Precision Nutrition Individualization Guide

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in d iv id u a liza tio n 9 u id e @

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p re c isio nnutritio n ' ..--. --.

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The Pre c isio p N utritio n

In d ivid u a liza tio n G u id e @ D r.Jo hn M .Bera rd i,Ph.D .

@ 2005,Science Link,Inc.AIIrights reserved.You maynotcopy,shareordistribute this work in any form atorm edia with the express written consentofScience Link, Incorporated. Forinquires,contactsales@ iohnberardi.com

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TableofContents

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Part1:OneSizeFitsAII The Tailor's C ontinuum :From O ne-size-Fits-A llto Bespoke During myrecenttripto Europe,Ihad the opportuni tytovisita mastertailorin a sm alltown in northern Italy. A distantcousin ofm ine was in the m arketfora new suit,and eagerto demonstrate the renowned Italian craftsmanship,he broughtme to the shop ofSignorCaruso. SignorCaruso hasspenthi s entire Iife makingand fitting suits. Hisshop issmalland overstuffed with m aterialand equipm ent. In itIie swatches and bolts ofthe finest fabrics,from which the finestsuits in the world are crafted by hand;every inch perfectly fitto the client,every cutperfectly m ade,every seam perfectly sewn.

Caruso's suitsare breathtakingto behold;theyseem able totransform the average intothe elegant. Im ustsaythatI've neverbeen m uch ofa suitguy. In fact,form ostof my adultIife, I've beenthetailor'sworstnightmare,the weightliftingstudent- too oddlyshaped to fit,too poorto pay. Furthermore,apartfrom a few weddings here and there,I've neverhad m uch ofa need.

Butwatching Caruso workwas almostinspirational.You see,Caruso makes whatare

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called bespoke suits. Bespoke suits are the finestm oney can buy;com pletely custom ,they are handm ade and perfectly tailored b0th to the custom er's desires and

to his m easurements. Materials,style,fi t- everything is custom,rightdowntothe pockettype and styleofstitching.Among connoisseurs,theyare held in higher esteem than any'ëol-the-rack' 'suits,highereven thanthe idmade-to-measure''Iabels, versions ofthe designersuits custom ized atthe factory. A bespoke suitcan cost

upwards of$4000,and can require3-5 fittings and monthsto com plete.Seeingthe masterin action,Iunderstood why:theworkmanship and attentiontodetailthatgo

into thisone garmentis trulyastounding. Hejokes thatyou needn'thave an occasion to wearone ofhis suits - with suits Iike these,the occasions find you.

Tailor M ade N utrition Guess what? Ifyou wantthe perfectbody,and you wantitdrug free,yournutrition had betterbe m ore bespoke than off-the-rack. You need to tailoryournutri tional plan to yourown preci se and individualspeci fications. You need m ore than a diet copped offa website oroutofa magazine - oratthe veryIeast,you needto know exactlyhow to m odifythose dietstosui tyourneeds and helpyou reach yourgoals.

(You do havegoals,don'tyou?) The purpose ofthisguide isto teachyou how todojustthat,to make yourown nutrition m ore Caruso than JC Penny. To do that,you'llneed to m odify your

expectations rightnow:this isn'ta dietguide,butratherwhatIwould callaprocess

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gui de.Youwon' tfindti psandtri ckshere.Youwon' tfindreci pesandmealpl ans.

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lndividualization Guide

You won'tfind biochem istry. W hatyou'llfind is the m ethod behind nutritional optim ization and individualization;that is,the m ethod you'llneed to find the perfect dietforyou.

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A warning:thi s method issimpleto use,butverydemanding in terms ofdiscipline. M ostofyou willneveruse i t in its entirety. Butthose ofyou who do w illgetas close to perfectnutrition asyou can possiblygeton yourown. Mysuggestion isthatyou read overthe entire process,and tryitasa com pletesystem before you beginto pick and choose w hat parts ofityou willand willnotuse.

Again,this isn'tforeveryone. M ostwillneverhave a perfectly tailored nutri tion plan,

justasveryfew willeverown a bespoke suit. Butthen again,those who do willIook damn good. As Iongasthis is understood,we can proceed.

W here's Your Tem plate? There wasone thing in particularaboutCaruso's method thatstrucka note with me. There is no questionthatthe process ofcreating a bespokesuitisextremely com plex,requiring a skilled,experiencedtailor,a repeatable method,and a painstaking attention to detail.Yetdespite aIIthis,Caruso's method came acrossas alm ostsim ple. In fact,every one of his custom suits starts from a single tem plate. This tem plate orpattern is then m odified foreach custom eroverthe course ofm any

fittings,eventuallybecomingthe exquisitelytailored suitforwhichtheypay$4000.

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Inotherwords,the bespoke suit-the perfectgarment- begins as nothing more than a one-size-fits-alltem plate.

Rightlyso,I'd say. Nutritionalperfection,justIikethesartorialvariety,isan iterative process.Thatis,itrequires many iterationsorrepeti tions ofthe design process to arri ve atthe destination. The m astertailordoesn'texpectto turn outa perfectsuit

by reading his custom ers palms orbysom e sortofdivine revelation. Ratherhe calls hiscustomerin fora fitting,modifying the suittofora betterfit.Then he does it again and again.

He bringsthe custom erback as oftenas necessary,fittingand modifying untilhe has created the perfectsui t. W ith nutrition,you m ustdo the sam e. You m usttake a sim ple,basic nutritional

templateand testitout;modifying itaccording the resul ts itbrings you,and onlyyou. Only by doing so can you arrive atthe destination - the pedect plan. As itstands now,there isno magictest,no ''eatrightforyourDNA''kind of prescriptive aid. Currently,the bestwe can do is em ploy a procedure thatm ixes

informedtrial -and-errorwiththescientificmethod.We begin with a hypothesis (i.e.,a

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Individualization Guide

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a bc ac so i crdni u nt gri to i op nl aal npf l ar o na ),s be at se pd er oi o ndto hf etb im es et)i n formweati on we vehypothesi ,wetesti ( eathe tingbasis and m odi fyh ta he st on ,

ofthe results ofourtest(m uscle gained,fatIost,etc). In otherwords,getting to the pedect plan willtake tim e,effort,discipline and attention to detail. Butfirstyou need a pointoforigin from which to depart,a basic tem plate thatyou can startwi th,testout,and modifyas necessary. Inthisguide,1'11

show you how to buildjustsuch atemplate. 1'11show youthe individualization process,providesom eexample cases,and directyouto somegreattoolsand resources thatwillaid the proceu .

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Initially,Everyone H as The Sam e N eeds So Iet's discuss this tem plate,the m ealplan you'llbegin with. W hile it's true that

you'lleventually need a specialplandesigned to meetyourindividualneeds(both physiologicaland Iogistical),youdon'tneed onejustyet. Inthe beginning ofyour nutri tionaljourneyyourindividualneedsare Iikelythesame as everyone else inyour position.You need: A sim ple nutritionalplan thatyou can im plem ent im m ediately, com plete w i th correctfood choices and correct habits.

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Y n o ex utm ye ua sr t.bI e th aa bs l eto tobp eus to th ee as py l aannd int sooa cc otm iop nl e to te da th ya-ty nou ttc oamnob re ro gwi n,n i tow ti nh t ex yt ow ur ev ee kr ,ynot nextm eal,and continue itwith every m ealthereafteruntilthe habits thatw illsustain yourprogress are in place. Com plex form ulas,supplem ents,m acronutrient ratios,m icronutrientcontentoreven

gasp - caloriesare aIIthings thatyou need notconcern yoursel fwith ini tially. Don't getme wrong;you'lleventuallyconcern yourselfwith aIlofthose things.Theywill -

becom e the variables thatyou can m odify Iater. Fornow,however,i t's bestifyou acceptthatthe rules I'm aboutto give you are the bestplace to start. Ifyou w ish to startwith a differenttem plate,feelfree to do so - the process described in these articles willhelp you correctyourini tialm i stakes.

Stad N t& 10 Sim ple R ules Youwillstartoutwitha plan based on the 10 Habi ts ofHighly Effective Nutritional

Programs. Clevername,no? Possibly illegal,too,Iimagine. Oh well.E-rhe 10 Habits ofHighly Effective People,bySteven Covey,isa greatbookwhich Irecommend highly -

perhapsthatandthe extra 3 habi tswillstave offthe Iawsuit). I fyou've forgotten

the rules,here's a sum m ary:

Habit 1:Eat every2-3 hours.

Habit2:Eatcom plete,Iean protein with eachfeeding opportunity. Habit3:Eatvegetableswi theach feeding opportuni ty.

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Habi t4:Eatveggies/frui ts wi thanymeal;Hothercarbs''onlyafterexercise.

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Individualization Guide Habit5:Eathealthy fats daily.

Habit6:Don'tdrink beverageswith morethan O calories.

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Habit7:Eatw hole foods instead ofsupplem ents wheneverpossible. Habit8:Plan ahead and prepare feedings in advance.

Habit9:Eatas wide a varietyofgood foodsas possible. Habit 10:Plan to break the rules 10% ofthe tim e. So far,the Precision Nutrition m aterials have discussed exactly how to use these 10 Habits to form yournutrition plan. ê

Let's be reallyclearhere. LikeSeniorCaruso'sfirststepsin making a bespoke suit, the program begins with a one-size-fitsaIIplan. Well,twosizes -we've gotmen's and wom en's portion sizes to accountfor. However,m en and wom en don't need to

be told to eatmore orIess based on theirgender- theyalreadytypicallydo that. Each one-size-fits aIIplan,in the beginning,is equallywell-suited to boththe 150 Ib, 7% bodyfatzdhardgainer'and the 250 Ib 22% heavyweight. Infact,as l'vetaughtyou sofar,mostofmydietaryadvice beginswith this basicset

ofrules(the 10 Habits)and a basictem plate,justIike SeniorCaruso's. Remember, despite the m yriad differences between individuals,everyone thatcom es to Senior Caruso's shop starts w ith a basic tem plate and then,aftera few visits,and a bitof additionalm easurem ent,he individualizes. Likew i se,alm osteveryone who com es to SeniorBerardi'sshop begins with a basictemplate andthen,aftera few visits,and a bitofadditionalmeasurement,gets individualized. So here's m yadvice to you. Ifyou're currently dissatisfied with yourbody

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com position,yourhealth,yourenergyIevels,oryourIevelsofdailyand/orathletic performance,regardlessofhow novice oradvanced youare (we'IIdeterm ine thatina minute),startwiththe 10 Habits above. Build a mealplan thatis based exclusively on the 10 Habits and follow the tem plate thatyou build. Follow thattem plate, withoutm odification,forabout3 -5 weeks.

D etailsw.wA nd S0 Fo4 h... Iknow it'sa tough sell.That's Iargelybecauseyou've been conditioned to believe thatyou need something differentfrom everyone else.You're right! However,the bestwayto build a custom dietis to begin with a basic plan and individualize based onyourown personalphysiologicalresponses.You can'tgetmore perfectly individualized than that!

People tend to worrytoo m uch aboutcalories,m acronutrient ratios,and otherdetails

in the beginning,which in myopinion isjustmisplaced mentalenergy.W orrying aboutcaloric intake ormacronutrientratioswhile missing meal s,making gross errors

in foodselection and timing isjuststraighteningthe deckchairsonthe Titanic. In the shortterm ,in this case the 3 weeks to 5 weeks thatIwantyou to follow a one-

size-fits-allplan,nearlyanysane caloricintake willatworsthave negligible negative

i mpactonbodycomposi tion,asIongasthefoodsel ectionsareexcelent.Ifyou

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f i m olm l ow edti h ae te1a 0pr puli lc ea sta i obn oa ve n, dtc ho ey ns wi s il tebnec. yS ai r m ep cl r yi tp i cuatl , 'a ttorhi s ag e,fo d se ection, cal ics it nt ake iso not .l ,

Ofcourse,such a plan maypromotesom egreatphysicalchanges rightupfront. However,as suggested above,itmaynot.Yourbody maynotchange ataIIduringthe first3-5 weeks.Since I'm assumingthatphysicalchange is exactlywhatmostpeople

are Iookingforfrom theirnutrition programs (a Ieanerand/ormore m uscular physique),1'11share a basic principlewi thyou here: To improve bodycomposition inthe Iongterm,you mustforgetabout body com position in the shortterm .

Remem ber,whatI'm proposing here isa Iong-term procedurefornutritional optim ization,and in turn,optim albody com position,health and perform ance. To

make itwork,you'llhaveto adoptthe m indsetofthe Iong-term thinker,who understands thatsuccess in anyendeavorcom es notfrom fads and schem es but from the continuous application ofsim ple,correctprinciples. So,unless you're

followingthe 10 Habits above 90% ofthetime ormore,putawaythescales,calipers and calorie-countingsoftwareforthetime being. Getoutyourpen and paperand com e up with those 6 m eals. Ifyou don'thave the food forthose m eals,m ake a

groceryIistand go shopping.

Oh,butlcan hearthe cries now (from some ofyou).

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I'm A dvanced,D am m itl Up untilnow,I've talked aboutwhatis usefuland necessary in the Hinitialphase''or

the K'initialstager'w i thoutreally defining whatIm ean by Hinitial-''

It'ssimple,really.lfyourgoalisto improve yourbodycom position and physical appearance,lhave a sim ple testto determ ine w here you are in yournutritional career,so to speak. You are in the initialphase ofyournutritionalcareerifyou

answernoto the followingtwo questions: 1. W hen you Iook in the m irror,are you satisfied with yourIevelofm uscularity

and Ieanness? Thatis,have you reachedyourbody com position goals? 2. Ifno,haveyoufollowed a nutritionalplan conform ing to the 10 Habi ts,dayin and dayoutforatIeast5 weeks,with no more than 10% ofyourmealsfalling outside ofthose criteria? Think aboutthatbefore youanswer.Atan average of6 m eals perday,or42 m eal s perweek,thatm eans no m ore than 4 m eals were m iu ed orbroke the rules each week for5 weeks.

The firstquestion is anexample ofoutcom e-based decision making. Ifyouareto succeed in anyendeavor,you mustbe ableto m easure yourprogress and the

outcome ofyourefforts. Inthiscase,yousubjectivelyassessed yourappearance;if

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yousodesired,youcoul dal soobjecti vel ymeasureyourwei ght,I eanbodymassand

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fatmass.The bottom Iine isthati fyouaren'tmeasuring results,you'rewastingtime. And ifyou are measuring results,butdon'tIike whatthe measurementsare telling you - say,thatdespiteyourcurrenttraining and nutritionalprograms,you aren'tas m uscularand lean asyou'd Iike -you need to changesomething.

The second question exam ines yourefforts (orIackthereof).Ifyou wantto im prove yourbodycom p butaren'tconsîstentl y following a nutritionalprogram conformingto the 10 Habits,eitherstartim m ediately orIearn to acceptyourphysicalshortcom ings, because they'llbe yours fora long tim e. Hope thatworks outforyou. M ost people,ifthey're honest,w illanswerno to those questions - even som e advanced trainees. Letm e be clearon this:there is no directrelationship between

whatsom e referto as i'training age' 'and whatwe'llcallHnutri tionalage,''which begins on yournutri tionalbirth date:the dayyou com pleteyour3-5 week,90% 10 Habits com pliant,one-size-fi ts-allnutri tion program . Untilthen,you m y friend are a nutritionalnovice.

Ifyou answered no tothefirstquestion (i.e.,youstillhave notreached yourbody comp goals)butanswered yestothe second question (i.e.,ytxlhave truly passed the novicestage),thenyou are on yourway.You're readyforthe nextstep! Now,ifyou answered yes to the firstquestion,God bless. You've done whateveryou

needed to doto getto yourgoal,and farbe itformeto criticize yourmethods.They worked foryou,and that's whatcounts. I'm nothere to teach Picasso how to paint.

Forthe rest,go overthefollowing checklist,and make sure you've done everything you need to do before proceeding.

S um m ary O fPart 1 1. Use outcome-based decision making. Ifyou've reached yourgoals,great. Ifnot,examine and change yourmethods. It neverceases to am aze m e when over-fat people say HButIalready eat

great.'Uh,areyousure aboutthat?

2. Determine yournutritionalage. Ifyou have been following a 90% 10 Habi ts compliantnutrition plan forat Ieast3-5 weeks withoutfail,you have passed the initialphase and can m ove On.

3. Constructa nutrition plan.

Ignore concerns aboutcalories,macronutrients,micronutrients,antinutrients, and everything else.Justmake sure thataIIyourm eals conform tothe rules. The DietGuideshould have setyou up in this regard.

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4.Printoutyourmealpl anandposti tinvisi bl eplaces. 5. Comm itto eating accordingto the plan foratIeast3 weeks. Afterthethree weeks,you maychange mealsas long astheystillsatisfythe criteria. From thatm ealplan,build a groceryIistand purchase aIIthefood you willneed forone week.

6. Prepare as m uch ofthe m eals in advance as possible. Don'tm iss m eals because ofinadequate preparation and planning. #

Eatevery m eal.

8. Countyourmisses(m i sses = mealsthatbreakthe rules,ormissed meals). Betteryet,plan yourm iu es atIeasta day in advance and turn them into

cheatm eals.Youget4 misses perweek. 9. Proceed to The NextStep.

W henyou have followedyourplan consistently(i.e.,no morethan 4 misses perweek)foratIeast3-5 consecutiveweeks,proceedto the nextstep, individualization.

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Part2:MeasurementandMethod

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The W rong A pproach M osttrainees neverreach theirgoals becausetheyare wai ting forthe magic bullet, the one tiportrickthatwillfinallygetthem the bodythey've been Iooking for. People wantto m ake sim ple,tiny,easyadditions orsubtractions to theircurrent

'ëplansy'knowing fullwellthatnegligible modi fiœ tionswillprobablyyield negligible results.Adding a d'superfoodr''magicsoup,supplementordrugwillnotcompensate forgross misunderstanding and misapplication ofkeyprinciples. Subtracting a single food orremovingaIIcarbs from yourdietwillnotremovethe realstumbling block.

Often peoplejustwantto be validated forwhattheyare currentlydoing.Theywantto read an article on nutrition ortraining and say,ë :W eII,Ido som e ofthat,so I'm probablyOK,''despite the factthatdoing only ' Jsome ofthat''has Ieftthem farshort ofthe body they could have.

W ell,I'm nothereto validate you.l'm notgoingtosugarcoatthis,ordum b i tdown,or tellyou whatyou wantto hear. I'm here to tellyou the truth,to the extentthat I've ascertained it. Here's thattruth:

1. Ifyou wanta drastically betterbodythan the one you have now,you need to

make a wholesale changeto yournutrition plan.

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2. The magnitude ofthatchange willseem daunting and possiblyintim idating. You willquestion whetheraIlthis is truly necessary,and you willbe tem pted to m ake do with Iess m uch Ieu .

3. The process willrequire a signi ficantdose ofthatforgotten ingredient: discipline.Di scipline is a by-productofpurpose and desire,so you'llneed

thosetoo - you willneed to remind yourselfwhyyou're eating this way(how Iean and muscularyou willeventuallybe,forinstance)and how muchyou wantto reach yourgoals(orhow itwillfeelto failyetagain). Butthere is m ore:

1. The system works. Ifyou do itin itsentirety,you willreach yourgoals. 2. Though perhaps overwhelmingatfirst,wi th practice itwillquicklybecome sim ple and effortless.

So whatisthissystem ,this rightmethod? Wellin Part1,you designed a starterplan

on which to build,justIikethe tailorbuildsa pattern ortem plate forhiscustom suits. Now it'stimeto Iearn the artoffitting - bringingthatstarterplanevercloserto the perfectplan foryou.

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@ You've G ot To M easure Som ething Igethundred ofemailseach weekfrom people asking me veryspecificnutrition questions.Justyesterdaysomeoneasked m e iftheyshould cut100 gramsofcarbs from theirdietin orderto Iose m ore fat. To be honest,unless it's blatantly obvious

thatthe person isadvanced enoughto make use ofthis information,Idon'tanswer.

Instead,Ijustdirectthem to comprehensive articles and resourcessothattheycan Iearn to answerthem selves.

W hy? Because even ifIanswered in detailthey would have no way to m ake use ofm y advice. Mosthave no wayofquanti fyingwhatthey're doing nutritionally,and no way ofmakinga m inute change and holding thatvariable constant. Unless you cantell m eexactlyhow manygrams ofcarbsyou've been getting everydayforthe Iastmonth orso,and unless you havea wayofcontrolling how m anygrams ofcarbsyou'lleat forthe nextmonth - alIto a reasonably high degree ofaccuracy - then answering such a question is a waste oftimeforme,andasking itisa waste oftimeforyou.

Bottom Iine:many people have no idea w hatthey're eating. They m ay try to eat m ore protein,orhave certain mealsthattheyeatregularly,andtheymayeven have a vague idea ofhow manycaloriestheyconsume on agood day. Ifyou'regetting the results you want,this isn'ta problem . Ifyou aren't,however,itis.Vague ideas are of no use in the process ofoptim ization. You need to m anipulate yournutrition plan

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and aIIthe variablescontained in it- andyou can'tmanipulate something you've neverm easured.

ln The B eginning,Keep A Food Log Sothe firststep isto know and quantifywhatyou're eating.Com monly,thisis done bykeepinga food Iog. A food Iog is analytical;thatis,it'sa toolusedto analyze whatyou've done,after you've done it. Ithas its place,and that's priorto beginning a solid nutritional program. Ihave myclients do athree-daydietrecord,in which theychoosethree

typicaldays representative oftheirgeneraleating habi ts (one work day,onetraining dayand one weekend day,forexample)and onthose daysrecord everythingthey eat. Ihave them do this as soon as they sign up with m e,fortwo reasons. One,Iwantto see how bad theirnutrition is. Two,Iwantthem to see how bad their nutrition is. Even ifthey don't record theirdiets accurately,they w illhave to m ake a

conscious choice to fudge oromit- which is an adm issionto themselves (though not to me)thattheirnutrition is poor. Ofcourse,some are simply Iazyand forgetto record theirdiets,while stillothersare so deeply in denialthatthey'llIie outrightand feelnothing doing so.Forbothtypes, sticking to a good nutrition program willbeeitherextremelydifficultorimpossible -

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anddealingwi ththesetypesi sbeyondthescopeofthi sarti cl e.Formostpeople,

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dietrecordsand food Iogs are excellentmotivationaltool s,and willhelp them com mit tothe new dietandthe changes itnecessitates.

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So before you begin to m anipulate yourdietin earnest,do a dietrecord. Record everything you eatforthree days,and eatasyou normall ywould. Ifforsome reason on one ofthe recording daysyou have to eatabnormally,scrapthatday.Record again untilyou have three days offood recordsthatrepresentyourtypicaldiet. Com pare these records to the 10 Habits outlined in partl and see how wellyou're reallydoing.

B eyond Food Logs W hilefood Iogsdo allow you to know whatyou're eating,theydon'tdirectlyhelp you to m anipulate yourdietto accom m odate change. As food Iogs only analyze what we've eaten,they're nothelpfulin dietary m anipulation.

W ouldyou enterthe gym,withouta plan,andjustwrite downwhatIifts youfeltIike doingthatday,complete with yoursets,reps,Ioads? And then,the nextday,enter the gym ina similarmanner,continuingto record useless,system-less information? Probably not.

That's why Idon'tpreferrecommendingfood Iogs asa wayto monitoryourintake. W hytryto keep a record ofprevious habits - good orbad? Inscienti ficterms,your

nutritionalintake isthe main independentvariable (a variable you m usthave control over)in yourbodycomp experiment.So m easuring an ever-changing independent

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variable isthe bestwayto getnowherefast. Instead ofrecordingwhatyou did,you should be planning whatyoushould be doing and stickingto that.Scientificallyspeaking,to make progressyou've gotta fixyour independentvariables and m easure yourdependentvariables. W hen itcom es to

youreating plan,fixthisvariable by making a planand makingsure you follow the plan. Then m easure yourdependentvariables,yourresults.

Eat The Sam e Things Every D ay? As I've recommended ''fixing' 'yournutritionalintake above,Iknow manyofyou will getconfused and thinkI'm suggestingthatyou haveto eatthesame things every single day. I'm not. Remember,in part1,lrecommended com ing up with a varietyofmeals builtaround the 10 Habits;the m eals from Gourm etNutrition,5 M inute M eals,etc.There are over135 recipes in the Precision Nutrition m aterials. Ifthat's notvariety,Idon't know whatis.

However,keepthisonething in m ind before you getcarried awaywiththevariety thing.Mostofthe people with the absolute bestphysiquestend to eatverysim ilar

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th v ai r ni e gt syd aanydin aa gn re dad ta by od oy ut. oo Sodon' tI osesi ghtofthisfacti nyourquestforunl imi ted .

N utritionalPlanning You know now thatyou have to plan in advance and how to hold thatplan constant. Buthow? And why?

As Isaid in Part1,optim izing nutrition requires a m ix ofinform ed trialand errorand the scientific m ethod. Letm e explain w hat Im ean bythat. Inform ed trialand errorm eans:

1. Thatyourtrialsshould be informed.You need to gatherthe bestinformation you can about nutri tion and use itto inform the nutri tionalchoices you m ake.

That's whyyou're holding the Precision Nutrition m aterials and that's that's why in Part1 we buil ta plan based on the 10 Habits - to replace random manipulationwith informed choices based onthe bestnutritionalknowledge we have available to us. The nutritionalplan you startwith,and every subsequentchangeyou make tothatplan,m ustbe based onthe best possible nutritionalinform ation you can geta hold of.

2. Thatyou should be perform ing trials.You mustnotonlyimplementwhatyou

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learn about nutri tion into yourdaily Iife,butim plem ent itsuch thatyou can

judge whetherornoti t'sworkingforyou. Don'tjusttrythings -tryand evaluate the results! This requires thatyou're trials be perform ed in a certain way,and 1'11describe thatway in detailin the rem ainderofthis section.

Thatyou should be prepared to err,and thatyou should have a plan to deal with errors when they are m ade. You m ustanticipate thatnotaIIofthe nutri tionalchanges and manipulationsyou make willworkforyou - even som e ofthe ones thatwork foryourfriends,even som e thatwork form y clients,even somethatworkedforyourgrandparents back whenthey Iived in the oId country. The whole pointofthis exercise is to determ ine whatworks foryou,so be prepared to find thatyou m ay be differentfrom those around you. You m ay add 400 calories to yourdaily dietand see no increase in Iean body m ass in two weeks;Im ay do itand puton 2 lbs overthatsam e period. W hatdo you plan to do atthat point? Shake yourfistatthe heavens and

abandon the plan? Orhave anotherchange waitingto be madejustin case? And whatisthistalkofthe''scientific methodF'? W ell,it'sjusta fancywayofsaying thatyou need to controlyourdietand m easure the resul ts thatthatdietbrings you. You understand the principle ofinform ed trialand error,buthow exactlyshould your trials be perform ed? And how can you dilerentiate between success and errof That's where the scientific m ethod com es in. Here's w hatitis,and how i tapplies to

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1Observethe phenom ena: GatheraIIthe inform ationaboutnutrition you can. .

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Thinkaboutyourultimategoals,interms ofbodycomposi tion,health and performance. DoyouwanttogetIeanerormore m usculaf Ameliorate digestive problems? Stillbeableto run the floorin thefourth quarterofa basketballgame? 2. Form a hypothesis: Builda dietplanthatwillgetthe resul tsyou wantand bring youcloserto yourgoals. 3. Predictoutcomes on the basisofthathypothesis:Seta goalforthe resultsof yournutrition plan. Iusually work in two week blocks,so ifIwanted to Iose fat

Imightseta goalofIosing 2 pound:offatintwoweeks. 4. Testthe prediction using a controlled experiment:W ith nutri tion plan in hand, follow itwith atIeast90% accuracyforthe predeterm ined period oftim e. That m eans controlling aIIthe nutrition variables - you m usteatexactly as you had planned.

5. Record results and com pare to hypothesis: M easure the results ofthe past

two weeks ofplanned eating (i.e.,the controlled experiment).Usingthefat Iossexample,aftertwoweeks ofeatingaccording to myplan,Iwould weigh m yselfand do a body fat m easurem entwith skinfold calipers. lfmy m easurem entshowed thatIIost2 orm ore Ibs ofbody fat,Iwould consider

myhypothesisvalidated - eatingaccording to myplan allowed meto Iose the body fat Iwanted to Iose. IfIwanted to Iose m ore body fat,Iwould continue

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with the plan untilitno Iongerworked. 6. Ifresults don'tm atch the hypothesis,m odify orelaborate on yourhypothesis: Ifon the otherhand IIostonly 1 pound ofbodyfat,Iostno body fatatall,or

God forbid,actuallygafned bodyfat,then Ineed a betterhypothesi s and/ora betterexperim ent. Here are the possibilities:

a. Hypothesis was insufficient:Often the plan you cam e up with willbe

too Iow ortoo high in calories,protein,carbs,fat,etc.togetthe resul ts youwanted.You willneed to useyourbest,mostinformed guessto make a change;thegeneralprinciplesofyourplan,however,will remain intact.

b. Hypothesis is fal se:The nutritionalplan you cam e up with didn'twork

because itwasjustplain wrong,eitherforyou orin general.lfyou started with a good plan based on good information and proven results with others,you should assum e thatthis is notthe case untilyou have

nootherchoice.Thatis,don'tabandona good plan entirelyunless

you're prettysurethati t's uselessforyou;often youjustneedto m odify it. lfyou started with a plan you had Iittle confidence in and

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wascompl etel yunproven,thenyoucanconsiderscrappingi tenti rel y. c. Hypothesis was true,butexperim entwas faulty:Yourability to com e up witha greatnutritionalplan is onething;yourabilityto execute that plan byadheringto itconsistently i s quite another. Ifyou didn'tget results,butonlyate 60% ofyourmealsaccording to plan,you had betterwork on youradherence beforeyou change the plan i tselfthere is no sense in changing a planyouwon'tbotherto execute anyway. 7. Repeatsteps 2 to 6 untilyourexperim ents yield the expected resul ts:You

mustcontinueto adjustyourplan on the basis ofthe results you'regetting from i t.You make changes,trythem out(holdingyourdietconstantfortwo weekblocks),measurethe resultsand am endthe plan as necessary.

So W hatD oes This M ean In Practice? These are notjustabstractprinciples lwbntyou to understand.Theydrive ata very specific m ethod you need to use ifyou wantto tailoryournutrition to yourow n

individualneeds. In nutritionalpractice,usingthe principle ofinformed trialand errorandthe scientificm ethod meansdoing things a Iittle di fferentlythan most. Instead ofhaving m y clients eatrandom ly,ortelling them sim plyto x:eatbetterr''or

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givingthem vague nutritionalprinciplesto acton (thenfiguring outwhetherthey did ornotbydoing a post-mortem ontheirfood Iog),Ihave clientsfollow veryspecific plans.

Onthe basis ofquestionnaires,tests,m edicalhistory,etc.,alongwith myown nutritionalexpertise and m y previous experience w i th clients,Icom e up with a

hypotheticalplanthatlthinkwillgetthe clientthe resul tsthathe orshewants. 1'11 choosethefoods,the caloriccontent,the macronutrientratios,the nutrienttiming, everything.

Tw o G eeks A tA Tim e These planscovertwo-week periods.W hytwo weeks? W ell,it'sjusta num berI've found to work best. It'sdifficul tto planforIongerperiods (say,one month),and such plans become eitherunwieldyoroversim plified;shorterperiods(say,oneweek) require youto plan m ore often and aren'tqui te Iong enough to give anychangesyou

make a fairevaluation.Two weeks,I'vefound,isjustright. To prepare forthose two weeks,the clientand Icom e up with the exactm eals,

grocery Iists and food preparation instructionsthey'llneed in orderto execute my hypotheticalplan. Im ake sure thatthe plan conform s exactly to the nutri tional variables I've set. Itwillhave the exactcaloric content,m acronutrientratios,

micronutrientcontent,etc.As Iong asthe plan i sfollowed consistently,Ican perform preciselythe type ofcontrolled experim ent necessaryto determ ine whetherm y

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hypothesi swascorrect.

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Individualization Guide

I nbuil di ngthepl anwe take intoconsiderationtheirgoals,theircurrentstatus ,

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relative tothose goals,theirIogisticalobstacles(workorschoolcom mitm ents,travel, appointments,etc.)and anything el se thatthe clientorIthink is relevant.AIIthe potentialproblems are worked outin advance.Upon receiptofthe program ,aIIthe clienthasto do is eatatIeast90% ofthe mealswe agreed he would eat.There is no need forfood Iogs - aIIIwantto know is whetherthe plan wasfollowed ornot,which requires nothing more thana few checkmarks on a page. Day 1,Meal1 ...check. That's it.

Mostpeople tryto measure thevariables.Theycountcalories,gramsofcarbs,etc.alIofwhich is Iargel y a waste oftim e. Rather,you should hold the variables constant, and instead,m easure the results!

The FirstM easurem entStandard Itneverceasesto amaze me how few people regularly measure the results ofthe choicestheymake. Optimization requiresconstantmonitoring;nutritionally,ifyou

hopeto getgreatresultsand keeptherp coming,you m ustcontinually measure the outcom e ofyourefforts.

So whatexactlyshould you measure? Well,itdepends on yourgoal. Foreachtype of goal,there are specific m etrics you can choose to Iook at. Iconsîderthere to be three categoriesofnutritiongoals:performancegoals,health goals,and body compositiongoals.

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However,before measuring results,it's im portantto m easure adherence. Make no m istake,eating 6 or7 well-designed and well-planned meals a dayfor3 weeks with 90% adherence is a serious,discipline-requiring endeavor. It'sohso easytofool

yoursel fintothinking you'redoinga greatjob while dem onstrating only65% adherence.

So,stepone,before measuringanything else,is measuring adherence.Below isan exam ple adherence chartfrom a clientofm ine. Here's how itworks:

1) Each timethe clienteatsa mealdesignated forthattime slot,he getsto put an ux''in the box.

Each tim e the client m isses a m eal,he puts a 0 in the box.

3) Each timethe clienteatsa non-com pliantmeal,he puts a * inthe box.

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Week 1 Adherence

Meal1

Meal2

Meal3

Meal4

Meal5

Meal6

(W orkout Drink)

Day 1

X

X

X

X

*

X

X

X

0

X

0

X

X

N/A

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

0

X

X

N/A

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

0

X

*

X

*

X

X

X

X

X

N/A

Training Day

Day2 Non-Training Day

Day 3

Training Day

Day4 Non-Training Day Day 5

Training Day Day 6

Training Day

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Day 7 Non-Training Day

To evaluate this client's success,sim ply tally up the totalm eals scheduled forthe

week (46)and subtractthe boxesthatare ei therblankorcontain a star(7).Asthis clientm i ssed 4 m eals and Rcheated''at3 m eals,they've achieved about85%

(39/46)adherence. That's notbad. It's betterthan m ostfolks would do. Butitain'tgood enough.We're

Iooking for90% adherence from ourclients. So,trythis exercise outyourself. Printoff2 weeks ofadherence sheets and m onitor

how wellyou'readheringto yourplan.If,atthe end of2 weeks,you don'tfind at Ieast90% ofthose boxeswith an xinthem,there'sabsolutelyno pointin measuring anything else.Since youcan'teven controlthe independentvariable ofthis

experiment(the variableyou havecontrolover),whywould you measurethe results Iike bodycomp,bodyweight,etc? Seriously,whybother? You can'tdo anything aboutthem anyway.

Think I'm joking? W ellIet'ssayyoutryouta new nutritionalplan and onl yadhereto i t80% ofthe tim e. And Iet's say you gained bodyfatafterthe firstm onth. W ell

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surelyyou'llhave totrya new nutritionalplan,right? Maybeyou need toeata Iow

carb dietinstead? AtIeastyou hàveto cutcalories,right?

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W ellhow the heckare you goingto do ei ther? How manycalories did youeatthis week? How m any carbs? How m any willyou eatnextweek?

You don'tknow becauseyou're notadhering tothe plan - to anyplan.So unless nextweek is betterthanthisweek,you have no wayofcontrolling whatwillhappen.

W henyou don' teven havethe basicskill(followinga plan)requiredto rem edythe problem s you'llface,THAT IS THE PROBLEM . You eitherneed to suck itup and learn som e discipline,Iearn som e food preparation

strategies,orattackthefundamentalbeliefsystem that'skeepingyoufrom even

following a basic planfora meretwo weeks.Orjustgive uptryingto individualize. Itsounds harsh,Iknow. Butthere com es a tim e where you have to realize that

there's a difference between eating betterthan m ost people and eating perfectlyfor you.There's noshame in admittingthatyou're unwilling to do whatittakestotailor the perfectplan.The onlyshame Iies intryingto convince yoursel fthatyou're doing everything ittakes whenyou're notevdn coming close.

Ifyou're unwilling,great-justcontinue eating betterthan most- youwon'tgetany judgmentfrom me.As Iongasyoufollow the basic 10 Habits,you'llbe waybetteroff inthe Iong run anyway. Ifyou arewilling,continue on.

The N extM etrics

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As m entioned above,lconsiderthere to be three categories ofnutrition goals: 1.Perform ance Goals:

Mainlyrelevanttoathletes,these m ightincludefaster40 yard dash times,increased powerliftingtotals,fastertime trials forcyclists,etc.Generall y,nutritionforhuman perform ance has three parts:pre-eventnutrition,post-eventrecovery nutrition and

Iong-term generalpreparation nutrition. Metricsforperformancegoalsare determined bytheeventitself.Forindividual

sports,ultimatelythe succeu ofthe program asa whole isjudged bythe performanceasjudged in the event:forsprinters and cyclists,theirtimes;for powerlifters,theirtotals;and so on. However,often it's difficultorim possible to separate the causes forboth failure and success. Forinstance,ifa powerli fter

misses a Iift,ora sprinterperformspoorly,doyou blamethe nutrition program ,the training program ,orsomething el se entirely? lt'soften hardto say. The problem is com pounded in team sports where the playerm ay perform well

withoutanyobjective im pactonteam performance. Forinstance,a hockeyplayer m aybe ingreatshape and following a greatnutrition program ,butbe on a poorly performingteam orbe unluckynotto score more goals. Doyou have him abandon the chickensaladsforBi g Macs?

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Performancenutri tiontherefore,is oftengearedtoward: ,

Supporting recoveryfrom the type oftraining the athletewillneedtodoto achieve success

2. Getting the athletethe bodycom posi tion thatcorrelatesm osthighlywith success in theirsport In otherwords,w hile ideallyyou wantto see a directim provem ent in perform ance

from yourim proved nutrition (andyou should certainlymeasurethatperformance), you m ay have to settle on im proved body com position. Now thatdoesn't m ean that you should train oreatIike a bodybuilder;rather,you should train and eatfirstuntil you have the sam e body com position asthe bestathletes in yoursport,then train and eatuntilyou peform Iike they do.

Inshort,ifyou'retrying to increase performance,measure boththe performance

itself(tim es,scores,etc.)and yourbodycomposition (see below). 2.HeaIth Goals:

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W hile everyonetoutsgeneralhealth,few have itas an explicitgoal,evenfewerfollow programs thatwillim prove it,and fewerstillmeasure theirprogresstoward it.This is a huge m istake.

Partofthe problem isthathealth is b0th di liculttosubjectivelyassess,even m ore di licultto quantifyobjectively- and almostimpossibleto sellas an im portantgoalto those who are ina position to Iearnto maintain itforIife,namelythe young.Try telling an 18 yearoId kid thatheshould worryaboutheartdisease,and ifyou're Iuckyyou'llgeta blankstare in return.Tellhim thatwith good nutrition he could put on 20 Ibs ofIean body massandgetdownto 7% bodyfat,however,and he'llhave dream s ofaIIthe Iadies he'llbe able to score dancing through his head. Hey, whateverworks,butatsom e pointin everyone's Iife,health becom es a cri ticalissue -

andthetime to build the required nutritionalhabitsforgood health isearlyon.

Butthere are both plenty ofreasons to m easure the im pactofnutrition on your heal th,and plenty ofways to do it. Forexam ple,you could m easure any oraIIofthe following:

* Skin condi tion:Good nutrition can often have a m arked im pacton yourskin.

Isyourskin dryand scalf Acne orblem ish ridden? Youcould record this and track itovertim e.

* Gastrointestinalhealth and quality ofbowelm ovem ent: W e often have clients come to usto help us workthrough GIissues,and thoughthe processis often Iong and involved,forsom e people i t is absolutely necessary. M easurem ents

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canrangefromsimplerecordingofmal digesti oni uuestomoti li tyti mi ngto,

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Individualization Guide

that's right,bowelm ovementm easurement. Exercise and nutritionspecialist PaulChek recentlyshared with me hisstandard:accordingto Paul,one should be moving 12 inches offecestwice perday.So you m ightwantto

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carry a rulerw ith you on the road. And i fyou're Iike m e and yourbowl

m ovem ents curve into a perfectcircle,you m ightneed this handy form ula:

Circumference = Pi* Diam eter. (Kidding,folks). @ Blood values:Anotherwaytotrackgeneralhealth isto have regularblood work done,tracking the values overtime.Yourdoctorcan helpyouto choose the rightm etricsforyou,butthings to considerare:

o Cholesterol(HDL,LDL,and HDL:LDL ratio) o Trigl ycerides o Horm onaltests:testosterone,cortisol o Liverenzym es

o Fasted glucose and insulin o Oralglucosetolerance test 3.Body Com position Goals:

This isthe bïg oneform ostpeople.You eitherwantto Iose fatorgain muscle,or both. Orm ore to the point,you wantto Iook betternaked. So whatshould you m easure? There are a num berofpossibilities' .

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* Bodywei ght:Thi s should be obvious. Everytwo weeks,step on a scale and write yourbodyweightdown.There are a few things to note,however. One,

bodyweightscalestellyoujustthat- yourbodyweight.Theygive you no information astoyourini tialbodycomposition(i.e.,how much ofthatweight is Iean bodymass,how much isfatmass,and whatyourbodyfatpercentage

is),and theyare no help indetermining how m uch ofthe weightyou gainor Iose isfatorm uscle.Sulice itto saythatthose are importantthingsto know, particularlywhenfine-tuning analreadyadvanced nutrition plan. Furtherm ore,notaIIscales are created equal. M ost bathroom scales available on the m arkettoday are ofdecentquality and w illprobably do;your m om 's pink scale from herW eightW atchers days in the i70's should probably be replaced. Betteryet,use a calibrated beam scale,the type found in good

gyms and in yourdoctor'soffice.W ei ghyourselfatthe same time and on the

same day ifpou ible,justto be consistent- butdon'tbe tooanalaboutthis. * Body FatPercentage:Measuring bodyweightisthe firstpartofdetermining bodycomposi tion;measuring bodyfatisthesecond part.Once bodyfat percentage is determined,youcan find outyourfatmass and Iean bodymass using afew sim ple equations.Iwon'tgo into thevarioustechniques,butIwill outline the three ways in which this is norm ally done:

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Sok l ci a nt fi ol dsc n .aI li u ps ee rst : hM i sem as eu th re os dt w hi e th th ci ci l e knt e ssa sI o It fh se ki t n im foe lds atbecause vari ousit's not ,

the mostaccurateatm easuring bodyfatpercentage,butbecause it

allows meto measure subcutaneousfat(fatbelow the skin)andtrack thefatdistribution atthe variousspeci fic locations. Mostpeople plug the thickness m easurem ents,usually in m illim eters,into equations to

find bodyfat;often 1'11justtrackthethickness itsel f.I'm notalways interested in bodyfatpercentage - often Ijustwantto know thatI'm Iosing bodyfatovermyabs,and even a one-site skinfold measurement can tellm e that.

BioelectricalIm pedance:Measures the speed thatofa sm all-current through the body,and uses the differences in electricalresistance of varioustissue types todetermine bodyfatpercentage.W hilethi s method isverypopular,it'snotveryuseful:depending on your hydration Ievels,you cangetverydifferentresults evenwhenyourbody composi tion hasn'tactuallychanged;even with controlled hydration, these devices aren'taIIthataccurate.

UnderwaterW eighing/ Bodpod:Measures bodyfatbyplacingthe subjectin eithera watertank oran air-pressure controlled chamber and usingdisplacementformulas to determine bodyfatpercentage. These m ethods are considered accurate enough to be used in

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researchstudies (we used a Bodpod atthe University ofWestern Ontario Human Pedormance Lab),butthey're notwithouttheir drawbacks. They're expensive to use and difficultto find,so unless you have easy access to one,you should probably use another m ethod.

@ Girlh:Usinga tape measuretotake girth measurementsofyourarms,chest, waist,etc.can bea greatwaytotrackprogress -though again,i tgivesyou no direct inform ation aboutbody com position change. Thatis,a two inch increase in the circumference ofyourupperIegs could beequallya resultof m uscle gainorfatgain,orsome combinationofthetwo. Neverthe Iess, these m easurem ents can be very helpfuland inform ative. You could do a

com prehensive girthm easurem enteverytwo weeks,oreven selectasingle

trouble area (waist,forinstance)and monitorthatalone.lhave aIImyclients trackgirth measurements regularly,al though notalwayseverytwo weeks. * Appearance:I tstandsto reasonthatifyou aretrainingto Iook better,ori fyou are a bodybuilderorfitness com peti tor,yourperceived physicalappearance

itsel fisa valid 'xmeasurement''orindicatorofprogress.Subjectivity,however, is often a majorproblem here:people Iookatthemselves in the m irrorand are eithertoocriticalornotcriticalenough - orworse,they'reone waytodayand the otherway tom orrow. Consistentand honestappraisalis difficultforsom e,

and unbearableforothers.Some peopleare betteroffworking withthe

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previ ousthreeobjecti vemeasurements(bodywei ght,bodyfat%andgi rth).

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Individualization Guide

Others benefi tfrom havinga friend dothe assessment,orhavingdigital

photostaken (although Ienstype,subject-to-cam era distance and Iighting

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conditions can affectone's appearance in photos,so consistency is an issue

here as well). lt'sworth noting thatmanyadvancedtrainees relyon perceived appearance aloneto gauge progress. I'm one ofthem:afteryears oftrainingand nutrition experience,including a few yearsofseriouscompetitive bodybuilding,Ican determine my bodyweightand bodyfat% to a relativelyhigh degree of

accuracyjustbyIooking inthe mirror(itmightalso be because I've had more skinfold and Bodpodteststhan Icareto remember). Ei therway,you m ight find thatthis isaIIyou need to make informed changesto yournutri tion. IfaIIyou do is weightyourselfon a bathroom scale and Iookatyourselfinthe mirror, then atIeastdo so with a purpose.W eighyourselfonthesam escale atthe same timeeverytwo weeks,and when Iooking inthe mirror,tryto notice subtle changes in yourphysique. Forthe firstfew m onths,you should write itaIIdown.

Ifyou can com mitto recording more,doso.W i thjusta few bucks,a setof Accumeasure calibers,you can do more.Ifgourve gota digitalcamera,use thattoo. Butunlessyou're a hotchick,sending me photosofyou ina skimpybathing suitwill force m e to alertthe properauthori ties.

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Part3:OneSizeFitsYou From G eneralD ecision-M aking to Specific Solutions W ith yourfullnutri tionalplan in hand and a selection ofrelevantm etrics to track,you setoutto eatat9O% adherence fortwo weeks. Afterthose two weeks,you m easure

yourprogress. Run a 40,getsom e blood work done orsteponthescale,depending onyourgoals.lfyou Iikewhatyou see,continue withthe plan unchanged. lfyou don't,you needto examine whyand changeyourplan accordingly. So,there are two possible outcom es:

1. You gotthe resultsyouwanted. Your40 yard times im proved,yourblood Iipid profile im proved,and you dropped two pounds offatm ass overthe two weeks.

2. You didn'tgetthe resultsyou wanted.Yourmeasurementsshow Iessthan expected,negligible orno results.

Ifyourcontrolled experiment(i.e.,yournutri tionalplan)yieldedthefirstoutcome,the desired results,congratulations. Ifyouwish to maintainorimproveanyofthose results,youcan sim plycontinuethe planas is untilyougetthe second outcome.

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Ifyourplan yielded the second outcom e,Iess than expected results,then you m ust

change something im mediately.There are three possible explanationsforIessthan expected resul ts: 1. The results you wanted were unrealistic. 2. The results you wanted were realistic,butyourexecution was notup to the task. 3. The results you wanted were realistic,and yourexecution was up to the task, butyourplan was inadequate. Each ofthese explanations has its own cause,and i ts ow n solution. Let's Iook at each separately.

Unrealistic expectations Mostpeople would readilyadm itthatexpectingto Iose 10 Ibsoffatorgain 10 Ibsof m uscle,correctserious blood Iipid issues orcuttheir40 yard tim e from 5.5 to 4.4 in two weeks is unrealistic.Yetoddly,on the subconscious Ievel,m anywantto believe thatthese results are notonly possible,thatthey're Iikely.

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Blame 7 minute ab commercials,blamethe cabbage diet,and blam ewhomeveryou want. Butonceyoustop blam ing,startaccepting reality. Often things are Iess difficultthan we think they'llbe buttake m uch longerthan we think they'lltake.

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That's the reality. So acceptit.

However,remem berthis;notachieving things you could notpossibly have achieved, no matterhow good yournutrition,tellsyounothing abouthow to optimizeyourplan. Ifyournutrition plan has produced Iess than yourexpected results,take a Iook and see ifthey were realistic first.

How? You need to determinetwothings aboutyourgoals: 1. UpperIim i tofachievem ent. How m uch can you truly hope to achieve,

assumingyou do everything right,and do itconsistentl yforas long as it takes? W illyou be able to run a 4.4? Do you have aIIthe otherresources in

placeto do so,Iikea greatrunning coach,a greattraining program,etc? Or with respectto body com position,can you reall y be 225 Ibs at5% bodyfat,

and ifso,are you willing to do everything i ttakestogetthere? Does your Iifestyle afford you the ability to achieve the upperIim it? Ifnot,are you willing to change it? W hat,realistically,do you hopeto achieve? 2. Rate ofachievement. How Iong should ittake to reach yourupperIimitof achievem ent? W illyou im prove ata consistentrate,orw illim provem ent com e fasteratsom e tim es than atothers? lfconsistent,how m uch im provem entshould you expecteverytwo weeks? I fvariable,how Ii ttle

im provementshouldyou bewilling to acceptduring periods ofslow returns, and how Iongshould you expectthose periodsto Iast?

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These are notsim ple questions to answer,and in som e cases you willsim ply not

have the expertise to answerthem .Butifwantto have a standard bywhichtojudge yourprogress,you needthose answers.So how do you goaboutgettingthem? Forspeci ficgoals,consultan expertorsomeone who hasachieved whatyou wantto achieve.Consultasmanypeople Iikethisasyou canfind,and takean average of theirresponses.Find people who have directexperience achievingthegoalsyou seek.Generally,knowledgeable coacheswillhelpyou outwith thisforfree orfora Iow cost.

But i fyou're ata com plete Ioss,you can do whatIdo. Everheard ofthe Kaizen

Principle? It's a Japanese concept(oratIeast,a Japaneseword fora universal concept)thatwaspopularized in NorthAmerica by Dr.Edwards Deming,and later touted byAnthony Robbins,Charles Poliquin and a num berofothers). The basicprem ise isthatyoushould make continualprogress,even ifonly in very sm allincrem ents,and thatbydoing soyou can achievegoalsthoughtbeyond your reach. So forinstance,Tony Robbins used the principle to convince people to m ake sm allstrides towards personaldevelopm entgoals,and Poliquin used itto supportor

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( ' explain the co eptofK 'm icroloading''- using Ioad increases ofas Iittle as halfa

pound to ensure cohtinualstrength gains. 1'11Ietyoujudgethe meritsofaIIthat yourself.

Forourpurposes,we'lluse itto give usa guideline bywhichto measure ourprogress. W hen you can'tsettle on an expected resultforyourtwo week m easurem ent,choose the sm allestincrem entthatyou can m easure and m ake sure thatyou im prove by thatincrem entevery two weeks.

Here'san example. Let'ssayyou'retryingto puton muscle mass,butaIIyou have at yourdisposalto measureyourprogress isa bathroom scale.A sim ple buteffective tactic isto sim ply m ake sure thatevery tim e you step on the scale,yourm easured

weightincreases byatIeastthe smallestmeasurable increment- probably 1-2 pounds. Everytwo weeks,yourgoalis to see thatneedle m ove one notch to the right.That's it. Certainly,you could do a m uch m ore detailed m easurem entthan that,butifthat's aII

you do,you're alreadyahead ofthegame asyou're atIeastmoving inthe right direction.

Inessence,yousim plymeasure in orderto ensure thatyou're progressing inthe right

direction.The magnitude ofthatchange (i.e.,how much actualprogress you make) is im portant,butsecondary.

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Bottom Iine? Make sure you:

Choose a goal.

2. Selecta metricto track yourprogress toward thatgoal. 3. Setyourexpectations,in term s of both upperIim itand rate ofachievem ent.

4. Ifyou can'tdeterm ine a realistic rate ofachievementforyourgoal,tryto progress by the m inim um m easurable increm enteverytwo weeks. Once you've done aIIthat,you can getback to executing the plan.

Inadequate execution Ifyourexpectations are realistic,butyou were unable to m eetthem ,take a Iook at yourexecution. Did you adhere to the plan itself? Did you violate the 90% rule? 90% adherence is the standard Isetforexecution.W hatthis m eans is thatyou m ust eatatIeast90% ofthe m eals on yourplan,and thatno m ore than 10% ofyourmeals m ay be unplanned,m issed orcheatm eals. Iwantto be very clearthatthis i sn't

some vague orarbitrarynumber. Rather,it'sspecificandwell-chosen.

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It's specific,in thatit Ieaves no room forerror. Itgives us a sim ple way to m easure adherence. Count up the totalnum berof m eals you are supposed to eateach week, and m ultiplyby0.1to give you the totalnumberofunplanned,missed orcheatmeals allowed each week.So anaverage planthatindicates6 meals perday,m ultiplied by 7 days,givesm ea totalof42 meals perweek;42 mul tiplied byO.lgives me 4.2 unplanned,missed orcheatmeals perweek. Round down togive you the magic num ber4 - the num beroftim es you can violate yourplan each week.

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It'swell-chosen,inthat90% adherence isjustrightforIong term success.Certainly, 100% adherence would be best,butwe're dealing with hum an beings here. In aIIbut

the mostextreme cases(forexample,bodybuilding contestpreparation),100% is neitherfeasible nornecessary. W e wantto accountforspontaneity,the inevitable

missed meal,and mydesireto getmyweeklypizzafi x. 90% adherenceallowsforaII that.You can eatyourfavorite foods guiltfree,you can missa meal,youcan eatina

restaurant-justnotmorethan 1O% ofthetime.Sotake your4 chances perweek and m ake the bestofthem .

Butkeep in mindthat90% is90%. It'sa real,objective num ber. It's not80% or67% or50% or15%. It's high,and itrequires discipline.Yes,itstruethatyou maystillbe ableto see some results byadhering only80% ofthetime,assumingthatyou have a greatplan. However,it'sa slipperyslope. Mostofthe time,80% adherence willget you Iess than 80% ofthe results you could have had,and 50% adherence willgetyou

farIess,possiblyeven nothing. Ihave no data onthis,it'sjustmyown experience with m yselfand m y clients - so take itforw hatit's worth.

Anotherproblem with adhering Iessthan90% i s thatyoustartto Iose controloverthe

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nutritionalvariables. Rem em ber,the whole pointofthis article series is to teach you how to m anipulate and optim ize yourplan - how to tailoryournutrition. That

requirestightcontrolofwhatyou're eating,atthe veryIeast. Poorexecution means that:

You no Iongerhave accurate data on yournutritionalintake. W hen youstart eating too m any unplanned,m issed orcheatm eals,the nutri tionalanalysis you have ofthe plan itselfno Iongercorrelates wellw i th youractualintake. To getthatinfo,you would have to keepa food Iogagain - and we've already discussedthe drawbacksofdoingthat.

* You no Iongerhave controloverthevariables.Too m uch variationfrom the plan can meanthatyou'regetting too manycalories,too Iittle,too much ortoo Iittle ofa m acronutrient,etc. W hateverthe case m ay be,consistency is no

Iongerassured,and the controlled experimentyousoughtto pedorm on yourselfis com prom ised.

* You can no Iongerm anipulate the variableswith anydegree ofaccuracy.Say you wantto increasecalories,cutcarbs orimplementsome new cutting edge strategy. Withoutcontroloverthese variables,how doyou plan to makethose

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changes? * You can no longeraccuratelycorrelate the m inutechangesyou makewiththe

resultsyou'regetting(ornotgetting).Sayyoqdidtweakyourplanslightlyin the hopes ofoptim izing yourresults,and thehwentoutand followedthe plan only 70% ofthe tim e. You m easure yourresults and see that - surprise there are none. W as the tweak unsuccessful? Ihave no idea,and neitherdo you - because you nevertried it! Unless you com e reasonablyclose to

isolating the changeyou made -thatis,m aking surethatit'sthe onlychange, and thatthe restofyourdietwas Iargelyheld constant- you can have no idea whetheritwould have worked ornot.

ltcom es down to this:you need to m eetthe 90% adherence rule,week in,week out.

Ican'tmake you do i t,butIcan helpyoutrackit. ln part2 ofthi s guide Igaveyoua chartfordoingso. Now,that's notto saythatyou should m ake no changes to the plan itself. Butthe

changes Iwantyou to make atthis pointare Ioglstlcalchanges - thatis,changes thathelp you work the plan into yourdaily Ii fe. I fyou m issed m eals,prepare m ore in advance,orhave a backup plan;ifyou don'tIike the taste ofcertain m eals,spice them up orreplace them with meals ofequalnutritionalvalue. Do whateveryou have to do in orderto reach 9O% adherence. There is always a way.

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Inadequate plan So,you m easured yourresults,and they're sub-optim al. Once you're certain that yourexpectations are reasonable and thatyourexecution was excellent,you're

justified in Iooking atthe plan itself. Remem ber,though,thatyou're notstarting with justanyoId plan.Ifyou walkedthrough the process with me in Part1,you builta plan based on the 10 Habits - and forgood reason. Those rules are derived from scientificstudy,m y own data from my clients and m y own personalexperience over the years,so l'm very confidentthatthey work. Nevertheless,ifnothing positive is

happening,something hasto change.Thi s principle isthefoundation ofoutcomebased decision making. W e're not,however,going to abandonthe plan entirely.Rather,we'regoingto assumethatthe plan is largelysound,andthatitwillserve asthe foundationforour future plans. Thatassum ption is valid in this case,because Isaid so. You don't

need to believe m e,butbelieving mewillsaveyou a greatdealoftime and energy. If you do wish to abandon the plan as l've Iaid itout,Ibid you Godspeed. Forthe rest,

Iet'stweak whatwe've got.

Before Imove on to describe whatto changeand in whatorder(whichwillrevealmy nutri tionalbiases),Ietme statethatthis process can be used equallywellwith nutritionaladvice otherthan my own. W antto tweak yourAtkins orZone diet? You

can do that. Heardthateatinggrapefruitforbreakfastwillhelpyou maintainan erection? W ell,hold yourgrapefruitdietconstantfortwo weeks - and when

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watching the girlnextdoorgetundressed each night,breakoutthestopwatchto m easure the resul ts.

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Changing YourIntake - W hen and How M uch? So how do you change yourdietonthe basisofthe measurementsyou'vetaken,and when? This isthe bïg question.The quickansweris,when whatyou're doing works, keep doing it. Keep doing ituntilitdoesn'twork. You'llknow when som ething isn'tworking. You'llhave the data. W hen the change from weektoweekis non-existentoreven negative,it's notworking.

Ifthe change is obviouslynegative,something istakingyou inthewrong direction. W hat? W ell,here's the checklist: Step 1:Double-check youradherence.

Asyoushould have gathered bynow,Ibelievethe #1 problem formostindividual s notgetting greatresul tsthrougha basiceating plan based onthe 10 Habits isn' t som e secret macronutrientm ix they don'tknow about. lt's adherence. So m ake

sureyou're actuallyfollowing the plan,and this isn'tmerelya discipline,m otivationor beliefsystem problem .Those can be addressed bya good coach,butnotthrough nutri tionalintervention.

Step 2:Checkyourtraining. Ifyoustarted with a good baseline diet,one knowntoworkforpeople with yourbody typeforyourchosen goal,and ifyoufollowedthatdietcloselyenoughto earnyour adherence x's,then the nextstep isto Iook atyourtraining.

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Don'toverlook the im portance ofexercise:type,volum e,intensity are alIim portant. Forexam ple,independentresearch studies conducted atthe Universities of

Pittsburgh and Wyom ing demonstrated that,formostpeople,exercising atIeast5 hours a week is necessaryto im prove body com position. Ifyou're doing atIeast5 hoursofpurposefulexercise,wi th a Iarge portion ofthatexercising being ofhigh

intensity,you're probablyon the righttrack. Ifnot,don'tblame yourdietjustyet, blame yourexercise program.

Step 3:AdjustYourDietaryIntake. Ifyou've pickeda good baseline diet,a one-size-fits-alldiet,and have optimized your

training program yetstillaren'tgettingthe results you'reafter,it'stim etoadjustyour intake based onyourbodytypeand physiologicalresponsesto nutrition. Should you increase ordecrease the size ofyourm eals. Cutcalories? Cutcarbs?

lncrease protein? Increase healthyfats? You could make anyofthesechanges,and

many more.The beautyofthis system (creating aspecificplan FIRST,then following itexactlyfortwo weeks)meansthatyou know the exactcaloric intake,macronutrient content,etcetcofyourplan.Youdon'tneed to pissaround with food Iogseveryday, orrecord the contentofyourm eals as Iittle ë fnotes to self''in youripod. No one but

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t khneow OC eD xaa cm tl y ow ngha yt ou yowuil a lt deo,b th ei sasu c os re to yf ot uhe ini t gha er ny fo wl a l oyw .eBdytp hl e an pn la ingoi r nya od uvd ai n dc ne 't ,y -oa un 'l di f youdidn't,THAT'S THE PROBLEM .Ifyou did,then you've gota greatbaseline offood choicesthatyou cantweaktoforce progress.

NutritionalAq ustm ents Earlierinthisguide Itold youthatIwon'tsugarcoatthings.So it's im portantthatI state thefollowing:Iwon'tpretend thatthisguide could giveyou everything you need

to prescribe,monitorand adjustyournutritionalplan fora perfectbody.Itcan't,i t took m e ll years ofuniversityto Iearn whatIknow. However,Iwillcoversom e ofthe

majorcategories ofadjustmentsand somesimple rulesofthum bthatwilltake you furtherthanthe vastmajorityofyourpeers. Ofcourse,eachofthese adjustmentsand rulesofthum bassumesthatyou passed checksone (you'refollowing the plan exactly)and two (you're trainingcorrectlyfor yourbodytype and goal).

Adjusting Carbohydrate Intake Carbohydrate intake isthefirstthing IIooktowhen individualizingsomeone's nutri tion plan.Thi s isIargelyafunction oftwo beliefs.Thefirstisthatit's veryeasy to eatthe wrongtypes ofcarbohydrates. Proteinsand fats are easytogetright.

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Carbs,on the otherhand are a virtualnutritionalm inefield. Secondly,lbelieve that carbohydrate tolerance varies w idel y and that nutrient partitioning is closely related

tothe body's abilityto tolerate carbohydrates.Ifind thatbym atchingcarbohydrate intaketo an individual's physiologicalcarbohydratetolerance,nutrientparti tioning and body com posi tion can quickly be im proved. Therefore,to individualize som eone's carbohydrate intake,Ifirstseparate them into 3 carbohydrate tolerance groups - poorcarbohydrate tolerance,m oderate carbohydrate tolerance,and excellentcarbohydrate tolerance.

1) ExcellentCarbohydrate Tolerance Those individuals with excellentcarbohydrate tolerance are typically very Iean

and athletic and can rem ain so with a fairl y high carbohydrate diet. In fact, these individuals usually needa highercarbohydrate dietto function well. Deprive them oftheircarbs and replace those carbs with m ore protein and fat and they'resluggish,perfom more poorly,and actuallycarrya worse body com position. So,forthese individuals,Ifocus on helping them choose clean carbohydrates with each meal,typically a m ixture ofstarchy and fibrous carbohydrates. Ofcourse,the rem ainderofthe 10 Habits stillm ust be followed.

Forthoseofyou who absolutelyhaveto see the macronutrientsplitlm ight

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prescribeforsomeonewi thexcell entcarbohydratetolerance,i t' susuall y

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Individualization Guide around 55% carbohydrate,25% protein,and 20% fat. Justkeep in m ind thatI

don'tencourage anyoneto be obsessive abouteach percentage pointofeach macronutrient. Rather,in thisgroup,Isuggestsim plyfollowing the 10 Habits and ''supplementing''each 10 Habitmealwi thsome clean,starchy

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carbohydrates.

It's interestingto notethatIbelievethatas individuals age,theytypicallyIose som e abilityto tolerate carbohydrate so you should take this into accountwith

the passingyears and adjustas necessary.

2) PoorCarbohydrate Tolerance Those individuals with poorcarbohydrate tolerance are typically fatter,m ore ectom orphic,and require m ore physicalactivi ty to getIean. These individual s

do betteron diets higherin protein andfatswith a Iowercarbohydrate intake. Therefore,forthese individuals,Irequire strictadherence to the 10 Habits. Forthem ,there are veryfew orno starchy carbohydrates outside ofthe workoutand post-workoutphases ofthe nutrienttim ing day. Their carbohydrate intake outside ofthese phases,even on offdays,should com e

from veggies,with a smallamoqntoffruitaswell. Again,forthose ofyou who absolutelyhave to see the macronutrientspli tI mightprescribeforsom eone with poorcarbohydratetolerance,i t's usually around 3O% carbohydrate,35% protein,and 35% fat.Again,asstated above, Idon'tencourage anyone to be obsessiveabouteach percentage pointof each macronutrient.Justfollow the 10 Habits uncom promisinglyand your

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body com p w illcom e in Iine.

3) ModerateCarbohydrate Tolerance Ofcourse,those individuals w ith m oderate carbohydrate tolerance typically fallbetween the othertwo extrem es. These indi viduals do bestwhen eating

theirstarchycarbohydrates onlyduringcertain timesofthe day. Forthem, theyshouldfollow the 10 Habits,eating non-veggie and non-frui t carbohydratesonlyduring and immediatelyafterexercise,buttheycan also add a smallam ountofstarchycarbohydratesduringbreakfastmeal s. The macronutrientsplithere mightbe 40% carbohydrate,30% protein,and 30% fat.Again,asstated above,Idon'tencourage anyoneto be obsessi ve abouteach percentage pointofeach m acronutrient.Justfollow the 10 Habits and supplem entbreakfastw ith starchy carbs and yourbody com p willcom e in Iine.

Atthis pointyou're probablywonderingwhetherthese suggestionsshould be followed during periods ofmassgain orfatIoss.

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To y hu er sg eosaul ggdeo s st n ion ts ins ch lu od ue l dbb ee co fo mll o i nw geador b ee gs ae rd .le Fs os rw of ey i g oh utrg sa pi e nco i f r i c wg eoi g ah l s t;I assupm o roig ng ress, onceyou're eating according tosound nutrienttiming principlesand making good food selections,calorie intake is the m ostim portantfactor.

Adjusting Protein Intake Adjusting protein intake is afairlyeasy process.There aretwothingsthatIconsider whentailoring protein intake tothe individual.

1) The firstisto make sure thatthe individualiseatingenoughtotalprotein to preventa negative nitrogen balance;prettysim ple and mostweighttrainers and athletes have already gotthis one covered ifthey're approaching lg

protein/lb ofbodyweight. 2) The second isto increasethe protein intake from this pointbased onthe '

individual's bodytype and carbohydrate tolerance. Ifthe individualhas great

carbohydratetolerance and is Iean,then carbohydrate intake ishigher(as discussed above)while protein (stillabovethe lF lb mark)and fatintakesare Iower. Ifthe individualhas poorcarbohydrate tolerance and is fatter,the

opposi te istrue. Forthi s type ofindividual,carbohydrate intake is Iower(as discussed above)while protein and fatintakesare higher.This dietaryshi ft helps increase m etabolic rate and m anage insulin concentrations.

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In the end,with respectto protein intake,Ifind thatthe bestadvice is to follow the

10 Habits (eating Iean,complete proteinwi th each meal,every2-3 hours)andto adjustthatprotein intake based on whatyou're doing with yourcarbohydrate intake.

Adjusting FatIntake Fat intake is the m osteasily m anipulated and should scale,in am ount,in an inverse relationship to carbohydrate intake. However,one im portantnote should be m ade w ith respectto fat intake. As discussed in the 10 Habits,it's im portantto eathealthy

fats daily. Anotherway ofsaying this is:supplem entyournorm alintake with healthy fats. Add olive oil,flax oil,fish oil,m ixed nuts,flax seeds,etc to yourdaily intake and thefatsyou're normallygettingfrom yourcomplete proteinsourceswillend upfairly balanced.

Adjusting Calorie Intake As mentioned above,food selection and nutrienttiming are criticalto nutrient partitioning and bodycom position butcalorie intake dictatesweightgain orweight Ioss.Therefore,ifyou're interested ingaining orIosing weight,the formulashould be prettysimple;eatmore to gain weight,eatIessto Iose weight. Unfortunately i t's not always this sim ple.

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1) Muscle Gain

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Ifyou'reaftermusclegain,itusually is prettysim ple:increasefood intake. I

typically recomm end increasing food intake by25OkcaIeverytwo weeks (of course,usingoutcome-based decision making alongtheway). But rem em ber,there are som e condi tions that m ustbe m et before you can

expectto see mostly Iean gainswiththis increase in food intake. a. You mustbe adhering toa specificenergy intake in orderto know how manycaloriesto increase yourenergyintake by.Sure,blasting aton of additionalenergy intoyoursystem willcause weightgain;butIikely morefatgain thatyou'llbe comfortable with.Sowe're backtothe adherencething. Make sure youradherence isgood and onlythen will your250 calorie bum p have any utility.

b. You mustbe training appropriatelyforyourmuscle-building goals.

c. You mustbe eatingforyourbodytype (carbohydrate tolerance); selecting goodfood choicesand appropriate nutrienttiming is param ount.

2) FatLoss Optim alfatIoss,on the otherhand,isn' tquite as sim ple since m any individuals who habi tually undereattend to have depressed m etabolic rates.

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lncreasing exercise volumeto 5 hours perweek,with a high percentage of this exercise com ing from high intensity exercise,w illhelp im prove m etabolic rate.Al so,increasing protein intake willhelp increase m etabolicrate. However,w i th m ostof my clients who are habitualundereaters,m y firststep

isto adjusttheirfoodtype andtim ing,while increasing calorie intake.This increase is situationaland depends on how faroîftheircurrenteating is relative to whattheyshould be eating.W hen Iincrease calorie intake in this mannerthere istypicall y no change in bodyweightduringthefirstfew weeks butIean body mass goes up while fatmass goes down. W i ththis new tendencytoward good nutrientparti tioning and increased metabolic power,I now begin to decrease calories byabout250 everytwo weeks. Ofcourse,forthisto work,the same rules applyaswith musclegain. Adherence has to be there,as does an appropriate exercise program and good nutrienttim ing.

ForaIIcalorie adjustments,keepthis in mind;with respectto calorie intake,when you makethese changes,make sureyou keep everything else the same.Yourmeals

willIook more orIess the same,justIargerorsmaller.The changes willbespread

evenl yacrosstheenti remealtoo.Don' treducethesi zeofyourchi ckensal adby

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tare b ka insg t, oeutc5 .0 S% pro ef at dht ehs epc in hac nh g; ete av ken1 ly 0a %cr oo us tsot fh te he msepai n l sa .ch,10%offthechicken Extrem e Body Com position A lterations The adjustments discussed above wi th respecttocarbohydrate,protein,fat,and calorie adjustm ents workfantasticallyfortimely,sane alterations in body composition. However,when individualsare Iooking forsomething more extreme, such as dropping to below 5% bodyfat,dropping bodyfatridiculouslyfastona time schedule,orgaining Iean massveryquicklyon a timeschedule,thesesuggestions

above need a bitoftweaking. (The principles above are sound butmayrequire the introduction ofmore exercise,calorie orcarbohydrate cycling,etc).These extreme bodycompositiontechniques are beyond thescope ofthis guideso we'llsave them fora laterdate.

The Resistance . Make no mistake aboutit;there are those amongyouwhowillbelievethis Precision Nutrition Individualization system is baloney. Those individuals willtellyou it's not

thisdifficulttogetinto greatshape.They'lltellyouthatI'm justmaking this stuffup to sellsomething. They'llgetaIImad atmymethod withouteven understanding it. Guess what? You'regoingto be tempted to believe them ,mostlybecause this

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system does seem a bitcom plicated and di l icult. How ever,restassured;it's only difficultatfirst. Eventually,i t's very,very easy. So whythe resistance? W ell,there are three types ofindividuals who willm iss the

pointofthisguide:

1) Type 1:The Gym Rat The gx ym ratisthe individualwhospends aIIhisfreetime atthegym .This individualspends Iotsofhoursworking out,perform ing Iotsofsets,Iotsof reps,etc.This individualwillargue thatmyadvice isRtoo complicated becauseaIIyou've gotta do to getinto greatshape iseatclean and train''. However,keep in m ind,thispersontrains...and trains...and trains. Hi gh volum esofexescise can masksub-optimaleating patterns,and often do.So m ake sure you ignore this person's advice unless you're willing to spend aII yourfree tim e atthe gym .

2) Type 2:The GeneticAdoni s The genetic Adonis is the guyw ho can eatpretty m uch whateverhe wants withoutmuchthoughtorplanning and remains in greatshape Iargelydue to hissuperiorgeneticmake-up.This individualgotdealtthe geneticwild card so his advice is Iargelymeaninglessto you unlessyou'vegothisgenetics.

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3) Type 3:TheVeteran

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Theveteran isthe individualwho'sgotten ingreatshape withoutendless of hours in the gym and wi thoutsuperiorgenetics.This isthe individualyou'll m ostoften turn to foradvice. His advice willusually be well-intentioned and sym pathetic.

However,unlessthis person isa dam ngood coach (and coaching credentials comefrom a combination ofIearningthe coaching process intheoryand

practicing itoverand overagain),youshould always be carefulofthe veteran'sadvice. Itwillusuallybe good advice.Butsometim es,thingsthat the veteran has Iearned overtim e and internalized so deeply thatthey im portant ideas don'tgettheirdue credi t - the veteran has sim ply m oved on from them . This is particularlytrue when itcom es to the system Iaid outin this

lndividualization Guide.W ithoutthe extensive coaching experience Ihave,I'd neverhave beenable to wri te thisguide. Infact,before coaching,Iwould

have believed thatHgetting in greatshape doesn'tpaveto beso difficult.'' But thatbeliefwas false and would only have been in place because I'd have

forgotten myearlyIearningcurve. It's easytoforgetthe earlystrugglesand habit-building whenyou've have Iong-since internalized the process. Nowadays mynutritionalprogram isso refined thatIsim ply Iook in the m irrorevery day and that's aIlthe m easurem entIneed to altermy nutritionalintake every week ortwo to

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accomplish mycurrentgoals. Butin the beginning lneeded a written plan, regularm easurem ent,adherence accountability,and system atic al terations. Precision Nutri tion Individualization represents a systematicwayoftailoringyour

nutritionalintake;a wayofcreatingthe perfectnutritionalfit,justas my Italianfriend SignorCaruso creates the perfectsartorialfit.

Ifyou wantthe perfectbody,and you wantitdrugfree,yournutrition had betterbe m ore bespoke than off-the-rack.You need to tailoryournutritionalplan to yourown precise and individualspecifications.

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