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Nutrition Basics

I start with nutrition in this program because I want to emphasize its importance. Optimizing your training without thinking about or prioritizing your nutrition plan is the biggest mistake you can make. This is easily the most common reason why people fail to see results despite years of consistent training. Your nutrition will be the most important part of your program, so make sure you fully read through and understand this section!

AGAIN: You can do everything I say in this program, but… if you skip the nutrition section and don’t thoroughly understand the contents which you consume on a daily basis, then achieving the results (which is why you purchased this course, to help you attain results) will become basically impossible.

Let’s start with the basics.

The two most important nutritional factors that will determine your success in altering your body composition (building muscle or losing fat) are:

  1. Your calorie intake
  2. The macronutrient distribution of your calorie intake.

And for those who are unaware, “macros” or “macronutrients” are just what makes up calories and can be categorized into 3 main groups:

  • Carbohydrates
  • Protein
  • Fat

So whenever I use the term “macros” or “macronutrients”, just know that I’m referring to carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

ALL other diet factors (types of foods, micronutrients, meal timing, and supplements) are also important but don’t play nearly as big of a role in terms of fat loss or muscle gain as your calorie and macronutrient intake do.

The graphic below illustrates the levels of importance. Going from most important to least important in terms of body composition.

Essentially, your calorie intake is going to decide whether you gain weight or lose weight.

Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the term used to describe the number of calories you need to eat at everyday to maintain your weight

If you eat more calories than you burn a day (eat higher than your TDEE), then you’ll gain weight (fat and muscle) – this is often termed a “caloric surplus” or a “bulk”.

If you eat fewer calories than you burn a day (eat less than your TDEE), then you’ll lose weight (fat and some muscle) – this is often termed a “caloric deficit” or a “cut”.

It really is that simple.

So, the actual food that makes up these calories becomes of lesser importance in terms of weight loss!

In fact, there’s been actual studies done with people who have lost weight on a diet consisting entirely of protein shakes, Doritos, Oreos, and Twinkies. Technically, you could do the exact same thing. (Word of advice, DON’T Do it, your health is important).

The point is that the actual foods you eat don’t matter in terms of weight loss or weight gain.

BUT, as you’ll see, they do play a huge role in your overall health, performance in the gym, AND body composition (how much fat/muscle you gain/lose) – which are MUCH more important factors than simply losing or gaining weight.

I just wanted to emphasize the fact that you can and should 100% incorporate foods you enjoy into your “diet” in order to make it sustainable in the long run.

There’s absolutely NO NEED to stick to a “tofu and broccoli” diet every single day (unless you actually enjoy that of course). At the end of the day, the most important factor when it comes to your success with dieting will be your adherence to it.

Now with that out of the way, something you should definitely care about is your macros – more specifically, the amount of carbs/protein/fats you take in to make up the calories you eat everyday.