Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

YOUR HOW-TO OF PRACTICAL BODYBUILDING NUTRITION
20.176 e absolute minimum caloric intake you should have is 12 calories per
pound of lean bodyweight. If you go lower than that, assuming you are
fairly active and doing the minimum aerobic exercise, you are going to lose
weight too fast, strip off more muscle than fat, and risk messing up your
metabolism. Most people should be able to slowly but steadily lose fat by
consuming their maintenance caloric intake minus 100–200, together with
an increase in their energy output. If you do little or no aerobic activity, you
need to trim more calories from you food intake. It is possible to lose fat
while doing no aerobic activity, so long as you adjust your caloric intake
accordingly and maintain or increase you muscle mass. e main advantage
of increasing your activity level is to permit you to consume more calories.
Without getting into extreme levels of activity, the more calories you can
consume and yet still lose fat, the better. en you are physically and mentally
better sated, plus you are more likely to meet your needs for nutrients.
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A modified dietary program, and a small energy deficit is one
thing, but severe diets are another. Severe diets do not work over
the long term because they produce denial, and binge eating. ey
can also alter the metabolism is such a way that fat loss becomes an
even harder task to accomplish.
Your body has a minimum “set point” as far as your bodyfat is
concerned. To try to get lower than that is extremely difficult to
achieve. You may have to accept a bodyfat level a little higher than
your ideal, because the price to pay for getting a lower bodyfat
level may be extreme measures, loss of muscular bodyweight, and
a negatively altered metabolism.
20.177 Whenever you get the urge to consume something you know you should
not, see in your mind two images—the lean body you want, and your current
physique. Remind yourself that you want the “new” body, and discard
the offending food item. Unless you are unusually strong willed and can
say no to anything, go through your kitchen and get rid of everything that
is going to tempt you to break your new dietary schedule. ere are probably
others in your household who would also benefit from dropping some
bodyfat, so you can all get in on this together. If not, then the others around
you should be understanding and eat at different times or in different loca-
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