Get Lean Eating Strategies

I indicated earlier that I try to front load my calories so that I consume about 800 of my daily total of 1300 by 3:00 pm. Before I tell you what I eat as my 800 calories, let me first illustrate how tough it is to "do this right".

It is not uncommon for many people to think healthy eating is automatically low calorie eating. Understand that weight loss in general, fat loss in particular comes down to calories first, and what type of calories second.

So a healthy breakfast at home or many popular restaurants would be something like:

Stack of 3 banana crunch pancakes with granola and syrup, English muffin and a glass of orange juice. Good choices. Except that is 890 calories and only 25 grams of protein. Or:

Fresh Fruit Crepes (Two thin homemade crepes, wrapped around fresh fruit, topped with strawberry yogurt, cinnamon and sugar served with a baked muffin and granola) Another good choice. Also 640 calories and 17 grams of protein.

So again the key is knowing how many calories your taking in and in what form are the majority of calories. I know that each gram of protein is 4 calories meaning the above breakfasts have only 11% (4 x 25/890) and 10.6% (4 x 17/640) of their calories in the form I need to maintain and fuel my muscle. Healthy, yes. Good for weight loss, maybe, depends on the rest of the day. Good for getting ripped? Uh, no.

The right choices consist of high protein to carb ratio, low calorie, and controlled but adequate portion size.

So here is MY breakfast, EVERYDAY:

4 egg whites, tspn Tabasco sauce, scrambled, no calorie butter flavored Pam
4 strips turkey bacon, microwaved
4 Fresh whole strawberries

Total calories: 280 Total grams protein: 32 Or, 45.7% of the total calories are protein based.

So by 9:00 am I have consumed a total of 330 calories (50 more in the 3-4 cups coffee I drink) and have 32 grams of my protein target 140-150. And I am full and properly nourished.

Getting the day started Right

The data overwhelmingly supports breakfast as the most important meal of the day. As a matter of fact the higher the percent of your total calorie intake for the day that is breakfast, the smaller your waist line is likely to be. Obviously your total daily calorie intake needs to be the "right" number..

Since I am in a cutting phase I have taken my daily requirements and reduced them by half. This is to insure some kind of weight loss. By continuing my workouts and making the majority of the calories consist of protein, I am hoping to drop as close to only fat as I can.

My daily calorie demands are 2650. Therefore I am trying to eat around 1300 per day, and get as close to 150 grams of protein as I can. Staying at or above the protein number insures my muscles have the required fuel for growth and the calorie number assures me off weight loss.

Using the original concept of "front loading" calories, I also have to stay aware that protein usage by the body is limited to, at best, 10 grams an hour. So eating a 650 calorie breakfast loaded with protein, though great for my weight loss efforts, would result in the majority of the protein being wasted. So then to get that back I'd have to eat more later, thus blowing my calorie number sky high.

So though having a higher percent of daily calorie intake is best for weight loss, it can be counterproductive to maintaining my muscle mass. So I DO front load, but not just for breakfast. I'll take in about 800 of my daily 1300 by 3:00 pm. That gives me my best chance of success of balancing protein consumption with my weight loss goal.

So what does 800 calories, heavy in protein look like? Let's just say, I stay full (remember, lots of liquids helps with this). I'll break it down next time.

My Diet Strategies for Getting Lean

As stated earlier I am on a mission to get leaner. Like anybody I have done this before to varying degrees of success. So I have ample experience to draw from as to what has "worked" before.

It starts with the obvious reduction in calories, which is easy to say, hard to do. So the real challenge is appetite control.

Two strategies that have helped me in the past are ones that anybody can do. The first is to drink a LOT of liquid. A LOT. Clearly this liquid needs to be as close to calorie free as possible. For most people that's water. Unfortunately I am not most people. I really only drink water while I am working out, and then I do it for the "wrong" reason. I drink while I'm training to kill time between sets. I don't take water with me, I walk to the drinking fountain and back as my way of helping me stay focused between sets.

No, for me it's a lot of DIET soft drinks. And generally NOT caffeine free, until after noon. The good aspect of all this liquid is the obvious, helps you feel full. The downside is a lot of trips to the bathroom (no middle age comments here please), day and night.

The second strategy I use is to go as close to 12 hours between my last bite at night and my first the next day as possible. Seems like a no brainer to me. But it's not as easy as you might think. Pre bedtime snack at say, 9:00 pm, means breakfast at 9:00 am. Except I get up most mornings at 5:00 am at the latest (when did you THINK I did all my web work?). That makes for 4 pretty tough hours. Thank God for Splenda and sugar free creamers, because, yes, I drink a lot of coffee as well.

Bottom line, diet soda, coffee, water, whatever, and 12 hours between bedtime snack and breakfast kills 5 hours of DAYLIGHT eating time and some of my hunger pains during the remaining daylight hours.

Losing weight as a 50 year old weight lifter

All the instability of my work and living situation has finally, for the next 3 months at least settled down. I have been bouncing between my mid western home and south Florida for a couple months making working out and eating a challenge. So I have gotten sloppy. Erratic workouts and carry out food has caused me to lose the edge.

I have gained a few unsightly pounds.

It stops today.

Actually a week and a half ago. To go 80's on you "the eye of the tiger" has returned.

I am back on track with consistent efficient workouts. And for the first time in YEARS am eating to get lean.

I have said before that my daily caloric requirement is 2650. It is based on a high rate of activity that I had stopped getting regularly. Well, that's back, and with a vengeance. So I am still using that number as my BMR.

Anything less than 2650 puts me on track to drop some pounds. But I don't want to go too fast. Losing muscle is a no no. Too hard to get it in the first place. So I am monitoring my lifting and reducing calories as low as I can, WITHOUT affecting my strength and energy in the gym (and at work).

To help me monitor my progression I am logging my workouts, as usual and my calorie intake. I am also going to use this platform as a means of public accountability and a source of motivation.

10 days into things my strength has returned to my levels of a few months ago (before the unsettled life style) which always happens quickly after a layoff.

And I have yet to consume more than 1370 calories in a day. So a little more than half what I normally eat. That puts me on a 2 pound a week loss rate. I intend on doing this until my strength drops. Then I will re-evaluate.

I'll be posting what 1370 calories a day looks like for a 50 year old weight lifter trying to get lean soon.

MY Weight Lifting Routine

I have finally been able to put my weight lifting routine down on paper. Or more accurately stated, uploaded to my website. I have been weight lifting for over 13 years successfully and over 25 in total. You can find my story here or at right.

Anyway it took a while before I found the type of lifting routine that would work for me. Plus "little things" (sarcasm folks!) like consistency, discipline, proper eating and resting habits.

And to stop consuming alcohol and the "foods" that usually accompanies it.

So, again, I have lifted successfully for 13 years.

The first couple years I did lift according to me Phase 1 plan. For the next 5-6 I followed my Phase 2 plan, and now for the last 4-5 the Phase 3 weight lifting routine.

Obviously, along the way, I detour off for a couple weeks with different things, because as we all know it is about keeping the muscles guessing. And working.

I bring this up because people ask me, while they see me training, how did I get to this point. In other words, "did I always train this way?". And the answer is no.

It is a process, or at least was for me, to understand how to successfully add muscle mass. For example, I ran. A lot. Thinking it was part of an overall fitness plan. Well it may have been, but my goal was to add mass. So I learned that for me to do this, I had to find other ways to get heart healthy. Things that were not counterproductive to my mass goals. That takes a while to learn about yourself.

So are you at a point in your fitness life that you can benefit from my weight lifting plan? Well, I have 3, one will fit.

But only YOU can make it WORK.

Humbled and Amazed at the same time

Reading Yahoo sports a day or so ago I ran across a story about Willie Gault. If you're a football fan you will know the name. Gault was one of these guys that was a lightening fast track runner that decided to give football a try. He played college ball at Tennessee and played for 13 years with the Chicago Bears. He was their "go to" receiver when they won the Super Bowl in 1985. He also has a Gold Medal from the 1984 Olympics in the 4 x 100 meter relay.

Today Willie Gault is 48 years old. He does lot's of things to stay busy and competes in Master's (for the old guys!) track and field meets. His 10.80 clocking at Mt. SAC a couple weeks ago – not bad for his first 100 of the season – was only seven tenths of a second slower than his personal best nearly 30 years ago.

Read that again - was only seven tenths of a second slower than his personal best nearly 30 years ago. And he was WORLD CLASS then.

Are you kidding me?

No, no I'm not. So how does Gault defy age? Clearly he has genetics working for him, but I will NOT cheapen this accomplishment with that as a reason. Try this reason first:

Gault weighs the same 176 to 178 pounds he did 25 years ago (how many people in ANY field can say THIS). He eats sparingly, loves his vegetables and organic foods, and eschews meat. “If a fish walked I wouldn’t eat it,” he said.

How about this one second:

He said he abstains from the popular vices: “No drugs, no drinking, no smoking.”

And last but in my opinion the most important reason:

Gault doesn’t lift as much weight as younger sprinters, but he still benches 225 pounds 10 times for three sets, and squats nearly 200 pounds during his four 90-minute sessions per week.

My only beef with this is doing 10 reps. But remember, Gault is training to be a sprinter, so massive bulk is a negative. But still, he benches 50 lbs more than his body weight for 30 reps.

So let's see, eat right, watch your weight, a clean and healthy life style. Oh and weight train 90 minutes 4 times a week.

Sounds like a good anti-aging fitness plan to me.