Minerals

• post-workout dinner: proteins + carbohydrates with medium/high glycemic index + small amounts of fat5 .

First, we build, then we define (cut phase)

By “cut phase” we mean that phase in which we get rid of a part of the body fat acquired during the bulk period, to unbalance the body composition in favor of the lean mass. We all know that, when the time to lose weight in order to define the esthetic shape comes, the greatest concern is not being in shape on time, perhaps before an important event (competitive or not) or even simply for the summer period, and that one of the first things we tend to do is cut calories, which unfortunately, is often done in an extreme and uncontrolled way.

By excluding any problems of altered eating behaviors that occur with the obsessive control of one’s body weight, we can actually help ourselves to lose weight more easily by using a few small tricks. When we talk about weight loss, it is necessary that this happens without altering the physiological functions and by maintaining the state of health. The optimal and recommended weight loss is 0.5 kg per week, mainly fat mass, keeping macronutrients, micronutrients and physical exercise within the optimal values. This would allow to obtain a healthy and therefore lasting weight loss (except those who adopt incorrect eating habits later), and above all, it allows to preserve the muscle mass as much as possible.

Let’s make a numerical consideration, strictly theoretical: each gram of fat lost corresponds to about 7 Kcal and, considering the 500 g of “fat mass” per week that we mentioned above, ideally it would be necessary to create a caloric deficit of about 3500 Kcal per week, or 500 Kcal per day if we wanted to spread it over 7 consequent days. Clearly, this vision is of an idealistic type and it is not always applicable due to the required timing and the starting situation of the subject. For example, in the case of people with a high percentage of the starting fat mass (overweight/obesity) and a higher than normal percentage of extracellular water, a more marked caloric cut could be applied, while avoiding going below the metabolism baseline which is calculated with certain formulas.

In these types of subjects, the weight loss may therefore be more visible, even by 3 kg per week: in the early stages, first of all there will be a large loss of fluids, glycogen and hepatic triglycerides, which will stabilize at lower levels. In fact, individuals with a high percentage of adipose tissue compared to “lean” subjects also have an imbalance in the glycemic-insulin picture or, better, a greater insulin resistance. Among its consequences, it also involves a greater fluid retention in favor of the extracellular compartment, in addition to a poor carbohydrate partitioning in the muscles.

Those who find themselves in a similar situation can benefit by decreasing the amount of carbohydrates, because this would improve the insulin response and therefore, it can favor a greater initial weight loss, understood as the loss of fluids in

5 Please note that the quality of the fats is also important. Mono/polyunsaturated fats must be favored, without demonizing the saturated ones, which in any case have important roles at a biochemical, hormonal and cellular level. An acceptable ratio would be 70% of the total fats represented by mono and polyunsaturated ones, and 30% by saturated ones.

the extracellular compartment, which can also act as a positive stimulus to continue with the diet and increase the esthetic result.

To proceed with the drafting of the food plan we must first calculate the basal metabolic rate; this will help us especially because it represents a sort of a “cut off”, lower than which we should better not go. Then we can estimate the caloric needs, counting the components related to the sporting activities (EAT, Exercise Activity Thermogenesi) and non-sporting activities (NEAT).

Once an estimate of the average requirement has been obtained, it will be our reference point for cutting the famous 500 Kcal or, better, a share in the range between 300 and 700 Kcal per day. For those who are used to working with percentages, you can opt for a cut of 15-25% of calories compared to the estimated TDEE or compared to the current caloric intake (if this is different from the TDEE).

Regarding this, it is good to remember that the TDEE is not a static value and that it changes according to the weight and the variations in volume and/or training intensity, without neglecting the important metabolic-hormonal changes that occur during the phase of the caloric deficit and weight loss. In fact, hormones such as catecholamines and thyroid hormones have an important impact on the basal energy expenditure (or basal metabolic rate).

Staying on the subject of hormones, it would be particularly important for overweight subjects to control the impact of meals on insulin production and to divide the daily Kcal into many meals, reaching 5 or 6. In this way the glycemic peaks, and therefore the post-prandial insulin peaks will be more controlled. This does not mean that eating more meals makes you lose weight, but that the insulin and the metabolic response improves and that, consequently, with the same total Kcal, eating more meals can optimize the weight loss and decrease the perception of the caloric reduction, therefore increasing compliance.

BMR – 30%

Cut of 15-20% the ideal rst step of the cut phase

THE THEORY OF – 500 KCAL

CUT ZONE

TDEE 100% maintenance

Figure 12.3 The figure represents the personally elaborated range of the caloric demand regarding the TDEE. The interval is divided according to the age and the starting level of the subject, and it is focused on the lose weight period (cut phase).

From Kcal to macronutrients

Taking into consideration what we have already said for the bulk phase regarding the macronutrients, we can move on to the following ranges: • let’s first set the proteins to: 2-2.7 g/kg of weight or 2.25-3 g/kg of LBM6; • then let’s move on to fats: 0.5-1 g/kg (15-25% of the total Kcal); • finally, by difference, let’s set the carbohydrates, which in any case should be between 2.5 and 4.5 g/kg: you get the grams of carbohydrates by dividing the remaining Kcal by 4.

Example

Our subject, a man who weighs of 80 kg, with a height of 180 cm, 30 years old, 10% fat mass, with a sedentary job, trains 4 times a week.

We hypothesize that, using one of the formulas that we’ve already mentioned, we obtain a basal metabolism of about 1780 Kcal. For convenience, we can use the simplified formula, but noting that it may slightly overestimate. Recall that the formulas with the coefficients are: • weight in kg × 1 Kcal/kg × 24 hours for men; • weight in kg × 0.9 Kcal/kg × 24 hours for women. Given the lifestyle, to indicate the daily activity (sporting or not) we assume a multiplication coefficient of 1.5:

1780 × 1.5 = 2670, rounded to 2650 which will be the isocaloric reference TDEE for maintenance. Assuming that we will apply the cut of the famous 500 Kcal, we get:

2650 Kcal (TDEE) - 500 Kcal (ideal average cut) = 2150 Kcal These Kcal theoretically represent the ideal ones for a gradual and controlled weight loss, always if the starting TDEE has been estimated correctly.

We have therefore chosen the following values in g/kg: • protein 2 g/kg of weight or 2.25 g/kg of LBM = 160 g • fats 0.5 g/kg of weight = 40 g • we calculate the carbohydrates by the difference:

2150 Kcal - (160 g × 4 Kcal) - (40 g × 9 Kcal) = 2150 - 640 - 360 = 1150 Kcal 1150/4 = 287.5 g So, my macronutrients example for a 2150 Kcal diet is: • 160 g proteins; • 40 g of fats; • 290 g of carbohydrates (approximate).

6 LBM stands for Lean Body Mass: by lean mass we mean that body compartment that does not include fat; not to be confused with muscle mass, because lean mass includes, for example, the weight of the skeleton.

In this case we have opted for the minimum level of proteins and fats compared to the indicated range. Choosing the amount of proteins and fats within the indicated range depends on various factors: the previous share of carbohydrates, whether the subject is coming from the bulk phase or whether it is the first approach of an overweight person, a case of obesity, how many carbohydrates have already been cut, if the cut has already started and needs to go further.

In a nutshell, the higher the amount of carbohydrates before the cut/reduced during the cut, the higher the protein content must be. On the contrary, the higher the fat content before the cut (or the more fats were cut), the lower the need to increase the protein content.

Eventually, during the definition process, an increase in carbohydrates can be evaluated in this way: • the insulin sensitivity achieved thanks to the caloric deficit and weight loss is exploited; • the physiological decrease in leptin which occurs concomitantly is counteracted by the weight loss. Referring to the previous example, again for 2150 Kcal, the alternative could be: • protein 2.7 g/kg, or 215 g; • fat 1 g/kg, or 80 g. For the difference of the remaining 570 Kcal, if we divide it by 4, we get about 142 g of carbohydrates. We therefore see that, with the same Kcal, we have a wide range of macronutrients in which to position ourselves in order to fix our ideal balance based on personal preferences, the percentage of body fat, the time spent in the low calorie regime and the type of training.

Let’s make a summary of the macronutrient range for 2150 Kcal:

Carbohydrates: 142-290 g | Proteins: 215-160 g | Fats: 80-40 g It is interesting that when we find ourselves decreasing the carbohydrate quota, we also obtain an advantage in terms of the protein quality. A diet “for the mass” will tend to have more “indirect” proteins, i.e. not coming directly from sources with a prevalent protein content.

The decrease in carbohydrates and fats that occurs in the cut phase, while hypothetically maintaining the same amount of protein, will make us gain a greater content of direct proteins, which translates into sources with a higher biological value, i.e. we will take more essential amino acids. I specifically wanted to underline this fact to say that numerically speaking, it is not always necessary to change the protein quota when passing from a high calorie regime to a calorie deficit one.

I would like to point out that I have chosen to position myself at the extremes of the ranges referring to proteins and fats, in order to make us reflect on the fact that there we don’t have just a single choice.

Meal timing

For the cut phase, it is also important to distribute the macronutrients throughout the day. The most delicate moment in this period is the post-workout one, when the