Chris Shugart
The 441 Diet
You don't need to become an obsessive calorie-counter to lose some excess fluff. Just do this.
The only way to lose fat is to pay a fitness influencer to tell you exactly how many calories and macros to eat daily. If you don't weigh your food and count everything, there's absolutely no way you could drop even one pound of fat. And the moment you stop micromanaging every bite you take and paying the coach, you'll gain the fat back and manifest bad energy from the universe... or some sh!t like that.
Or at least that's what I learned after perusing Instagram for 20 minutes today.
Listen, there's great value in spending time working with a coach, counting calories, and reading labels closely. You'll learn a ton. But if you can't stay in shape without counting every calorie and every macro for the rest of your life, then you have some deeper issues, maybe even an eating disorder.
It's possible to stay lean and build muscle without developing dietary OCD. I've been doing it for over 30 years. The key for most people? Protein intake. Let's review a classic study to drive the point home.
The 441 Study
In the study, researchers compared diets consisting of 15% and 30% protein. The subjects were overweight but otherwise healthy adults.
One thing the researchers were interested in was something called spontaneous calorie intake, meaning the number of calories a person consumes naturally without conscious restriction or specific dietary instructions.
In part of the 12-week study, participants were allowed to eat ad libitum or as much as they wanted. The only thing they had to do was hit their protein goals: 30% of the calorie intake.
In a nutshell, the higher protein eaters...
- Spontaneously dropped 441 calories from their daily diets (between 378 and 504). This reduction occurred without explicit instructions to limit calories.
- Lost fat (7-9 pounds of fat mass) without feeling hungry.
- Maintained most of their muscle mass compared to the 15% protein dieters. In the long term, that means their metabolisms weren't wrecked by muscle loss: a big reason the average dieter can't maintain his or her fat loss.
How did this happen? Well, because protein is technically "anorexic." That's a scary word, but in this context, it just means protein contributes to weight loss. It reduces appetite and makes you feel more satiated. After all, the best diet is feeling full.
How to Use This Info
Using some generalized calorie math for active adults, 30% of total calories from protein looks roughly like this:
- 180 pounds of body weight: 190 g of protein/day
- 200 pounds of body weight: 210 g of protein/day
- 220 pounds of body weight: 230 g of protein/day
I prefer to keep it simple: eat about one gram of protein per pound of body weight. And yes, if you've never done it before, tracking your protein intake is a good idea. After a few weeks, you'll be able to do it instinctively. Calorie intake will naturally (or spontaneously in fancy science-speak) stabilize and likely reduce.
Make it easy by consuming a daily protein shake or two. Choose one with a blend of whey and micellar casein. Micellar casein is unique: it's highly filling, prevents muscle protein breakdown, and boosts metabolic rate. Metabolic Drive (Buy at Amazon) fits the bill.
If you prefer to chew your protein instead of drink it, add Metabolic Drive to recipes, like these.
Reference
- Weigle, David S., et al. "A High-Protein Diet Induces Sustained Reductions in Appetite, Ad Libitum Caloric Intake, and Body Weight Despite Compensatory Changes in Diurnal Plasma Leptin and Ghrelin Concentrations." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 82, no. 1, July 2005, pp. 41–48, doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/82.1.41.
