Man of Honour
So I've noticed there's a few threads and questions regarding diet advice, and while GordyR's thread is brilliant, I think expanding upon the diet side of it a bit further could help people out
How much do you need?
This isn't a straight forward question, and a number of things all make up the determining factor of what makes up the answer to that question
- Age
- Sex
- Body type, lean mass vs mass
- Hormones
- How active are you?
- Macronutrient intake
Things that are out of your control like age and sex can play a big part, as males typically burn more calories just being alive than females, and older people burn less than younger people.
But other things make it up too, and these you can control. Your lean mass, having more muscle mass on your frame will cause your body to burn more calories even when you're doing nothing. Your hormone levels (some of this you can't control, but diet and exercise play a part in regulating hormone levels) and your activity level.
Calculating your requirements
There are many online calculators that you can use, but avoid these as a lot are hardcoded with values that don't relate to your particular circumstances. And will probably over estimate what you need.
Some of the calculations you can use are as follows:
Harris-Benedict Formula
Probably the most commonly used method, but it is also notoriously inaccurate, I'd avoid using this unless you are totally unaware of your bodyfat and lean weight. If you do know these, use the next one
For MEN: BMR = 66 + [13.7 x weight (kg)] + [5 x height (cm)] - [6.76 x age (years)]
For WOMEN: BMR = 655 + [9.6 x weight (kg)] + [1.8 x height (cm)] - [4.7 x age (years)]
Katch-McArdle
This is far more accurate as it uses your own bodyfat and lean bodymass measurements to calculate the intake
Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 370 + (21.6 x LBM)
Where Lean Bodymass = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100
So using one of the above will give you your BMR, this is what you use just by being alive and your body running so to speak, but now you need to factor in your activity level. Which we will then use as a multiplier against your BMR. To calculate this multiplier we must determine the following:
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise and desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
Match yourselves against one of the above and multiply your BMR by that number.
Remember, be honest with yourself. If you have an office job but work out 3-4 times a week, that doesn't necessarily mean you're Moderately Active. You might be bordering between the two, but remember, if you're dishonest on this part, you're going to be eating more than you need to be which will ruin your progress to your goals
The key thing to remember with whatever number is eventually calculated, is these are estimates, they might use some science and individual measurements, but they are still estimates, and therefore shouldn't be treated as a concrete number. Be prepared to adjust and tweak this number.
My advice to you is to give yourselves 2-3 weeks at this number, if you're gaining/losing too much weight, tweak it
Using your number to calculate your goals
So you have a number, say 2800, now what? Well it depends on what you want to do.
If you are trying to gain weight, take that number and add 10-15% too it. So in this case it would be 3080 or 3220. This will typically be classed as a "clean" bulk although I hate that term, but this should be about a .5lb-1lb at most gain a week. But this still needs to be made of the right macros which we'll reach later
Same goes for if you're trying to lose weight, take 2800 and remove 10-15% from it, so 2520 or 2380. Again this should give you a healthy weight loss amount per week.
However, these percentages can be increased or decreased as much as you like depending on how quickly or slowly you want to achieve your goals. But the optimal amount is 10-15%
I have my number, what about protein, carbs and fats?
Don't base these amounts on percentages, your body has no idea of what percentages it really wants or needs, so just make sure the end totals match the requirements for you. And as long as you do that, they'll work, it really is that simple
Protein
This is always going to be a controversial issue, with many papers leading to different findings about optimum amounts. But going back to popular belief and the general consensus, aim for the 1 to 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.
Ideally this should be per lb of lean body weight, but if you don't know this then it's not going to be a huge problem for doing total weight. However if you've used the Katch-McArdle method above you should know your LBM
Carbs
Carbs always get a bad rep, they're the first point of blame when people are dieting or putting on too much weight. But eating carbs, and the right carbs can be beneficial to your goals, both gaining and losing weight
Carbs give you the energy to have intense workouts or do high amounts of exercise, they're needed for your own sanity too (trust me on this one
). When I was dieting for my contest, I lost 3 stone while still eating close to 300g of carbs, but it was the right kind of carbs. Aim for wholegrain foods (pastas/rice/bread), oats and other stuff low on the glycemic index (GI).
The thing to remember with carbs is they are split into two categories at a basic level, Complex and Simple Carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as the ones I mentioned earlier are digested at a much slower rate, keeping you fuller for longer and giving a much more stable and steady flow of energy. Simple carbs, while deliver the same amount of energy per gram, are digested at a much faster pace and deliver an immediate boost in blood sugar and energy, but it wears off quickly. Meaning you feel hungrier sooner and your energy falls quicker.
If you consider yourself highly active, and again be honest, aim for 3-4g of carbs per pound of lean bodyweight, moderately active aim for 2-3g per pound of lean weight, and low activity, aim for 1.5-2g
Fats
Again, these get a bad rep, people assume because of the name that fats make you fat. But only the wrong kinds (trans fats are the worst kind)
Fats are crucial to regulating hormone levels, as well as aiding the body to actually burn fat. So these are a must in the diet. Saturated fats are important too, but again these are something that must be had in moderation
The types of fats you need to know about are Saturated Fats, Monounsaturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats and Trans Fatty Acids.
Saturated Fats
Usually found in food from animals (meat, butter, cream etc), they yield more energy than unsaturated fats however are linked to higher cholesterol levels and heart diseases. However, please don't shy away from Saturated fats, as a certain amount is important in your diet.
For men, you should be eating no more than 30g per day of saturated fats, for woman, 20g
Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats
Found in plants, oils, cereal grains and fish oils. These are the good fats and you should be making up most of your fat intake from these. They are good for a number of reasons, two of these being Omega 3 and Omega 6. The oils and cereal grains provide Omega-6. The body uses the Omega-6 fatty acids to make hormone like substances called eicosanoids. These provide a number of functions including muscle contraction/relaxation, blood vessel constriction/relaxation, immune response to injury and infection. They also help to lower LDL cholesterol, the bad kind.
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils help with the brains cerebral cortex development and retinal development for vision. There are also a number of health benefits from Omega-3 fatty acids, including a healthier heart which is always a good thing and healthy joints. A number of studies also show Omega-3 fatty acids help with fat burning and minimising the effect of catabolism.
Trans Fatty Acids
Most of the nasty nasty fatty acids are the result of industrial hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fats. These fats are bad because not only do they massively raise the bad cholesterol, LDL, they also reduce the HDL levels of cholesterol too, the good kind. Margarine is a source of trans fats, so be careful if you use margarine.
Typically you want to aim for 0.45-0.8g per pound of total body weight, however if you are of a high bodyfat percentage, you want this to be per LEAN pound of bodyweight. And remember, make sure it's made up of mostly good fats and not bad fats.
Right, got it, how do I track all this?
There are so many ways, from phone apps to websites, but the best one I've found that covers both is CalorieCount.
A simple website that by now has nearly every food already entered into its database, as well as showing breakdowns of your food logs from simple charts to really informative stats. And best of all it's free
It also has an iPhone app that syncs with the website and vice versa
Do I need any supplements?
This varies from goal to goal, your best bet would be to ask a question here and get some advice from our helpful members
I hope this post has helped you, remember this isn't just for bodybuilders, anyone can use this information to calculate their diet. Whether you just want to lose weight or you're in another sport trying to achieve a goal, you can use this information to help you reach that
How much do you need?
This isn't a straight forward question, and a number of things all make up the determining factor of what makes up the answer to that question
- Age
- Sex
- Body type, lean mass vs mass
- Hormones
- How active are you?
- Macronutrient intake
Things that are out of your control like age and sex can play a big part, as males typically burn more calories just being alive than females, and older people burn less than younger people.
But other things make it up too, and these you can control. Your lean mass, having more muscle mass on your frame will cause your body to burn more calories even when you're doing nothing. Your hormone levels (some of this you can't control, but diet and exercise play a part in regulating hormone levels) and your activity level.
Calculating your requirements
There are many online calculators that you can use, but avoid these as a lot are hardcoded with values that don't relate to your particular circumstances. And will probably over estimate what you need.
Some of the calculations you can use are as follows:
Harris-Benedict Formula
Probably the most commonly used method, but it is also notoriously inaccurate, I'd avoid using this unless you are totally unaware of your bodyfat and lean weight. If you do know these, use the next one
For MEN: BMR = 66 + [13.7 x weight (kg)] + [5 x height (cm)] - [6.76 x age (years)]
For WOMEN: BMR = 655 + [9.6 x weight (kg)] + [1.8 x height (cm)] - [4.7 x age (years)]
Katch-McArdle
This is far more accurate as it uses your own bodyfat and lean bodymass measurements to calculate the intake
Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 370 + (21.6 x LBM)
Where Lean Bodymass = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100
So using one of the above will give you your BMR, this is what you use just by being alive and your body running so to speak, but now you need to factor in your activity level. Which we will then use as a multiplier against your BMR. To calculate this multiplier we must determine the following:
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise and desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
Match yourselves against one of the above and multiply your BMR by that number.
Remember, be honest with yourself. If you have an office job but work out 3-4 times a week, that doesn't necessarily mean you're Moderately Active. You might be bordering between the two, but remember, if you're dishonest on this part, you're going to be eating more than you need to be which will ruin your progress to your goals
The key thing to remember with whatever number is eventually calculated, is these are estimates, they might use some science and individual measurements, but they are still estimates, and therefore shouldn't be treated as a concrete number. Be prepared to adjust and tweak this number.
My advice to you is to give yourselves 2-3 weeks at this number, if you're gaining/losing too much weight, tweak it
Using your number to calculate your goals
So you have a number, say 2800, now what? Well it depends on what you want to do.
If you are trying to gain weight, take that number and add 10-15% too it. So in this case it would be 3080 or 3220. This will typically be classed as a "clean" bulk although I hate that term, but this should be about a .5lb-1lb at most gain a week. But this still needs to be made of the right macros which we'll reach later
Same goes for if you're trying to lose weight, take 2800 and remove 10-15% from it, so 2520 or 2380. Again this should give you a healthy weight loss amount per week.
However, these percentages can be increased or decreased as much as you like depending on how quickly or slowly you want to achieve your goals. But the optimal amount is 10-15%
I have my number, what about protein, carbs and fats?
Don't base these amounts on percentages, your body has no idea of what percentages it really wants or needs, so just make sure the end totals match the requirements for you. And as long as you do that, they'll work, it really is that simple
Protein
This is always going to be a controversial issue, with many papers leading to different findings about optimum amounts. But going back to popular belief and the general consensus, aim for the 1 to 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.
Ideally this should be per lb of lean body weight, but if you don't know this then it's not going to be a huge problem for doing total weight. However if you've used the Katch-McArdle method above you should know your LBM
Carbs
Carbs always get a bad rep, they're the first point of blame when people are dieting or putting on too much weight. But eating carbs, and the right carbs can be beneficial to your goals, both gaining and losing weight
Carbs give you the energy to have intense workouts or do high amounts of exercise, they're needed for your own sanity too (trust me on this one
). When I was dieting for my contest, I lost 3 stone while still eating close to 300g of carbs, but it was the right kind of carbs. Aim for wholegrain foods (pastas/rice/bread), oats and other stuff low on the glycemic index (GI).The thing to remember with carbs is they are split into two categories at a basic level, Complex and Simple Carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as the ones I mentioned earlier are digested at a much slower rate, keeping you fuller for longer and giving a much more stable and steady flow of energy. Simple carbs, while deliver the same amount of energy per gram, are digested at a much faster pace and deliver an immediate boost in blood sugar and energy, but it wears off quickly. Meaning you feel hungrier sooner and your energy falls quicker.
If you consider yourself highly active, and again be honest, aim for 3-4g of carbs per pound of lean bodyweight, moderately active aim for 2-3g per pound of lean weight, and low activity, aim for 1.5-2g
Fats
Again, these get a bad rep, people assume because of the name that fats make you fat. But only the wrong kinds (trans fats are the worst kind)
Fats are crucial to regulating hormone levels, as well as aiding the body to actually burn fat. So these are a must in the diet. Saturated fats are important too, but again these are something that must be had in moderation
The types of fats you need to know about are Saturated Fats, Monounsaturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats and Trans Fatty Acids.
Saturated Fats
Usually found in food from animals (meat, butter, cream etc), they yield more energy than unsaturated fats however are linked to higher cholesterol levels and heart diseases. However, please don't shy away from Saturated fats, as a certain amount is important in your diet.
For men, you should be eating no more than 30g per day of saturated fats, for woman, 20g
Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats
Found in plants, oils, cereal grains and fish oils. These are the good fats and you should be making up most of your fat intake from these. They are good for a number of reasons, two of these being Omega 3 and Omega 6. The oils and cereal grains provide Omega-6. The body uses the Omega-6 fatty acids to make hormone like substances called eicosanoids. These provide a number of functions including muscle contraction/relaxation, blood vessel constriction/relaxation, immune response to injury and infection. They also help to lower LDL cholesterol, the bad kind.
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils help with the brains cerebral cortex development and retinal development for vision. There are also a number of health benefits from Omega-3 fatty acids, including a healthier heart which is always a good thing and healthy joints. A number of studies also show Omega-3 fatty acids help with fat burning and minimising the effect of catabolism.
Trans Fatty Acids
Most of the nasty nasty fatty acids are the result of industrial hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fats. These fats are bad because not only do they massively raise the bad cholesterol, LDL, they also reduce the HDL levels of cholesterol too, the good kind. Margarine is a source of trans fats, so be careful if you use margarine.
Typically you want to aim for 0.45-0.8g per pound of total body weight, however if you are of a high bodyfat percentage, you want this to be per LEAN pound of bodyweight. And remember, make sure it's made up of mostly good fats and not bad fats.
Right, got it, how do I track all this?
There are so many ways, from phone apps to websites, but the best one I've found that covers both is CalorieCount.
A simple website that by now has nearly every food already entered into its database, as well as showing breakdowns of your food logs from simple charts to really informative stats. And best of all it's free
It also has an iPhone app that syncs with the website and vice versa
Do I need any supplements?
This varies from goal to goal, your best bet would be to ask a question here and get some advice from our helpful members
I hope this post has helped you, remember this isn't just for bodybuilders, anyone can use this information to calculate their diet. Whether you just want to lose weight or you're in another sport trying to achieve a goal, you can use this information to help you reach that
Last edited:
haha), great work Steedie. 
