So in a previous post I mentioned the flexible approach to dieting known as IIFYM. This refers to inputting your daily meals and various other aspects of your lifestyle into MyFitnessPal, in order to track and manipulate certain elements when needed be. Now macro counting can seem tedious when the foods that you consume vary in size and frequency each day, ultimately though, having a solid structure to stick to may be just as critical in assisting weight loss or weight gain as the numerical nutritional values. For a lot of people, calorie counting is mainly for CUTTING weight, although adhering to or above a certain calorie goal everyday will benefit those with weight GAIN in mind all the same. Unless you’d consider yourself a food connoisseur and eat out almost everyday, you’ll find that the food you eat week to week won’t be worlds apart. Although, you still need to be conscious of the nutritional components in order to assist your efforts of physical CHANGE. This could be to lose 4kg or gain it, either way, failing to identity the amounts of macronutrients you consume daily will make it much more difficult to reap the benefits of physical EFFORT/EXERTION. Plainly put, and you’ve probably heard this plenty of times to know, ‘your body doesn’t WANT to change’ manipulating a number of different factors will FORCE it to do so, your calorie/carbs/fat/protein intake being just a few to name. 

When you see lads weighing themselves after every workout -as though the iron from a few dumbbells has somehow transcended into them- the reason why they could have hit a ‘plateau’ is probably gonna be to do with their input vs their output. This refers to the nutrients that we consume -input- as opposed to physical effort, what we do -output- If you put the wrong fuel in your car not only will you not get to work, you will most probably damage the engine. Our bodies are the same, in that we fuel -feed- ourselves in order to function. The way that we look is simply a byproduct of how much food is used as energy or stored as fat. Our body’s capacity to burn or store fat will undoubtedly be predetermined by our genetic makeup, but I believe it can be overruled to an extent just the same. 

Our primal predecessors would have had to hunt for food, conditioning their bodies by means of function and survival. Today we have the facility to have someone else find an animal, someone else to kill it, another to cook it and another to bring it to us. By doing so we impede evolution, and endanger the once predatory genetic makeup of our ancestors -cheers JustEat. For anyone thats heard of The paleolithic or ‘caveman’ diet, mainly consisting of meat, nuts and berries, by contrast it highlights the kind of foods that the modern world has grown accustomed to through agricultural and productive advancement. These include dairy, starchy carbohydrates and processed foods -so basically everything we eat. I have tried the Paleo diet for a short period in the past and it was beneficial to the extent of not being able to function on a human level due to such low carbs. Although in retrospect, adopting certain approaches of the caveman diet may be of some merit with regards to weight loss especially when its needed within a restricted time frame, i.e contest prep, summer holidays etc. When the instance of this is relevant I could attempt to cover more of it, but technically we’re still in the ‘off season’

Now for anyone that considers themselves a successful bodybuilder/fitness athlete/ sponsored bitch, the key to attaining a solid physique is all down to the work put in during the ‘off season’ If you look good all year round, give the swans a smooch you absolute hero. For most of us, the additional weight we acquire during the winter months SHOULD be seen as more of a blessing than a burden. If you get over the fact that you may be holding onto a little more water than usual and realise that those around you aren’t interested in the slightest, you may be a step closer to your ‘#goals#2016goals’ Now there’s two words that get thrown around often enough to me cringe -even worse when they’re in same sentence- but LEAN MASS for most people, will always be in vain. This refers to gaining as much muscle as possible, whilst minimising fat. This is possible by narrowly exceeding a caloric threshold but you’ll still need to get somewhat ‘fat’ in order for this to be of any benefit. I can’t imagine this appealing to anyone that already considers themselves reasonably lean without exercise but if they wanna look like someone a 14 year old girl would have on their wall thats up to them. So this is the part where I mention this new flexible approach to dieting called ‘If It Fits Your Macros’ … IIFYM

So THE BULKING FEAR. Does she think I’ve let myself go? Do I use the pool at the gym? Is there a chance that we could end up playing strip poker? shit, I have rolls? All these questions are indicative of consuming extra calories, but unlike make-up, its better to have MORE as opposed to LESS. Just look at most professional fitness athletes when they’re not competing, the extent to which they go to pretty much epitomises what an ‘off season’ SHOULD entail, look at someone like Sadik Hadzovic and tell me that he looks the same all year round. Lets face it, for someone that trains consistently and has an awareness on the importance of diet, putting on a few kg’s over the space of a few months isn’t something to be fearful of in the slightest. For anyone struggling to gain weight for any particular reason, ignoring this fear will not only put the knowledge you may have acquired into practise, it will provide you with an insight to how sensitive your body is to change. As previously mentioned, genetics may stipulate our ability to gain or lose weight but be realistic in the sense that it may take a while.

Current macros -although I aim to exceed these daily-  for my current weight of 94kg are as follows;

Please follow my new Instagram page for further diet/supplement posts and hopefully training videos in the near future.

JAK3D 👊