It’s the time of year where more people start thinking about what they put in their mouth on a daily basis and how that effects the way they feel. I always tell my clients that what they eat should make them have energy on a daily basis, performance in the gym and a smile when they look in the mirror.
So what are the Key components to proper Nutrition? Ive broken it down into 3 simple things that if you follow and follow consistently over a long period, you will be well on your way to the best version of yourself.
1. Calories- You’ve probably heard about calories in and out and you need to eat less than you burn in a day to lose weight and yes that is true, to lose weight you MUST be in a slight caloric deficit but its a little more than that when figuring out what that means for you.
So first off you need to know what your body-fat percentage is how much lean mass you have and then we need to know how active you are on a daily basis with both your workout and the style of workout and then how much you move outside of your workouts. Landscapers will move like 25-30 000 steps per day and someone at a desk can be 3000 steps, that a big difference. Once we figure that out we subtract 300-500 cals to be in a minor deficit. Too big a deficit and your body may think its starving and hold on to fat.
2. Macronutrients- Macros are your calories broken down into 3 different things, Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates. Those people who are calorie counters and you can eat whatever you want as long as you’re not over calories are missing out on so much by not knowing how much of each macro they take in. Say I needed to eat 1900 calories a day to lose weight and 80% of that is carbs you will 100% lose muscle as part of your weight loss and thats the absolute worst thing you can do for your metabolism long term.
You need all the muscle your body can naturally put on and to do that you need about 1 gram of protein per day per lean pound of bodyweight you are and thats a minimum. So if you are 160 pounds at less than 10% bodyfat than you need 160 grams of Protein per day broken down in to 4-6 meals. You NEED healthy fat for proper hormone function, body processes and to slow down your body breaking down the food and your insulin staying level.
Everyday you need healthy fat from healthy grass-fed meat and dairy, nuts, olives, avocado, coconuts. That same lean 160 pound person would need around 80 grams of fat a day. Lastly those dangerous carbs everyone talks about, you need healthy carbs from fruit, vegetables and starches for your body to perform at it’s best and for your brain to function properly, there are instances where cutting out carbs completely work for helping certain auto-immune problems but thats a different story.
That same lean 160 pounder would need between 260-360 grams of carbs a day depending on their goals and how much they move. Optimize your macros and you optimize your life!
3. Micronutrients- Those cals or macros you take all have different amounts of micronutrients. Those micros when depleted can wreck havoc on your body in different ways. Micros are all your vitamins and minerals your body needs to survive and thrive. Everything from Vitamin D to Magnesium and salt. When you eat a well balanced diet with all the macros your less likely to be deficient in something, that being said things like Vitamin D in the Canadian winter get harder to get enough of as we lose sunlight.
Getting a blood test to see what you’re missing is always a good call and then we can supplement to bring levels back up to optimal. I take electrolytes from LMNT packs everyday that give me salt, potassium and magnesium to make up for everything I use in my workouts.
If you have all 3 of these components in check and firing you are on your way to the leanest and strongest body you’ve ever had that gives you energy and performance in the gym and a smile when you look at yourself in the mirror.
If you need HELP and ACCOUNTABILITY Join my Nutrition Program and Team of people who are making 2023 their year for them and getting the results they want to see. I will have a BIG group of lean, strong HUMANS at the end of this year who lived 365 days to their absolute BEST!
You just have to email me at radixperformance@live.com saying I’M IN to be part of that team!