In this post, I want to show you how to design the best diet to lose weight and gain muscle. But before we get started let me ask you a few questions? How often have you heard or read that  “You have to eat clean to lose weight” or „Eating carbs will make you gain weight“ or “Food X will boost metabolism and will make fat loss a breeze”.

 

well if you regularly read fitness blogs and watch fitness YouTubers than you probably hear these claims all the time. they are among the most common advice you hear when it comes to dieting and weight loss. problem is that they are also complete nonsense. If you don’t believe me then you definitely want to keep reading because I will once and for all demystify dieting and teach you how to lose fat, gain muscle, and stay healthy…

  

If you want to lose weight then calories are everything. Seriously, every study on dieting and weight loss has proven this and the most famous demonstration of this is the twinkie diet where a biology professor ate nothing but twinkies and junk food and still lost weight because he made sure to keep his total calories below his daily expenditure.

 

What this means is that the science behind simple weight loss is pretty straightforward: It’s calories in vs. calories out. To take advantage of this principle you need to know how to calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure also known as TDEE. 

 

Now to lose weight the next step is to create a calorie deficit, which means you need to subtract around 20-25% from your TDEE and then Reach this calorie count by eating (mostly) healthy foods. This is what is known as a moderate calorie deficit which will help you lose weight faster than a smaller one but not lead to craving and fatigue like a larger one.

 

Ok now that you have your calories in place, the next step is understanding that weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing. People often say they want to lose weight but this can mean different things. For example… water, glycogen, muscle or fat.

 

What we want to achieve is fat loss while also maintaining or even growing muscle mass. and this is where calories aren’t the only thing that matters. Now you also have to watch your macros, which means your protein, carbs and dietary fat. This is what people mean when they talk about what you should eat in a diet.

 

The key is to eat the right foods with the right amount of macro nutrition so your body has the material to maintain muscle and overall health while still losing fat. Most important here is protein and a good starting point is having your daily protein around 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. This provides your muscle cells with enough protein and makes sure you are losing fat and not muscle.

 

Next, your fats should be around 15 – 20% of your total calories. This makes sure you’re getting enough for hormone production and general health. To provide you with plenty of energy for your workouts you can fill the rest of your calories with mostly quality carbs like brown rice, potatoes or whole wheat pasta. 10-20 percent can also come from junk carbs like candy or chocolate but make sure to not overdo this.  

 

Now at this point, you probably noticed that I didn’t say anything about specific fat loss foods. And that’s because the notion of fat loss foods is completely misleading. Most people think that by eating certain foods you automatically burn fat or at least don’t gain any weight.

 

But this is something that’s completely made up by the fitness industry and not backed by any science. You see what makes you gain and lose weight is energy in the form of calories. Your body doesn’t care where this energy comes from.

 

Of course eating mostly unprocessed and nutrient rich foods will benefit your overall health and energy levels but as long as you keep your calorie and macro balances in check it really doesn’t matter where it all comes from.

 

Now you are pretty much good to go and can simply follow my earlier recommendations and see great results. A common question though is not only how much and what you should eat but also when to eat and how often?

 

The truth is that meal timing and frequency aren’t nearly as important as people make them out to be. So long as you’re managing your calories and macros correctly and eating mostly unprocessed foods, meal timing and frequency aren’t going to affect your result to a large degree.

 

Eating three large meals or seven small meals per day won’t make a big difference. You can eat or skip breakfast and eat carbs at night. That being said there are two times of the day when you should eat a fair amount of carbs and protein before and after your workout.

 

This optimizes muscle recovery and muscle growth while at the same time minimizing muscle damage during your workout. I have another video on pre and post workout meals if you want to learn more so check those out.

 

 

Now the next step is tracking your progress and adjusting your diet. Losing about a pound per week is a good number to shoot for. If you are overweight you can even lose around two pounds without sacrificing muscle but the leaner you get the slower your weight should decline.

 

Please make sure to weigh yourself twice a week and not every day to cancel out fluctuations in water retention. Follow this plan and you’re good to go.

 

Before I end this post let’s quickly talk about supplements. As a general rule, most supplements will have little to no actual effect on your results. There are, however, a few supplements I recommend, simply because they will make your life a lot easier. The most basic ones include a good protein powder and creatine.

 

As for protein powder, you don’t really need it to build muscle, but it is a lot more convenient than eating high protein foods all the time, especially before and after a workout or when traveling. I recommend getting a simple but quality whey protein like the one I linked here.

 

Creatine is an organic acid found in many foods (such as fish and beef). As a supplement, it will improve strength and help you build more overall muscle. Myths about creatine causing kidney problems have been disproven by countless studies and For healthy adults, creatine has been shown to have no harmful side effects.

 

And that’s it. I hope you understand now that the right diet plan to lose weight and gain muscle is pretty simple to set up. As long as you stick to the steps I outlined you will see great results.