Eat the Right Nutrition

The number one most important aspect of any attempt to either lose fat or gain muscle, whether for teens or anyone else, is NUTRITION. In fact, it is so important that failing to address this issue is to fail to lose fat or gain muscle, basically.

Whatever your goal is (either fat loss or muscle gain), your nutrition should be in the ratio of -

40% protein - 40% carbs - 20% fat

This is due to the fact that there are 4 calories in a gram of protein and carbs but 9 calories in a gram of fat.

Now, you may not be a whiz at working out your exact caloric requirements to reach your target weight - if you want to find out, there are plenty of online calorie counters and nutrition calculators to work this out for you. However, there is a very rough way to work out what you should eat.

Most doctors agree that a diet for an average person doing non-strenuous work is 2,000 calories a day. At the 40-40-20 ratio of protein-carbohydrate-fat (called macronutrients), that gives you the following proportions -

800 calories of protein - 800 calories of carbs - 400 calories of fat

At 4 cals/g of protein and carbs and 9 cals/g of fat, that's -

200g of protein - 200g of carbs - 45g of fat

Now, if you want to gain muscle, you need to eat more. So start by adding 500 calories to your diet. If you do a resistance workout over a number of weeks, you should experience muscle gains. If that's not enough, experiment by upping your caloric intake by another 300-500 calories or else intensify your workout, so you do more work in less time. On the other hand, if fat loss is your goal, you need to be in a caloric deficit. You can either exercise more to burn off calories or eat fewer calories. Doing both is probably best. Reduce your 2,000-calorie diet to 1,700 and increase cardiovascular exercise. This will result in fat loss. Although there are many variables, ultimately, muscle gain and fat loss are a numbers game.

So that is a rough guide to how you should approach nutrition in your quest to achieve the body you desire. You should also eat 5-6 smaller meals a day, rather than 3 "square" meals a day. This will reduce hunger cravings and keep you blood sugar level more constant. So divide your total daily calories by 5 or 6 to get the total number of calories you need to consume per meal.

I hope that helps you achieve your goal of getting the body you've always wanted!


Oliver Chapman is an up-and-coming expert in Personal Development who specializes in giving advice on Health, Wealth and Relationships. This article belongs to Health. To discover all of "Olly's Six Principles" to achieving a dream life, subscribe to his five-part e-mail series and ongoing e-mail newsletter by copying and pasting the following link into your browser -

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