Nutrition Essentials to Reach Your Goals. 🎯

Have you ever found yourself struggling to lose weight, make those ‘gainz,’ or just wondering what to eat to reach your fitness goals? If so, welcome to the club! I’m Jorge and I am here to share a bit of helpful nutrition know-how to bring those goals within reach.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter how hard we work out if our nutrition isn’t dialed in; those goals can feel like they’re always out of reach. Trust me, I say this from experience. Personally, I’ve never had a problem gaining weight (I’m built like a lineman and have always been on the bigger side!), but I’ve also seen friends who have the opposite challenge and struggle to put on weight. So, I’m here to break down the basics on how to lose or gain weight, depending on what you’re aiming for.

First, you’ll want to figure out your TDEE—Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It sounds fancy, but it’s just the number of calories you burn each day. From there, it’s simple: if you want to lose weight, eat a bit less than that number (a calorie deficit); if you want to gain, eat a bit more (a calorie surplus). I’ll use myself as an example so you can see how it all works!

I like to use a website called tdeecalculator.net to determine my caloric numbers.  It will ask general information, such as gender, age, height, weight, and activity level (I always use the “moderate exercise” option).  This is what my input looks like:

From here, you will get your maintenance calories, which is the number of calories you need to consume for maintenance, or to stay the same weight.  The website will give you an “ideal weight,” but don’t pay attention to that.  According to the website, my ideal weight is between 171-195 lbs.  I haven’t weighed that since I was in 6th grade, so let’s all laugh together at that.  Now, once you figure out your maintenance calories, scroll down until you see macronutrients section, which are protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

You’ll have three choices to start with: Maintenance, Cutting, or Bulking. You’ll also get options for different carb levels—moderate, low, or high carbs. Choose whichever works best for you; as long as you’re hitting your calorie goals and staying on track with your nutrition, any of these can work!

The website will calculate a 500-calorie deficit (to lose weight) or a 500-calorie surplus (to gain weight) based on your TDEE. If 500 calories feels like too much, you can easily adjust by around 200 calories either way to find a better balance that works for your body and comfort.

If you decide to tweak the calorie numbers, try following the 30/35/35 method: from your total calories, aim for 30% protein, 35% fats, and 35% carbs. To help track your intake, there are lots of helpful apps out there. I personally like MyFitnessPal, but you can use any app that lets you log your food.

Set your goals, lock in your numbers, and stay consistent in both the gym and kitchen. Focus on getting 1% better each day!

#1%BetterEveryDay #FitnessGoals #NutritionTips #Gainz #CalorieTracking #TDEE #StayConsistent #Macros #HealthyLifestyle #GymLife #CrossFitGreenLeaf