Lose fat, gain muscle.

Which plan should I go with?

To lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit, and you can be in a caloric deficit on any of our three plans. If you are used to flavour-rich food, start on Level 1 for a week or two. Level 2 is the balanced one and the easiest to stick to. Level 3 is the lowest in carbohydrate and the hardest to hold. Getting started matters more than picking perfectly — we can change your level at any time.

If you would like help choosing, book a free phone consultation.

Micros and macros

Our bodies need both. Micronutrients are needed in smaller amounts — vitamins and minerals. Macronutrients are needed in larger amounts and provide energy: protein, carbohydrate and fat.

• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

So a meal with 40g protein, 40g carbohydrate and 10g fat is (40×4) + (40×4) + (10×9) = 410 calories.

What is a caloric deficit?

To lose body fat you need to consume less energy than your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, so losing 10 lb means using about 35,000 calories of stored energy.

Working out your TDEE. Say you eat 1,300 calories a day for 14 days and drop 4 lb of fat. That is 4 × 3,500 = 14,000 calories of fat used, or a 1,000 calorie daily deficit. Your TDEE is therefore about 1,300 + 1,000 = 2,300 calories a day. A 1,000 calorie daily deficit is 7,000 a week, which is about 2 lb of fat a week, or five weeks to lose 10 lb.

Reverse dieting

After a period in deficit your TDEE drops — a survival response to food being scarce. To avoid putting the weight straight back on, you reverse diet: over four to ten weeks you raise your intake by about 100 calories a day each week. Over ten weeks that is 1,000 extra calories a day with little or no weight gain. A higher metabolism at your target weight means you can eat more and stay lean, which is what makes it sustainable.

Muscle hypertrophy 101

Hypertrophy is an increase in the size of muscle tissue. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, so more muscle and less fat means you burn more at rest.

• SAID — specific adaptation to imposed demands. The right training stress produces an adaptation in size and strength.
• Atrophy is loss of muscle mass, from poor eating, inactivity or age.
• Sarcopenia is accelerated muscle loss as we age. Resistance training is not optional if you want to age well.
• MPS — muscle protein synthesis, the growth response to training and nutrition. The right meals are the building blocks.

Training tips. Work in the 5–30 rep range. Rest a trained muscle 48–72 hours. Train close to failure, though not always to it. Focus on contracting the muscle you are trying to grow. For strength, focus on moving the weight; for size, on stressing the muscle.