How a nerd engineered his diet to achieve 5% body fat

My first attempt to slim down was a complete failure. Despite training intensely and eating “cleanly,” my body fat percentage simply refused to dip below 10%.

Then it hit me: A revelation that would become the turning point in my fat-cutting journey.

As an engineer, I would never create a product without first quantifying its exact specifications. So why was I not approaching my diet with the same numerical precision?

I realized that if I were to scorch the next 5% of fat off of my body, I couldn’t just “wing it” anymore. I had to engineer a meal plan that would get me there.

I’m about to show you, step-by-step, how I created a diet, customized to my own body and caloric expenditure, that finally allowed me to break through the 10% body fat barrier to achieve my 5% goal. And you can do the same.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Select your macronutrient ratio

This is the ratio of carbs to proteins, and fats in your diet. My preferred ratio is 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fats. However, the ideal ratio will vary by person (depending on body type and goals). You can learn more about how to select the optimal ratio for yourself here.

Step 2: Pick your “shred” rate

How much weight would you like to lose per week? The idea is to pick something reasonable, like 0.5 LB per week. Losing too quickly can put you at risk for blowing up even bigger than you were before, especially if you resume your old eating habits.

Remember:

“You can make radical changes in minute steps.” — Zig Ziglar

My “shred” rate: 0.5 LB per week

Step 3: Estimate your daily caloric expenditure

Your daily caloric expenditure is the amount of calories you burn throughout the day. While estimating this number may seem a bit like voodoo magic, you don’t have to be 100% accurate on your first iteration. Apps like MyFitnessPal and Lose It can help you determine a ballpark estimate based on your activity level. If during your diet, you find that you’re not losing fast enough (or losing too quickly), you can re-adjust your numbers on the fly to get back on track.

My estimated daily caloric expenditure: 3,810 calories

Step 4: Calculate your target daily caloric intake

Your daily caloric intake refers to the total number of calories you consume throughout your meals each day. In general, losing weight requires inducing a caloric deficit (burning more calories than you take in). And theoretically, the greater the caloric deficit, the faster you lose. Therefore, the “shred” rate you picked in step 2, along with your daily caloric expenditure from step 3, will determine your target daily caloric intake. While you could crank out the calculation by hand, tools like MyFitnessPal can crunch the numbers for you.

My target daily caloric intake: 3,560 calories

Step 5: Pick your foods

Here are a few fundamental principles to follow when selecting your foods:

1. Stick to unprocessed foods (avoid chips and other “snacky” foods. Choose rice over bread, etc.).
2. Avoid simple carbs other than fruits (toss the candy and soda).
3. Stick to lean protein (choose chicken breast and tuna over steak and pork).
4. Don’t eat anything you didn’t cook yourself (again, the goal here is to be as precise as possible with what you put in our body. It’s unlikely you’ll know the exact nutritional content of food cooked by someone else.).

My main foods: Oatmeal, Almond Milk, Bananas, Strawberries, Apples, Hardboiled Eggs, Chicken Breast, Brown Rice, Kale, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Red Onions, Tuna, Peanuts, Olive Oil, Almond Butter — yup, delish ;)

Step 6: Calculate your portion sizes

This is the fun part (if you’re nerdy like me and dig math and puzzles). You’ve got to figure out exactly how much of each food you need to eat during your meals in order to hit your target daily caloric intake while remaining aligned with the macro ratio you selected in step 1. This is a classic optimization problem.

Here’s one way to do it:

1. Spend a few minutes entering a full hypothetical day of meals into MyFitnessPal by using the foods you chose in step 5.
2. Adjust the quantities of each food until you hit both your target daily caloric intake and your macro ratio (MyFitnessPal will show you how close you are to satisfying both constraints). This step may take a few tries to get exactly right.

Or, if you prefer to automate this process, another option is to use a tool like EatThisMuch, which should spit out the exact quantities of each food automatically.

My Final Meal Plan
Meal 1: 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 cup almond milk, and 6 hardboiled egg-whites, 1 banana
Meal 2: Kale salad with tomatoes, red onions and bell peppers. 150g chicken breast and 1 cup brown rice.
Meal 3: 150g chicken breast and 1 cup brown rice
Meal 4: 1 scoop of protein powder and 1tbsp almond butter
Meal 5: 4oz white albacore tuna, 1oz dry roasted peanuts

Step 7: Execute!

Now that you’ve engineered your ideal diet, you’re not guessing anymore. You’re no longer leaving your success to chance. You know exactly how you need to eat each day to achieve your 2017 goal. And that’s really exciting! Because now, there are no external factors that can get in your way.

But that’s also a bit scary. Because if you fail, only you will be at fault. So you need to find the discipline and perseverance to actually do it. Each and every single day.

Challenge accepted. 2017 will be the year we create the greatest version of ourselves.

Let’s do this!

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this post is not intended to replace medical advice or diagnosis from a physician or other medical provider. Readers are cautioned not to rely on this information as medical advice and to consult a qualified medical, dietary, fitness or other appropriate professional for their specific needs.

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