Calorie and macro guidelines for normal-weight NLP trainees

[Sean McAnally]

Robert,

What are some "rules of thumb" in diet/macro planning that I might use? I'm hoping this may be helpful to others who are similar to me.

I'm in my third week of NLP, and have started tracking my macros to get a sense of what my current split is and total calories. I will keep tracking macros/calories and adjust based on lift progress and recovery. But I want to avoid increasing my waist circumference if possible. I am at 39" waist and 218lbs at 6'0", so about 22% bodyfat (age 32). I have an office job, so lifting is my only activity. Prior to this I was doing kettlebells; prior to that I was completely sedentary since college. So I am not in the skinny/underweight category, but also not in the overweight category. I suppose this sets me up nicely to gain strength if I can get the nutrition right.

My daily average from last week (starting 1/2, representing the "normal routine" after the holidays):

Calories: 2,640

Carbs: 324g (1,296cal, 49%), with 26g fiber and 80g sugar

Fat: 98g (882cal, 33%)

Protein: 120g (480cal, 18%)

My understanding of the general guidelines for someone who is not underweight and under-muscled (my LBM according to the inverse of my body fat percentage is 170lbs), but also not overweight:

1) Prioritize protein. In my case, an increase of 50-100g per day.

2) Keep fat below 100g. Reduce in 100cal (~10g) increments if waist size is increasing (in my case, 40" is my "red line"). At the recent total calorie levels, this is 33% - is that high? When selecting foods, is a simple rule of thumb perhaps to avoid it if >20% of the calories come from fat? My thinking is this would direct one toward lean meats and low-fat carbs (e.g. avoiding the "carb-fat" junk foods).

3) Aim for 40g fiber. This also governs the carb choices, as you can't get 40g fiber from 300g of sugar-source carbs!

4) Whole-food carbs for fuel and recovery. So no real calorie minimum or maximum, just focusing on quality (veggies, whole grains, rice, potatoes) and volume sufficient for performance and recovery.

What is the role of sugar in all this? Minimize as much as possible? Differentiate between fructose/HFCS (= bad) and table sugar (mix of fructose/glucose)? In other words, the 324g of carbs I listed above, 80g of which was sugar: what effect does the 80g sugar have on waist size? Should I add to the list: reduce (eliminate?) the "sugar share" of carbs in favor of whole sources? Or put another way: at what percentage of calories does sugar cause problems? There is a lot of conflicting/confusing advise out there on sugar, not sure what to make of it, and I haven't seen it addressed separately from "carbs" in general in this forum recently.

Thank you - I appreciate your insight and expertise!

Post-script:

5) Keep sugar to <20% of carb calories. No real difference between table sugar (sucrose, 50% fructose/50% glucose) and high-fructose corn syrup (55% fructose, 45% glucose). Time intake around workouts.

[Robert Santana]

Thanks for sharing buddy. The first order of business is getting your protein up closer to 200 grams per day. You are right on the money with fats and carbohydrates. Sugar tends to get blown out of proportion and understandably so since most people eat too much sugar. I'd say keeping it under 20% of your total carbohydrates and timing it around workouts is probably a safe place to start. Sucrose and HFCS are not that much different from a biochemical standpoint. HFCS is 55% fructose and 45% glucose whereas sucrose is 50/50. So the answer is to keep both reasonably low and time their intake around workouts. How strong are you btw?

[Sean McAnally]

Thanks for sharing buddy. The first order of business is getting your protein up closer to 200 grams per day.

Got it. Extra meals of meat + veggies, comin' up.

You are right on the money with fats and carbohydrates. Sugar tends to get blown out of proportion and understandably so since most people eat too much sugar. I'd say keeping it under 20% of your total carbohydrates and timing it around workouts is probably a safe place to start. Sucrose and HFCS are not that much different from a biochemical standpoint. HFCS is 55% fructose and 45% glucose whereas sucrose is 50/50. So the answer is to keep both reasonably low and time their intake around workouts.

That makes sense. I've seen some of Dr. Lustig's stuff about the "uniquely fattening properties" of fructose, but I figure I'm already in a better position than his (probably sedentary) audience. Even fruit I imagine doesn't have that much fructose (by serving/volume) compared to something like soda (I only drink diet soda) and candy. I do have a sweet tooth, but I also love bread - and would rather fill up on a French baguette than a few pieces of candy, for the same calories.

How strong are you btw?

I'm in my third week of NLP. Like I said, I was formerly sedentary (and fluffy, ~30%BF), but leaned down with kettlebells and intermittent fasting in 2017 and 2018. In retrospect it was GPP, but I thought it was strength training (I did get stronger, but any increase from "weak" is not to be confused with "strong").

Squat: 140 x 5 x 3, started at 115. Started without lifting shoes, and zero experience with barbell squats. Feels much better with proper shoes, and I'm going to the Squat Training Camp with Dr. Sullivan on 2/2.

Press: 90 x 5 x 3, started at 75. Learning this pattern, used to single/double kettlebell presses.

Bench: 115 x 5 x 3, started at 105. Also a new movement for me, but I find it easier than OHP (I thought KB pressing would carry more over to barbell press than bench, alas)

Deadlift: 270 x 5, but I was at 290 x 5 for a PR just before starting NLP. I backed off a bit to allow myself to adapt to the squats. I dinked around with DL over 1.5 years along with the kettlebells, so it's a much more familiar movement pattern. Though I have to say, deadlifting for 5 at the end of the workout is much harder than the (primarily) singles-for-volume protocol/approach I was following before.

Power Clean: 145 x 3 x 5. Once I got the pattern down (familiar motor pattern from the kettlebell quick lifts - swing, clean, snatch - though they lack the triple extension, just hips), it's a manageable weight.

Chins: 2,2,2 as of yesterday. Just adding these in (to Workout A, and I do them after the warm-ups of each other exercise). Haven't trained chins/pull-ups in a while. I got 5-6 strict pull-ups when I was 20 pounds lighter 1.5 years ago (but also with ~10lbs less LBM). Will work these up to ~10 x 3, then weight them down.

So my nutritional goal is: Whatever fuels progress toward 3 wheels on the squat (for sets across) and 4 wheels on the deadlift for a set of 5.

At ~170lbs LBM, how much more LBM do I need to add to get there? If protein is 200g and fat ~100g (=1,700kCal), what should my total calories be (fill with carbs)? Another 1,000-1,100 calories (250-275g carbs), totaling 2,700-2,800?

Appreciate the insight, thanks again.

[Robert Santana]

The fructose argument assumes an extremely high intake of fructose. From a biochemistry standpoint, fructose can enter the glycolytic pathway further downstream and skip the rate limiting step (the PFK reaction if you are familiar) AND it can be used to form the glycerol backbone of a triglyceride via conversion to glycerol-6-phosphate. HOWEVER, and that is a big however, fructose intake needs to be greater than total daily energy expenditure for this to occur. You will NOT get this much from fruit unless you eat ~10 lb of it. So the guy who drinks two 2 liters of Coke per day may need to worry about this but he is also eating too many calories in general. A guy in your shoes who is eating generally healthy, creating a small surplus or sitting at maintenance calories, and performing heavy barbell training is likely not at risk for this. Ultimately, does it really matter where the stored fat is coming from when it is always driven by excess energy? TLDR: Don't overeat and you won't get fat. Quite obvious, we all know this, but sometimes a good reminder helps people calm down about eating. It's not that complicated!

Based on your current strength to LBM ratio, you can probably pull off both. I'd eat at maintenance and get stronger and you'll see your waistline start to drop while your weight holds. 170 lb of LBM is a good chunk so I can't imagine you'll have difficulty making progress on the NLP while recomping some.

[Sean McAnally]

The fructose argument assumes an extremely high intake of fructose. From a biochemistry standpoint, fructose can enter the glycolytic pathway further downstream and skip the rate limiting step (the PFK reaction if you are familiar) AND it can be used to form the glycerol backbone of a triglyceride via conversion to glycerol-6-phosphate. HOWEVER, and that is a big however, fructose intake needs to be greater than total daily energy expenditure for this to occur. You will NOT get this much from fruit unless you eat ~10 lb of it. So the guy who drinks two 2 liters of Coke per day may need to worry about this but he is also eating too many calories in general. A guy in your shoes who is eating generally healthy, creating a small surplus or sitting at maintenance calories, and performing heavy barbell training is likely not at risk for this. Ultimately, does it really matter where the stored fat is coming from when it is always driven by excess energy? TLDR: Don't overeat and you won't get fat. Quite obvious, we all know this, but sometimes a good reminder helps people calm down about eating. It's not that complicated!

Fascinating!

Based on your current strength to LBM ratio, you can probably pull off both. I'd eat at maintenance and get stronger and you'll see your waistline start to drop while your weight holds. 170 lb of LBM is a good chunk so I can't imagine you'll have difficulty making progress on the NLP while recomping some.

That's good to hear! I will focus on getting 200g protein, keeping fat <100g (may need to adjust down), and ~2,500-2,700 total calories (remainder from whole food carbs, <20% from sugar) as long as lifts are progressing.

What is the role of sodium? Is there a dichotomy between health and performance? Does higher sodium (to a limit?) contribute to better performance, at the expense of long-term health (perhaps more than mitigated by LBM through strength training)? Not something to worry about either way? I see my intake is higher than the USDA recommendation (2,300mg), but I also know I need to move away from as many processed foods in favor of whole sources - this would naturally decrease the sodium.

[Robert Santana]

What is the role of sodium? Is there a dichotomy between health and performance? Does higher sodium (to a limit?) contribute to better performance, at the expense of long-term health (perhaps more than mitigated by LBM through strength training)? Not something to worry about either way? I see my intake is higher than the USDA recommendation (2,300mg), but I also know I need to move away from as many processed foods in favor of whole sources - this would naturally decrease the sodium.

Excellent! As for sodium, most health care professionals can agree that 3-4 g per day is safe for the healthy population. Anecdotally speaking, powerlifters (myself included) have reported improved performance after a sodium and water bloat. I definitely notice it on the squat and could go back to the intraabdominal pressure increase that accompanies a larger waist circumference. You definitely want to stay away from processed stuff in your daily life if you can help it but when meet day comes or you are attempting a big PR it won't hurt to eat a little more sodium provided you are not a salt sensitive hypertensive or have any other diagnosis that can be negatively influenced by sodium intake (CKD, CHF, etc).