Get fit with no fat: muscle stays and blubber goes as you get lean and mean for summer - Yearlong Nutrition - Recipe

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

Congratulations. You survived the first half of our yearlong program. You've now got two hard-earned notches on your belt, one for making it through the introductory phase, another for surviving three months of mass accumulation. Were it not for the recession and vague threats of a Baretta remake starring Richard Grieco, 2002 would be shaping up as a banner year.

If you feel the need to let that belt out still another notch, you probably got a tad overzealous during Phase 2 of the yearlong workout. During any period in which you're lifting and eating to get bigger, you're going to add some body fat along with the muscle--it's unavoidable. Now, in Phase 3, the goal becomes to strip away that unwanted bulk while holding on to all of the valuable lean muscle.

"Moderation is the key for this phase," says Larry Krug, chief executive officer of Eatwize.com, an online nutrition consultant based in Los Angeles. In a nutshell, he wants you to get a little stricter but not overly so, which would deprive your body of the fuel it needs to keep cranking in the gym. Whereas you were told to consume 2,000 calories in Phase 1 and 2,500 in Phase 2, Krug now wants you to rein that in 10 percent or so to 2,250-ish.

"That's just a very general guideline," he says. "There's no magic number when it comes to calories; through trial and error, you need to find out what's comfortable and effective for you."

SIX STEPS TO SIXER

Once you've downshifted your calories, you need only follow these basic guidelines to get your body dialed in for the beach over the next three months.

1. Eat every three or four hours. The goal here is twofold: to keep your metabolism humming along and to prevent the sort of intense hunger pangs that bring willpower to its knees. "You should still feel a little hungry when you get up from each meal," says Krug. "Also, eat slowly. It takes a while for your brain to register that you've eaten."

2. Eighty-six the bread and dairy products. These items are great when you're putting on size, but for that very reason they're to be avoided for the next three months. As Krug notes, every bodybuilder knows you have to cut out bread and dairy when preparing for a contest.

3. Get your protein. Each day, consume at least one gram of protein for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. "Even though it's a cutting phase, getting adequate amounts of protein is key," says Krug. "You worked hard to gain muscle in Phase 2, and one of the goals here is to hang on to it." Good sources include fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, tofu (particularly if you're a vegetarian), and lean cuts of red meat. Eat or drink at least some protein with every meal.

One corollary of this emphasis on protein is that reducing fat intake isn't the be-all and end-all of a cutting phase. As long as your daily fat intake doesn't rise above 20 percent of total calories, Krug doesn't want you to obsess over it.

4. Emphasize complex carbs. Good sources include potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, butternut squash, peas, and whole grains such as millet, quinoa and wild rice. Because they have low glycemic indexes, these carbs cause smaller fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin than do more rapidly digested sugars. That's important because insulin spikes will promote fat storage when you're trying to lean out. Carbs should account for roughly 40 percent of total calories in this phase.

5. Consume lots of low-calorie vegetables. Throughout Phase 3, Krug wants you to munch on tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, broccoli, peppers, baby marrows, mushrooms, spinach, lettuce and other "wet" carb sources and go easier on starchier carbs such as pasta and rice. It's a great way of filling up without consuming loads of calories.

6. Train on an empty stomach. Refrain from eating much, if anything, during the two-hour window before each workout. The goal here is to avoid having too many carbs in your system when you train, which has an undesirable fat-sparing effect. If you train first thing in the morning, Krug suggests draining a preworkout beverage of four ounces of orange juice mixed with four ounces of water.

While you want to train on an empty stomach, you also want to avoid running out of fuel midworkout. To ensure that you don't, fill up your tank with carbs and protein during the two-hour window after your workout, when your body is most receptive to synthesizing protein for muscle growth and storing energy for fuel.

CUTTING TOOLS

A tool needs to be suitable for its intended job, which explains why locksmiths use a slim jim instead of a blowtorch. In Phase 3 of our yearlong workout regimen, that principle dictates switching from bulking supplements--creatine, glutamine and conjugated linoleic acid--to a new group that will serve to get you shredded. Here's what nutritionist Larry Krug advises.

Pyruvate This substance is produced when glucose is broken down to form adenosine triphosphate, the body's energy molecule. In most studies, the supplement form has shown limited effectiveness in boosting exercise endurance, but it does appear to promote fat loss.