How to sustainably lose fat while maintaining muscle | Peter Attia and Derek MPMD
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses sustainable weight loss strategies, contrasting them with the extreme, short-term methods of bodybuilders. It emphasizes the importance of a gradual, calculated approach, suggesting not to exceed a 1% body weight loss per week. The speaker advises maintaining at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to preserve muscle mass, and adjusting caloric intake to create a manageable deficit. The conversation also touches on the role of creatine in enhancing performance and body composition, advocating for a balanced diet with an appropriate macronutrient distribution.
Takeaways
- 🏋️♂️ Bodybuilders are careful with their diet, not creating huge deficits at any one point, but rather staggering their approach to reach their goals.
- 🥩 Bodybuilders aim for at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to sustain muscle mass, even as they approach competition.
- 📉 The general recommendation for sustainable weight loss is not more than 1% of body weight per week, aiming for around a pound of weight loss.
- 🔍 To find your maintenance calories, track your diet for a week and adjust based on whether your weight goes up or down.
- 📊 A common macronutrient ratio for a bodybuilding diet is 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat to support performance and hormone production.
- 🚫 Creatine is a supplement that bodybuilders often use up to the stage for its benefits in muscle performance and volume, contrary to old beliefs about bloating.
- 🍽️ Bodybuilders become very adept at estimating their food's nutritional content, reducing the need for tracking apps over time.
- 🔄 The importance of adjusting carbs and protein intake based on gym performance needs, while keeping fat intake stable for hormone support.
- 🚶♂️ Incorporating light activity, like walking after meals, can improve nutrient partitioning and overall body composition.
- ⚖️ A calorie deficit of around 300 calories from maintenance is a good starting point for weight loss, allowing for gradual and sustainable progress.
- 🚫 Aggressive cutting can lead to a state of adaptation where the body conserves energy, leading to a plateau in weight loss and potential health issues.
Q & A
What is the main concern regarding bodybuilders' approach to dieting for a competition?
-The main concern is that bodybuilders can be overly aggressive with their diets, leading to a state of nutrient deprivation and potentially damaging their endocrine system, which is not sustainable in the long term.
How do bodybuilders typically approach their diet leading up to a competition?
-Bodybuilders take a staggered and calculated approach, gradually reducing their body fat percentage and adjusting their macronutrient intake to sustain training volume and muscle mass, rather than creating huge deficits at any one point in time.
What is the recommended general guideline for a sustainable weight loss per week?
-A general guideline for sustainable weight loss is not to lose more than 1% of body weight per week, which can be adjusted based on individual needs and circumstances.
What is the significance of protein intake in a bodybuilder's diet, especially as they approach a competition?
-Protein intake is crucial for preserving muscle tissue and supporting muscle protein synthesis. Bodybuilders typically aim for at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to prevent muscle loss during their weight loss phase.
How do bodybuilders determine their maintenance calorie intake?
-They can use online calculators for a rough estimate or track their exact diet for a week to see the average calorie intake that maintains their current weight. Adjustments are made based on whether their weight goes up or down.
What is the role of creatine in a bodybuilder's diet, and should it be discontinued before a competition?
-Creatine is important for muscle performance, volume, and anti-catabolic effects. Contrary to past beliefs, most bodybuilders continue to take creatine up to the stage as it helps with cosmetic appearance and sustaining training performance.
What is the recommended macronutrient ratio for a sustainable weight loss diet?
-A common macronutrient ratio is 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 20% fat, which helps to sustain hormone production and support gym performance.
How can a person ensure they are consuming an adequate amount of fiber during their weight loss journey?
-Fiber can be obtained through vegetables and sometimes supplements like celium husk. While fiber intake is important for overall health, the primary focus for bodybuilders is on macronutrient balance rather than optimizing for fiber.
What is the impact of a very low-fat diet on body composition and performance?
-A very low-fat diet can lead to a reduction in calories and potentially better body composition, but it may also affect performance. It's important to find a balance that supports both performance and fat loss goals.
How does physical activity, such as walking after meals, affect nutrient partitioning and body composition?
-Physical activity, even simple walking, can improve nutrient partitioning, leading to better body composition by helping to shuttle nutrients more effectively and stabilize blood glucose levels.
What are the potential pitfalls of aggressive and rapid weight loss methods?
-Aggressive weight loss can lead to a faster state of adaptation where the body starts to conserve energy and reduce non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It can also lead to nutrient deprivation and hormonal suppression, making it unsustainable and difficult to maintain.
Outlines
🏋️♂️ Sustainable Weight Loss and Bodybuilding Practices
The paragraph discusses sustainable weight loss strategies, contrasting them with the extreme measures taken by bodybuilders before competitions. It emphasizes the importance of not starving oneself and maintaining a healthy endocrine system. Bodybuilders are portrayed as being very mindful of preserving tissue and not creating huge deficits at once, but rather taking a staggered and calculated approach. The speaker suggests a general rule of thumb for weight loss is not more than 1% of body weight per week, and recommends consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to sustain muscle mass. The paragraph also touches on the use of creatine by bodybuilders for its various benefits, including muscle performance and volume.
🥗 Macronutrient Balance and Creatine Supplementation
This paragraph delves into the macronutrient balance for optimal performance and body composition. It highlights the significance of protein intake, suggesting a ratio of 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat as a starting point. The discussion includes the importance of tracking daily nutritional intake and the potential use of apps or mental calculation for bodybuilders. Creatine is again mentioned as a top supplement for performance, with its benefits extending beyond muscle gains to neurological and mental health. The paragraph also touches on the downsides of extra lean mass for certain sports and the role of fiber in bodybuilders' diets, suggesting that while fiber is important, it's not the primary focus for those optimizing for muscle gain.
🚶♂️ The Role of Movement and Cardio in Nutrient Partitioning
The speaker discusses the impact of movement on nutrient partitioning and the benefits of incorporating light activity, such as walking, even when on a strict diet. It suggests that moving after eating can be more potent than medication in controlling blood glucose levels and contributes to better body composition. The paragraph also addresses the potential pitfalls of aggressive calorie cutting, which can lead to a faster state of adaptation and a decrease in non-exercise activity thermogenesis. The advice is to start with a moderate calorie deficit and adjust as necessary based on weight loss progress, avoiding drastic measures that could lead to unsustainable practices and hormonal suppression.
🔍 Fine-Tuning Caloric Deficit and Avoiding Plateaus
The final paragraph focuses on the fine-tuning of caloric intake to achieve a sustainable weight loss without hitting plateaus. It advises against drastic reductions in calorie intake, which can lead to nutrient deprivation and hormonal issues. The speaker recommends starting with a 300-calorie deficit and adjusting based on weight loss progress, suggesting that a slower and more measured approach is more effective in the long term. The paragraph concludes with a warning against aggressive cutting and the importance of maintaining a balance between diet and exercise to avoid digging oneself into a metabolic hole.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Sustainable weight loss
💡Bodybuilders' diet
💡Deficit
💡Macronutrient
💡Micronutrient
💡Protein
💡Creatine
💡Calorie maintenance
💡Nutrient partitioning
💡Adaption
💡Cardio
Highlights
The importance of a sustainable weight loss approach as opposed to drastic methods like those used by bodybuilders pre-competition.
Bodybuilders are more mindful of preserving tissue and do not create huge deficits at any one point in time.
The process of bodybuilders getting to stage involves a staggered and calculated approach to avoid tissue loss.
Bodybuilders typically consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to sustain muscle mass.
The recommendation for a general approach to weight loss is a calorie deficit of around 300 calories from maintenance levels.
Finding one's maintenance calories involves tracking diet and adjusting based on weekly weight changes.
Creatine is highlighted as a supplement that is beneficial for performance and muscle volumizing.
The role of fiber in a bodybuilding diet and how it's typically obtained through vegetables.
The general macronutrient split for bodybuilders, often around 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat.
The potential downside of a low-fat diet and the importance of maintaining a minimum amount of fat intake.
How bodybuilders modulate their carb intake based on gym performance needs.
The recommendation to not aggressively cut calories too fast to avoid entering a state of adaptation and nutrient deprivation.
The benefits of incorporating light activity or cardio even when on a calorie deficit for better nutrient partitioning.
The idea that moving after eating can help control blood glucose levels and improve energy stabilization.
The suggestion to adjust caloric intake and activity levels gradually to avoid a weight loss plateau.
The potential issues with dropping calories too drastically and the need for a more sustainable approach to avoid malnourishment.
The strategy of milking a calorie deficit for gradual weight loss and adjusting as necessary based on progress.
The emphasis on tracking nutritional intake and becoming familiar with the caloric content of foods for precise diet management.
Transcripts
what's your advice to somebody who's
trying to lose weight um but in a
sustainable way so not like in some ways
when bodybuilders are doing it it's not
really sustainable because they're
really starving themselves down to a
competition and the way that they're
eating during that period of time is you
know it's it's so catabolic um that that
they're destroying their endocrine
system along the way but it's shortlived
and they're going to refeed when they're
done and and so while we can talk about
all of the different things that they
they might stack and do all
simultaneously
um you know what's your view on the
sustainable way to lose 10 pounds and
keep it off in terms of deficit I think
your perception of what bodybuilders do
as far as aggression towards their diet
is on hinged on their final outcome and
how steep it is to get there
cumulatively but the way they arrive
there no one is is more mindful of
preserving tissue than bodybuilders so
in other words they're not they're not
creating huge deficits at any one point
in time eventually they are at the point
that they absolutely need to but they're
more careful than any human I know oh
yeah I would believe that so if you were
to try and take away from a bodybuilder
how would I apply this when they're
stepping on stage at literally dice to
the socks 5% body fat it's not that
you're getting there it's that you're
stopping at like the eight we out from
competition Mark of a bodybuilder maybe
not eight maybe like 10 or 12 but the
process they took to get even there was
very staggered calculated they would not
red and by the way 10 to 12 weeks out
what's their body fat relative to that
five they're going to step on stage like
it depends at what level and how on
track they are but some of them are
starting at like you know 12% body fat
so perhaps that's not you know everyone
has different goals of what they
consider good so maybe this is like my
skewed Fitness perception saying 10 we
out bodybuilder is what you should shoot
for but just in general the process they
take to get from their Peak body fat
percentage to Stage Lan no one is more
mindful of titrating accordingly the
macronutrient and micronutrient input to
sustain training volume too because they
need to actually make sure their
training doesn't deteriorate because if
it does they're going to lose tissue so
yeah taking from that you see them at
least hitting 1 G per pound body weight
in protein like without fail and they
will hold that until the stage unless
there is some like maybe on the week of
they're already at their target body fat
and then at that point they're trying to
do tactics to make their stomach as you
know not full of anything as possible so
what they do on the last week doesn't
really count up up until a week out up
until a week out they would still be
taking one gram of protein per pound of
body weight typically and to your point
at this point you can't be doing that
with steaks cuz there's way too caloric
so you are on the chicken breast protein
powders depending on the person though
and I guess it depends on again the
quality of your meat because it's like
I've seen the macros on your Venison and
it's basically protein yeah so um
basically the staggered approach you
want to take is that you don't really
want to lose more than I think typically
it's like 1% of your body weight per
week is a general rule of thumb which is
I guess could be depending how obese you
are could be a little bit aggressive but
even let's just say a pound a week maybe
is like maybe a more reasonable Target
but in general if you are and this is
kind of a perhaps a more applicable
cookie cutter recommendation one gram
per pound of body weight which I think
everyone would essentially agree with in
a deficit to sustain um tissue lean
tissue muscle mass then from there you
want to be whatever your maintenance
calories is which is you know it might
take a little bit of finagling to figure
out what this is when you've never done
it before but there are calculators
online that roughly ballpark give you
what will be plus minus 300 calories or
something of what it takes to stably
hold your body weight for um like if you
ate that diet it wouldn't go up or down
what I do typically is I take that
number and I say use your exact diet for
a week with this calorie amount like
this is your diet model and this is your
totally calorie goal for the day eat
exactly this every day and then see what
the average is at the end of the week
cuz just going by daily
fluctuations could be wildly different
you might jump up or down based on water
based on food volume based on if you
took a dump or Not by the way when did
bodybuilders come off creatine they
don't they'll take creatine to the stage
yeah they used to think you should come
off because it's bloating but and I'm
sure Lane would tell you the same but
most of the water weight is in the
muscle yeah like it it is helpful for
cosmetic appearance and for sustaining
training uh performance got it so it's
anti-catabolic
interestingly enough it's one of the
only natural compounds that may inhibit
myostat in to so it has that upside um
and it's like all the things it does
from a neurological standpoint perhaps
fertility it's even used for depression
now in women at like 10 plus grams or
something which is crazy so a lot of use
cases are coming out but overall we all
know it works for muscle um for
performance in the gym as well as
volumizing the muscle would would you
say creatine is hands down the best over
the supplement for performance for sure
yeah can't think of anything off the top
of my head that would be superior
depending on your sport though CU if
you're yes if if weight is everything if
you're a cyclist or a runner you Pro you
the negative the downside of the extra
five lounds of lean masses perhaps yeah
prob not but um so yeah um making sure
you're getting your you know you have
some sort of number you're going to
adhere to and you know how to measure
every day which basically is just
reading every nutritional label you have
and becoming intimately aware of what
you're ingesting if you put something in
your mouth you count it regardless if
it's a sauce regardless if it's a drink
regardless of it's a lick like you you
count that and do do most
bodybuilders use like an app to do this
or can they just keep track in their
head after a while after a while they
are so in tune with it you can look at a
piece of meat know how much it's going
to shrink after cooking know how much
how many ounces it is how much that
equates to in protein uh calories like
everyone at a high level eventually you
become it becomes so ingrained that you
don't even need to track it because you
can literally look at it maybe you'll
keep the calorie count and the protein
count but you know what you're looking
at and can just write it down quick you
don't have to go look up and cross
reference you know on my fitness pal
what is a chicken breast 1 o cooked
equal so you're can at least look
forward to even though it's cumbersome
and arduous at the start eventually it
becomes so habitual you'll just know it
so you have a Target calorie amount
and you eat that every day for a week
and you see if your weight goes up or
down and if it goes up you know you're
eating a bit too much if it goes down
you know you're in a deficit and you
decide from there is the weight loss too
fast if you lost three pounds in a week
perhaps it's too fast and you want to
kind of like tight trate it back up a
little bit but ultimately you can kind
of shoot for once you know your
maintenance some amount of calories
where you're dropping you know 300 I
feel like is a good deficit to start at
because ideally and this is kind of the
whole General approach without getting
way too boring for everyone is you want
to keep your protein where it needs to
be which is a gram per pound you want to
have enough carbs to fuel performance
which depending on what sport you're
doing can vary but without getting too
complicated a good split a lot of people
follow is 40% protein 40% carbs 20% fat
and this is kind of like a ratio that
allows you to sustain uh hormone
production and have some amount of fat
that supports it um carbs for some level
of gym performance and then protein for
hopefully hitting your goals and it'll
depend on the person and modulate
accordingly but that's just a general
framework people can start with and you
can so that's a pretty lowfat diet is
yeah you would the fat and the protein
would typically stay around neutral and
you would typically lower the carbs
accordingly depending on how intensive
your exercise regimen and sport is but
in general I feel like like a minimum
amount of fat that would be like no
lower than that is kind of what I'm
saying so yeah and and what are some of
the concessions a person has to make to
get that low in fat like I don't I think
I'm probably literally the last time I
tracked my macros I
was almost exactly one3 1/3 one3 between
the three h um in general when I didn't
and I didn't feel like I was like eating
a ton of fat right it was just typically
when you are eating meat you will
achieve the majority of that through the
fat content of your meats and it will
depend how lean of the cuts you are
getting how many eggs you were eating at
the time but I'm just thinking like you
know the the olive oil on the salad and
stuff like that yeah but I guess that's
like you know they're they're just
cutting that out yeah like olive oil and
a salad is uh one of the first things I
would be looking at as you probably just
added what 200 to 300 calories to a big
salad for sure if not more so unless
you're Brian Johnson or willing to get
like 25% of your calories from oil um
probably not a bodybuilding conducive uh
macro allotment cuz it's like it's not
even though fat is satiating it's nine
calories per gram so where where do
bodybuilders get the majority of their
fiber typically it will be
through veggies if they're having them
and those are going to be
proportionately lower calories I suppose
but often times fiber is not um I know
some of them use like supplements too
like celium husk but I'm not to say that
I don't want to get into like a fiber
debate necessarily cuz I don't even know
like what the actual answer is there but
in general bodybuilders aren't really
paying right they're not optimizing for
health if we believe fiber is healthy
they're and I'm not saying neglect it
like I think that it is important but I
don't think that I I'm certainly not
saying remove your fiber in order to
achieve your deficit I'm I'm just saying
that you can proportionately get to your
goals almost certainly by modulating
carb intake essentially exclusively
typically and that's going to be in the
form of starchy carbs then yeah and like
you can modulate the type of foods
you're eating too to accommodate the
satiety is ultimately the takeaway like
from me cuz when it comes to actually
describing the nutritional literature I
hate it as much as you dude it's not
like something I like to talk about oh
how much fiber should you keep in like I
I don't know man like a decent amount
like some but enough that you can go to
the washroom property and it's you know
some healthy amount but ultimately what
I've seen in the bodybuilding space is
modulating carbs up and down accordingly
based on needs in the gym and protein
stays at an amount that is
anti-catabolic or conducive to muscle
protein synthesis in a surplus fat is
some amount that at least support
steroid hormone production as much as
you can tolerate and then carbs is like
the most performance-enhancing macro in
terms of actually driving your
performance outcomes in the gym
volumizing the muscle having glycogen
topped out it's Etc and from there I I
would typically recommend a 300 deficit
and literally milk that as many and up
in that week prior to show how many
calories is a bodybuilder typically down
to if they're stage ready and
they're natural and like sub 200 lb like
they might be down to you know below
2,000 calories potentially if they're a
top ifbb professional Mr Olympia a
competitor who weighs 260 you know they
could be at 2500 2600 it kind of depends
on the person which is interesting for
many people listening that sounds like a
lot of calories still but you're saying
given how big they are and that they're
still training pretty hard that's but
it's a pretty big deficit it also
depends how much they're willing to lean
into cardio cuz some guys will actually
prefer to just diet themsel into the
body fat and not do any cardio because
they just don't like it wouldn't Rec
recomend that though because one thing I
have learned over the years is from a
nutrient partitioning standpoint
actually moving when you're eating is
going to produce a better body
composition typically than trying to
just diet the whole deficit so what we
see even in like the ifbb with these TP
bodybuilders who are trying to not get
fat as they eat exorbitant amounts of
food and they're on insulin and HGH and
huge amounts of anabolics they are doing
things like going for walks after they
eat their meal which is more potent than
metformin at controlling blood glucose
like they're actually making sure they
are moving around and actually shuttling
nutrients as much as they can even
outside of the gym some are lazy and
don't do that but the ones that are
trying to make the most use of
maximizing the calories I see so the the
mobilization doesn't require that you
you know you're clearly not going to
oxidize everything you ate like if they
just ate 800 calories they're not going
to burn 800 calories on a walk of any
duration but just getting out there and
walking you're saying leads to better
fuel partitioning seemingly yeah
interesting and I think that is and you
can correct me if I'm wrong I mean I've
certainly anecdotally noticed the
Improvement in blood sugar yeah yeah
like it's uh even for stabilization of
like energy levels too like making sure
you're not hanging out on a couch with
your Spike blood glucose seems to be
pretty impactful not just for mental
performance but also for uh you know
partitioning and actually optimizing
body composition too so and that's an
enhanced ranks I guys eating exorbitant
amounts but anyways back to the layman
in general you're in a 300 deficit you
kind of milk that for all you can and by
that I mean the biggest problem and I
guess one of the biggest takeaways from
this whole discussion could be that the
people who aggressively cut way too fast
will end up losing more weight off the
bat but they will end up in a state of
adaption faster whereby you are
basically going to not only EXP spend
less calories at rest via the depression
of like non-exercise activity
thermogenesis which is like fidgets and
moving with just like your everyday
activities you will actually start to
subconsciously do that Less in addition
you are pushing yourself to a state of
nutrient deprivation much sooner than
was necessary to achieve a fat loss
outcome so rather than trying to
lose you know 6 lb and two 2 weeks why
don't I go with you know like 1 to two
lbs at most and actually milk what I can
out of that little tiny calorie
increment before I decide okay do I need
to then add some more cardio to my
regimen or do I want to decrease food by
another 100 calories or do I want to add
you know metabolic enhancing
pharmacology you can actually make the
call at that point because you've
exhausted the actual increment and you
know you're not unnecessarily depressing
hormone production
and also putting yourself into a hole of
what is essentially a malnourished State
cuz if you push too hard and you go from
let's just say you're eating 2,800
calories a day and you instantly drop to
1,800 you will lose a ton of weight off
the rip and it you'll think oh this is
great and then very soon you will get to
a point where it's like holy hell I am
starving this is not sustainable what am
I doing what do I do next I plateaued
now where do I go from here
it becomes easy to dig yourself into a
hole if you're not careful about this
like titration down essentially so I
typically recommend trying to milk what
you can until weight loss has averaged
out at neutral for at minimum a few days
but typically a week and then from there
because as a natural you are very
susceptible to Major aberration and
hormone suppression if you are going to
deprive the hell out of nutrients and
especially if you're doing huge amounts
of cardio concurrently because you think
that's what you need to be doing also
don't put yourself in a hole on the
energy expenditure
[Music]
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