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During the Train Like a Dissident program nutrition will be important. Everyone is different and nutrition should be individualized. Its difficult to create a program for a mass number of people. We’ve created framework for you to follow that hits on sound performance nutrition principles for affecting bodyfat. You’ll most likely find that you need to adjust and tweak for your own eating style.
The best way to break nutrition down for a large audience is to give framework by getting calorie estimates and then dial in the macros. I work with clients on a personal level with nutrition but as a certified coach I’ll be referring to the precision nutrition’s system and framework to make this as effective as possible.
The precision nutrition system uses a multiplier principle for estimating calories per day. Take your body weight and times it between this set of numbers 14, 15 or 16.
-If you train more than 4 times a week, use the higher number to account for frequent activity (16).
-If you train 3-5 times a week and want to maintain your body weight use the number (15).
-If you train 3-4 times a week or feel like losing a little bit of weight will assist you with dropping body fat stay on the lower number (14).
Example: 150 lb male who trains 5 x's a week will use a multiplier of 16 to account for the frequent training activity.
150 x 15 = 2250 calories
This person should be getting around 2250 calories per day.
Note: Don’t get too caught up on being precise with the number, in perspective its not that big of a difference unless you’re trying to make weight or are a physique competitor that needs to closely monitor calorie intake. It’s also important to note that you’re almost indefinitely going to have to adjust as you go. Pick a number keep it simple and work it.
After you get your total calories per day, you then drill down into your macros. Protein is the primary macro nutrient for preservation of lean tissue and synthesis of new tissue. To get your protein intake, take your body weight and times it by 1.2 – 1.5 grams of protein.
General recommendations for adequate protein intake is set at about 1 gram per pound of body weight. However this number is reference to general, non-fitness population so for that reason it needs to be bumped up to be appropriate for a more fitness oriented group.
Select a range that you feel comfortable with; maintaining a positive protein turnover is key to building lean tissue and you need dietary protein sources to do this. If your goal is to build muscle, or if you naturally have a lot of muscle tissue, migrating your protein intake to the higher numbers is advised.
(Using the same example of our 150 lb male who wants to build muscle we’ll use 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
150 x 1.5 = 225 grams of protein per day.
This equals to 900 calories coming from protein per day (225 x 4= 900) There are 4 calories for every gram of protein.
Now that you have your protein intake you build around; fill in the rest of your calories with carbohydrate and fat estimates.
The Train Like a Dissident program is about getting shredded and dropping body fat. The carbohydrates should be on the lower end at 1 gram per pound of body weight. (Some will need less and some will need more; this is where the individualization comes in)
So with our 150 lb individual we have 150 grams of carbohydrates if we do 1 gram per pound of body weight.
(150 x 4= 600) This equals to 600 calories of carbohydrate per day. There are 4 calories for every gram of carbohydrate.
We now have to fill in the rest with fat. With protein and carbohydrate in the mix we’re up to 1500 calories and the target in our example is 2250 calories per day.
Let’s take the total calorie intake per day 2250 and subtract that by the amount of calculated calories for protein and carbohydrate (900 for protein, plus 600 for carbs) =1500
(2250-1500= 750) This is 750 calories of fat per day. There are 9 calories for every gram of fat, which translates to about 83 grams (750/9=83).
Here’s a breakdown from our example:
150lb male
Total caloric intake= 2250 (150 x 15)
Protein intake = 900 calories (150 x 1.5= 225 grams of protein / 225 x 4 calories per gram = 900)
Carb intake = 600 calories (150 x 1= 150 grams of protein / 150 x 4 calories per gram = 600)
Fat intake= 750 calories (900 + 600 = 1500) (2250 – 1500= 750, 750/9 = 83.3)
PROTEIN CARBOHYDRATE FAT TOTAL INTAKE
GRAMS 225 150 83
CALORIES 900 600 750 2250
Context: Remember that these are guidelines for you to follow, they’re not black and white and you don’t have to force yourself to stick to these numbers strictly. It’s also important to not pressure yourself to hit these everyday, consistency with eating habits is what matters and you make small tweaks from there. You’re allowed to be flexible with this.
As far as meal timing and breakdown, this will vary from person to person, habits and preference. I for one am not a huge fan of snacking you may be on the other hand and find that it works for you. Whatever you decide to do, be consistent, build a habit, get into a routine.
There are a couple of guidelines however that may give a little more structure to your meals. First off to maximize lean tissue gains, spreading out protein intake evenly over the course of the day is advised.
Another recommendation is to center carbohydrate intake around your training. The workout state regulates carbohydrate utilization and metabolism so it’s in your best interest to concentrate them around these times. In the first training block phase try to concentrate carbohydrate intake around the workout, you can have some before and after.
Here is a sample Eating day sticking with the same example of our Male who is 150lbs with a 2250 calories per day intake and trains at 5 p.m.
