Going the distance: learn how to maintain the muscle you earned over the past nine months without losing all that definition - Yearlong Nutrition

Men's Fitness, Oct, 2002 by Jeff O'Connell

As in baseball, the nutrition half of our 2002 yearlong program requires you to step up to the plate. In Phase 1, you were a rookie, learning the ins and outs of healthy eating in support of a serious weight-training regimen. Phase 2 cast you as the cleanup hitter, packing on pounds as you swung for the fences every time you sat down for a meal. In Phase 3, you were more like the fleet middle infielder, using your legs on offense (intense cardio training) and grazing on defense (fat-loss nutrition).

If you adhered closely to the program through Phase 3, you probably have at least the faint outline of a six-pack now emerging. Feels good, doesn't it? The goal here is to keep it, perhaps even bring it into sharper relief. In Phase 4, it's time to become Pete Rose (minus the gambling habit) or Ty Cobb (minus the mean streak.) Home runs will be few and far between, but so will strikeouts. Instead of waffling between ultradisciplined deprivation and cheat-day binge-outs, you'll practice surefire nutrition strategies every time you eat.

"Consistency is the key in this phase," says personal trainer and nutritionist to the stars Larry Krug, who also is chief executive officer of Eatwize, an online nutritional consulting firm based in Los Angeles. "Eating should become simple--something you enjoy without indulgence, and not a task or a chore. Basically, you're endeavoring to create a new lifestyle of healthy eating while incorporating a few foods that you enjoy, but are less healthy."

One corollary is that during this phase you should also be learning to eat for more than just body aesthetics. Your health is equally important and, in the long run, should be your main priority. In addition to ample amounts of lean protein and unrefined carbs, plus small helpings of good fats, you should be getting plenty of fiber and antioxidants from the whole foods you eat each day.

MAINTENANCE GUIDELINES

These next three months are easy, as long as you follow these basic guidelines:

1. Hold the line on calories. You should be consuming roughly the same number that you did in Phase 3: 2,250 or so a day if you're average-sized. "Pretty much everyone should fall between 2,000 and 3,000 calories daily during this phase," says Krug. Save for Shaquille O'Neal--in case he's on board for the yearlong--no one should exceed 3,000 calories during a maintenance phase.

2. Choose 40 percent of your calories from carbs, 20 percent from fat and 40 percent from protein. Krug believes this macronutrient ratio, cobbled together from popular diets, offers the best of current nutritional wisdom. "The carb value follows the same thinking as the Zone Diet," says Krug. "The fat number is what the American Cancer Association recommends, although it is lower than the Zone's 30 percent figure. Many foods contain hidden fats, so by shooting for 20 percent on paper, you can pretty much assure yourself of staying under 30 in the real world. The protein number is higher than the Zone's 30 percent figure, but your protein needs are higher than the average person's because you're training seriously."

See the sample menu (at left) for an example of how a typical 40-20-40 day shakes out.

3. Follow the 80-20 rule. "Eat 80 percent well 100 percent of the time, as opposed to 100 percent well 20 percent of the time," says Krug. "You can eat perfectly during the week and binge a little on the weekend, or you can eat a `little bad' every day--whatever works best for you."

4. Eat at home. The idea here is to control as much as possible what goes into what you eat--even saving some cash in the process. When you do go to restaurants, Krug suggests being very specific with your server about how you want your meal prepared: For example, ask for salad dressing to be served on the side and minimal amounts of oil to be used.

5. Continue being a fringe player. The goal is to keep eating as "naturally" as possible, so keep shopping on the periphery of the supermarket, where foods tend to be less processed than much of the junk clogging the aisles--just as it will clog your arteries once you ingest it.

6. Eat lean protein. Good choices include egg whites, fish, chicken, turkey, protein powder and red meat, the latter eaten sparingly.

7. Opt for healthful, energy-packed carbs. Brown rice, potatoes, fruit, sweet potatoes, beans and peas should be on your shopping list. Continue to keep bread consumption to a minimum, especially white bread. If you do eat bread, choose a sprouted-grain, high-protein variety, which can be found at most regular grocery stores these days as well as at whole-food stores.

8. Eat fats selectively. As much as possible, favor healthful unsaturated fats such as canola oil, olive oil, avocado, olives, nuts and peanut butter.

9. Choose the right types of dairy products. Limit yourself to low-fat and low-sugar yogurt or cottage cheese. White cheeses have less fat and are more easily broken down than yellow cheeses.

10. Snack smart. Consume good, healthful snack foods during this phase. Krug suggests alternatives such as nuts and raisins, low-fat cottage Cheese spread over a thin cracker, and sugar-free plain yogurt mixed with protein powder. Vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, celery, jicama and radishes make great snacks and are considered "free" because they're very low in calories and loaded with fiber. Conversely, avoid processed baked goods, most of which are loaded with cardiac-killer trans fats. Follow Krug's "out of sight, out of mind" approach by not even bringing such troublemakers into your house.