Once you know your daily caloric intake (the total amount of calories you burn during the day) you can easily figure out the appropriate nutrient ratios, using ISSA’s 1-2-3 nutritional rule of thumb (1part fat – 2 parts protein – 3 parts carbohydrates). This simple rule is appropriate for everyone who is exercising and weight training to lose weight. This method will make it really easy for you when shopping, preparing meals, and eating out.
I will give you myself as an example. First I calculated my Total daily Caloric Expenditure (you can see how I did that here) which is 2158 calories. I will round it up to 2160.
1 part fat + 2 parts protein + 3 parts carbohydrates = 6 parts total
2160 calories ÷ 6 parts = 360 calories
Knowing that 1 part is 360 calories, you can calculate the number of calories needed for your daily intake for each nutrient.
The next thing you need to know is how many grams is that for each of the nutrients.
Caloric Density:
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
To figure out the number of grams per nutrient, take the number of calories for each nutrient and divide it by the nutrient’s caloric density.
Fat calories 360 ÷ 9 = 40 grams of fat
Protein calories 720 ÷ 4 = 180 grams of protein
Carbohydrates calories 1080 ÷ 4 = 270 grams of carbohydrates
So now I know that on any given day I need to eat 360 calories from fat – which is 40 grams. I need to eat 720 calories from protein which is 180 grams of protein, and 1080 calories from carbs which is 270 grams. Make sure that you spread your caloric intake over 6 meals everyday. I will be putting together a sample daily meal plan so that you can see how I use the above information for planning what I eat in a normal day.
It does take a bit of time to figure this stuff out, but it also takes most of the guess work out of planning your diet. These calculations are all based on solid scientific research, and having this info will give you a huge advantage towards reaching your fitness goals. In an age where people can readily tell you how much gas millage their car gets, but can’t tell you how many calories their own body needs in a day, or how many of which nutrients they should eat, you will have the advantage of knowing this very basic information about yourself.
This is great information. Thank you!
Hey all,
I just read this in a nutrition guide from the company Beachbody and then saw this article so I thought I should share it:
One Pound of Fat = 3,500 calories
To lose weight cut back calorie intake:
With a daily deficit of 450 calories you will lose 1/8 of a pound a day (11 lbs of fat in 90 days)
900 calories = 1/4 lbs a day or 22 lbs of fat in 90 days
Of course make sure you are eating the right food and getting enough nutrients but if you want to lose weight that’s how you do it!
Cheers
Will
Hi Will,
I know that you posted this in a good faith, but I have to tell you that I don’t agree with this method. If you cut back your caloric intake in this way, you will loose not just fat but also your lean muscle mass which in turn will slow down your metabolism. There are 3 ways how to loose weight. 1) dehydration 2) lean weight loss (that’s what the calorie restricted diets are all about and 3) targeted fat loss – that’s what you need if you want to make permanent and positive changes.
Best,
Zuzana.
Zuzana,
I’m agree with you. I cut calories intake and lost about 17 lp starting january. I check on my body fat when I started and few days ago. And guess what? I till have about the same body fat. I’m changing my eating routine and this fat loss routine is exactly what most people need to know ( and me as well). So from my own experience cutting on calories does not help to loose fat.
Hey Zuzana,
In one of your videos, you said that you were studying to be a personal trainer. I was wondering if you are doing this through online courses or taking classes in a school? Any information you could provide would be awesome.
Thanks!
Hi Sally,
I am studying online course with ISSA, it’s awesome. This is not some weekend course, you have to actually study to get the certification, which is different from other courses that I have seen before. If you have 2 hours every day, you can have the course finished in 16-18 weeks. The final exam consist of 200 questions, 6 long essays and 12 weeks exercise and diet program for 2 different clients.I don’t have time everyday, but I don’t mind to take my time. There are many other things that are great about this course and I can really recommend it. I will be happy to tell you more about this course if you have some other questions.
Best,
Zuzana.
Hi Zuzana,
First of all, you’ve been such an inspiration for changing my lifestyle and how I look at fitness. Thank you for sharing all this with the world :)
My questions for you is: is this the type of diet you’ve been following for a while now? I tried to estimate the calories from your daily diet video and it seemed like much less than this.
I’ve been overtraining these past couple of months (according to my doctor) but now that I can finally get back in the game, I want a fresh start. I’m afraid of taking in so many calories though. Help! :)
Zuzana,
When are you planning to compile and sell a DVD with all your routines in HD,tips and research?
You´re great…
Hey Zuzana,
Thanks for the info…
Do you think you could write an article on the targeted fat loss method you mentioned and how it is different from calorie cutting?
It was always my understanding that there is no reason for your body to burn fat (your body’s stored energy) if you eat as many calories as you use?
If you are eating properly (like the 1-2-3 fat-protein-carb diet) and are exercising your muscles, won’t your body know to get the extra energy from stored fat and not the muscles?
I’m a little confused so I hope you can set me straight.
Will
p.s. thanks for showing us great exercises and taking the time to interact with everyone on the site!! It’s really appreciated.
HI Will,
I will post the method asap.
Best,
Zuzana.
hi Dear Suzana,
Congratulations about your web site, you are helping a lots of people, and i wish you my best.
i will try to answer the question about the eat or not eat, calories, fat, workouts and etc. First, it´s so important the body has enough energy,good cuality of muscles, not big, but strong, because them consume a lot of energy, including when we are resting. And why a lot of people fail about diets and time of exercising. And the people must know when we are doing exercises or not the body does not burn calories from the fat that is under our skin in your stomach to creat energy.If it doesn’t burn fat from under my skin, where does the body get the energy?So, in order to understand how your body works to burn calories and fat, I want you to think of your “muscles as a fireplace.” To burn calories, you have to get fat and sugar (carbs) into the muscles (fireplace).
There are 3 main places the muscles get calories to burn: 1. There is some fat and sugar (carbohydrates) stored inside your muscles (intramuscular energy). It is really easy to burn fat inside the muscles because it is already in the fireplace.
2. There is fat and sugar in your blood stream. When your muscles start working they need more oxygen, nutrients, and energy. So it is relatively easy for the muscle to burn calories from fat and sugar in your blood.
3. There is fat stored all over the body, especially under the skin. It is much harder to burn stored fat because it is the least convenient place for the body to get energy.
Exercise Myths: Fire Place Analogy
Using the fireplace analogy, imagine that you already had logs in the fireplace. You would simply have to light the fire to burn the logs. That’s like the fat that is already inside your muscle… it’s really easy.
Now imagine that you have a stack of logs next to the fireplace. As the fire needed more logs to keep going, you would simply pick up another log and throw it on the fire. That’s like picking up calories and fat to burn from your blood. It’s a little more work, but still not that difficult.
Now imagine that you had no logs left and needed to go to the back yard, saw down and tree, chop firewood, and carry it back to the house. That’s like getting energy from stored fat under the skin… it’s so hard to do and takes so much time.
now understand that´s why so important have a excellent with cuality meals, eat with balance to apport to the body essentials nutrients for not burn your muscles , and having a good muscles them consume a big amount of energy, and if your muscles are weak your metabolism down, because your body must help you to survive, andFunny thing is that our bodies are just as lazy and we are, and our bodies are always trying to find the easiest way to do anything… my best
MAD
hi suzana,
I want to say , i´m sorry about my english, could have some mistakes about the language, i´m from Brasil!!!!
sorry
And i want to say to you, you are amazing!!!
my best
MAD
hi zu,i want all the details regarding the course. Is the exam online? i wud be thankful if you give me the details…….
Hi Sara,
I just posted a banner on the right side of the home page, so just click on it and it will take you to ISSA page and there are all of the information that you need to start with. It would be great if you would enroll with them because we can talk about it and help each other with the studies. I am almost done with this course, but I will continue to study with ISSA, because they have all kind of great courses. Let me know how did you decided.
Best,
Zuzana.
hi ZuZana,
With ISSA when you are finished the courses are you then a certified trainer or do you have to do another exam depending on the province you live in?
You mentioned you were from canada, i looked on the issa site and it did not mention that it will provide the course to canadians.
thanks
The ISSA certification is an internationally recognised qualification that should assist you in looking for work at gyms. Basically, I suppose that passing the exam would earn the title of “ISSA-certified trainer”. Once you obtain work in the industry, then I guess that there are more training courses to further your fitness career depending on your field of work.
Hi Zuzana,
So I am trying to lose belly fat and have somewhat a flat stomach. Is there something in particular that you can recommend me or just the abs routines that you have posted on the website? I am 112 lbs, 25 years old, and started to watch how many calories I should eat and excercise 5 days/week about 3 weeks ago. I try to work out for at least 30 min. I am not ignoring any of my other body parts but I want results mainly on the belly. Which routines should I use for that? Should I use variety of routines or stick to something in particular?
Thank you for your time! The website is awesome and very helpful.
Hi Dimitrina,
don’t focus on your belly even tho you think that you need to work on your abs the most. Focus on whole body workouts and incorporate more core exercises into your routines. I will post soon more of the whole body core workout routines. Also remember that you need to do regular cardio as well.
Best,
Zuzana.
Thank you for your advice! Haven’t been more motivated than this before:)I will keep checking out the new articles and everything.
Regards,
Dimitrina
hey Zuzana,
I’m an 18 year old female, 5 ft. 6 in. and i weigh 130 lbs.. i’ve been working out for a couple months but regularly (5-6 days a week, 1 hour a day, 30 min. cardio 30 min weight lifting/sit ups ) for 3 weeks and i’ve been eating really healthy, especially compared to my diet before… and i haven’t seen any changes yet. I lost 4 lbs within a week and a half but then gained it back and haven’t lost any more or seen any physical results. i’ve also been increasing the intensity and weight and everything…
what should i do? should i be seeing results yet or am i just wanted them too fast.. because i know they take time but i should see SOMETHING…right?
Thank for the help and motivation :]
~Becca
Hello Zuzana,
I am trying to lose weight and gain muscle. Using your figures according to my weight (235 with 21 to 30% body fat) it looks like I would need 3600 calories per day. That seems like a lot of food per day; Fat/66g, Protein/300g and Carbs/450g which would be 11g fat, 50g protein and 75g carbs per meal if I had 6 meals each day. Do these numbers look right to you? I think the fat intake will be easy, but how do I get 50g protein and 75g carbs each meal? I have an athletic body type (6 ft tall), but being 45 years old most of my fat is around my stomach. I don’t want to be like a body builder, but I would really like to be lean like you. One last question, would you recommend the ISSA certification for my personal use, I don’t really want to be a trainer but to have a better understanding of how all this stuff works. Any answers to my questions would be appreciated. Thanks so much and keep up the good work :-)
Hi Zuzana,
I find this zig zag diet really interesting, and once I take the time to figure out all the basic things of my body, like weight, fat, calorie intake etc.. I will try to start! My question was, is there any calculator that calculates how many calories of fat, protein and carbs are on each food? Like if you can only eat so many calories of carbs, lets say you eat a piece of bread, then how much calories of fat, or protein does the bread contain aswell?
by the way: are eating fruit not good for wanting to loose weight and body fat?
gr.
Pamela
Hi Pamela,
I don’t know about any kind of calculator that would tell you how much calories each food has, but I am sure that there are different sources where you can find this out.
Fruit is ok in moderate amount.
Hi Zuzana,
How do you know you need 2160 calories per day? Is it according to your weight? How do i know how many calories i need? i weight 53kg, and height is 165cm.
thanks
Bonbon
You can find out your daily caloric requirements here.
Dear Zu,
I noticed that your expenditure was 2160, yet u calculated the ISSA’s 1-2-3 rule using a calorie intake of 2160. Doing this will maintain your weight. For myself who is in the process of dropping body fat by weight training, I should be using the 1-2-3 ratio with less calories than my expenditure correct?
For example:
My expenditure is 2163.
If I will be consuming 1500 calories then I should calculate the 1-2-3 ratio with 1500 calories correct?
Thank you for all of your time Z!
Hi Audra,
in order to loose weight, you have to reduce your caloric intake but be careful that you won’t lower your BMR (basal metabolic rate) as well, because if you slow down your metabolism your body won’t be burning enough calories and you will gain all of the weight back. To avoid slowing down your BMR you have to follow the zig-zag method. So read the article and then combine the 1-2-3 rule with the zig-zag method and clean diet – fresh food from natural source that is low in fat and sugar.
Best,
Zuzana.
Do you know of any good nutritionist in Bronx, NY? I would like to get some professional help from someone who can guide me with this information.
Hi Zuzana,
I remember when a reader first asked you whether you had a “clean” diet and you thought it meant washing your hands before a meal ;).
This method has too many numbers! I think I prefer the method of two handfuls of fruit/vegies, one handful of starchy carbs and one palm of lean protein.
@becca:
everybody has to sorts of fat: subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) and visceral fat (between your organs). The specific allocation is hardcoded in your genes. So if you store lots of visceral fat you see nothing if its melts….and visc. fat burns at first.
I hope I could help you :-)
Hey Guys,
Me and my girlfriend recently started working out.
We are both vegan, and so my question is:
From your studies and interaction with other people in this area, what are good sources of protein for people like us?
Beans and nuts are maybe the richer in terms of protein, right?
To get the right amounts of protein from nuts, it means we are getting also a lot of fat (even though it’s good fat)?
And considering we are not fans of tofu (there is a lot of controversy regarding unfermented soya), what else do you suggest?
Thanks
Andre
I personally use Quinoa as a source of protein. I put it in my oatmeal, soups, risotto, etc.
Hi Zuzana,
I wanted to know, could I stop exercising for a while and eat healthy without it affecting my health or fitness.
I just started the “no carb diet” and no fat of course. Is it really as good as they say??? I’m exercising everyday including dumbells…
NO!!!! no carb diet can cause you serious health problems. All of your vital organs including your heart and brain need carbs! Follow the 1-2-3 nutritional rule. Jesus!
Thanks Zuzana, no wonder it was killing me…
Quick question, based on what you explain above, you calculate your intake based on your daily Caloric Expenditure, so you feed your body with equal amount of food as you are burning (2160 Caloric Expenditure = 2160 cal ingested a day.
How does that work when you want to lose weight? Do I work out more or do I eat less?
I hope I’m not confussing you, but I think there has to be a deficit of calories somewhere in order to lose weight….
Thank you so much for your help…..
Hi Zuzana,
Juat wondering, when will you post your sample daily meal plan as you have said in the article above? This article is great but I feel like a sample would really help me understand everything. Thank You.
Sounds good, but I want fat loss not WEIGHT loss, so would this be okay for maintaining weight but losing body fat?
Hi Zuzana,
I just stumbled onto your website today, as I found you through youtube. You and Frederick are both great, and you have a gold mine of information here. Thank you so much!
Zuzana, I’ve read and re-read your post, and I haven’t the foggiest of the amount of calories I should consume in a day, or how I should be shopping for my 5-6 small meals a day.
Please clarify your system, if you wouldn’t mind. I feel completely lost.
Hi LeAnne,
First of all, welcome to my website and enjoy my posts :) Check out my Fitness F.A.Q’s – How many calories should I consume daily to loose weight?
Hi Zuzana/Fredrick,
I am trying to access your articles on the zig-zag method (http://bodyrock.tv/2009/03/02/the-best-method-for-fat-loss/) and computing ones daily calorie requirements (http://www.bodyrock.tv/2009/02/11/how-many-calories-do-you-burn/). But these links are not working. Can you kindly check if these links are up and running? I tried using firefox and internet explorer browsers.
Thanks much in advance.
hi zuzana,
i´m following this system of eating for a year and a half (maybe you know the website http://www.chudnutie-ako.sk by miro vesely), but my weight stopped closely before the target number (actually 164cm and 55kg – i wished 52 or maybe 50). i used to eat 6500kj/100g protein/50g fat/150g carbs a day and workout 2 times in a week in a gym. many people told me, that i´m stagnating because of the energy deficit. so i start to eat more (7500-7800kj and other according the 1-2-3 rule) and i´m trying to make my metabolism faster with interval training 3 times a week plus once gym. but after two month of effort i´m still stagnating. maybe i have earned more muscles but some fat still stay.
could you advice me something?
thanks
Hi Zuzana,
I found your site a few days ago thorough YouTube. I haven’t been able to do anything but read your articles when I am at the computer since! Your site is great! Your are an inspiration. I am a few pounds overweight. I weigh 154 and I’d like to be around 140. I am 5’9″. I am interested in reading about the zig-zag method to lose a bit of weight and gain/build muscle, but the link doesn’t seem to be working?? Could you check it out please? Thanks! :)
the link doesn’t seem to be working? plz plz could u fix it
Hi
I just found your site today through stumbling onto your YouTube videos. I need to lose a tonne of weight and create a healthy lifestyle for my fiance and I, and your videos of exercises and healthy eating are hard to stop watching. I would like to understand more about the 1-2-3 rule and the Zig-zag too however your links still aren’t working. I can see others have had a problem and i dont want to bug you but if you could fix them soon it would be much appreciated :-)
I have a Kin degree, can-fit pro and just finished my ISSA. I found the ISSA to be a great cert and fun to do! But, i would never follow this 1-2-3 format.