Diet plays the major role in weight loss.Without a proper diet you cannot lose weight, no matter what you do. To lose weight you have to create a calorie deficit, that means you have to burn more calories than you consume. So first you have to calculate your calories. If you don't know how much calories to consume each day, refer the calorie calculators or click here to download a free calorie calculator.



Now I think, you know how much calories you should take to lose weight. Now you have to divide the calories, that is how much calories should come from protein, carbohydrates and fats.

Macro Nutrient Ratios

Macro nutrient ratio refers to the percentage of your daily calories that come from protein, carbohydrates and fats. So lets do the math. If you weigh 250 pounds and your calorie intake is 2500 calories to lose weight you need to split these calories to 50-30-20 or 40-40-20 that is 50% calories from carbohydrates, 30% calories from proteins and 20% calories from fats. If you are carb sensitive or gets bloated use 40-40-20 that is 40% from carbohydrates, 40% from proteins and 20% from fats.

1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories

1 gram of proteins = 4 calories

1 gram of fats = 9 calories

2500 x 50/100 = 1250 calories from carbohydrates

1250/4(calories) = 312 g of carbs

That is 312 grams of carbs each day.

2500 x 40/100 = 1000 calories from proteins

1000/4(calories) = 250g of proteins

That is 250 g of proteins each day

2500 x 20/100 = 500 calories from fats.

500/9 (calories) = 55 g of fats

That is 55 g of fats each day

So this person have to eat 312 g of carbohydrates, 250 g proteins and 55 g of fats a day.

Six Meals a Day

To lose weight you have to eat 5-6 meals a day. Sounds Crazy.. that's the truth. You have to stop eating the traditional 3 huge meals a day and start with 5-6 small meals a day spaced between 3 hours. Eating small meals every three hours burn more calories by increasing your metabolism which leads to a faster weight loss. So you have to split your carb intake and protein intake into 6 meals.

So for the example of the 250 pounds man we have discussed earlier would be:

Meal 1 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 2 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 3 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 4 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 5 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 6 : 52 grams carbs

You can even make a little tweak to the diet above, that is to split half of daily carbs in the morning and postworkout. So split the 156g (312g/2) to the morning and postworkout. So it will be :

Meal 1 : 78 grams carbs
Meal 2 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 3 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 4 : 78 grams carbs (post workout)
Meal 5 : 52 grams carbs
Meal 6 : 0 grams carbs

Proteins

Meal 1 : 42 grams of proteins
Meal 2 : 42 grams of proteins
Meal 3 : 42 grams of proteins
Meal 4 : 42 grams of proteins
Meal 5 : 42 grams of proteins
Meal 6 : 42 grams of proteins

It is not necessary to count fat, you will get enough fats from the whole foods alone. But you also needs to take good fats, that is unsaturated fatty acids like olive oil, flax seed oil, nuts etc. For example you can take a tablespoon of olive oil 2-3 times a day.

Some good sources of carbohydrates are:

Brown Bread
Brown Rice
Potato
Oats

Some complete sources of proteins are:

Chicken Breasts
Egg Whites
lean Meat
Steak
Whey Protein

Some good sources of fats are:

Olive oil
Flax oil
Nuts
Omega 3 supplements

Foods to avoid:

White Bread and White rice products (exception postworkout)
Junk foods
Fried foods
Trans Fat or saturated fats
Softdrinks or sodas
ice creams

Click here to see some sample weight loss diet plans.


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