Here are a few things I've found very helpful while in a caloric deficit...
- Bananas/apples and natural peanut butter are the ultimate snack during the day if you're feeling hungry between meals. 1 medium sized banana or apple is about 70 calories and a tablespoon of peanut butter is 100. Even if you suck at measuring, you're still probably getting 200 calories max with plenty of valuable nutrients such as NATURAL sugars, fiber, EFA's, and vitamins and minerals.
- Non-fat cottage cheese and natural peanut butter is the ultimate snack at night. I eat a 1/2 cup CC and 1 tablespoon of natty PB before bed to a) keep me from waking up in the middle of the night and eating something crappy because I'm half asleep and b) keep my body in an anabolic state through the night with the slower release of amino acids from casein protein and good fats to fuel it. This combo is also about 200 calories so it's easy to fit into any diet.
- You don't NEED to change your weight training to cut. It's not necessary to do higher reps and lower weight like many believe. I prefer to keep my weight training the same... lift the same weights for the same rep ranges and see if you can still make gains in terms of strength. This will not only keep you moving forward or at least retain strength on more restrictive cuts, but it can also help you gauge whether you're still eating enough and eating right still for energy and recovery. If your lifts start to really decline, take a look at your breakfast, pre-workout, and post-workout nutrition first and go from there. You'd be surprised what even 100 calories re-allocated from another meal for extra protein and carbohydrates in one of those meals can do!
- Bananas/apples and natural peanut butter are the ultimate snack during the day if you're feeling hungry between meals. 1 medium sized banana or apple is about 70 calories and a tablespoon of peanut butter is 100. Even if you suck at measuring, you're still probably getting 200 calories max with plenty of valuable nutrients such as NATURAL sugars, fiber, EFA's, and vitamins and minerals.
- Non-fat cottage cheese and natural peanut butter is the ultimate snack at night. I eat a 1/2 cup CC and 1 tablespoon of natty PB before bed to a) keep me from waking up in the middle of the night and eating something crappy because I'm half asleep and b) keep my body in an anabolic state through the night with the slower release of amino acids from casein protein and good fats to fuel it. This combo is also about 200 calories so it's easy to fit into any diet.
- You don't NEED to change your weight training to cut. It's not necessary to do higher reps and lower weight like many believe. I prefer to keep my weight training the same... lift the same weights for the same rep ranges and see if you can still make gains in terms of strength. This will not only keep you moving forward or at least retain strength on more restrictive cuts, but it can also help you gauge whether you're still eating enough and eating right still for energy and recovery. If your lifts start to really decline, take a look at your breakfast, pre-workout, and post-workout nutrition first and go from there. You'd be surprised what even 100 calories re-allocated from another meal for extra protein and carbohydrates in one of those meals can do!
Comment