LEVEL 1, FOUNDATION
Creating Friendships with Calories, Good VS. Bad
CalorieI'm not going to define the word "calorie" for you because there is really no point. Understanding the textbook definition of a calorie won't help you be more successful in your training and nutrition. All you need to know is that calories are basically "energy," and your body uses a certain number of calories a day in order to function (breath, blink, sweat, shiver), to exercise, and to digest food. You obtain calories from eating food, or from your body using its own fat stores, muscle, or liver stores (glycogen).
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Weight Loss/Weight GainThe over simplified answer to weight loss goes as such, "If you obtain more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight. If you use more calories then you obtain, then you will lose weight." Unfortunately, gaining and losing weight can be lot harder than this as I have learned through my experiences with clients. Mainly, your body has a primitive instinct that wants you to keep and store more fat, a substance easy to keep and vital for survival, but I digress. Still, understanding the basics of energy in vs. energy out is still essential and will be used for us to build upon moving forward.
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Pictured Below is my version of a box-and-whiskers plot (last time I used one of these was elementary school!), to better understand gaining and losing weight. Once you have an understanding of this "Foundation", you can move on to Level 2, which takes a deeper look at calories at the macronutrient Level. Honestly though, if you REALLY internalize and apply this Foundation to your lifestyle, you'll be just fine stopping at this level.
Figure 1: A Scale of Calories
Solid Horizontal Line: Represents your daily intake of calories. I intentionally used the words "A little" and "A lot" at then ends of the scale because the numbers on your scale are different than your friends. This is because of the variables you have including muscle mass, genetics, activity level, and body weight are different than mine, or anyone else. Of course, 0 is a good calorie starting point for "a little," but on the other end of the scale, "a lot" could be 2000, 3000, or even 6000 calories. |
Solid Vertical Line: Represents the number of calories your body uses everyday, including your metabolism (basic body functions) and your daily activity, your total energy intake. This could be as little as 1000 calories or as high as 4000.
Dotted Lines: Illustrate the ideal number of calories you should consume to either safely lose weight (left of solid vertical line) or to gain weight (right of solid vertical line). Both numbers, as shown are +~500 calories. This number was not picked at random, rather is the accepted number for losing and gaining weight safely while maintaining as much muscle as possible. If you eat less calories than you burn from your total energy intake, you will lose weight. If you eat more calories than you burn from your total energy intake then you will gain weight. Sadly, despite what others will tell you, there is more to the story...read on. |
How Many Calories Should I Eat?Any nutrition label tells us that the number of calories the average person should consume daily is 2000 (Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet), but it's not that simple. I've calculated clients' total energy usage (the intersection point of the vertical and horizontal line) that was as low as 1000 calories, and as high as 2900 calories, which is well off 2000 calories/day average. Before we go any further, an important point to understand is that you need to eat. If you don't, and your body is functioning off of very little calories, your total energy used (vertical line) is close to 0 calories, (less than 1200 for women or 1500 for men specifically), then congratulations, you are in starvation mode and your metabolism is at unsafe levels. From here, it is going to be nearly impossible to lose weight because your body NEEDS at least 1200-1500 calories to function properly...meaning IT WILL HOLD ONTO EVERYTHING YOU EAT AND YOUR WEIGHT WILL NOT CHANGE. So, 1200 and 1500 are your minimums, respectively.
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On the other end of the scale, a constant increase in weight means that you are eating more calories than your body is burning. As discussed earlier, if you want to gain weight, do it slowly, otherwise you risk putting on too much fat (maybe that's what you want?). At this point, you either need to eat less or move more until you achieve the desired result.
Please understand that there are ALWAYS exceptions to these rules and some people are safely able to consume >500 calories or eliminate >500 calories to get their desired result. Still, I see too many people who are trying to gain weight and just eat everything in sight or people who avoid eating to lose weight, thinking the body is just going to eat all the excess fat. This is not correct. You will see this plot again in Level 2, IIFYM when we actually learn how to get exact numbers for our personal box and whiskers plot to determine our body's energy needs, but for now, the focus is simply on finding foods that allow us to eat as much as we want without worrying about the amount. |
Shane's Golden Rules of Finding Good and Bad Calories
- Learn How to Grocery Shop
- Learn How to Read a Nutrition Label
- Learn How To Cook
1. How to Grocery Shop
Your typical grocery store is pictured to the right. Seems harmless, right? Wrong. You need to be wary because every grocery store setup is meant to manipulate you in some way to make more $$$. Think about it, why is the milk always in the back corner of the store? Answer: Because people always get milk, forcing them to see other products on their way to it.
Starting now you need to look at your body differently. Your body is yours, and you are in control of what goes in it. You are a car and the grocery store should be like a refueling station where you go to pick the best fuel for your body. Logically, this seems easy, but one of the easiest ways our logic gets ignored is hunger. As soon as we enter those doors, our hunger takes over, everything looks delicious, and we become slaves to a hormone called dopamine. Long story short, dopamine causes us to make decisions based on the instant reward we get from that decision, kind of like that time you regretfully hooked up with your best friend's partner. Next thing you know, the shopping cart is full of Oreos, ice cream, chips, and all of the things our body associates with pseudo (fake)-happiness. Unhealthy food is so addictive because of the dopamine response it triggers.
So, you have to prepare. There is no "winging it" if you truly want to guarantee success. Okay so remember the picture of the empty grocery store above? Here's what a self-aware, satiated person sees...or would see if they were in the rafters of the grocery store looking down...
Starting now you need to look at your body differently. Your body is yours, and you are in control of what goes in it. You are a car and the grocery store should be like a refueling station where you go to pick the best fuel for your body. Logically, this seems easy, but one of the easiest ways our logic gets ignored is hunger. As soon as we enter those doors, our hunger takes over, everything looks delicious, and we become slaves to a hormone called dopamine. Long story short, dopamine causes us to make decisions based on the instant reward we get from that decision, kind of like that time you regretfully hooked up with your best friend's partner. Next thing you know, the shopping cart is full of Oreos, ice cream, chips, and all of the things our body associates with pseudo (fake)-happiness. Unhealthy food is so addictive because of the dopamine response it triggers.
So, you have to prepare. There is no "winging it" if you truly want to guarantee success. Okay so remember the picture of the empty grocery store above? Here's what a self-aware, satiated person sees...or would see if they were in the rafters of the grocery store looking down...
How to prepare for The Grocery Store
- Eat before you go- trust me, it will cause you to make decisions based on logic and not on dopamine (explained above).
- Pick out some recipes- Buy a cookbook that supports your goals i.e The Shredded Chef, Thug Kitchen (vegan), The Ultimate Bodybuilding Cookbook so you're never "winging it" for dinner, see more information below.
- Make a grocery list (USE IT) and walk the perimeter (inner outside) of the store- There is no room for impulse decisions when it comes to diet. Americans have already proven they can't be trusted with that, that's why we are fat. A grocery list will keep you focused (pair with Adderall for maximum results...just kidding, don't do drugs). What should be on your grocery list? Here is a list I comprised of a bunch of whole foods you can purchase that I would approve of. I have a more concise list below. Also on your list should be a handful of spices that you are going to use over and over again in your recipes, also listed below, so your food has taste. Side note: there is nothing more frustrating than having to go to the store for a single spice that you need for a recipe. Now, take a second and realize that all of the healthier, whole food in a grocery store is around the inner perimeter of the store. This is important because if you forget the grocery list, following the perimeter walls inside of the grocery store will salvage your mistake.
- Buy (and cook) in bulk- buying in bulk is so important because unless you have a chef on hand, only buying food for one day at a time requires you to cook everyday or eat out. Don't get me wrong, you are going to have to learn how to cook (see below), but who the hell wants to cook EVERY DAY? If you do, I applaud you and keep up the discipline. And don't even get me started with eating out. "But I went to Chipotle"...no. Still, cooking food in large quantities provides us with consistency in our diets (portioning out leftovers for later meals) which is an absolute KEY TO SUCCESS in changing your body composition. Oh? You don't eat leftovers? GET OVER IT, you're pretentious.
2. How to Read a Nutrition Label
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- TURN OVER THE PACKAGE- One would think this is common sense, but remember, dopamine is controlling and impulsive and we too often just grab food and throw it in the cart. The nutrition label is required on "most" food, and I think it's pretty safe to say that if it's not on a food, it's because that food is a fruit or vegetable, which you can never go wrong with buying in its raw form.
- Look at the calories PER SERVING- Did you think the nutrition facts corresponded to the ENTIRE package of food? Well, a lot of people do. The nutrition facts correspond to the serving size of the food which is not always 1. Using example 3, we can see that the entire can has 3.5 servings per container, not 1, and therefore, the nutrition facts have to be multiplied by 3.5 to get the ENTIRE can's nutritional information. For example, in 1 serving of soy beans, there are 120 calories. In the entire can, there are 420 calories. That can be the difference in weight loss and weight gain, especially if making that mistake continually over time.
- Read the Ingredients- Of the three labels, which one has the most ingredients? Label 1. Of the three labels, which label has ingredients you cannot pronounce? Label 1. Coincidence? I think not. A good rule of thumb is that the more ingredients on a label, or the more ingredients you cannot pronounce, the worse the food is for you.
3. How to Cook
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- Get a cookbook- One that supports the lifestyle you are trying to achieve. Above, I have listed a few highly rated cookbooks (I own two) that support a health and fitness lifestyle. There are plenty of recipes on AllRecipes.com, and I'm sure you've actually used it quite a few times. But here is the thing, AllRecipes and other internet searches don't always have "healthy" at the top of their priority list. At least using a fitness cookbook gives you the convenience, simplicity, and piece of mind of knowing what you're cooking is supporting your goals.
- Learn to Read- Seriously though, reading a recipe is the majority of being able to cook.
- Budget time in your week- How many of you are so busy that you don't have time to do things? BULLSHIT. Just like you want things you think you NEED, you think you're busy when really you're just lazy. I know that sounds harsh, but seriously, if you genuinely make this lifestyle a priority, you will find time to cook meals. Still not convinced? Take out a piece of paper, write down all the hours in a day and what you're doing during them, and you will be surprised at how much time you are unproductive with and wasting. I'm not even saying you need to cook every day. One hour a few times a week is more than enough!
- Buy Tupperware- If you're following my directions "to a T," which you should be, you are buying and cooking your food in bulk, meaning you are going to have leftovers. I'd recommend buying these containers because they will not only store your food, but control your portion size as well. More on portion control later. So now it's Tuesday night, you're starving, you go into the refrigerator, and TA-DA, you have convenient and healthy leftovers to chose from. Don't eat leftovers? You're pretentious (did I say that already?!)
That's it! Now the next step is to go into your pantry, closet, refrigerator, wherever the hell you keep food, and throw out everything that is not healthy. I am serious, throw it out, otherwise, you WILL eat it. And your roommates food? Throw that shit out. You're doing them a favor also. Free of charge.
Grocery List (should always have these) |
Spices and Additives (in order of importance) |
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