Metabolism Rehabilitation: A DIY Reverse Dieting Guide
Metabolism Rehabilitation: Important Terms to Know
Metabolism Rehabilitation: An Overview
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Learning How to Count Macros/IIFYM
Step 3: Baselining & Training
Step 4: Calculating Your Individual Macros
Step 5: Reverse Dieting
Step 6: Planning Your Goals
Metabolism Rehabilitation: An Overview
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Learning How to Count Macros/IIFYM
Step 3: Baselining & Training
Step 4: Calculating Your Individual Macros
Step 5: Reverse Dieting
Step 6: Planning Your Goals
Step 4: Calculating Your Individual Macros
Reading and knowing the “important terms” section is absolutely critical at this point. You must know these definitions and calorie content of the macronutrients before reading further.
I have seen this done a few different ways, but I stick with the standards that are most widely agreed upon based on what I have seen during my year of obsessively searching/studying everything about macro breakdowns for optimal body composition.
This is what I have found.
PROTEIN – 1 to 1.1 grams per pound of current bodyweight
FAT – 20-30% of total calories
CARBS – All the rest of the calories left
FIBER – 20-25% of your bodyweight (minimum), but do not go over 60g or you will probably feel like the michelin man (bloated). Fiber is not a macronutrient, but it is very important to at least hit that minimum number.
EXAMPLE:
If Anna Banana weighs 110 lbs and is currently eating 1,260 calories to maintain her body weight, she will make the following calculations to determine macros:
PROTEIN: 1.1x110 = 121g protein
FAT: .25x1260 = 315. This is the number of daily calories allocated to fat. There are 9 calories per gram of fat, so 315 must be divided by 9 to get 35g fat.
CARBS: All of the left over calories will be allocated to carbs. 315 fat calories + 484 protein calories (4 calories per gram of protein) = 799 calories. 1260-799=461 calories left to be allocated to carbs. Each carb gram is 4 calories, so 461 divided by 4 is about 115g.
FIBER: 110x.2 = 22g fiber.
So, a good place for hypothetical Anna Banana to start off her macro breakdown is:
121P / 35F / 115C
It seems complicated but I promise you will get the hang of it. You are going to be making these calculations a LOOOOT.
I highly recommend spending an additional week baselining to make absolutely sure this macro breakdown is at least CLOSE to the TDEE calculated from the first week of baselining. In other words, hit these macros perfectly every day for a week while weighing yourself to make sure your weight does not change for this week in addition to the first baselining week in Step 3.
So yes, I recommend two whole weeks of baselining.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1) Make sure to eat lots of veggies and fruits! IIFYM is not an excuse to eat crap all day. I typically use the 80/20 rule.
2) Take a daily multivitamin.
3) Meal timing is not as critical as spacing out your protein intake throughout the day to get around 30 grams at a time. For me (at 117g protein), that’s about 3 major meals with protein a day. I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal before my work-out and consume around 30g of protein immediately after working out. I will typically either have a protein shake, protein waffle, or egg whites w/ cheese (garlic herb laughing cow wedges are my JAM) on toast. I space everything else out and eat probably 4-5 times a day. I always eat a big bowl of ice cream right before bed and wake up lean. It’s called science.
TO SUMMARIZE:
Week 1: Baseline Calories
Week 2: Baseline Macros
Week 3: Start Reverse Diet (Step 5)
Now let's learn how to eat more and not get fat AKA reverse dieting (Step 5)!
I have seen this done a few different ways, but I stick with the standards that are most widely agreed upon based on what I have seen during my year of obsessively searching/studying everything about macro breakdowns for optimal body composition.
This is what I have found.
PROTEIN – 1 to 1.1 grams per pound of current bodyweight
FAT – 20-30% of total calories
CARBS – All the rest of the calories left
FIBER – 20-25% of your bodyweight (minimum), but do not go over 60g or you will probably feel like the michelin man (bloated). Fiber is not a macronutrient, but it is very important to at least hit that minimum number.
EXAMPLE:
If Anna Banana weighs 110 lbs and is currently eating 1,260 calories to maintain her body weight, she will make the following calculations to determine macros:
PROTEIN: 1.1x110 = 121g protein
FAT: .25x1260 = 315. This is the number of daily calories allocated to fat. There are 9 calories per gram of fat, so 315 must be divided by 9 to get 35g fat.
CARBS: All of the left over calories will be allocated to carbs. 315 fat calories + 484 protein calories (4 calories per gram of protein) = 799 calories. 1260-799=461 calories left to be allocated to carbs. Each carb gram is 4 calories, so 461 divided by 4 is about 115g.
FIBER: 110x.2 = 22g fiber.
So, a good place for hypothetical Anna Banana to start off her macro breakdown is:
121P / 35F / 115C
It seems complicated but I promise you will get the hang of it. You are going to be making these calculations a LOOOOT.
I highly recommend spending an additional week baselining to make absolutely sure this macro breakdown is at least CLOSE to the TDEE calculated from the first week of baselining. In other words, hit these macros perfectly every day for a week while weighing yourself to make sure your weight does not change for this week in addition to the first baselining week in Step 3.
So yes, I recommend two whole weeks of baselining.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1) Make sure to eat lots of veggies and fruits! IIFYM is not an excuse to eat crap all day. I typically use the 80/20 rule.
2) Take a daily multivitamin.
3) Meal timing is not as critical as spacing out your protein intake throughout the day to get around 30 grams at a time. For me (at 117g protein), that’s about 3 major meals with protein a day. I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal before my work-out and consume around 30g of protein immediately after working out. I will typically either have a protein shake, protein waffle, or egg whites w/ cheese (garlic herb laughing cow wedges are my JAM) on toast. I space everything else out and eat probably 4-5 times a day. I always eat a big bowl of ice cream right before bed and wake up lean. It’s called science.
TO SUMMARIZE:
Week 1: Baseline Calories
Week 2: Baseline Macros
Week 3: Start Reverse Diet (Step 5)
Now let's learn how to eat more and not get fat AKA reverse dieting (Step 5)!