What to eat for Body recomposition?
Are you looking to tone up?
How does losing fat and building muscle at the same time sound?
Well, you need to look into body recomposition.
A process, or more of a lifestyle, that aims to reduce your body fat whilst maintaining – and growing – muscle mass.
What is Body recomposition?
Body recomposition is the process of decreasing your body fat whilst gaining more muscle mass. It’s not a frequently used term, as most people who go to them gym have one simple aim: to lose weight. But, this works slightly differently. This best suits people who are into cutting, like bodybuilders, who want to tone their body and get into shape. A good way to look at body recomposition is the aim of increasing the ratio of lean body mass (muscle) to fat.
Losing body fat and gaining muscle both require different regimes in order to achieve success. Weight loss is a complicated process that essentially relies on the body breaking down fats stored for energy. To see results in this area, you must be in a calorie deficit – whether it be through a strict diet plan or regular exercise.
What is your maintenance calorie?
Your maintenance calorie is an important factor in achieving body recomposition success. It refers to the number of calories your body needs to go about the day. Essentially, it is the number of calories that your body needs to fulfil your daily activity – including your breathing and blood pumping. By filling out a short survey, you can get your maintenance calorie number, which will help you on your body recomposition journey.
Knowing your maintenance calorie allows you to start the cycling process. The idea behind it is that you should eat more calories on days that you train hard.
How does calorie cycling work?
The most popular diet type for body recomposotion is definitely calorie cycling.
Put simply, calorie cycling is the process of modifying your calorie intake to compliment your daily activity. The main idea is that you eat more calories on days when you are training and eat less on rest days, or when your activity levels are lower than usual.
Body recomposition and macronutrients
Calories are the single most effective determiner of our bodies weight.
Whilst there is no ideal ratio of macronutrients in the body recomoposition process, research suggests that most bodybuilders benefit from eating a well-balanced diet with a good amount of protein. (1)
It’s important to note that when aiming for body recomoposition, you should definitely not rule out carbohydrates. They will assist your body recomoposition process, by elevating the protein intake on the muscle building front.
For those looking to start their body recompositoon journey, try to aim for around 30% of your calorie intake on carbohydrates, 30% on protein and the remaining 40% reliant on fats. These figures act as a guide and can vary from person to person depending on many different factors.
Carbohydrates and protein typically contain less calories per gram than fats – so pay close attention to this when meal planning.
Some suggested foods for body recomposition include:
- Avocado
The hardest part of body decomposition can be finding foods that compliment what you are trying to achieve - building muscle without gaining fat – and avocados are the perfect food to help you do so. Avocados also contain a great amount of protein too which is absolutely necessary for gaining muscle.
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Salmon
Amongst the superfoods, and rightly so – salmon contains high levels of Vitamin A and B, whilst also boasting omega-3 fatty acids.
- Blueberries
Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants. They are also a great superfood that helps your body recover from intense training and therefore fit perfectly into your body recomposition diet.
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Quinoa
Packed fill of vitamins, minerals, and fibre - quinoa is definitely worth adding to your diet. Eight grams of protein make up one cup of cooked quinoa, making it lucrative to gym-goers looking to gain muscle.
Using the right supplements, like our Fighters Core (Loose Fat and keep muscle) can also aid your body recomoposition journey. Our unique formula has been specifically designed to burn unwanted fats whilst preserving muscle mass. By protecting and even building muscle, the Fighters Core formula can keep your calorie burn at an elevated level, and may even improve protein synthesis, keeping your body metabolizing stored fat for fuel and muscles growing.
