I’m putting this blog out for one main reason.
When I was first getting interested in how to train and eat toward a physique goal, all I wanted was to know the exact calorie and macronutrient numbers of people who had walked the walked before.
But everyone I followed would say the same thing. “My numbers shouldn’t matter for you,” and - to be fair - that’s absolutely true. But, that wasn’t the point. I was curious, and I had all these questions running through my mind that only the granular details could truly satisfy.
So here we go. I’m taking you behind the curtain and giving you the exact numbers that I’ve used up until this point in my attempt to get relatively peeled by late summer 2020.
Where I Started
I’m a big fan of weekly averages, so my highest weekly average in February was 198.3 pounds. So we'll say I was 198.3 pounds on February 24, 2020 after working my calories up to about 3,450 per day over the course of months of steady yet intentional gaining for optimized muscle growth. If you want details on that, hit me up in the comments, but my guess is most of us are more interested in the fat loss portion. No one really needs any help gaining weight, do they?
Part I: My Primer Phase Before the “Diet Before the Diet”
My first move after that was to deload for one week and then move into a three-week primer phase (or maintenance phase) to lower training volumes in preparation for higher training volumes that would come once the cut had really begun. I dropped calories from 3,450 to roughly 2,900 in an attempt to identify my new maintenance calorie intake. As it turns out, I was essentially spot-on, and my weight stabilized around 196.5 during those three weeks while averaging 2,900 calories a day.
And that was that.
This happened from March 2-22 - just a quick (but helpful) three-week period to set myself up for better success in the next phase of the diet. As you’ll read in the following paragraphs, it worked like a charm.
Part II: My “Diet Before the Diet”
Now, if you’re wondering what in the world a “diet before the diet” is, it’s a term I’ve stolen from Steve Hall and the Revive Stronger brand, which is a major source of influence for me in terms of how I think about structuring my training and diet.
The “diet before the diet” is essentially that very first phase of your longer fat loss diet when - let’s just call it what it is - things don’t really “suck that much” yet. In other words, the fat comes off well because you’re coming off a high amount of calories. This is the honeymoon phase of the day.
The “diet before the diet” also allows you to approach a lower body fat percentage before really pressing into the more difficult aspects of the fat loss process.
For this phase, I dropped myself to 2,750 as an initial caloric target, and it actually worked better than I ever could have imagined.
On week two I adjusted slightly down to 2,700.
On week three I adjusted slightly down again to what I wrote in my spreadsheet as “sub 2,700.” But, I don’t think there was any magic in any of these adjustments. Truthfully, I was just experimenting with smaller reductions in calories on a week-to-week basis. In hindsight, I probably should have just kept them static around 2,700.
Basically, in five weeks eating between 2,650 and 2,750 calories per day, I went from 196.4 pounds down to 189.4 - a seven pound drop in five weeks, which put me at an average rate of loss of about 1.4 pounds per week. I can make another post about this later, but losing between 1-2 pounds per week at this stage of the diet is very much what I would consider the sweet spot for me personally. And this time period occurred between March 23 and April 26, 2020.
For the week of April 27, I deloaded and bumped calories slightly up to my new perceived maintenance of 2,800 to prepare for the actual diet, which officially started on May 4.
“But, What about your macros?”
If you’re curious about my macronutrient distribution, I generally only hold myself to eating between 180-200g of protein a day while staying within my overall caloric target. I personally bias more of my calories toward carbs due to preference, but I encourage everyone to do their own research and find what works best for their lifestyle and their own convictions about eating habits.
I don’t follow any labeled diet, but I do try to consume the majority of my calories from whole food sources while saving processed items for small treats and special occasions.
In other words, I’m not “paleo” or “vegan” or “keto” or doing Weight Watchers. I just eat within two very simple dietary parameters: calories and protein intake (assuming a minimal amount of healthy fats for hormonal health).
A very normal day of eating during this phase would be 190g of protein, 60-70g of fat, and around 300-350g of carbohydrates.
For an easier-to-read version of everything I’ve said up until this point, check out this screenshot from my nutrition log.
Part III: My “Actual Diet”
This is the phase of diet when the majority of the fat loss will occur.
Even though I’m still technically losing on 2,650 calories per day, 5 lifts per week, an average of 12,000 steps per day, and no formal cardio, I’m no longer losing quite as quickly as I would like. Because of that, I’m going to drop calories to 2,450, increase steps slightly, and ride that wave as far as it takes me.
Once my bodyweight plateaus for one to two weeks, I’ll adjust, but I’ll post about those specific changes when the time comes.
And that’s the plan for now: 2,450 calories as a per-day weekly average, 12,500 steps as a per-day weekly average, 4-5 hypertrophy-based workouts per week, and no formal cardio.
SUMMARY
As one last parting note, remember that blindly replicating these numbers for yourself will not work. This plan has been designed uniquely for me and no one else.
Everyone has a different goal, a different set of genetics, a different metabolism, and a different lifestyle, which means that no two plans should ever be the same.
The point of this blog is simply to reveal all of the non-sexy details to the approach that I am personally using - to expose the driving principles behind those details - and to remind (and encourage) our readers that fat loss can be systematic and intelligent.
If you have any question, don’t be bashful! Hit me up in the comments or send me a message on Instagram. I absolutely love talking shop and would love to hear from you.
If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to someone you think might benefit from it as well! And, of course, we encourage you to take the time to flip through some of our other recent posts for additional content.
Finally, if this is your first time interacting with evidence-based fat loss and you’re thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know fat loss could be that simple”, we do have coaching slots open for the summer months and it’s not too late to apply. Josh and I really can guide you into a non-fad diet journey toward a leaner, more muscular version of yourself. You just have to be brave enough to send the first email.
Seriously, you’ll thank yourself later. Just do it.
Happy summer shredding, everyone!
-Andrew