gallon of water per day and 2-3 cups of black coffee per day. Since starting this about 5 years ago, I have never felt better.
-Fourth, once you have your habits down, don't be afraid to enjoy a good piece of dessert or some other guilty pleasure, but do it once/week and don't gorge yourself. It is entirely possible to enjoy "fun" food and still be healthy. You just have to make wise decisions most of the time.
-Fifth, if you can't make wholesale changes at once then make them one at a time. Maybe the first thing that you do is to commit to drinking only water. You do that for a couple of weeks and then you decide that you will commit to having a couple of eggs and a protein shake for breakfast. You do that for awhile and then you decide to start packing your lunch. This goes on and on and eventually you find that most of the food decisions that you make are better than they previously were. Take a look at the Precision Nutrition website. They have an excellent article on making small changes that says what I am trying to say much better than I can.

Again, I'm no expert or fitness model, and I am certainly not as strong as others guys here, but these are some ideas that have helped me throughout the years, and again, at 43yo, I have never felt better.

[Green2Blue]

I grew up obese. I had to have a weight waiver when I enlisted. These days I weight myself and track calories and macronutrients almost daily, and prepare meals weekly.

Those guys that claim they don't count are liars or genetic freaks. Most of them are lifetime athletes. They are the exception, not the rule.

It is just my opinion that, for most people, you MUST count to get good results. If you don't you're just shooting at a target with your eyes closed.

This might sound harsh and I don't mean any offense by it, but if you aren't willing to count then you don't want it bad enough. Counting isn't that hard once you get used to it. It literally takes about 30 seconds a day. And you can do it while having a family and a social life, and eating delicious food.

[Barkadion]

I grew up obese. I had to have a weight waiver when I enlisted. These days I weight myself and track calories and macronutrients almost daily, and prepare meals weekly.

Those guys that claim they don't count are liars or genetic freaks. Most of them are lifetime athletes. They are the exception, not the rule.

It is just my opinion that, for most people, you MUST count to get good results. If you don't you're just shooting at a target with your eyes closed.

This might sound harsh and I don't mean any offense by it, but if you aren't willing to count then you don't want it bad enough. Counting isn't that hard once you get used to it. It literally takes about 30 seconds a day. And you can do it while having a family and a social life, and eating delicious food.

I'd just add my 2c by saying that the result depends on the goal and your goal should be realistic. Being shredded might not be equal to being strong (and/or well conditioned) and it might not be equal to being healthy. Or it might. Synergy of those 3 dimensions is highly personal.

My magic word is "reasonable". Apply it to all 3 dimensions and you can get close to your own ideal physique. It might take a while. And you might need to reset your goals along the way. Life is unpredictable.

But being reasonable will save you.

[Green2Blue]

I grew up obese. I had to have a weight waiver when I enlisted. These days I weight myself and track calories and macronutrients almost daily, and prepare meals weekly.

Those guys that claim they don't count are liars or genetic freaks. Most of them are lifetime athletes. They are the exception, not the rule.

It is just my opinion that, for most people, you MUST count to get good results. If you don't you're just shooting at a target with your eyes closed.

This might sound harsh and I don't mean any offense by it, but if you aren't willing to count then you don't want it bad enough. Counting isn't that hard once you get used to it. It literally takes about 30 seconds a day. And you can do it while having a family and a social life, and eating delicious food.

I'd just add my 2c by saying that the result depends on the goal and your goal should be realistic. Being shredded might not be equal to being strong (and/or well conditioned) and it might not be equal to being healthy. Or it might. Synergy of those 3 dimensions is highly personal.

My magic word is "reasonable". Apply it to all 3 dimensions and you can get close to your own ideal physique. It might take a while. And you might need to reset your goals along the way. Life is unpredictable.

But being reasonable will save you.

Absolutely. It's all a balancing game. Being bodybuilding show lean isn't healthy and your strength will suffer. But you can definitely have visible abs, be strong, and be healthy.

And I couldn't agree more about having realistic goals. If you just want to drop a few pounds and maintain a healthy weight then you can do it by portion control and eating well. But if you want to take your physique to the next level, you need to go the extra mile and either count, or pay someone to count for you.

A lot of those people that "don't count", pay someone to do it for them. Resources such as the ones KB mentioned.

[Green2Blue]

I should also mention I completely agree with KB on minimizing junk and alcohol, getting 1gm/lb of protein, and not eliminating carbs. Carb reduction is fine if all you want to do is look like a physique competitor. Been there, done that. But if your main goal is performance, like TB athletes, you need carbs.

It's amazing how many more calories I burn on TB than I have doing any other program.

[Barkadion]

I should also mention I completely agree with KB on minimizing junk and alcohol, getting 1gm/lb of protein, and not eliminating carbs. Carb reduction is fine if all you want to do is look like a physique competitor. Been there, done that. But if your main goal is performance, like TB athletes, you need carbs.

It's amazing how many more calories I burn on TB than I have doing any other program.

+1 on all points.

- Alcohol will kill your progress one way or another. (Reasonable - my word)
- Carbs will make your training and life enjoyable and progressive.
- Fats will save your hormonal levels = endocrine system = immune system.
- Staying on calorie deficit for too long will get you injured one way or another.

I upped my calories by 1K with BB. Guess what? That was pleasant surprised and fun

[J-Madd]

There is a lot of really great advice in this thread. As someone who right now weighs about 100lbs less than he did ten years ago (right now at 43 years old I weigh a lot less than what I did in high school and I am able to maintain some visible muscular definition), I've been down a lot of the roads and reached a lot of the same conclusions you guys are discussing. I've done meticulous counting, portion control approaches, manipulated macros, timed carbs, fasted, etc. etc., and they have mostly worked (and failed!) at various junctures in my path.

Those of you who have seen me in pictures or videos know that I'm not going to get any work in the near future as a fitness model, so I'm reluctant to preach much on these issues. Nevertheless, for my money the absolute key is discipline and habit. I guess I'm a bit of a broken record on this point, but everything comes back to that point -- training, diet, education, everything. Getting all fired up and "motivated" and throwing yourself into something rarely works, whether it's a new extreme training program or fad diet. What delivers is everyday good decision making over long stretches of time. The success of your diet, training program, course of study, etc. always comes down to is whether when you are tempted to punk out on a workout, eat a bunch of garbage, or skip your class you can say "No, there is something better I want for myself and the people in my life." There are no tricks. It's a matter of discipline. Once you establish that pattern of decision making, it gets easier -- second nature. But it is going to take a period of "grit your teeth" decision making to get to that point.

As far as diet goes, you need to established habits and dispositions to eat the right things in the right measure. There are a lot of ways to get there, but they are all going to begin with a period of some sort of self-denial. You will not be able to eat everything you want all the time. For some of you, you might need to force yourself to eat more than you would care to. You will have to say "no" to things at parties, etc. and that will be awkward and sometimes hard. For me it was the realization that I wanted not to be a fat body more than I wanted to have the temporary satisfaction of crappy food and booze that was the big turning point. "Why spend your wages on what is not bread?"

After getting your head straight with the right priorities, it's a matter of establishing a daily routine. I have eaten according to the same basic meal plan every day (with one "cheat meal" each week) for the last three years. Breakfast is four eggs and wheat toast, mid-morning is plain Greek yogurt and spinach, . . . and so on for the entire day every day. It's just second nature now. I don't really need to make decisions anymore, because it's all planned and literally in my bag when I go to work every day.

[Barkadion]

There is a lot of really great advice in this thread. As someone who right now weighs about 100lbs less than he did ten years ago (right now at 43 years old I weigh a lot less than what I did in high school and I am able to maintain some visible muscular definition), I've been down a lot of the roads and reached a lot of the same conclusions you guys are discussing. I've done meticulous counting, portion control approaches, manipulated macros, timed carbs, fasted, etc. etc., and they have mostly worked (and failed!) at various junctures in my path.

Those of you who have seen me in pictures or videos know that I'm not going to get any work in the near future as a fitness model, so I'm reluctant to preach much on these issues. Nevertheless, for my money the absolute key is discipline and habit. I guess I'm a bit of a broken record on this point, but everything comes back to that point -- training, diet, education, everything. Getting all fired up and "motivated" and throwing yourself into something rarely works, whether it's a new extreme training program or fad diet. What delivers is everyday good decision making over long stretches of time. Whether or not your diet, training program, course of study, etc. is successful will always come down to is whether when you are tempted to punk out on a workout, eat a bunch of garbage, or skip your class you can say "No, there is something better I want for myself and the people in my life." There are no tricks. It's a matter of discipline. Once you establish that pattern of decision making, it gets easier -- second nature. But it is going to take a period of "grit your teeth" decision making to get to that point.

As far as diet goes, you need to established habits and dispositions to eat the right things in the right measure. There are a lot of ways to get there, but they are all going to begin with a period of some sort of self-denial. You will not be able to eat everything you want all the time. For some of you, you might need to force yourself to eat. more than you would care to. You will have to say "no" to things at parties, etc. and that will be awkward and sometimes hard. For me it was the realization that I wanted not to be a fat body more than I wanted to have the temporary satisfaction of crappy food and booze that was the big turning point. "Why spend your wages on what is not bread?"

After getting your head straight with the right priorities, it's a matter of establishing a daily routine. I have eaten according to the same basic meal plan every day (with one "cheat meal" each week) for the last three years. Breakfast is four eggs and wheat toast, mid-morning is plain Greek yogurt and spinach, . . . and so on for the entire day every day. It's just second nature now. I don't really need to make decisions anymore, because it's all planned and literally in my bag when I go to work every day.

True. I'd add my 2 pesos by saying that your body and your metabolism get adjusted to your new discipline and habit. To put it in a simple way - spend a year (or so) to establish new life pattern and you'll be set for a life. Just be reasonable in maintaining your way of living for the rest of your life. You might even see that getting fat again isn't too easy anymore