Get Shredded For Summer

Summer is right around the corner. Be ripped and ready for when the shirt comes off!

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated April 29, 2020

When it comes to getting lean it does come down to calories.

You need to be sure you are burning more calories than you are consuming. But you just don't want to go slash ALL food intake. After all, you want to lose body fat, and maintain, if not build muscle. So you'll need to consume adequate protein, at least 1 gram per pound on rest days and about 1.5 grams per pound on workout days. So you don't want to slash protein intake.

Most people think that eating fat makes you fat.

Actually, the opposite holds true. as long as the fats you focus on are essential omega-3 fats, such as in salmon and tuna, and walnuts, as well as monounsaturated fats from olive oil, nuts and avocadoes. Yes, these fats have been shown to actually encourage fat loss. So you still want to get in moderate amounts of fat, about 0.5 grams per pound of body weight.

That leaves carbs.

While there are essential amino acids you need to get ample amounts of, and there essential omega fats that you need to get ample amounts of, there are no essential carbs. That's because your body can convert protein or fat into the carbs you need. So it makes sense when trying to get lean to slash carb intake. This not only helps to lower total calorie intake, but keeping carbs low keeps insulin levels low and steady. Since high insulin levels inhibit fat burning and encourage fat storage, keeping this hormone low with a low carb diet, has the added benefit of aiding fat burning. The Hers Get Lean Diet cuts carbs to about 0.5 grams per pound on rest days. This brings calories down to about 11 calories per pound on rest days.

On days you are not hitting the gym, there are two meals where you should be getting most of your carbs – breakfast 1 and breakfast 2.

Yes, you should be eating two breakfasts. The reason for this is that when you wake up you have just endured a 7-8 hour fast. Going without food that long means your body is turning on your muscle mass to break down the amino acids in your muscles into glucose to fuel your brain and the rest of your nervous system. In other words, you are literally eating away your hard-earned muscle. So as soon as you wake up, and we mean as soon as you wake up, you need to down protein and carbs. For protein we suggest you go with whey protein. That's because whey is the fastest digesting protein you can down. That way it will rapidly get its amino acids into your blood stream so that your body will leave the aminos in your muscle alone. You also need a source of carbs. Fruit makes a good choice at this time as it has both high glycemic, fast digesting sugars, and it has low glycemic sugars. But even the low glycemic sugar, fructose in fruit, gets to the liver fairly rapidly. When these sugars get to your liver it signals the liver to stop using amino acids for fuel and stops the onslaught on your muscles. Then you can follow this first breakfast with a second breakfast about 30-60 minutes later. Here you can eat whole food proteins and very slow-digesting carbs, such as oatmeal and whole grains to keep your energy levels up throughout the day without interfering with fat burning.

On workout days, another time when you will want to get in a good dose of carbs is within 30 minutes after workouts with your postworkout shake.

Here you will want to get in very fast-digesting carbs to bump up insulin levels. This is one of the only times of day where having high insiulin levels is good, That's because right after workouts, the high insulin levels will enhance recovery. Because you are getting in a preworkout whey shake and a postworkout whey shake with fast carbs, on workout days your protein intake is up a bit and carbs are up a bit to about 0.7 grams per pound, and calories are up to about 13 calories per pound (or just over 1800 calories for the 140 pound woman).

One problem with low carb and low calorie diets is that if you stay on them for too long your leptin levels will drop.

Since leptin keeps your metabolic rate up and your hunger down, having it drop means that your metabolic rate also drops and your hunger rises. To prevent this, you need a high carb, higher calorie day about once per week. So on Sundays you will be shooting for just over 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight and 16 calories per pound, if Sunday is a rest day. If Sunday is a workout day, you will eat slow carbs (such as an apple) before the workout and fast carbs after the workout. This will bump up your carbs to about 2.5 grams per pound of body weight and 19 calories per pound of body weight.

Follow this diet plan for as long as it takes to drop your body fat as low as you want it. You'll see good results in as little as four weeks. Great results in six weeks. And incredible results in eight weeks or longer.

Monday

Breakfast 1

1 scoop Whey Protein

1/2 large grapefruit

Breakfast 2 (30-60 minutes after B1)

Western Bagel Perfect 10 Healthy Grain Bagel

1Tbsp Peanut butter

Late morning snack

2 large whole eggs (hard boiled)

Lunch

4 slices Turkey deli meat

2 slices reduced-fat