Food Plan - The Start

The diet is based on three calculations that are very important.

• Metabolism - amount of calories you want to lose daily
• Goals - whether you want to lose fat, increase muscle mass or change your body while maintaining your current weight
• Daily protein requirements

METABOLISM

Before being able to make the personalized food plan, you must figure out how many calories you need just to keep the body you have now. This is also based on three categories to rate your current activity level.

• MOSTLY SEDENTARY
• MODERATELY ACTIVE - If you spend at least 2 hours per day on your feet or have an hour-long exercise regimen daily.
• DEDICATED - High intesity exercise almost daily or weight lifting 3 to 4 days a week for the past year.

Age also plays a huge role in our metabolic rate as well, so here are some figures based on age so here are some percentages for you to use based on age levels. Remember, these are percentages that you will be using to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your current body.

Mostly Sedentary

• Under 30: 30%
• 30-40 Yrs: 25%
• Over 40: 20%

Moderately Active

• Under 30: 40%
• 30-40 Yrs: 35%
• Over 40 Yrs: 30%

Dedicated

• Under 30: 50%
• 30-40 Yrs: 45%
• Over 40 Yrs: 40%

Use the following formula for calculations:

Line 1: Your weight in pounds =

Line 2: Your basic calorie needs: Line 1 x 11 (the number of calories you need just to lie on the couch all day

Line 3: Your metabolic factor (refer to percentages chart above): Line 2 x your assigned percentage.

Line 4: Your maintenance diet: Line 2 + Line 3

GOALS

Some of you may be happy with the number you see on the scale and just want to build more muscle and lose a little fat. Some may want to gain or lose weight. With that said, keep in mind that 2lbs of fat equals 7000 calories. So, if you are looking to lose 2lbs a week, you need to subtract 1000 calories from your diet each day. Add 500 calories a day, and the diet and workout plan combined should put about 1lb a week on your frame. There is one stipulation that you must keep in mindm for your calories calculations: Keep your calorie intake at 2,000 or above even if the math says that you need fewer. Going lower than 2,000 per day will severely compromise your testosterone level and your muscle building ability.

PROTEIN

The plan calls for .91 grams of protein per pound of body weight, so multiply your present weight by .91 to get your daily protein requirement.

Now that you have your daily protein and caloric totals, the rest of the diet falls into place. The remainder is about when you are going to eat and why that makes a huge difference.