Top Tips on Adjusting your Diet

Here are my top tips on adjusting your diet.

1. Take As Many Variables Out As You Can.

If you know you're getting in hard work in the gym and you hit an issue or roadblock, then you know it's because of diet or lack of sleep or even some other variable, training out is out of the equation because you know you’re doing everything right in that department. It’s a give and takes in some places, and you have to find out where you need to give and where you need to take when it comes to reaching your peak performance. Nutrition is much like that, and so is the type and volume of your training.

“Those are the main two things to consider as variables. Training and nutrition.”

We want to consider what is causing the lack of momentum in gains or personal motivation. Thus, you need to figure out the variable and take care of it. Always make sure we have a gauge on what we're doing there. Again, take the variable out, and hit the gym or adjust your diet.

2. Monitor Your Diet.

If you start seeing a little bit more body fat, start dialing back the carbs a little bit--but just a little bit.

Don’t go crazy, maybe a half cup per meal. There are ways you can do this with formulas those moments when we're taking 30% of our weekly carbs or 20% of our weekly carbs--BUT don’t let calculations stop you from playing with your adjustments. You don't have to be 100% correct because there is no way to gauge daily energy in and energy out.

“Make the correct adjustment and continue to monitor your intake if you want that look you’re training for.”

If you just want to get that lean look, or if you want that cut look, for real, monitor that diet! Maybe take a half cup or a quarter cup of carbs away from each of the meals you're eating carbs with. If you notice you're getting too soft, back off on the carbs a little bit.

3. Monitor Your Protein.

Again, if you start feeling your muscles get a little bit soft as you're cutting weight and not as hard or you're not as vascular, and you're kinda getting that soft, little flabby look, it means your protein's not high enough.

Up that protein baby!

We want to make sure we're preserving muscle as we're cutting that body fat. We want to be performance-based, lean and athletic… the whole works. We don't need body fat. So, make sure that protein is high; this way, we're not getting that soft flabby, just dropping weight and not body fat.

4. Your Fats. Make Sure You're Getting The Right Healthy Fats in There.

If your fats are too low, your hormones will not be as regulated as they should be. Make sure we sprinkle in those fats. I like to shoot for around anywhere from 20% of my total macros to about 25% of my macros on the higher end. All that will be from coming from fat. Those calories, 20% of my calories, would be going to fat intake--or 21 or 22 and a half, 23, whatever I'm programming at the moment. But MAKE SURE that's in there for the hormone balance and metabolism reugulation.

This way, we can keep the muscle and preserve it as we're cutting weight.

5. Make Sure You're Getting Sleep.

Sleep is so important because we do all this hard work with the training. We do all this hard work in nutrition to make sure we're prepping, getting our meals, and eating the right things, but then we neglect our sleep. How do we recover if we don't get our sleep? Sleep is where the magic happens. Sleep is where your body heals. Sleep is where your body starts to change.

“Sleep is where your body starts to grow, or, excuse me, shred up.”

It all happens while you're catching some Zzz's. Make sure you're getting that deep sleep! I corrected my sleep last year. I used to get horrible sleep. Now, I have a 45-minute ritual where I'm taking hot showers and using oils in the shower--I'm drinking tea, like sleepy tea. I'm reading before bed. And my sleep has been phenomenal. I'm starting to dream again, which is crazy because I never dream. Make sure we're not neglecting the sleep cause that's going to kill your gains as well.

6. Stay Away From The Soy.

This is more of a personal thing and I know every vegan lifter will come after me for this but in my opinion, it will kill your gains. Soy raises estrogen levels, cortisol levels, decreases testosterone etc. Studies might show some slight effects but science also said the world was flat… Stay away from that stuff. You don't need it. It's going to kill your gains.

“If you're vegan, there are other ways to get it.”

I wouldn't recommend going soy. Just don't put it in your diet. I'm not a fan of it. You let me know if you experimented with it and still have the same gains, but I know it does increase estrogen, cortisol, decreases testosterone. I would stay away and that's it.

So…

Those are my top tips on how to adjust the diet based on what your body is doing. You need help. You need any kind of help with your diet. Any help at all with the structure. You reach out to me. I always put my website below. Text me, email me call me. I'm here to help you. #askafitguy #fitness #muscle #nutrition #mealplan #mealprep