The Importance of Static Dieting for Beginners by 3J

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The Importance of Static Dieting for Beginners
By: 3J

3J's Nutrition | Diet and fitness consulting to get you to the next level.
In this day and age, many people equate the gym as the first step to aesthetic improvement. Though its very true that the gym will play an important role in your ability to reach your short and long term goals, your diet will always be the majority factor of your results. Having said that, those who realize this fact (unfortunately too many dont ever come to realize this fact or realize it after expending a lot of energy with little success) start to see improvement as a reward for their efforts. Statistically, these people who start to make efforts in improving their nutrition make some very simple mistakes; not counting calories/macros and not sustaining a static diet. Lets cover both issues.

Calorie/Macro Counting

Proper macro distribution and calorie counting is the basis of all dieting. Without taking an empirical approach to your consumption you are playing a guessing game with all the energy you put into your goals. People who dont calorie count end up having a variable amount of calories and macros coming in daily. Such fluctuations in daily intake make it difficult for the body to sustain a calculable pattern so that the subject can gain insight as to whether or not the program is working, especially if the subject is a novice a nutrition and proper weight and measurement protocols.

The use of formulas to attain the best guess proper caloric intake for your daily needs are a great place to start. I personally enjoy the Katch-McArdle equation for basil m e t a b o l i c rate (the amount of calories your body consumes without any activity) calcuations because it takes into account body fat, a variable that the Harris Benedict does not account for.

Katch-McArdle basil m e t a b o l i c rate equation

370 + (21.6 x lean mass in kg) = BMR

Here is an example of how to do the equation
200lbs at 15% bodyfat
First thing you need to do is remove the bodyfat weight from your total weight
15% of 200 is 30lbs, which leaves you at 170lbs of lean body mass
The next step is to convert your weight from lbs to kg, this is simply done by taking your lbm weight and dividing it by 2.2
170/2.2 = 77.27 lean body mass in kg
Now input your lean bodymass into the equation

370 + (21.6 x 77.27)
Step 1
77.27 x 21.6 = 1669

Step 2
370 + 1669 = 2039

We now know that a 200lb guy at 15% body fat has a basil m e t a b o l i c rate of 2039 calories, roughly

To get our total daily energy expenditure (aka TDEE) we multiple our BMR with a multiplying factor below

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Lets say you hit the gym 5 days a week for about 1.5 hours a day. The 1.55 multiplying factor would be a good place to start.

2039 x 1.55 = 3160.45 calories a day
Now whether you want to cut or bulk tells you whether you should go up in calories or go down from this number.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets talk about macros. Macros are the protein, carbs, and fats that you intake from your diet. Different people will have different needs. Bodybuilders who are bulking will need more protein and carbs than someone who isnt trying to gain muscle or preserve it. There are many articles out there on macro splits, so I will not go into detail about this.


Static dieting. What is it?

The word static is defined as a lack of movement, action, or change. Its the lack of change thats important for novice dieters. It becomes increasingly difficult to hit your macros and figure out what is going to work best for you if you are consistently changing your meal plan from day to day. In order to combat that issue, I recommend all novice dieters to follow a static diet temporarily. A static diet means that you set up the calories/macros of your diet using specific foods. You eat the same meals, same portions, same weight, same sodium, and same fluid intake every day. That doesnt mean you have to eat chicken 5 times a day every day. If one of your meals is turkey or beef, you need to be eating turkey or beef for that same meal daily.

So whats the point of static dieting? It allows the user to more rapidly learn their own body in a controlled environment. When you eat the same thing every day and your weight isnt moving in the right direction, considering all other things equal (like your training routine), you know you have to make a change in your diet. If im trying to cut as Mr. 200lbs and 15% body fat with 2800 calories without seeing good progress at that caloric intake, I know I need to either 1. Increase activity level, or 2. Reduce caloric intake. The same goes in retrospect, if im trying to bulk at 3500 calories and have not seen weight gain, I can slowly start adding calories. By keeping your nutrition in a controlled environment you make it that much easier to make adjustments to your program. Over time, you start to understand what your body needs to reach specific goals. You also are able to be more lenient with your food choices because you have a better understanding of caloric/macro needs for your body. Having such insight into your own body make the process of attaining your goals that much easier, which is why static dieting is so important.

I hope this article has helped you better understand the process of attaining your goals. Eat well my friends
-3J

If interested in inquiring about personal nutrition and training coaching please feel free to contact me at 3jdiet@gmail.com
 
Last edited:
At first blush the math looks scary, but break it down into its individual parts and you will see it is quite easy.
 
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