I have spent a significant amount of time finding the ideal nutrition strategy to produce results when dealing with the skinny fat physique. I’ve previously mentioned many of the diet trends that I’ve experimented with, one notably being the ketogenic diet. I did see immediate results with my weight on the scale, however, as the pounds dropped, so did my muscle mass. When finally reaching my goal weight, it didn’t take long for my weight to go back up to where I started after reintroducing carbohydrates back into my diet.
A few main lessons I’ve learned through trial and error during my experimentation with different diets was that regardless of what types of food rules I followed, maintaining a calorie deficit allowed me to keep my weight below the number I wanted to see on the scale. As for the bad reputation of carbs, the amount of carbs I consumed really had no effect on me as long as I kept my daily caloric intake below maintenance. However, increasing my protein consumption made a major impact when it came to muscular growth.
Taking all this into consideration, I’ve been able to identify the two main goals for my nutrition strategy, which is to maintain a caloric deficit to encourage fat loss while focusing on consuming high quality protein to promote muscle growth. After all, what I’ve learned is that body recomposition is not about focusing solely on weight loss or solely on bulking, but by addressing both fat loss and lean muscle growth simultaneously. Now the next question is, what ratio should my food groups consist of on a daily basis? This leads me to talk about the importance of tracking your macronutrients.
I’ve previously talked about calculating your daily recommended calories in a previous post, but one thing I’d like to introduce first is incorporating a slight calorie deficit in order to focus on the fat burning aspect. I would recommend a calorie deficit of somewhere between 250-500 calories – the smaller end to start off with, then slowly making adjustments to the higher end based on your results. The second step would be to calculate your daily protein intake. Based on many of the articles I’ve sifted through, the recommendation is 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to properly target muscular growth. Third, fat consumption should come from about 20-30% of your daily calories. The guideline on fats would be to keep on the lower end if you are wanting to consume a few extra calories elsewhere or on the higher end if you are having trouble staying satiated throughout the day. As for the fourth and final step, the remainder of your calories should consist of healthy carbohydrates.
Below is an example of the 4 steps I’ve taken to calculate my daily macronutrient breakdown:
Step 1: Determine your Calorie Deficit
Daily Caloric Intake for Maintenance: 2,568 Calories
Daily Caloric Deficit: 368 Calories
2,568 – 368 = 2,200 Calories
Step 2: Calculate your Protein Intake
Weight: 180 lbs
180 x 1 = 180 grams of Protein
180 x 4 (4 calories per gram) = 720 Calories
Step 3: Determine your Fat Intake
Daily Caloric Intake (with Deficit): 2,200 Calories
2,200 x 0.30 = 660 Calories
660 / 9 (9 calories per gram) = 73.33 grams of Fat
Step 4: Calculate your Carbohydrate Intake
2,200 – ( 720 + 660 ) = 820 Calories
820 / 4 (4 calories per gram) = 205 grams of Carbohydrates
Daily Caloric Intake & Macronutrient Breakdown:
Calories with Deficit: 2,200 Calories
180 grams of Protein (33%)
73 grams of Fat (30%)
205 grams of Carbohydrates (37%)
