If only nutrition were as easy as logging onto BOD and pushing play… we’d all be ripped! LOL Well, y’all know that isn’t the case. Today we are going to tackle a question from Joe C. on “What to eat and when is it best to eat certain macro nutrients?”
What to EAT and WHEN
Let me start out by saying, the best thing to eat are the foods that will allow you to hit your macros. Plain and simple. Don’t go into paralysis by over analysis on this. If you eat to your macros (like Fat Shredder macros at your deficit) you will see progress and shred BF. Now y’all know that on teamRIPPED we love to MAXIMIZE our results and get RIPPED! So there are things we can do to be the most optimal. But if this is too picky for you, set your macros – track ALL your food and drink – and hit those budgets. That is a winning plan every time.
Start with your Macros
We will set up some macros based on your goals. Macro goals really set your calorie goal – so they are one in the same. If you set 200g protein, 200g carbs, and 75g fat – you will eat 2275 calories (4 cals per gram of protin and carb | 9 cals per gram of fat).
So we not only set total macros for our calorie total but we want the balance of macros to meet our goals. I have wrote on this TONS! So without going into all of it again, you want higher percentages of protein as you cut. It is more thermogenic, keeps you full, and helps maintain your muscle mass. You probably know some of the cutting plans like FAT SHREDDER – 50% protein, 30% carb, and 20% fat.
Over the years and lots of studying, I tend to start people a little lower on protein now. I still think Fat Shredder works, but you don’t always need that 50%P – especially as you have more calories. I like to get people about 1-1.2g of protein per lb of BW when cutting. It is still a good amount. For example, someone at 200# would start with 200g-240g of protein and that will still be a big percentage of their total cals.
I love to see fats around 0.4g/lb BW – which really gets you in that 25% of total cals range when on a deficit. Then I just fill out the rest with carbs.
If you like the Fat Shredder way of doing it – the modified macros are roughly 40P/35C/25F. Still set that deficit at between 600-1000 calories under maintenance and you will be ready to shred some BF!
Protein Timing
This is probably the biggest one – everything in this section I have got from Dr. Layne Norton. I would highly recommend checking out his talks and presentations. There is a tons of good info!
Here’s the big take away – muscle protein synthesis happens when we eat enough protein in a meal to get that response. MPS is what makes our efforts in the gym worth it – it’s how muscles grow. The biggest thing I have learned that changed the way I was eating was that getting a MPS response is a threshold. For most guys you need 30-40g of good quality protein to get a response and once it’s triggered, you need to let it run its course for around 4-5 hrs until you can get another MPS response.
Also, it being a threshold means MORE protein does NOT mean a bigger response. This is where some of my lower protein requirements came from.
To be optimal, I like 4 good protein meals a day around 4 hours apart. This is pretty easy to go with a traditional bfast (my post workout), lunch, dinner, and night time snack. I make sure I get 40-50g of protein in those meals. I do get a little more protein throughout the day, but those are my main meals. That way I know I am getting good MPS, at a maximum amount, and then the other protein I eat is to use for energy and not aimed at getting a MPS response.
That gives us a great start to macros and timing. I will be back tomorrow talking about some of my thoughts on carbs and fats. Stay RIPPED!
Coach Wayne
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My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
