How to lose fat and not muscle
Being in a "Caloric" deficit is essentially required to lose fat BUT it can stressful to your body, Trying to lose weight the wrong way can cause muscle loss, drop in metabolic rate and increase your long term chance to gain fat.
Here is a sad example, Meet Danny Cahill, the winner of the show "The Biggest Loser", He lost more than 200 pounds in 30 weeks.
He achieved it by eating less and moving more, Working out 2-4 hours daily and eating low carb diet composed of 1200-1500 calories, he lost 200 pounds and won the show, This is him a few years later.
Apparently he is not alone, most people who move more and eat less, can lose hundreds of pounds just to gain it all back plus some.
WHY?
Low carb diets drop the metabolic rate,when combined with Intense exercise raises cortisol and lactate, lowers Thyroid and Testosterone,
Cortisol shreds muscles so that the liver can convert them into glucose(Gluconeogenesis).
The liver can take fatty acids, attach glucuronic acid, sends it to the kidneys to be filtered out as urine, The liver is responsible for converting the Inactive Thyroid hormone T4 to the active version T3, this proccess depends on Glocuse availability, If the Liver is busy in Gluconeogensis it can NOT filter fatty acids to the kidneys or convert T4 to T3.
The Strategy
Step 1
Write down on a paper your average daily food intake and calculate how much protein,carbs,fat you eat in a day
Step 2
Calculate your caloric needs using the formula below
For men
RMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A + 5
For Women
RMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A - 161
W is body weight in kg
H is body height in cm
A is age
The number is your resting metabolic rate.
add a 1000 to it, that is your BMR range.
IMPORTANT NOTE : This is not a magic number, some will have much higher metabolic rate and some lower, this is just a simple tool to estimate your BMR.
Examples:
Male,75kg,180cm,30 yo = 1730-2730 calories.
Female, 50kg,165cm,30 yo = 1230-2230 calories.
3 questions to get a sense for your metabolic rate:
1. Number of bowel movements, 2-3 daily(High metabolism),
4-8 weekly(slow metabolism)
2. Temperature, 36.4-36.7 c or 97.8 to 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit(High metabolic rate), below is low metabolic rate.
3. Pulse: 70-85 BPM(High metabolic rate), below 70 is Low metabolic rate
Step 3 - Choose your caloric deficit
500 is best for not hurting your metabolic rate.
You can choose up to 1000, but take into account that it will hurt your metabolism.
Examples: 500 caloric deficit
Male,75kg,180cm,30 yo = 1230-2230 calories
Female, 50kg,165cm,30 yo = 730-1730 calories
ALWAYS go for the upper range, and slowly lower if you don't see fat loss.
I would NOT suggest going for low range, although some people tanked their metabolism after years of low carbing and have it below 1000, go for middle range and follow the next instructions.
Step 4 - Protein
Males: 1-1.6g per KG
Females: 0.8-1.4g per KG
If you have high muscle mass go for the higher part of the range.
Good Protein sources: cheese,eggs,beef,chicken,milk,geltain
Step 5 - Carbs to Fat ratio
I recommend 80/20 - 70/30, In favor of carbs.
Examples:
80/20
Male: 2500 calories
Protein:100g = 400 cal
Carbs: 2100*0.8 = 1680 calories from carbs = 420g
Fats : 2100*0.2 = 420 calories from fat = 46g
Female: 1500 calories
Protein:60g = 240 calories
Carbs: 1260*0.8 = 1000 calories from carbs = 250g
Fats: 1260*0.2 = 260 calories from fat = 29g
70/30
Male: 2500 calories
Protein:100g = 400 cal
Carbs: 2100*0.7 = 1470 calories from carbs = 365g
Fats : 2100*0.3 = 630 calories from fat = 70g
Female: 1500 calories
Protein:60g = 240 calories
Carbs: 1260*0.7 = 882 calories from carbs = 220g
Fats: 1260*0.3 =378 calories from fat = 42g
Carbohydrates can be separated into 2 main types
1)Sugars coming from: Fruits,Honey,Table sugar, Maple syrup, Coke.
Those mainly contain Sucrose which is a molecule that contains 50% Glucose and 50% Fructose. Those get absorbed very fast with less insulin activation. Those should represent 50-70% of your total carbs.
2)Starches coming from: Bread,Pasta,Rice,Oats. Those contain Glucose molecules connected in a long chain. Starch absorption can be fast or slow depending on the type. Refined or well-cooked starches like white bread or pasta are broken down quickly into glucose, causing a rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin. Resistant starches like legumes, under-cooked rice, whole grains, slow your digestion, reach the large intestine and get fermented by gut bacteria, Increase bacteria turnover and cause Endotoxin(LPS) production. If increasing your metabolic rate is your goal, those are not your friends! I would avoid resistant starches and focus on well cooked potatos,white rice, pasta as my main starches. To calculate daily starch intake substract the amount of simple sugars from your desired daily carb intake and you get your daily goal of starches.
Fat Sources
PUFA is a no go!!! no seed oils, nuts, seeds. They lower metabolic rate very fast, if your goal is to build metabolic rate, avoid them.
Saturated Fats
The #1 source is Coconut oil, It raises core temperature, increase metabolic rate, supports glucose oxidation and lowers stress hormones. it's so easy to just add a big spoon when you cook your eggs/beef. butter is also good option.
FIBER
Choosing the correct fiber is key for proper digestion and metabolic rate, 1-3 daily bowel movements are sign of HIGH METABOLIC RATE.
eating soluble fiber and resistant starches like in most vegetables and legumes SLOWS DOWN DIGESTION causes BLOATING, increases ENDOTOXIN and those will make you FAT while lowering your metabolic rate, Endotoxin is known to cause obestiy,diabetes and cancer.
Only Insoluble fiber that is found in carrots,mushrooms and other root vegetables supports the digestive tract, helps to build healthy feces that move smoothly.
Step 6: Training
If you are trying to lose fat, training can be a great tool.
3 x Full body workout at the gym, 1 hour each
+
3 weekly, 30-60 minutes walks
Is quite enough and even optimal for building muscle and losing weight.
IMPORTANT NOTE: if you do train, add 70-150g of simple sugars before,during and after the workout.
This is very important to avoid cortisol rise and muscle loss.
Step 7: Vitamins and Minerals
The 4 macro minerals: Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and magnesium are crucial for oxidizing carbs, If you don't consume enough of them you won't be able to raise your carb intake and metabolic rate.
Sodium: 5-15g of salt daily
Potassium: 3-10g daily, good sources are coconut water, oranges, dates, or to supplement as Potassium-Chloride, very cheap and easy do add to your water. Calcium: 3-5g daily, good sources are cheeses,milk, eggshells, supplement as Calcium-Carbonate, very cheap and easy to add to your milk+Gelatin. Magnesium: 300-600mg daily, good sources are coffee, cacao, spinach, supplement as magnesium glycinate/carbonate.
The B vitamins: B1 (Thiamin) is crucial for glucose oxidation it's the main factor for the complex PDH a major factor in glucose oxidation.
B3 Niacinamide is crucial for maintaining oxidated redox status, it forms NAD the enzyme that carries electrons from glucose to the ETC.
B 5,6,7,9 are also important for the mitochondria, for oxidizing glucose and fats and to form important enzymes.
B vitamins are in eggs, cheese, meats but in small amounts I like the B complex ENERGIN from IdeaLabs it helped me a lot to increase my carb intake.
The fat soluble vitamins, A-D-E-K,
very important for lowering estrogen, supporting the liver, increasing metabolic rate and testosterone. Eat liver at least once a week, go out to the sun daily, if you don't consume enough consider supplementing.