Sections:
1…….………………………………………….……………………………………… General Info/Introduction
2..………………………………………………….……………………………………BMR, TDEE, and Weighing
3……….………………………………………….……………………………………………. The Macronutrients
4……………………………………….……………………………………………………………Controlling Hunger
5………………………………….………………………………………………………………………Carbohydrates
6…………….…………………….………………………………………………………………………………. Volume
7……………………………………….………………………………………………………………. Flexible Dieting
8…………………………………………….………………………………………………………………Supplements
9………………………….………………….………………………………………………………………………. Hacks
10……….…………………………………….…………………………………………………………………….…Misc.
11.…………………………………………….………………………………………………………………My Journey
12…………………………………………………………………………….…………….Meal Plan Comparisons
13……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….Final Notes
1. Introduction
I’d like to start this guide by saying a few things to you. First of all, cutting down is one of the
hardest things you’ll ever have to do. The commitment, the patience, and the discipline it
requires is unmatched. There’s a huge difference between “simple” and “easy”. When it
comes to cutting and losing fat, it’s simple, but not easy
Next, I want to tell you that everyone around you is in your corner. You’re never alone when
embarking on this journey and you have every bit of support from us all, I guarantee you
that.
As well, I want to make this guide as casual and digestible as possible while also making it as
informative as I can, so I won’t be a complete nerd throughout.
This guide, also, is in line with everything I’ve learned from my own research so as far as I
know, anything you see in here is correct according to the current scientific knowledge of
nutrition. I tend to base my information on scientifically proven results, as they’re the ones
that have been shown to work effectively.
Lastly, I may leave bits out of this guide unintentionally and some parts may be unclear, so
please ask questions if you have any and I’ll always be happy to answer you or guide you in
the right direction.
Let’s get started with the information!
When it comes to cutting down in weight, you’ll need to be in a caloric deficit (Calories out >
Calories in). There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. Losing fat is easy, but doing it
properly isn’t.
In 1lb of fat, there’s 3,500 calories. This means that for you to lose 1lb of fat, you need to
get rid of 3,500 calories. Let’s say you want to lose 1lb of fat in 1 week. This means that in 7
days, you need to have an energy balance of -3500cal, so a daily energy balance of -500cal is
required. Your caloric deficit for the day will need to be 500 calories. For example, if you
burn 2,500 calories in a day, you’ll need to eat 2,000 calories daily in order to lose 1lb of
weight per week. (when weight is lost the correct way, around 80-90% of it is fat).
This calorie deficit can be changed to your own liking. For example, if you want to lose 1/2lb
of fat per week, you should eat at a caloric deficit of 250 calories per day. Smaller deficits
are recommended to yield better results. Slow and steady wins this race by a mile.
An important thing to remember is that nothing will be instant. Patience and willpower will
very much be needed to complete your journey. Hitting your calorie goal once will not make
any difference to your body composition. I won’t sugar-coat anything here, but it’s true. In
saying that, I have no doubt in my mind that you have the willpower required to complete
this task, Ben.
I strongly recommend tracking your calories as accurately as possible using an app such as
MyFitnessPal, and an electronic kitchen scale. Buy a scale if you don’t own one, it’s worth it.
Remington James on YouTube has an excellent video explaining how to correctly use the
app, and it’s a lifesaver. Having visual accountability in front of you makes you stop and
think “do I REALLY need this extra food or am I just eating because I’m bored?” and that will
be the biggest help here. One study showed that a group of females who claimed they were
“small eaters” reported a daily intake of 1,340 calories. When their calories where tracked
properly, it was revealed that they actually took in, on average, 2,586 calories per day. Its
easy to misunderstand food portions and “healthy options”. Remember; healthy foods, such
as nuts and seeds, still have calories and they can take you into a calorie surplus the same
way any other foods can. Be careful about tracking your foods but don’t get overly obsessed
with it. By the way, as I said before, if you track your calories on Christmas, you’re insane!
Remember to have fun with food and have a good relationship with it, but just be a little bit
more aware.
Also, quick disclaimer that I am not an expert on this subject, and everything that I know
about nutrition has been researched and I practise it myself. I can vouch for the scientific
approach to fat loss but what worked well for me may not work as well for you. Hopefully
most of these tips will apply to you as well and I wish you all the best.
Finally, something I always kept in mind when losing fat and becoming leaner (keep in mind
that I’m not finished yet and still have a ways to go, and I haven’t been doing perfectly when
losing fat), is that I wanted to look like a footballer. Athletic body doesn’t look huge, but you
can tell they’re strong and fast, that kind of thing. I’d recommend keeping visual cues
around you to always remind yourself of what you’re working towards, but for the love of
god don’t compare yourself to others, that’ll only ruin your mental health
2. BMR, TDEE, and Weighing
This section will cover energy expenditure and how to correctly track and log your weight to
check if progress has been made.
BMR
Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR is the amount of energy your body requires at rest. This
number, which can be calculated using the Mifflin St-Jeor formula will tell you how many
calories your body will burn if you were to lie down and do nothing but breathe for 24
hours. This accounts for about 65% of your daily energy expenditure.
Formula: 10 x (weight in kg) + 6.25 x (height in cm) – 5 x (age) + 5
TDEE
Your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure is how many calories your body will burn on an
average day while not at rest. To find this, we will multiply your BMR by an activity factor,
keeping in mind that this will be an estimate and real-world testing is the best way to
actually find this number. Your TDEE is made up of your BMR, your NEAT (Non-Exercise
Activity Thermogenesis), your exercise, and the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), all of which
will be discussed later.
Activity factors: Sedentary – BMR x 1.2 (little to no exercise)
Lightly Active – BMR x 1.375 (light exercise 1-3 days per week)
Moderately Active – BMR x 1.55 (exercise 3-5 days per week)
Heavily Active – BMR x 1.725(hard exercise 6-7 days per week)
Using These Numbers
Once you have figured out your TDEE, and decided how much weight you want to lose, it’s
time to put that into practise. Eat that many calories for 1 week and compare your weight
then to your starting weight. If you have gained weight, decrease your calories.
We see here that BMR accounts for about 70%
of your daily energy expenditure, NEAT will
account for about 15%, TEF accounts for about
10%, and your exercise during the day accounts
for just 5%!
Correctly Weighing Yourself
Knowing how to weight yourself correctly is vital when tracking your progress. Here are
some tips on how to do it most accurately.
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Weigh yourself daily, before you eat or drink anything, and after you’ve used the
bathroom
Repeat this process every day, and record your weight as accurately as possible
each day
Find the weekly average of these weights (add all 7 weights up and divide by 7)
and track this weekly average separately. Daily fluctuations will occur, and they
do not matter. As long as the weekly average is consistently going down at the
correct rate, fat loss is occurring!
It’s important to be diligent with carrying out this process daily in order to maximise the
effectiveness of your fat loss techniques. However, don’t stress if you miss one day here and
there, you’ll be able to take a guess based on the recorded weights of other days.
“Why did my weight go up overnight even though I ate in a deficit?”
A common question. There are a few reasons for this to happen. You may have
eaten more carbs than usual, which will cause a larger amount of water retention due to
higher levels of glycogen being stored in your muscles. You may have eaten more salt which
will also cause more water to be held by your body. Another reason for this is that you may
have eaten later at night than usual and there’s some food left in your stomach undigested
that didn’t come out with your morning bathroom visit. Also, there’s a chance you may be
“blocked up” downstairs.
This is not fat gain! This is food + water gain! I know it’s hard, but don’t let a higher than
usual morning weigh-in determine your caloric intake for the day, this will only make your
relationship with food go downhill. Just continue as you were and make sure your weekly
average is going down.
3. The Macronutrients
There are 3 macronutrients. What are they?
Carbs (4 calories per gram)
Carbs are misunderstood. They do not make you fat, but they provide you with the energy
your body needs to perform. The human body has evolved to use carbs as an energy source
so there’s no need to cut them out whatsoever. If you want to improve your future health
and your current energy levels, however, then I’d recommend avoiding too much sugar and
getting lots of fibre (this will keep you full as well as slow down the digestion of sugars,
minimising spikes in insulin levels in the blood.)
Good sources of carbs: Rice, pasta, potatoes, legumes, fruit, oats, vegetables
Poor sources of carbs: Sugary snacks, sugary drinks, alcoholic beverages
Fats (9 calories per gram)
Fats, as well as carbs are given a bad rap unfortunately. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there was
a study done (funded by the sugar industry!!) which stated that if you eat foods high in fat,
you’ll get fat. In 2019 we now know that the only thing that makes you fat is a calorie
surplus. Fats are an important part of our diets to maintain hormonal balance, keep up a
healthy sex drive, and assist in joint and ligament lubrication/flexibility. Saturated (e.g dairy)
and unsaturated fats (e.g nuts, fish, olive oil) are okay to eat, while trans fats should be
avoided. Try to get more unsaturated than saturated fats, though.
Good sources: Nuts, seeds, oily fish, avocados, olive oil, avocados, butter
Poor sources: Fried foods, crisps, lard, margarine, butter substitutes
Protein (4 calories per gram)
The most important macro when it comes to performance and body composition. When it
comes to bulking, protein is needed to build new muscle mass, and when cutting, it is
needed to maintain muscle mass while losing fat. The quality of protein varies in different
foods, and some foods provide more usable protein for the body than others. For example,
30g of egg white protein provides about 28g of usable protein to the body, whereas
something like red lentils would provide about 16g of usable protein. This is known as the
bioavailability of a protein.
Animal based proteins tend to be much more bioavailable than plant-based proteins, but
don’t write off plant proteins. Chickpeas, beans, lentils, rice, peas, and soy all provide
amazing amounts of clean, lean protein while also enhancing any dish you can think of.
Good sources: Dairy, meat, fish, beans, nuts, soy (edamame), eggs
Poor sources: Non-whole foods, meats high in fat
When deciding how much of each macronutrient to take in each day, I’d recommend this
ratio
Protein: 1g/lb of bodyweight
Fat: 15-20% of your total calorie intake
Carbs: The remainder of your calories
To help visualise this, I’ll use myself as an example. As I weigh 71kg, this is equal to 156lbs.
As a result, I will take in 156g protein per day.
As I eat 2520 calories per day, 20% of this is 504 calories. If we divide this by 9 (fat contains
9 calories per gram) we see that I would try to get about 56g of fat per day.
(156x4) + (56x9) = 1,128 calories per day without carbs. There are now another 1392
calories to take in through carbs
1392 divided by 4 (4 calories per gram in carbs) is 348. I will get about 348g of carbs per day.
Pretty simple right?
Lastly, carb to fat ratios are not important and can be tailored to fit your tastes. Low carb
diets have yielded the same results as low fat diets in the past as long as a protein intakes
and calorie deficits have remained the same. The most important thing to remember is to
reach your protein goal each day and remain in a caloric deficit. Fats and carbs can be
interchanged if you’d like.
Technically there are 4 macros if we include alcohol, but I’d suggest minimising alcohol
intake unless you can budget for it with your other foods for the day. Remember, 1 gram of
alcohol contains 7 EMPTY calories. It will provide you with no nutritional benefit either.
Sorry to be the bearer of that news but it’s true!
4. Controlling Hunger
One of the most difficult parts of cutting is the hunger that comes with it. It’s not easy to
deal with hunger, but you’re going to have to unfortunately.
When your body is burning more energy that you are giving it, you’ll enter a state known as
“homeostatic hunger” during which your body will demand more food so that it can
maintain your levels. Cutting down in weight involves fighting this demand and losing the fat
that your body has stored for moments like this.
Luckily, there are a few ways to get past this with relative ease. When you eat, the food
causes gastric distension (the expansion of the stomach) and this triggers the release of
leptin, the “fullness hormone”. Leptin is the hormone that suppresses appetite and tells
your brain that you’ve eaten, and you’re satisfied.
The best way to trigger the release of leptin is to eat high volume, low energy foods, such as
vegetables. Let’s take a situation in which you could eat 500 calories worth of broccoli or
500 calories worth of nuts. 500 calories of broccoli weighs about 1.5kg, while 500 calories of
nuts weighs about 90g. The effect that 90g of nuts would have on your hunger is minimal to
1.5kg of broccoli, which is why high volume foods are so helpful when it comes to fat loss.
Another great way to maximise satiety is to eat foods that are more filling. The satiety index
of foods is a great way to find which foods will keep you full for longer and prevent you from
overeating. For example, boiled white potatoes are the most satiating food on the planet. If
you include these in your diet, your feeling of fullness will be much higher than if you ate a
croissant with lunch, for example.
0 calorie foods are an excellent way of feeling full without taking in calories. Diet drinks,
sugar free jelly, and black coffee are my personal favourite choices. Caffeine, found in
coffee, is a powerful appetite suppressant so utilising black coffee would be a very handy
weight to feel satisfied.
Artificial sweeteners aren’t much of a worry in my opinion. Diet drinks and sugar free foods
will all contain artificial sweeteners (most commonly Aspartame, Sucralose, Stevia, Xylitol,
Erythritol, Acesulfame K, and Saccharin) and I’ll discuss these in the “hacks” section
5. Carbohydrates
The scary macro. The debated macro. The “Do I, Don’t I” macro.
Carbs are the hot topic of dieting at the moment and keto dieting is the most popular fad
diet out there right now (Keto is a low carb diet), and I don’t buy it at all.
Think about a low carb diet. These diets take rice out of a meal and replace it with
cauliflower. All this does is reduce the calories of the meal, making it easier to be eating in a
caloric deficit. Simple as that.
Carbs are fine. We need them to perform. If you plan on expelling energy in the gym or out
on the field, you will need carbs. Athletes eat carbs, footballers eat carbs. Why?
Performance and energy. There’s no reason not to eat good sources of carbs.
Let’s break carbs down into groups. We have simple carbs, and complex carbs
Simple Carbs are less desirable. These are single units of sugar molecules, known as
“monosaccharides” and are digested extremely quickly by the body and will cause a spike in
blood sugar levels. The energy levels received by monosaccharides are not sustained and
not great for you, to be honest. If you need a quick burst of energy, they can be useful, but
its best to avoid sugary snacks and sweet treats. Try eating a banana or an orange for an
extra kick instead. These contain fibre and so will sustain your energy for longer.
Complex carbs: Also known as polysaccharides, will steadily increase and decrease the
blood sugar levels in the body, giving you a slow release of energy for a longer period of
time than sugars will. These will also be more filling than sugars, making it easier to maintain
that all important calorie deficit. Also, the fibre content of these foods will offset the
digestion speeds of the sugars that are contained in them, preventing blood sugar spikes
and increasing insulin sensitivity. Good sources of complex carbs would be rice, oats,
wholegrains, and potatoes.
Fibre: Eat as much as you possibly can. Fibre is super filling and not fully digestible by the
body. Fibre is highest in vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, asparagus and other
greens. It’s also found in fruit. Oats will provide good fibre too, which is why I’d recommend
porridge to anyone.
6. Volume
This will be a short chapter as I’ve already discussed high volume foods in the section on
controlling your hunger. I’ll just repeat some of the important details outlined in that
section in order to make it clear that high volume foods are the key to success when losing
fat.
High volume foods make you feel full by causing gastric distension and giving you that
feeling of satiation without providing so many calories that it takes you out of a caloric
deficit. These high-volume foods generally tend to be foods that are considered healthy,
such as fruits and vegetables. These foods will provide you with helpful vitamins and
minerals which will keep your body running smoothly and keep your mind healthy as well as
your body.
Water, as well, is the best of the best when it comes to volume. Feeling hungry? Drink a pint
of water! Sometimes, when you feel hungry, you’re actually experiencing thirst, but your
brain makes a mistake and tells you to eat rather than drink. Water will give your 0 calories,
while filling you up. Also, why would you not drink water? It’s a vital part of your daily diet.
A study in 2008 by Latner et al. showed that high volume meals helped to decrease hunger,
desire to eat, excitement about eating, desire for dessert, and loss of control when eating in
control meals.
BONUS: Because this chapter is so short I though I’d put something extra here to really
squeeze as much value out of this as possible. Its just a piece of advice I have for you, and I
wanted to tell you that you’re going to mess up during your dieting. You will have a slight
blowout binge or maybe many of them, and you’re going to feel terrible about it. I know
because I’ve had my fair share of them. Don’t worry, metabolic adaptation will save you,
and all is not lost!
Its important to remember that all is not lost if you binge. Your metabolism will adapt and as
long as it’s a once off thing there will be no detrimental effects. Some people give up when
they binge, and just say “F**k it, I’ve ruined it now, there’s no point in continuing” but this is
the wrong way to think. Just get back on track, forget the binge ever happened, and move
on. Chances are you only added 5-600 calories to your day, which, depending on how big
your deficit was beforehand, might have only taken you slightly above your maintenance
calories.
One study showed that people who ate in a caloric surplus of 1500cal for 3 days straight
gained minimal fat.
7. Flexible Dieting
What a life saver. Flexible dieting really is a beautiful thing and while cutting, you’ll really
come to appreciate it.
As we discussed in Lisbon, the best type of diet is the one you can stick to in the long term,
and the one that you like the most. All these fad diets (keto, paleo, etc) are just fancy ways
of putting you in a caloric deficit. Flexible dieting, in my opinion, is the way to go.
When most people start a diet, the go all out. They cut out sugar, they cut out food groups,
and the overly restrict themselves. This restriction leads to cravings and temptations,
binging, and ultimately it leads to failure. About 80% of dieters end up right back at their
starting points because they can’t sustain their diets and are too restrictive.
Flexible dieting has been shown to be the most effective and sustainable method of dieting
when it comes to fat loss. I personally follow the 80/20 rule, whereby if I know that 80% of
my calories for the day come from nutritious, mineral rich, body-benefitting foods, the other
20% can be from whatever I want, as long as I remain in a deficit.
Example: I eat 2500 calories per day. If 80% (2000) of those calories come from fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins etc, the other 20% (500) of the calories can be from
whatever I like.
If you’re like me and you feel guilty after eating a 500-calorie sweet treat every day, try to
find whole foods that you really enjoy but consider a treat. For example, if I want something
nutritious but still a little bit naughty, I go for a big bowl of protein oats. This includes 100g
of porridge oats, 100ml of unsweetened soymilk, and 25g of whey protein. All of these foods
will benefit me, but it’s a super delicious treat to have after work of after football.
If you don’t feel guilty about treats, then go right ahead. As long as your treat is no more
than 20% of your daily calories, and doesn’t affect your calorie deficit, then you’re golden!
Enjoy your big fat Nutella sandwich if that’s what you desire!
Flexible dieting makes it fun, rewarding, and a lot easier.
8. Supplements
Are they needed? Hell no. Can they help? Hell yeah.
There are 3 dietary supplements in the fitness industry that have been backed by scientific
research, and I’d recommend 2 of them.
Whey Protein: Also (incorrectly) known as liquid gains, can be of great benefit to you when
dieting. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning it keeps you full for the
longest time of all of them. A high protein diet can lead to additional fat loss due to the high
thermic effect of protein. The thermic effect of foods will be discussed a little later. Whey
protein is not a necessary thing to use. It will not magically build muscle for you, and it will
not directly make any changes in your body. It can, however, make it a LOT easier to reach
your daily protein goals without taking in a metric butt ton of extra calories. I can
recommend using whey protein if you struggle to reach your protein goals, but it’s better to
get your protein from whole foods such as eggs, lean meat, dairy, and plant-based proteins.
Caffeine: This is a super potent supplement and can really help when dieting. Caffeine is a
known appetite suppressant and will help to curve cravings. As well as the dietary aspect, its
touted as the main active ingredient in pre-workouts. This is because caffeine has been
shown to increase focus, decrease the rate of muscle fatigue, and decrease RPE (rate of
perceived exertion) which means you can do more work than you usually can without even
realising it. Side effects of caffeine are all too real though. I’d recommend cycling your
intake (use it some days, but not other days) in order to prevent a tolerance, or worse, a
dependence. We don’t want anything hindering performance and overall health. According
to Dullo et al. in 1989, 100mg of caffeine taken in per day can increase daily energy
expenditure by 80-150 calories
Creatine: Studied, researched, backed, but I don’t use it. I don’t feel the need to use it, but
it’s up to you whether you do or not. I can’t recommend it as I haven’t researched it myself.
9. Hacks
This chapter will outline little hacks that have made it easier for me to diet and might help
you as well.
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Drink lots of water. It’ll make you feel good and it’ll fill you up too. About 3L per
day should work. (Daniels and Popkin, in 2010, showed that a higher water intake
lead to a lower energy intake which could prevent obesity rates.)
Eat plenty of protein. The thermic effect (calories used to digest it) is about 2030% so the more calories you take in from protein, the less that are absorbed.
Remember that you can only take so much protein though and too much will just
go to waste. Thermic effect of foods accounts for about 10% of your TDEE, and a
higher protein diet will increase that further.
Increase your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). NEAT should account
for a significant portion of your TDEE and examples of NEAT include walking to
places instead of driving, taking the stairs rather than the lift, and just moving
more throughout the day. NEAT makes it easy to increase your energy
expenditure without even thinking about it.
High volume foods. We discussed these earlier, but they really do help to
prevent overeating and accelerate fat loss.
Sugar free snacks: Jelly and soft drinks are easy to get sugar free versions of. Diet
coke, Pepsi max etc. all provide the same taste as regular tasty beverages
without the sugar and the calories. Artificial sweeteners aren’t much of a
problem in my opinion as the EU has set a safe limit for Aspartame (the most
common artificial sweetener) as 40mg/kg of bodyweight per day. To put this into
perspective, a 70kg person would need to drink 32 (yes, thirty-two) cans of diet
coke per day to reach that limit. Anyone who does that has bigger problems than
aspartame.
Coffee: If you don’t want water, have a black coffee. As we discussed earlier,
caffeine is a great appetite suppressant and can help prevent overeating.
(Tremblay et al., 1988) Also, coffee is full of antioxidants which help keep you
looking young and fresh – Result!
Sugar free gum: Shown to suppress appetite if chewed before a meal
(Hetherington, Regan, 2011)
Keep occupied: Boredom and stress are the main causes of overeating, so if you
feel either of those, go for a walk, BURN calories rather than ingesting them. Fat
loss will be a breeze. If you still feel hungry after, then yes eat! That’s still
allowed!
10. Miscellaneous Stuff Which Didn’t Get Their Own Chapters
Plateaus: Weight loss plateaus are something that are common among dieters and they
happen to everyone. They occur when suddenly your weight stops dropping, and your
measurements don’t seem to be getting any better. I was stuck at 72kg for the longest time
and it was frustrating, but I didn’t quit.
There are a few things you could try. Firstly, have a diet break. If you’ve hit a plateau you’re
probably pretty far into your diet and you’ve been eating in a caloric deficit for a while now.
Your metabolism has now adapted to you taking in that many calories, and it will only burn
than many in a day. For the next 7-10 days, eat at your maintenance calories. Re-find your
TDEE with the formulae above and eat that many calories for a while. This will hopefully readapt your metabolism to a slightly higher intake of calories, and then you can shave 250500 calories off that per day in order to have your deficit back again.
Another thing you can do, if you haven’t already, is start implementing cardio daily. Try
walking/running for 10 extra minutes or move a little more during the day. This will burn
even more calories on top of your original routine and will help you to lose more fat and
break that plateau.
Meal Timing: Doesn’t matter. Eat when and where you want. When people say, “Eating
more often stokes your metabolism” NO! It doesn’t. the usual TEF values throughout the
day is 10%. This means that if you take in 2500 calories in one meal in the day, 250 calories
will be burned during the digestion of that meal on average. Same goes for eating 5x500
calorie meals per day. TEF will still take care of 10% of those calories, and with each meal,
50 calories will be burned through digestion. What’s 5x50? 250. Same number. So, whether
you eat 1 meal, 2 meals, 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals per day is completely up to you, as long as the
caloric deficit remains.
Energy: Calories are simply units of energy. The more we eat, the more energy we have. The
less we eat, the less energy we have. While in a calorie surplus, your body won’t be
energised to its fullest, so don’t be surprised if you feel slightly tired physically, or you aren’t
performing as well in the gym. This is normal during a diet. However, if it’s making you feel
ill, then definitely eat at a smaller surplus by increasing your intake slightly. We want a
happy Ben.
Cholesterol: Eat the egg yolks. Don’t avoid them because an Instagram influencer has told
you to. Egg yolks provide an excellent source of Protein, healthy fats, and vitamins. They
help make the egg more filling and nutritious. The human body produces cholesterol on its
own, and with more dietary cholesterol, the body will compensate and produce less of its
own. However, don’t go overboard. 3 or 4 eggs per day will be fine but keep it to about that.
Other animal-based foods will also contain cholesterol, so you don’t want to bombard your
body with dietary sources of it. Same goes for fast food/junk food. It won’t make you gain
weight directly, but obviously keep it too a minimum as it contains undesirable trans fats
and non-heart healthy anti-nutrients. Keep 80% of your calories for nutrient dense, vitamin
rich, healthy foods and you’ll be fine. I would recommend a largely plant-based diet for
anyone as this will aid your general health, reduce your carbon footprint, and keep
cholesterol low with nutrients high.
Deficit size: When losing fat, some people tend to rush into large calorie deficits in order to
lose as much weight as possible. But in order to lose it healthy and to maintain (and possibly
still gain) lean body mass, its recommended that you stick to a deficit of 200-500 calories.
This will optimise fat loss and minimise lean body mass loss. When losing weight, we want
to make fat about 80-90% of the weight lost. This is the most ideal.
Perfectionism: You don’t need to be perfect when dieting. The only people who require
perfection are contest preppers and people who have nothing else going on. If you measure
out 153g of broccoli, just track it as 150g. The extra 3g provides like 1 single calorie which
we don’t need to worry about. The only things that should be measured carefully are fats.
Peanut butter, for example, contains about 6 calories per gram so if you have 25g instead of
20g, that’s an extra 25 calories. Not a huge deal, but it can add up.
Eating Speed: Eating food slowly (10-15mins per meal) has proven to cause the release of
leptin after lower energy intakes than in meals eaten quicker. (Andrade et al. 2008) and over
eating was reduced, with satiety increased upon meal completion. Set a timer and eat with
a smaller spoon in order to savour, and enjoy your meal more.
11. My Journey
October 2017 is the day that my journey began. A photo was taken of me and my football
team and when looking back at it I thought “that can’t be me, can it?”
I weighed in at 92kg and looked awful. I ate what I wanted and when I wanted, and it
showed. I decided it was time for a chance. My dad bought a spinning bike for the family to
use, so I went on that once a day for 20 minutes, and I went hard. I had no knowledge on
training or nutrition for fat loss and I was flying blind.
I did, however, manage to lose some weight, and start to look a little bit better. It was then
that I decided to use some weights. I benched 30kg for 8 reps and because of my lack of
knowledge on the subject, that’s all I did in order to “become stronger”. I also did a plank for
the length of time it took for Eminem to spit his verse on “Forgot about Dre” (about 1
minute and 6 seconds I think) and that was my core work for the day. Pretty pathetic, right?
I was down to about 85kg at that stage and felt a little bit better. I decided I should change
how I ate as well. This was the part that got a little bit strange. In the next section I’ll speak
about how I’ve changed my diet to become more flexible and to enjoy it more but for now
I’ll just say the changes that I made at THIS time.
Firstly, breakfast during school days went from 2 slices of toast with butter and Nutella, to 1
slice of toast with a fried egg. Lunch went from 2 sandwiches, a banana, an orange, 2
flapjacks, and maybe a bar, to 1 sandwich, 2 oranges, and a flapjack (which was way more
calorie dense than I thought). My dinner remained as whatever mommy made for me on
the day.
That’s a pretty pathetic day of eating, right? You may be thinking “wow, he must’ve lost
weight easy enough with that” nope, I didn’t. I was screwed over by snacks that I didn’t
know the caloric value of. A brownie in a mug, the staple snack that I had almost daily. If I
were to have guessed how many calories were in that I would’ve said about 350. How many
are in it really? Oh, not many, only 800-1,000! Like man, what??? Jesus Christ I’ll never eat
one of those again.
But anyway yeah because of these major changes to my meals and the fact that I was still
eating those horrific snacks, I was feeling terrible and I had an awful relationship with food.
This sort of carried over into college as well. Heather can tell you I didn’t really eat all that
much during college times. This was because of a lack of knowledge, and the fact that I
thought I would bulk at 2,600 calories. I now know that I need 2,800 calories…. to maintain
my weight! The sum up, simply looking up the caloric values of foods accurately and having
a basic knowledge of your daily intake can be the difference between you gaining and losing
weight, really.
12. Meal Plans
As promised, I said I’d compare my old eating habits to my current, healthier habits. I have a
really good relationship with food now and I’m feeling great about everything I eat.
Old Breakfast: 1 slice of toast with 1 egg (155cal)
New Breakfast: 80g oats, 100ml soymilk, raspberries, kiwi, whey protein (493cal)
Old Lunch: Chicken sandwich, 2 oranges, a flapjack (about 730cal)
New Lunch: Chicken breast, wholegrain rice pouch, green beans, 10 almonds (657cal)
Old Dinner: Pesto pasta bake with baguette (I’d say about 800cal)
New Dinner: Cod fillet, white potatoes, broccoli, baked beans, and then an apple, orange
and a banana (763cal)
Old Snack: Brownie in a cup (call it 900cal)
New snack: 6 Weetabix (lol), 200ml soymilk, 30g casein (575cal)
Old Macros: I haven’t a clue. Not a lot of protein, medium carbs, high fats, 2585cal
New Macros: 174g Protein, 375g Carbohydrates, 33g Fat, 2490cal
I ate low volume, low protein foods with high calorie density and didn’t exercise optimally –
not an ideal combo! However, just by learning exactly what you’re learning right now, your
relationship with food can be the best thing in your life. I love food and I love taking in all
them calories.
The diet above was mine during school. During college I was the opposite. I reckon I ate
about 1800-2000 calories a day which simply wasn’t enough, and I became very skinny and
undesirable. Nobody’s perfect, and there’s always more learning to do
I also used myfitnesspal to create a meal plan for you. You can tailor this however you’d like,
based off the knowledge gained from this guide, and your TDEE.
Breakfast: 60g porridge made on water topped with 1tsp of honey and a banana, and 3 eggs
on the side, with a whey protein shake after the gym
Snack 1: Slimster bap with a can of tuna and 50g sweetcorn
Lunch: Salmon fillet with a wholegrain rice pouch, 125g asparagus, an apple, and 15
almonds
Snack 2: An orange
Dinner: Chicken breast with 120g kidney beans, 130g chickpeas, and 150g broccoli
Snack 3: 300g fat free cottage cheese with 20g Nutella mixed in (sounds gross but its
delicious)
Total calories: 2,497
Carbs: 270g
Fat: 65g
Protein: 191g
As you can see, these meals aren’t all exactly “orthodox” or anything but they’re simple,
quick, cheap to make and highly nutritious. You can adjust these to make them fit your
macros and your preferences, this is just a guideline of what you could potentially do with
your day.
These meals are also easy to prep a few days beforehand. I like to cook my food in bulk so
that I can have the next 2 or 3 days of meals ready at any time.
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13. Final Notes
Don’t be too restrictive. If you set a calorie target for the day that will leave you
in a deficit, then reach that target. You don’t want to starve yourself. That will
have the opposite effect of what we want to see. Don’t be afraid to go slightly
over this target if needed. If it gets rid of a late-night hunger pain, then have a
small snack before bed
Remember to trust the process. The scientific approach to fat loss will be the
most effective way. Progress will be slow and steady, don’t get to frustrated.
Take pictures of your progress as well as tracking your weigh-ins. Progress may
not always be seen on the scales but you’ll start to see small changes to your
shape and physique after a few weeks.
Be aware of the caloric values of food. Pay attention to nutritional info on the
back of packages. There’s a reason the classic gym bro meal is chicken, broccoli,
and brown rice. It’s super simple but really nutritious, beneficial, and will provide
you with the fuel your body needs.
As I mentioned before, “Fattening foods” do not exist. You can eat a McDonalds
if you want, just as long as you remain in a calorie deficit. The reason they’re
seen as fattening foods is the effect that they have on your hunger. They leave
you still feeling hungry and wanting more food which makes it difficult to keep in
a caloric deficit.
Don’t get too hung up on cardio. 70% of fat loss is down to nutrition, 15% is
strength training, 10% is rest, and 5% is cardio. If you rely too much on cardio,
you’ll burn a lot of muscle as well as fat which will leave you looking “skinny-fat”
(not big, but very little muscle in relation to fat)
Spot-reducing fat is impossible. You can’t and won’t target fat loss in one specific
part of your body, it will decrease evenly all over your body. The last place you’ll
lose it from is the lower belly and the love handles, which is a shame because this
is where most people will want it gone first. However, once you keep at it, follow
a small caloric deficit, continue training, and eat whole, nutritious, satiating foods
you’ll have no major problems during this time. If you do, come to me or anyone
you know who has a knowledge of fat loss and nutrition, and ask any questions
you may have.
That will conclude the advice part of this guide. Hopefully you can take some knowledge
away from this. The final part of this guide will be a little bit more personal.
A message to Ben.
I want to start off by saying that your weight doesn’t define you as a person. You have
achieved so much in such a short space of time that no matter what you look like, or how
much you weigh, there’s not a single reason in the world not to be proud of yourself.
You’re 19 years old and you’ve already got a career in photography lined up for crying out
loud! You’ve done spectacularly for yourself my good man and you shouldn’t let your weight
be something that holds you back.
In saying that, I also very much understand why you want to change your body. I’ve been in
your situation before, and to be self-conscious about how your body looks is an awful
feeling.
I’ve been through it all during my weight loss journey. The sweating, the craving, and the
tears, so please, no matter what or how you feel during your journey, don’t be afraid to ask
questions or ask for advice. I’ll always be more than happy to help as I know I would’ve
wanted the same help when I struggled.
You know the drill when it comes to training and you’re well versed in different training
techniques, so I trust you can take care of that yourself.
We all love you Ben, and there’s not a single doubt in my mind that you can get conquer
this, as you have shown so many times in the past that you can conquer anything that has
stood in your way. Weight loss is a small valley leading to a huge peak in your life. You can
do this.
By the way, you may have noticed that I have the knowledge and the info, but my English
skills aren’t the best. Forgive me lol.
Special thanks go to Cillian, Evelyn, Daniel, Jack, Conor, Niamh, Luke, Lauren, Chris, Heather,
and Chris M
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Credit to both Scott Murray and Jeremy Ethier for providing me with
almost every bit of knowledge that I have on nutrition. They can be found
on YouTube.