The Diet Priority Pyramid demonstrates five principles of dieting for optimizing body composition and performance outcomes.
LEVEL 1: TOTAL CALORIE INTAKE
Your total calorie intake is the strongest nutrition variable and is going to determine what happens to your total body weight. Weight change = calories in - calories out. This is the most important level of the pyramid and creates the foundation for any muscle gain, fat loss, or maintenance diet. The process of gaining muscle is best achieved with a hypercaloric condition (calorie surplus), and the process of losing fat is best achieved with a hypocaloric condition (calorie deficit). When designing a diet, you must establish your total daily calorie intake first.
LEVEL 2: MACRONUTRIENTS
Once total daily calorie intake is established, the calories can be broken down into three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate, and fat. The correct macronutrient intake is essential for adjusting body composition and improving performance.
Daily Protein Intake: can range between 0.8 to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight depending on your specific training and dietary circumstances (1 gram per pound of body weight will cover a large range of scenarios)
Daily Fat Intake: can range between 0.3 to 0.7 grams per pound of body weight depending on your food preferences and lifestyle
Daily Carbohydrate Intake: can range between 1.0 to 3.0 grams per pound of body weight depending on your goals and activity levels. Ideally, the majority of carbohydrates should be consumed pre and post training as they are essential to fueling performance and restoring muscle glycogen
It is important to note that 14g of fiber should be consumed per 1,000 calories on average to ensure adequate digestion and gut health.
LEVEL 3: MICRONUTRIENTS
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that our bodies use in small amounts to regulate numerous processes from vision to energy metabolism to bone formation. Additionally, micronutrients can make a big impact on general health, training performance, and hunger levels. To optimize your health and prevent micronutrient deficiencies from occurring, consume a well balanced diet and follow the guidelines below.
Guidelines
Include at least 3 servings of fruits and vegetables into your meals each day
Consume a variety of fruits and vegetables of different colors
Consume fatty fish once or twice a week (otherwise consider fish oil supplements)
85 to 90% of your diet should consist of high quality and nutrient dense calories from mostly whole food sources
LEVEL 4: NUTRIENT TIMING
Nutrient timing describes how calories and macronutrients are consumed relative to time throughout the day. This can have a small but significant effect on body composition and performance outcomes. For serious athletes and those who want to maximize their potential, meal timing is an important factor to consider.
Meal Timing Considerations
Daily protein intake should be divided into 4-6 meals across the day with each meal containing at least ~30 grams of protein
Daily carbohydrate intake should be consumed closer to training sessions, with the largest consumption in the pre, intra, and post training time periods
Daily fat intake should be consumed away from training sessions and put towards longer periods without meals such as sleep or work
LEVEL 5: SUPPLEMENTATION
Supplements are not required to improve body composition and are by definition, supplemental. Proper training and nutrition variables are significantly more important and will positively impact your physique far more than any natural supplement ever could. Investing more time and energy in improving your training and nutrition is priority. When choosing supplements, it is important to consider their safety, efficacy, and cost.
General Supplement Suggestions for Health, Body Composition, and Performance:
Protein Powder
Creatine Monohydrate
Caffeine
Multivitamin
Fish Oil
SUMMARY
Most importantly, the ability to adhere to a diet influences how successful that diet will be. The more consistent and disciplined you are, the better your results will be. Once you have your diet plan established: embrace the process, focus on your long-term goals, and maintain control.
Comentarios