Constant question from athletes that how much calories they need, especially when they start cutting for a competition.

Usually my first question is: how much are you eating now? Simple question, but not everyone can answer. My experience – especially here in Egypt – that people don’t know how much they’re eating. Food is not measured, it’s all just guessing. 

First of all you need to know how much you’re eating. You should know your macros: how much protein, carbs and fats you’re taking on a daily basis. If you’re offseason, at least a ballpark number. If you’re in contest prep, then it should be more accurate. 

During contest prep the main aim is to get rid of the fat while maintaining the muscle. That means your protein intake has to be high enough to keep the muscle and your carb intake low enough to lose the fat. 

The caloric intake is different for everyone. It depends on several factors: how much lean mass you have, how much you weight, how often you work out, what lifestyle you live (sedentary or active), even what job you do! Therefore a generic nutrition plan will not work for everyone. 

General rule is that if you want to maintain muscle you need to eat 1 gr of protein for every 1 lb of lean mass you have. Meaning: if your competition weight is 70 kg (154 lbs) then you need to eat at least 154 gr of protein a day. 

In regards to carbs it depends on the factors I’ve mentioned above, plus your body type, your insulin sensitivity and therefore your metabolism. If you have high metabolism, chances are you have low insulin sensitivity therefore you need more carbs. If your metabolism is slower, you need less carbs.

How you can increase your metabolism while dieting: eating small portions of food on a regular basis is one way to increase metabolism. The other way is to increase your physical activity by doing cardio. When doing cardio make sure you always have enough protein in your body to prevent fat loss. Supplementation of amino acids and BCAAs is essential when cutting.

The fat intake depends on your carb intake. Generally speaking if you are low on carbs, you need higher fats, if you’re relatively high on carbs, you need to be on low fat. Fats should be healthy fats, definitely not trans fats. Healthy fats include: fish, salmon, nuts and seeds to name a few. Transfats come from mostly fried foods and a lot of other ‘snacks’ from the shelves of a supermarket (crisps, or any junk food really).

So be careful with what and how much you eat when your main aim is to lean out. 

Personalized nutrition and training plans and online coaching are available: hello@tamaramakar.me

Soon: private coaching is coming in Cairo. Contact me for details!