Nutrition 101

Nutrition is one of the primary components of performance and recovery. The basics start with eating to perform, not eating necessarily for flavor. However, finding delicious foods + recipes to fit your lifestyle is relatively easy. We either eat to maintain, drop or gain weight. However the quality of food should always remain high with the intent of maintaining high performance during every training day regardless of eating in a deficit, maintenance, or surplus.

The Basics

We’ll start with your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). The components of Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) include Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), and Physical Activity (PA). BMR accounts for about 60% of your TDEE, and is the amount of calories your body burns at a complete rest.

TEF: Responsible for about 10% of your TDEE, and includes chewing food, digestion, and absorption.

The remaining 30% of your TDEE is PA, which is broken down into Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT), and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). EAT accounts for about 5% of TDEE, and NEAT can contribute up to 15%

While EAT is often thought of as the primary factor in weight loss / gain, you only exercise for 1-2 hours a day. However, NEAT represents all physical movement and action completed throughout the day. Living a completely sedentary lifestyle takes away from the massive benefit of being an active person, even if that is choosing to take the stairs and regular daily walks.

Calculating your TDEE: There are numerous calculators online that take into account height, weight, and activity level. However here we’ll break down the actual math behind it.

TDEE = BMR + TEF + NEAT + EAT

First, we’ll calculate your BMR using the Harris-Benedict equation:

Women BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in yrs)

Men BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in yrs)

We’ll then use Katch-McArdle multipliers to calculate your TDEE:

Sedentary (little to no exercise + work a desk job) = 1.2

Lightly Active (light exercise 1-3 days / week) = 1.375

Moderately Active (moderate exercise 3-5 days / week) = 1.55

Very Active (heavy exercise 6-7 days / week) = 1.725

Extremely Active (very heavy exercise, hard labor job, training 2x / day) = 1.9

To test the math, we’ll use an example of a 30 y/o 90kg male that is 180cm tall that’s very active. 66 + 13.7x90 + 5x180 - 6.8x30 = 1995 * 1.725 = ~3450 Cal per day maintenance calories.

Your TDEE is simply a mathematical equation that returns a rough metric to base your nutrition plan off of. It is NOT the end all be all of calories you should be consuming.

Goals

If your goal is to maintain, you will start eating at your calculated TDEE. After 1-2 weeks, weigh yourself each week to gauge how your body is responding. If you are gaining or losing weight, increase or decrease your daily calories by 100-200 Cal.

If your goal is to gain weight, aim to intake 300-500 more Calories than your TDEE daily. For our previous example of 3450 Cal, this would mean roughly 4000 Cal daily to gain 0.5-1 lb per week (3500 Cal per week equates to 1 pound of body weight, 3500 divided by 7 is 500 extra per day).

The same rule applies if your goal is to lose weight. Simply drop your daily calories by 300-500 Cal per day.

This is both an art and a science. Utilize the science to gauge your metrics, and then make changes based on how your body is responding. To understand how you respond, weight yourself at least 1x per week at the same time of the day. Every week record your bodyweight to understand if you are in maintenance, a deficit, or surplus.

Macronutrients

Carbohydrates are the body’s primary fuel source for all physical activity. Carbs provide the body with glucose, which is then converted to energy to support bodily function and physical activity. Low carbohydrate diets are not recommended when training with high intensity, and applies to all training we do at ACID GAMBIT. Proper sources of carbohydrates include, but are not limited to: white/brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, beans, whole oats, pasta, and whole grain breads (limit).

Fats are ​​also called lipids or fatty acids. While the human body produces most of the fat we need, there are some fats we cannot make that must be consumed. These include essential fats called Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats. Fat is critical to be consumed and utilized in the human body for a number of reasons:

Fat helps absorb vitamins including A, D, E, and K, keeping our skin healthy, heart health, unsaturated fats can help lower levels of LDL cholesterol, flavor, satiation.

Additionally, dietary fat is essential for testosterone production in the body, with cholesterol being the essential building block for steroid hormones.

Healthy sources of fat include but are not limited to: nuts and seeds, natural nut butters, avocado, hummus, avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter, meaty cuts of meat include ribeye and chicken thighs.

Proteins are amino acids linked together, consisting of 20 different amino acid building blocks found in plants and animals. The purpose of proteins is to build and repair muscle, tissues, your immune system and bones.

Proper sources of proteins include: chicken breast/thighs, steak, 85% lean ground beef or higher, turkey, fish, eggs, milk, whey protein, beans, and greek yogurt.

A typical athletic macro breakdown for C/F/P is 40/30/30, which means 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 30% from fats. For our athlete mentioned before, we’ll break down his 3500 Cal/day maintenance Calories. This breaks down to 0.4x3500 / 4 Calories for each gram of Carb = 350g Carb.

3500x0.3 / 4 Calories for each gram of Protein = 262g Protein

3500x0.3 / 9 Calories for each gram of Fat = 116g Fat per day.

Practical Example

We've now determined the proper amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to consume each day based on our 40/30/30 macro split for our example 3500 Cal/day male athlete. Today we’ll break down a simple nutrition plan to maximize performance and meet the macro split. Note this is just an example using simple whole foods and quick recipes for easy meal prep in advance. A simple way to measure this is by scanning bar codes or looking foods up in myfitnesspal. We at ACID GAMBIT also do our own 4-week meal plans for clients, and can be found in our programs on acidgambit.com

Meal 1: 1 Cup whole oats, 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter, 1 banana, 6 whole eggs scrambled: 84g Carb, 52g Fat, 54g Protein

Meal 2: (Typical Pre-workout): 1 english muffin, raspberry preserves: 38g Carb, 1g Fat, 4g Protein

Meal 2: Double Scoop whey protein, 1 apple (typical post workout): 43g Carb, 4g Fat, 52g Protein

Meal 3: 1 large baked sweet potato, 8oz roasted salmon, 2 Cups steamed broccoli: 53g Carb, 29g Fat, 54g Protein

Meal 4: 1 Cup whole milk, 1 scoop whey protein, 1 Cup blueberries: 40g Carb, 10g Fat, 35g Protein

Meal 5: 1 Cup cooked rice, 8oz 85/15 ground beef, roasted asparagus: 82g Carb, 45g Fat, 53g Protein

Totals: 328 Carb, 133g Fat, 244g Protein

This comes out to 3485 total Calories, and slightly lower carbs, slightly higher fat intake than the intended 40/30/30 split. The major points are hit however, At least 1g Protein per pound of body weight, a minimum 30-40g Protein per major meal, and minimum 30-40g carbs per meal. Additionally, maintaining a sufficient amount of calories scheduled before and after workouts, and protein following the workout. This can be adapted to your specific workout times.

This is just an example of what can be done using simple whole foods that can be cooked quickly and prepped days in advance.

In previous posts we’ve broken down your nutrition from identifying how many calories you need to consume, breaking down how many of each macronutrient to consume, and a sample meal plan. Next we’ll break out a basic grocery list to minimize cost and improve efficiency week to week.

Basic Grocery List:

85/15 Ground beef

Chicken Breast/Thighs

Salmon

White Rice (25# costco bag lasts 6-12 months)

Potatoes / Sweet Potatoes

Frozen / Fresh broccoli

Blueberries

Greek Yogurt

Eggs

Whole Oats

Peanut Butter

Bananas

Whey Protein

Milk (optional)

Utilizing this list and calculated calories per day you could easily build out a plan for how much of each item to buy weekly / bi-monthly to sustain an extremely efficient diet for performance and your physique goals. Feel free to substitute carbs for other sources, as well as protein / fat sources based on your preferences. At AG we build out 4-week meal plans and develop a nutrition plan based on your current physique and goals. Feel free to reach out with any questions on developing your own nutrition plan!