“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo de Vinci
So I’m going to dedicate this post to my official diet philosophy. Now unlike most people, I don’t follow any predetermined meal plans or anything that’s particularly structured.
Up until about 2 years ago, I’ve done so many damn diets. I’ve done paleo, low carb, anabolic, low glycemic, carb cylcing… the list goes on and on.
But now, I’m all about freedom and keeping things simple.
The Official FitMole Diet Philosophy
- The total amount of calories you eat per day must take precedence over EVERYTHING else.
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Aim for a minimum of 0.6 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day.
- Don’t go super low-fat. Fats are essential for hormone production and some vitamins are only fat soluble. I don’t want you to obsess over the grams of fat you eat, but do your best to get some fats in your diet.
- Carb intake can vary from person to person but I don’t recommend going low-carb since you need carbs to train intensely.
- Take a high quality multivitamin and 6-10 grams of fish oil per day.
- Eat foods you actually enjoy. There’s no need to live on brown rice and chicken. If you want to eat some pizza and ice cream, then go for it but watch your overall calories and remember, everything in moderation. Yes it’s cliche but when it comes to dieting, it means everything.
- Most importantly – don’t complicate things. A lot of people like to track their exact macronutrient intake each day but that’s really not necessary unless you’re a competitive bodybuilder/fitness model. Keep things simple. Eat foods you enjoy and keep a rough estimate of how much you eat. Don’t over analyze and don’t over stress.
Find what works for you
As you can see, my diet philosophy is VERY flexible, maybe even too flexible for some tastes. I know a lot of people like diets that are structured and rigid, and if that is you then you should probably follow a plan that offers step-by-step meal plans.
If there’s anything I want you to take away from this article it’s this: use the points above as a baseline and customize it to fit your lifestyle. Experiment with different macronutrient ratios, find what works for you, and adjust accordingly.
I plan on writing a full blown diet book based on these principles detailing how to find the perfect diet tailored to your lifestyle. Hopefully, it’ll be out sometime this year.
Do you follow a structured diet or do you freestyle it like me? Let me know in the comments.
[Photo credit: jet_star]
calories in vs calories out 🙂 it s definitely all about that… I lost around 8kg, mostly fat within the last 4-5 months following weightx12 and working out 3-4 x week… now, the problem is that somehow only my chest almost stayed the same, so now yes I can see my abs, by my arms and especially my butt and my legs got too skinny, and my chest is still as if I only worked that muscle out… what do you suggest? forget about staying lean, and pump up calories trying to bulk up my legs and arms, while accepting some overall fat gain as well… or keep up on losing weight until my chest as well will loose it s size… ?? 🙂 I am stuck here trying to understand how to fix this issue…
Maybe you just don’t have enough muscle in your legs and arms. You should try lean bulking a bit.
ok thanks… I just check it out, cool suggestions…one last thing, to gain lean you suggest and addition of 500cal on work daya and mantainance on off days… what would happen if we add 500 on work days and we eat below mantainance on off days? would it be the same as always eating on the mantainance, or we would be able to get both benefits?
Good question. I would also like to know?
Then that would be more along the along the lines of a “recomp effect” where you lose fat an build muscle at the same time.
But I don’t recommend this for most people because it can take an extremely long time. It works but a lot of people don’t have the right mental state to do it and follow through.
question no 2… if during calorie deficit we can not repair muscles and build them, then what s the point of resistance training while trying to loose fat? wouldn t it make more sense to just do some cardio plus lower the calories?
or, would resistance training help to tone up at least during the calorie deficit?
You can repair muscles, they just might not grow bigger than previously before.
Resistance training is so you don’t lose any muscle.
Do your suggestions apply to women as well? I am 60 and overweight, due to inactivity and medications that I take for bipolar disorder. I sometimes forget to eat and then am too tired to work out. However, it’s a vicious cycle as I believe that if I started working out, I would be less exhausted. I would be better counting calories and making healthier food choices as opposed to a strict menu plan. I am definitely not fit enough to do something like PX90 or Crossfit. I’d appreciate any suggestions you can give me as I have a daughter and want to be around to watch her grow up. I enjoyed reading your comments.
Absolutely this can work for women too 🙂
Would you say in order to lose fat, calories in vs calories out is all that matters? There’s so much information regarding macros and I’ve been led to believe that if you don’t hit your macros (whether that is .6Xweight for protein, 20% fat etc), you are likely going to lose much more muscle than fat. Is there much truth to that? How much emphasis should be placed on it? Already fairly low on calories to lose fat, and I would prefer to eat certain things but that means I wouldn’t get anywhere close to hitting macros.
no that’s not true.
you should hit your protein since that is one of the main determinants to maintaining muscle. But you don’t need to hit fats and carbs EXACTLY every day. As a rule of thumb just try to be in the range of your fats and carbs, meaning don’t get too much fat and get a healthy amount of carbs.
Question… So for me, I always had somewhat of a six pack, but there was just a smidget of belly fat that kept the definition from showing….. I started working out towards the end of January.. I intentionally avoid gym/weights and insisted on at home body weight workouts (elevated push ups, pull ups, hanging leg raises via “Iron Gym” in my doorway)…. I’ve been slowly but surely seeing results in most of my body (a lot of compliments when I wear slim shirts)… Though, I still don’t see much of a change in my abs… I generally adhere to a good diet with cheat meals here and there and even do 6/7 mile runs every now and again (I know it’s not necessary, but I like it) but still barely see a difference… I almost always work my abs 3x per week when I do my Tri-weekly arms/chest/ab split….. Should I follow the 12x body weight calorie thing to really get that definition while still working the 3x per week? I still want to get a little bigger in terms of chest and arms but also want to get that crisp six pack unlike my current “sometimes they show and other times they sort of show”……… Like, the Mark Wahlberg Calvin Klein Ad is my version of the Ryan Reynolds “Blade 3” body
either you need to lose a bit more fat OR your abs aren’t sufficiently developed so you might need to build them up a bit more.
Good luck on your book. I can’t wait to read it:)
haha that was quite a while ago. Since then I released my first program superheroshredding but i do want to publish an actual book in the future.
I’ve been hovering around the same weight for a while even with counting calories (with consideration to fat, carbs etc.) I was wondering what I should be aiming for with my calories and if I’m doing anything wrong. I’m 6’1, 210lbs roughly 23% body fat and i train about 2-3 times a week (plus cardio). I’m aiming for around 2300 calories day, trying to get down to 190. Should I lower my calories or am I on the right track?
Depends how long have you been stuck?
About 2 months, give or take. I rock around 210-205 but I’m mainly stuck
I would drop down to 2100 per day. Make sure protein is kept high.
Love this! I have done the visual impact muslce building and love it, but I like how you broke it done in an easier to follow plan. The one thing I am always confused about is if we should or shouldn’t intermittent fast?
doesnt matter at all. No magic benefits for fat loss, just easier for some people.