There’s two key diet principles to follow...
You need to take in fewer calories than you expend each day
This will give you the energy you need to keep hold of your hard earned muscle while taking just enough off the top to burn off the lard. The amount you need depends on your bodyweight - a complete calorie plan that’s right for you is detailed on the next page.
As we get leaner, we also have less body fat to call on for energy resources. So the plan is to cut back on our diet even more in some areas and use a few extra tricks to get rid of those last few pounds of lard.
Your diet needs to be balanced to fit your goal Carbohydrates, proteins and fats all have a part to play if you’re to lose weight safely and efficiently.
You also need to pay attention to the following...
Carbohydrates
Think of muscle building as a furnace, and carbs as the firewood. We need carbs for fuel so we don't eat into the reserves stored by our muscles.
There are two types of carbohydrates. Simple carbs like sweets and chocolate burn very quickly and give you a swift energy burst. Complex carbs such as rice and pasta provide a more drawn out energy supply with fewer energy dips and spikes. For maximum fat burning, you need to get plenty of complex carbs.
Go for:
Rice, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, porridge oats and wholegrain cereals such as Weetabix and Shredded Wheat
Avoid:
Sugary foods such as sweets and chocolate
Protein
As we get leaner, to help keep hold of our hard earned muscle, we will potentially benefit from a little more protein than your average bloke. The average person needs 0.8g of protein per kg of bodyweight, but because we’ll be strength training to hold onto our muscle while we strip away the fat from our abdomen, we’re going to boost our protein a little to 1.2g per kg of bodyweight.
To figure out your protein needs, multiply your bodyweight in kg by 1.2. So if you weigh 85kg, you’ll be looking for around 102g protein per day.
Go for:
Lean meats such as chicken breast, turkey breast, or white fish, also egg whites, cottage cheese, low fat cheddar, skimmed milk, low fat yoghurts, beans, pulses, Tofu
Avoid:
Fatty cuts of meat, full fat dairy and cheese
Fats
Despite all the anti-fat propaganda you hear, some fats are actually very good for us and in appropriate amounts can help reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
When you’re trying to gain a six pack though, the problem with fats is that they’re very calorie heavy. Weighing in at nine calories per gram, gram for gram, they supply twice as many calories as the same amount of carbs or protein. So the quickest and easiest way to cut calories from your diet is to lower the fat.
This is easily done by following the same guidelines as choosing low fat protein sources above, and cooking by grilling or frying with a one cal cook spray.
Adding a small handful of nuts per day, and if you’re a meat eater some oily fish in your diet two or three times per week, and you’ll get plenty of the good fats you need.
Go for:
Natural peanut butter. Extra virgin oil, nut oils, vegetable oils, sunflower oils and corn oils. Also oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, and sardines.
Avoid:
Fatty meats, whole milk and full fat cheese. Oils that have been treated to make them semi-solid such as margarines
Supplements
When we’re trying to ditch that last bit of fat, we can sometimes do with a little supplemental help! On a calorie reduced diet such as this it can be difficult to get in all the necessary vitamins and minerals we need daily, so while following this plan pick up a one a day multivitamin/ mineral supplement from your local supermarket or chemist. Their own brand will do the job just as well as the more expensive brands, and will only set you back a couple of quid.
This is the only supplement you should be taking on this program. There’s various pills and potions around at the moment billed as being able to strip fat in no time. Ingredients are mostly a useless melting pot of vitamins, herbs, and amino acids but some are far more dangerous concoctions.
The only product so far proven to increase fat burning is an Ephedrine Caffeine Aspirin stack (ECA stack for short) and even the effect of that is minimal.
Since Ephedrine was banned after being linked with a host of side effects and deaths, supplement companies have been bringing out a spate of Ephedrine free products, including any distantly related ingredient to fill the void (e.g. Sida Cordifolia).
Our advice is to steer clear of all these fat burners. Most don’t make the blindest bit of difference, and of the ones that do, not only is the difference negligible, but the cost and the risks far, far outweigh the benefits.
There’s a much cheaper and safer way of boosting your metabolism. Drinking ice cold water.
Downing six 750 ml sports bottles of ice cold water daily will burn over 1600 extra calories every week. Then there’s the side benefits of the extra water such as appetite suppression, improved performance and concentration. Your workouts will improve and so will your body’s ability to shift fat from your system.
With this extra fat burning weapon in your arsenal, our program will get you where you want to go just as quick as the supplement route. And you can spend the cash you saved on a beach holiday to show off your hard work!
