Consuming Enough Food?

A gentlemen in the gym approached me today asking if what calories he was consuming per day was enough for him. He was about 6’0″ 185lbs, told me he runs about 6miles per day, and wants to get tighter/toner muscles (he looked soft, but not overweight). He told me he eats a lot of rotisserie chickens LOL I initially asked him, how many carbohydrates he was eating? He told me he keeps those to a minimum. Then I said, cut the rotisserie chicken, go to grilled, keep fats to a regular amount (0.5g or so per body pound per day), but make sure to keep his energy calories from carbs high! Since he runs a lot, then works out with weights in the evening, he is burning through a lot of his energy calories throughout the day, and basically leaving none for his weight training. Having more carbohydrate calories will ensure your body doesn’t become “flat” (the term I love to use when describing a physique that looks soft, and not very hard/muscular at all). When you train with weights, you need to make sure your muscles are filled with glycogen. Glycogen is refilled into the muscles by….carbohydrates. Then when you weight train, your body is burning through the glycogen…ah ha!

So, here is the quick advice I gave him, keep protein to 0.75-1g per body lb, fat 0.5g, and told him to keep his carbs to 1.5-2g per body lb. So, a rough macro-nutrient breakdown of his requirements…185g protein, 90g fat, 360g carbs per day. For the type of athlete he is, he is going to need those calories to keep fueling his system…especially with all the aerobic movements he does early in the day.

So remember people, build your nutrition programs accordingly to your personal ACTIVITY LEVELS!!! Make sure your energy calories (carbs/fats) are tweaked properly for your energy needs.