Most of us have come to the harsh realization that to lose body fat we must change our eating habits. There's just no way around it. There's no super diet pill that's going to work if you don't eat clean. You can even get surgery these days to remove some fat, but if you don't modify your diet plan then you'll be right back where you started. So eating clean is a must. But what many of us hard core weight lifters and bodybuilders worry about is losing hard earned muscle and strength while dieting to get ripped.
Let me first say that we're not talking about getting shredded for the stage when you're a few weeks out from a bodybuilding competition; that's a different ball game altogether. What we're talking about is dropping your body fat to a healthy level to where you can see the muscle that you have. You want to see some striations and you want to be ripped to some extent. You certainly don't want to be one of those weight lifters, strong or not, with a gut hanging over your pants. Your diet is the key element that will separate you from them.
To build muscle and to get stronger you need plenty of quality protein. Anywhere from one gram to one and a half grams of protein per day per pound of bodyweight is a good rule to stick with. I'm not going to argue the low carb versus no carbs versus high carbs and so forth. It's not so much the carbohydrates, it's how much and the types of carbs you're putting into your body.
A solid plan to follow is a one to one ratio of protein and carbs. So if you eat a meal with 45 grams of protein, you shouldn't have any more than 45 grams of carbs. The types of carbs should not be filled with sugar or from processed foods. They should come from sources such as whole grain foods, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, fruits, and vegetables.
You also need healthy fats. Egg yolks, almonds and other types of nuts, olive oil and flaxseed oil are a few examples. The important thing to remember is to stay away from trans fats and don't get too much saturated fat in your diet. For the sake of simplicity, take in a little fat each meal and supplement with flaxseed or fish oil. A good example is if you're eating eggs, cook six to eight egg whites and one or two whole eggs. I use eggs as an example because whole eggs are loaded with vitamins, nutrients and amino acids.
Obviously training intense with heavy weights reaching muscle overload is a no-brainer for building muscle. Cardio training comes into play as well. This diet portion is imperative though if you want to grow and drop body fat at the same time. I personally have started eating chicken breasts (2 at a time), tilapia fillets (2 at a time), eggs, milk and protein shakes for my sources of protein and have not let my carb intake go too far over my protein intake, getting those from the carb sources listed above. I usually get enough healthy fats from whole eggs, milk, peanut butter and I also supplement with flaxseed oil. I was in fear of my strength going down but I've actually gotten stronger and leaner over the past couple of weeks while implementing this meal plan. As for cheat meals, save them for the weekend, or just pick one or two days a week to have a meal or two that may not necessarily fall into the diet plan, such as pizza; my personal favorite.
