I just read something that said to lose body fat you should eat 1 gram of carb, 1 gram of protein, and .5 gram of fat per pound of lean body mass. If I use that based on my weight and bodyfat that only totals 1400 calories per day. That seems awful low. I'm female, 5'6" 37y/o, 140 lbs. What think the experts?

1400 cals would be a good number for a female with your goal, but it is a LITTLE low. You could probly tweak some digits in there to bring it up.

Thats way to low..You wanna put it in more of percentages...Like maybe 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% of fats. %'s being out of your total daily calories. Whats your work level.. What kinda job you have? How intense are your workouts?

The more we know, the more we can help. The above is just an example.

That's my bad, I didn't plug in the numbers first. I figured out you'd be getting 1750 cals/day with your numbers.

Carbs - 140lbs x 4 (cals in 1 gram carb) = 560 cals
Protein - 140 x 4 (cals in 1 gram carb) = 560 cals
Fat - 140 x 4.5 (cals in half gram of fat) = 630 cals

TOTAL..................................................1750 cals/day


So we were both wrong, but now I've found that with the original numbers, her cals are a higher amount but still low enough to lose weight. Just like what I said first.

I think that's too many calories for a 37 year old female.

No it aint....You wanna lose fat, not mucle with it...Work hard enough and its def not. My mother is 51, lean as fuck, and eats a good amount. She also works her ass off in the gym.

Isocaloric dieting- 1/3 carbs, 1/3 protein, 1/3 fat from calories (not grams). Eat 5-6 meals/day. Choose low to moderate glycemic carbs and don't spare the good fats.
You can check the glycemic list by visiting www.mendosa.com. The best resource on the net. Look for the GI list hyperlink and learn about carbs both good and bad.
Perform cardio in the morning before your first meal to burn up to 3 times more body fat when blood glucose levels are low.
Don't rely on scale weight, use your "feel" for results or get a multi-site caliper check. Take mid-navel measurements in the morning before eating. Take 3 measurements and average them because the pull of the tape differs each time. DONT USE ELECTRONIC FAT IMPEDENCE DEVICES, THEY SUCK!
I've done the Isocaloric diet 11 years ago (when I was 36) and have changed my lifestyle to the same regiment of eating. It is a good plan and serves you well after the results are obtained. Most other types of dieting are not condusive to good results.
I am currently doing the BODYOPUS diet. You can reveiw my thread under "cyclic ketogenic diet" in this forum.
Good luck.

sarge you recommend using benedict formula, based on lean body weight, subtracting 500-1000cals per day?

why 33% 33% 33% when many suggest 40% 40% 20% or 40% 35% 25%? (P/C/F)

I'm not real sure on total calories for different body types. I know men should have between 10-15 calories per pound of lean mass depending on many variables. This works okay for me. I eat according to time, feel, and without pigging out...portion sizes knowing what works for me. Anyway, this part you will have to figure out for yourself.

As far a macronutrient portions...Isocaloric diet was mentioned in Dan Duchaines book Bodyopus (I just completed 2 consecutive weeks myself...good results). That's where the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 comes from. I discovered Isocaloric dieting back in the late 90's from a free book called the "Isocaloric fat burning diet" put out by Next Nutrition. I'm sure you can find info on the web.
For my experience, I find (according to the book also) the ratio is good to control blood glucose levels. The 1/3 fat calories helps to slow the rate of gastric emptying which lowers the glycemic index of all carbs, as well as increasing thermogenisis. Fat (the healthy kind) appears to be one of the most important of all macronutrients. It's a shame that the FDA, doctors, nutritionists, and all of the other F**'n know it alls give it such a bad rap. Fat also has the lowest conversion to glucose compared to the other 2. I can go on and on about the benefits of fat.

The other diets such as Zone don't allow enough fat as far as I'm concerned, and there are less tolerances than Isocaloric. Even so, if you can get close to those numbers without going crazy, I think anything in that range should work. But you will only know if you try.

Tip- fix your plate with 1/3 carbs (not high-glycemic), 1/3 protein (about the size of your palm) and the rest should come from fat calories. Include the fat that is in the protein. You can check your calories on this site http://www.calorieking.com/ Just type in the box "check our huge database". The info is good.

you recommend this for cutting, bulking, and maintenance?

It could be all of the above. According to the program, this is the best way to stabilize blood glucose levels. Once you can control this, you can adjust your desires around the program. For instance, start your day with 30 minutes of cardio while BGL are low to get your body to utilize fat stores for energy (lipolysis). Shortly thereafter, enjoy your first Isocaloric meal of the day to restabilize BGL. This (if calorie intake is correct as well) would be a good cutting program.
If you want to bulk, you will have to adjust post workout meals. Example: High carb/protein post workout drink with glutamine added. As well as increasing overall calories. The addition of creatine or other bulking supplement is advised, based on my own experience.
To maintain, just eat within normal parameters keeping with the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 principles. It's all about "stabilizing" BGL.
If you consider why people gain weight (scale weight), it's because of overeating more than maintenance calories. This causes an increase in BGL (all foods will convert to glucose, even fat). The pancreas will excrete insulin which causes the available glucose to enter cells (this includes fat cells if muscles cells will not accept anymore glycogen). But if you can prevent the rapid excretion of insulin and slow it down to a trickle (insulin sensitivety), BGL will be less "spikey" and look more like a slight up and down wave instead of a roller coaster. This is why small frequent meals (6+/day) are more desireable than 3 large meals. It also keeps the eater from hunger pangs in between feedings (we are only human).
Like I stated before, I just finished 2 weeks of CKD and had good results. I normally eat Isocalorically most of the time with some bingeing (I am Italian and like my pasta) and eat according to the clock. Sometimes I lose the strict plan and suffer the consequences with a little weight gain (I'm still single digit fat %). Most of my habits I picked up throught the Isocaloric plan over 10 years ago and still resort to that style of eating. I'm not a competitive bodybuilder, and I don't plan on winning a contests either. I'm just someone who tries to stay in good shape both for me and my job demands.
Isocaloric eating is basic and should be used as a kind of "eating 101". More precise planning has to be incorporated for your personal preference. It is more of a cutting program which sells the principle to the buyer. Nobody will buy into a "maintenance" diet when "fat burning" is the most popular and needed of the three.
I think that everyone can benefit from this type of eating with adjustments as stated above for personal preference.

thanks sarge. i'm going to use this for the next couple weeks and see how it goes, going to break my meals down to protein/fat and protein/carb though... something like:

(based on 140-150 LBM)


600 AM -- Empty Stomach Cardio
730 AM -- M1 -- 25g-30g Protein, 80g Carb (Breakfast)
1000 AM -- M2 -- 25g-30g Protein, 20-25g Fat (Snack)
100 PM -- M3 -- 25g-30g Protein, 20-25g Fat (Lunch)
400 PM -- M4 -- 25g-30g Protein, 30g Carb (PreWO Snack)
530 PM -- Lift Iron
645 PM -- M5 -- 25g-30g Protein, 40g Carb (PostWO)
800 PM -- M6 -- 25g-30g Protein, 20-25g Fat (Dinner)

I found this online. This is the same book I have.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Isocaloric-No-Diet-Fat...9QQcmdZViewItem

Or, you can contact Next Nutrition to see if they still publish the book.

http://www.designerwhey.com/contact.htm

man i've been having a hard time getting 40+g of carbs in the morning... rice/oats just fill me up so quick...

Are you kidding, thats like 3/4 cup of pasta, 4 slices of bread, 1.5 cups of oats, i think like 2/3 cup rice. You can't muscle done any of those?

first of all, 40g is hard but maneagable, i'm really shooting for a number more near the 70s/80s...

2 cups cooked brown rice = 66g carbs
3 servings cooked quaker traditional oats = 59g carbs

3 servings oats, 2 cups brown rice.. either way they're both tough for me to get down... guess i have a tiny stomach or something. i figure in a week or so i should be able to, but starting out i'm not used to it...


I have continued my diet into a new thread, if you guys would be kind enough to check it out, I've posted my updated diet (for your comments/review) and also have a couple questions regarding dextrose/maltodextrin in the AM after cardio, the effects of casein protein on skin softness (vs milk/cheese), and others

I'd really appreciate any and all input

I think you just reached your genetic eating limit.