Flexible
dieting
by Mark Crawford & Lou Noel
Essentially what we have now are two schools
of thought in our industry: the meal plan group
and the flexible dieters. Some would say that
it’s about the “clean eaters” vs the IIFYM crowd.
Unfortunately this statement is flawed (in more
than one way) as one could follow a prescribed
set of macros and still “eat clean”. At the end
of the day defining “clean eating” is virtually
impossible as you will get different definitions
from different groups of people.
In essence, measuring your macros is a
very simple concept. Day in and day out one
would measure their total intake of protein,
carbohydrates and fat, ideally while keeping
a certain amount of fiber in consideration.
That’s it, nothing fancy, no magic foods or meal
timing mysticism. As a matter of fact, many
proponents of the macro measuring school of
thought do not advocate eating 6 or more meals
a day. There is no evidence that this “stokes”
your metabolism or anything along those lines,
therefore why do it?
With this approach every day, your contest diet
can be very productive. Guess work or having
to fit in certain foods is unnecessary. You can
eat a variety of foods as long as you hit your
numbers for the day. If you hit your target every
day, it is easy to see if what you are doing is
working when you match things up with your
measuring tools. In the world of physique
38.
sports this would be your scale, measuring
tape, mirror and progress photos. If you are
not seeing what you like, then you just adjust
your macro nutrient intake. Naturally this is
a very reductionist explanation, but having
the proper coach to guide you makes this
approach much easier.
Of course learning to measure your food every
day can be a challenge, but with the advent
of apps like My Fitness Pal, My macros+ and
Calorie King it has never been easier to track
your food intake. We have found the majority
of our clients use various apps to keep track of
their daily intake. Many still resort to tracking
via pen and paper (including one of the Ripped
Geek Fitness coaches) but being able to look
up any food you want on your food tracker app
makes the process quite painless.
There are a multitude of advantages when you
commit to measuring your grams of protein,
carbohydrates and fats during prep. Not only
are your results easier to attain, but being able
to eat a variety of foods and not being stuck
to a strict meal plan can help the process be
much more enjoyable. This also prevents falling
off and having destructive “cheat meals” and
“cheat days” which are hallmarks of 80’s prep
style approaches. In addition, with regards
to the infamous “cheat meal” or “cheat day”,
anyone who measures their food can tell you