PICK YOUR PLAN

Calorie recommendations and macronutrient distributions in the 7-day meal plans on the following pages can help you fuel and maximize your performance—whether you want to eat better, you want to get into better shape, or you want to train for any kind of competition. While not everyone needs the same amount of calories, you can easily adjust these plans by adhering to the same weekly adjustments (calories up or down by 500 to 1,000 per day) and keeping the macronutrient ratios the same. Each weekly meal plan includes three meals and two to three snacks per day and features recipes from this book. You can choose from four different meal plans.

MAINTENANCE MEAL PLAN

If you’re happy with your weight and your body composition and want to keep your current shape and activity level, this meal plan is for you. Whether you’re training to look like a fighter or you’re working out to feel physically fit, this plan will help you maintain how you look and feel. It will also provide balanced types of fuel for strength and cardiovascular training.

The daily breakdown for this meal plan:

• CALORIES: 2,000

• CARBS: 50%

• PROTEIN: 25%

• FAT: 25%

STRENGTH MEAL PLAN

Protein, fat, and calories get a boost in this plan, which helps promote muscle protein synthesis. Protein sources are filled with essential amino acids and are spread out throughout each day to help promote muscle building. Carbs drop to 40% of the total calories to make room for more protein and fat—the latter acting as the predominant fuel source for lower-intensity exercise.

The daily breakdown for this meal plan:

• CALORIES: 2,500

• CARBS: 40%

• PROTEIN: 30%

• FAT: 30%

MUSCULAR ENDURANCE MEAL PLAN

This plan keeps your protein intake high and increases your calorie and carb levels to help promote aerobic and anaerobic energy production. This type of fueling will help you achieve max reps if you’re weight training. Because carbs are your main source of energy for long-duration or high-intensity activities, it’s important to get the majority of your total calories from carb-rich sources.

The daily breakdown for this meal plan:

• CALORIES: 3,000

• CARBS: 45%

• PROTEIN: 30%

• FAT: 25%

POWER & EXPLOSION MEAL PLAN

This meal plan offers lower-calorie intakes, with a few extra carbs throughout the day to help fuel your body during extra-explosive workouts that might be shorter than your typical workouts. Fast bursts of energy rely more heavily on carbs for fuel—and this plan will help you with those energy needs.

The daily breakdown for this meal plan:

• CALORIES: 2,500

• CARBS: 50%

• PROTEIN: 25%

• FAT: 25%

COUNT YOUR CALORIES

Servings sizes in this book are for a moderately active person who weighs 160 pounds. Use these calculations to adjust the recipes to meet your daily caloric needs:

LIGHTLY ACTIVE: your weight x 12

MODERATELY ACTIVE: your weight x 13

VERY ACTIVE: your weight x 14

To stay above your basal metabolic rate—which denotes the number of calories you need for basic body functions—you should never allow your daily caloric intake to drop below 70% of your daily caloric needs.

PREPARE YOUR MEALS

Once you choose a meal plan, carefully review the recipes in that plan and prepare a shopping list of ingredients you need. Not only does this help you know what you need to buy, but it also helps you become familiar with the recipes and what you need to do to make each meal.

Most recipes in this book are best eaten immediately after making them, but you can easily prepare many meals in advance, portion them out, and refrigerate or freeze them until needed. This will give you more time during the week for working out, spending time with family and friends, and enjoying your favorite activities.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Stick to your chosen meal plan for at least two weeks. Are you seeing and feeling changes in your physique and in your energy levels? Take progress pictures twice a week to help you compare and assess body composition changes. Also make sure to take a daily mental assessment to help you stay focused on what you’re trying to achieve.

You don’t have to do anything fancy to track your progress, but there are an endless number of apps for your phone that can allow you to track what you eat, how much you exercise, and how many calories and macronutrients you’ve consumed.

MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

If you’re not gaining enough muscle mass, increase your protein intake. If you’re not burning enough fat, slightly decrease the number of calories you consume each day. If you’re constantly hungry, slightly increase your protein intake with each meal. Each plan comes with small snacks to help combat cravings while not having a major impact on calories or macronutrients.

But you can also swap out recipes that are nearly equal in calories and macronutrient numbers. Your most important objective is to stay flexible and make minor adjustments along the way.