Shredded For Summer Nutrition Plan!

Vital Stats

Name: Jim Stoppani, PhD

When it comes to getting lean, it’s all about calories in versus calories out. You need to be sure you burn more calories than you consume without drastically slashing food intake.

You want to lose body fat and maintain, if not build, muscle. Keep these nutritional cues in mind when revamping your nutrition plan.

1 Protein Takes Priority

Getting shredded means you’ll need to bump up your protein intake. Make sure you’re consuming adequate protein—at least 1 gram per pound of bodyweight on rest days and about 1.5 grams per pound on the days you’re active.

2 Eating Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat

The opposite holds true. Just make sure the fats you focus on are essential omega-3 fats, such as those in salmon, tuna, and walnuts, and monounsaturated fats like those in olive oil, nuts, and avocados.

These fats have been shown to actually encourage fat loss. Aim to consume moderate amounts of fat—about 0.5 grams per pound of body weight.

3 Cut Back On Carbs

While there are essential amino acids and essential omega fats that you need ample amounts of, there are no essential carbs. That’s because your body can convert protein or fat into the carbs you need, which is why it makes sense to slash carb intake when trying to get lean.

This not only helps to lower total calorie intake, but also keeps insulin levels low and steady. Since high insulin levels inhibit fat burning and encourage fat storage, keeping this hormone low with a low-carb diet has the added benefit of aiding fat burn.

4 On Rest Days, Eat Two Breakfasts

On days you’re not hitting the gym, there are two meals where you should get the majority of your carbs—breakfast one and breakfast two. Yes, you should be eating two breakfasts! The reason for this is that when you wake up you have just endured a 7-8-hour fast.

Going without food for that long means that your body turns to your muscle to break amino acids down into the glucose used to fuel your brain and the rest of your nervous system. You literally eat away your hard-earned muscle. As soon as you wake up—and I mean as soon as you wake up—you need to down protein and carbs.

On days you’re not hitting the gym, there are two meals where you should get the majority of your carbs—breakfast one and breakfast two.

For protein, I suggest you go with whey because it’s the fastest-digesting protein you can down. This means that it will rapidly unleash amino acids into your bloodstream, allowing your body to leave the aminos in your muscles alone.

Your first meal should also include a carb source. Fruit is a good choice because it has both high-glycemic, fast-digesting sugars, and the low-glycemic sugar fructose, which still gets to the liver fairly rapidly. When these sugars hit your liver, they signal for it to stop using amino acids for fuel, which stops the onslaught on your muscles.

Then, 30-60 minutes later, go for a second breakfast. Here you can eat whole-food proteins and slow-digesting carbs, such as oatmeal and whole grains. They’ll keep your energy levels up throughout the day without interfering with fat burning.

5 Think Protein And Carbs Post-Workout

On workout days, get in a good dose of carbs and protein within 30 minutes of your workout. Think quality protein shake. Here you’ll want to get in fast-digesting carbs to bump up insulin levels. This is one of the only times of day where having high insulin levels is good.

That’s because right after workouts, high insulin levels enhance recovery. Because you get in a pre-workout whey shake and a post-workout whey shake with fast carbs on workout days, your protein, carb, and calorie intake will be slightly higher.

6 Allow For The Occasional High-Calorie Day

One problem with low-carb and low-calorie diets is that if you stay on them for too long your leptin levels drop. Since leptin keeps your metabolic rate up and your hunger down, having it drop means that your metabolic rate also drops and your hunger rises.

To prevent your leptin levels from dropping, you need a high-carb, higher-calorie day about once each week.

To prevent this, you need a high-carb, higher-calorie day about once each week. So, if Sundays are your rest day, shoot for more than 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight and 16 calories per pound.

If Sunday is a workout day, eat slow carbs (such as an apple) before the workout and quick-digesting carbs after the workout. This will bump up your carbs to about 2.5 grams per pound of body weight and 19 calories per pound of body weight.

Follow this diet plan for as long as it takes to achieve your ideal body fat percentage. You’ll see good results in as little as four weeks, great results in six weeks, and incredible results in eight weeks or more.

Diet Plan

Monday

If you work out, add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before and after your workout. It will bump up your nutrition totals.

Additional Workout Day Stack

Tuesday

If you work out today add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before workouts and within 30 minutes after. This will bump your totals up to:

Wednesday

If you work out today add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before workouts and within 30 minutes after. This will bump your totals up to:

Thursday

If you work out today add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before workouts and within 30 minutes after. This will bump your totals up to:

Friday

If you work out today add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before workouts and within 30 minutes after. This will bump your totals up to:

Saturday

If you work out today add the pre and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before workouts and within 30 minutes after. This will bump your totals up to:

Sunday (High-Carb “Cheat” Day)

If you work out, add the pre- and post-workout meals within 30 minutes before and after your workout. Add a small apple to your pre-workout shake and eat up to 20 Pixy Stix. It will bump up your nutrition totals.

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