By Adam Whitlach

In order to have an idea of how to design a nutrition plan, we need to know what good macronutrients consist of.  Macronutrients are our fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.  Micronutrients are our vitamins and minerals.  Lean proteins include chicken, fish, beef, eggs, and protein powders.  Healthy complex carbohydrates include brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and whole-wheat pasta.  Healthy fats come from canola oil, olive oil, and residual fat from lean beef and egg yolks.  This is only a small list of examples to help you get started on choosing foods that work well for you.

When you begin to portion out foods selected from the list, it is important to know that I am NOT a fan of the FDA’s food guide pyramid.  If we look at the human structure and the way that we process food, we will see that we have eyes that face forward, ears oriented forward, and remnants of fangs amongst our other teeth.  This is a predatory genetic design.  We MUST ingest essential amino acids and fatty acids.  If we do not consume these acids, we will die.  Therefore, why would we make carbohydrates the primary source of calories each day when they are not required to function?  This is exactly what the food pyramid does.  The FDA recommends that the largest percentage of our daily diet come from carbohydrates.   I totally disagree.  I am not advocating 0 carbs for your diet… that’s just nuts!  I am promoting a balance between carbs, fats, and proteins.

The key to any diet is balance. Now that we know proteins and fats are essential to our diets, we can begin to understand how to structure our day.  With protein, I try to shoot for 1g of protein per pound of body weight.  If you weigh 150 pounds, try to shoot for 150g of protein.  I know there’s a bunch of research that says we don’t need this much protein, that this can hurt your liver, that only bodybuilders eat this much protein.  Well for the most part, these arguments are crap and here is why.  Most Americans don’t eat enough protein… period!  By saying that we should shoot for our body weight, most people are going to fall short anyways.  Even if they fall short, they are still getting adequate amounts of protein.

Allow me to switch gears and make something perfectly clear, you can get fat if you eat too much of ANYTHING! It does not matter if it’s chicken, brown rice, oatmeal, ice cream, brownies, or pasta.  If it has calories in it, you can potentially pack on body fat.  Of the three macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbs) it’s more difficult to convert protein into fat than the other two and it’s the only one that can be made into muscle.  This is precisely why we are all told not to eat after 6pm.  This is partially true.  I would not eat many carbs or fats after that time, but proteins are another story.  I’ve dieted down for two bodybuilding contests and am currently 7 weeks out from my 3rd.  Ever since I did my first one, I’ve learned that eating right before you go to bed is the best thing you can do, but it must be protein.  Something like egg whites before bed will help to keep your digestion running through the night and keep you from getting hunger cravings that will tempt you into eating garbage.

There are many studies out there that say we don’t need a 1:1 ratio (grams of protein : pounds of bodyweight).  This is true.  Our bodies cannot use every gram of protein that we put into it, but the same is true for every gram of fat and every gram of carbohydrate.  Let’s refer back to my previous statement; protein is the toughest to convert into fat and the only nutrient that can be converted into new lean muscle.  Eating higher portions of carbs and fats gives us the highest potential to store more body fat.  Eating higher portions of proteins give us a higher chance of building new muscle and a lower chance of packing on body fat.  So why not go a little high on the protein side of your diet?   I usually have my protein set at about 50% of my daily caloric intake.

Fats are yet another aspect of nutrition that must be considered. How sad is it that we live in a time where eggs, butter, and beef are considered unhealthy?  Fats are always labeled, along with everything else, as “bad for you” to eat.  This could not be further from the truth.  Fats are absolutely essential in order to function properly.  If you cut your fats completely out of your diet, your body will be deprived of essential fatty acids and you could cause major health problems.  Fats must be in your diet; however, it is true that they need to be monitored.  They need to be monitored both in the source and the quantity in which you measure them.  Every gram of protein or carbohydrate will yield 4 calories.  So if you have a piece of chicken with 20 grams of protein, that piece of chicken has 80 calories.  Fat is 9 calories for every gram.  If a tablespoon of peanut butter has 18 grams of fat, it also contains 162 calories.  There are less total grams than the chicken, but over double the calories.  This is exactly why it’s easy in America to over do it with fats.

The simple fact that fats contain so many calories per gram is why I believe they have been branded with such heretical zeal.  Too many people, even medical doctors, have blamed foods like eggs and beef for high cholesterol, body fat, and blood pressure.  Why doesn’t anyone look at all the chemicals and preservatives that are in the garbage that we consume and the drastically inactive lifestyles that Americans lead?  A nation of obesity and diabetes shouldn’t look at these factors should we?  It must be the red meat!  *Sarcasm* I absolutely can’t stand it when I hear of people eating 100 calorie packs or turkey bacon and they think that somehow they are making a healthier choice that a lean steak.  Give me a break!  I usually try to keep my fats at around 20% of daily caloric intake.

Last but not least, carbohydrates! Our foundation of energy!  Our feel good food!  Our big fat arse??  Carbohydrates are perhaps the biggest macronutrient to be revolutionized in the recent years.  Every quick fix, easy to eat, take with you anywhere foods have been carbohydrates.  It makes sense, since most of these foods need no preparation.  Think about it.  Cookies, granola bars, power bars, chips, sandwiches, sports drinks, and the list goes on and on… they are all carbs!  These are America’s foods of choice for two reasons: they taste good and, more importantly, they are EASY.  This is precisely the problem.  Food companies have taken these ideas and twisted it so that making good decisions are even harder.  Living in a world full of sugar free cookies, reduced fat peanut butter, and fat free creams has made our diets so confusing.

Allow me to make things easier for you. Carbohydrates, as well as the other macronutrients, work best when consumed from a whole source.  Referring back to the above list: brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, and whole wheat bread.  I sat in a seminar last year called “Is your food killing you?”.  My experiences with dieting and competing, which were only reiterated in this course, show that you really can’t go wrong with whole foods.  Keeping your carbs at about 30% of your daily intake will not only supply your body with adequate energy through the day, but also keep you from over eating and ultimately storing body fat.  Keep your carb consumption early in the day as well.  Eating an energy source early in the day ensures that you will burn off the majority of the carb calories.  You don’t want a lot of carbs in your system when you are going to bed.  If you have an energy source in your belly when its bedtime, you’ll be more likely to store those calories because you won’t be using them when you sleep.  I consume the majority of my carb calories around workout times (early in the day).  Then I taper them down or cut them out all together later in the day.  Stick with whole and natural sources with your carbohydrate selections and you’ll avoid all the crap marketing we see for “healthy” foods.

Let’s recap a bit. I mentioned throughout the article that my daily estimates are 50% protein, 30% carbohydrate, and 20% fats.  Well I realize that many people have no idea what that means.  So I’m going to attempt to illustrate it for you.  I weight about 185 lbs at about 7-8% body fat.  Let’s say I eat 6 meals a day and I have protein in EVERY meal.  If I were to eat a 5 oz. piece of chicken in every meal, I’d have 180 grams of protein for the day (720 calories).  Now, I’m one those people that loves to eat.  5 oz. chicken is nothing.  There is absolutely no problem here eating 1:1 ratio of protein.  Let’s say I eat a cup of cooked brown rice in each of my first 3 meals.  That’s about 100 grams of carbohydrate for my day, which is 400 calories.  For desert, I have 1 tablespoon of peanut butter after 2 meals.  That’s 32 grams of fat, which is 288 calories.  Total calories for the day are 1408.  51% protein, 28 % carbohydrate, 21 % fat.  Keep in mind that all diets should be highly individualized and custom.  I eat WAY more of each of these macronutrients to maintain more muscle and account for a vigorous workout regimen.  These numbers are nothing more than example of how to show a 50:30:20 ratio in a balanced diet.

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