DANIEL-NUTRITION PLAN

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Your nutrition guide · Power · Fat Loss

Overview

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This guide is written for you: a Power body type eating for fat loss. Text in this colour explains why: the reason behind an instruction. Technical words are explained in shaded ‘In simple terms’ boxes.

Your Plan at a Glance

Calorie target

25 to 30% below maintenance, with diet breaks

Daily protein

2.0 to 2.4g per kg of body weight

Target fat loss

0.5 to 1% of body weight a week

Eating window

7 to 9 hours (overnight fast 15 to 17 hours)

Meals a day

3 to 4 (your coach sets which), about every 3 to 3.5 hours

First meal after waking

Within 2 to 2.5 hours of waking (or after morning activity)

Fasted training

Yes, early sessions can be fasted

Pre-training meal

Full meal 3 hours before

Early-morning training

Light snack 75 min before, or train fasted

During training

Water

Post-workout shake

Within 40 min

Carbohydrate timing

Only after being active or after exercise

Last meal

At least 3 hours before bed

Rest days

Lower calories than a training day. Protein stays the same, fat stays the same share of calories, and carbohydrate is what is left, so it comes down.

1. Your Body Type: Power

Your body is built for strength: a wide frame, heavy bones and mostly fast-twitch muscle fibres, the most powerful kind. You carry the most muscle and the largest fuel stores, and you hold on to muscle best of all. You also have the fewest mitochondria, the slowest metabolism and the least insulin-sensitive muscles, so you store fat most easily. Your fibres tire fastest in long sets and recover slowest between them, but your nervous system is the calmest and copes with the longest sessions.

In simple terms

Muscle fibre types. Muscles are made of different fibres. Slow-twitch (Type I) fibres are built for endurance: they are efficient and slow to tire, and grow more slowly than fast-twitch fibres, though they do grow with the right training. Fast-twitch fibres (Type IIa, and the most powerful, Type IIx) produce more force and grow more easily, but tire quickly. Your genetics largely set your mix, and it differs between body types.

In simple terms

Mitochondria. Tiny ‘power stations’ inside your cells where fat and carbohydrate are burned with oxygen to make energy. More mitochondria means more capacity to burn fat.

In simple terms

Metabolism. Your metabolism is the total amount of energy (calories) your body uses each day to stay alive, move and recover. Muscle is ‘expensive’ tissue to run, so the more muscle you carry, the more calories you burn, even at rest.

Your strengths

• The highest strength potential
• Builds and keeps muscle readily
• The largest fuel stores
• Usually sociable and patient

Your weaker points

• Stores fat most easily
• The least tolerant of carbohydrate
• Tires fastest in long sets
• High-impact cardio loads the joints

What your body needs

• Carbohydrate only after being active or after exercise
• Fewer meals within a shorter eating window
• Protein and vegetables at the centre of every meal

What to watch out for

• Carbohydrate outside the after-activity window
• Snacking between meals

2. Your Body Type and Fat Loss

This guide explains how to eat to lose body fat while protecting your muscle. Fat is lost when you use a little more energy than you take in over time; how big that gap should be, when you eat your carbohydrate and how your meals are spaced all depend on your body type.

You are a Power body type on a fat loss programme. Losing fat is hard for your body type, but building and keeping muscle is easy. Your body holds on to stored fat most tightly, especially when insulin is raised after eating, while your powerful muscle fibres build more readily than any other type. Holding on to muscle is a good thing, as it raises your metabolism, which means more of the fat you lose is burned while you are resting. To help keep your muscle, it is essential not to cut calories or carbohydrates too far. Cutting too hard causes your body to break down muscle, which slows your metabolism and makes fat loss harder. One of our main goals, therefore, is to burn fat by building muscle, which speeds up your metabolism.

Your calorie target is set 25 to 30% below your maintenance calories (the amount that would keep your weight the same). Your larger fat stores provide plenty of fuel, so a bigger deficit works well for you. To stop your metabolism adapting to the deficit, your plan may include short diet breaks (planned periods of eating at maintenance) during a longer fat loss phase.

Cutting calories below our recommended amount does more than break down muscle. When your body senses a shortage, it takes protein from your muscles and turns it into energy, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid. When your stored carbohydrate runs low, your body can break down muscle protein and turn it into sugar for fuel.

Your body type holds on to muscle better than any other, which keeps your metabolism firing and your body burning fat at rest. Your plan is the lowest in carbohydrate of any body type, with your carbohydrate placed after activity. Your muscles are the least sensitive to insulin, so carbohydrate is used best straight after training, when exercise opens the muscle to sugar without needing insulin. Even so, cutting calories or carbohydrate too far would cost muscle and slow your metabolism, so stick to the amounts in your plan.

Your priority: keep the muscle you build in the gym. Cutting calories or carbohydrate too far breaks down muscle, which slows your metabolism and makes fat harder to lose. Keep insulin low between meals so your body can release stored fat at rest. Insulin, released when you eat (mainly carbohydrate), switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme inside fat cells that releases stored fat. While insulin is low, that enzyme is active and fat can be released and burned. Knowing what and how much you eat, and seeing how your body responds, makes it easy to see what to adjust. Consistency is the key.

What happens when you eat less. When you eat less energy than you use (an energy, or calorie, deficit), your body makes up the difference from its stores: mostly fat, but some protein from muscle too. Your body defends its fat stores. As fat is lost, your fat cells release less leptin, and the brain responds by increasing hunger and reducing the energy you burn: you move a little less without noticing, and the active thyroid hormone T3 falls. This survival mechanism, from times when food was scarce, is why fat loss gets harder the leaner you become. Expect to feel a little more tired, and to notice a slight loss of strength, during a fat-loss phase. With less food your glycogen stores are lower, so hard sets and intervals feel harder. This is normal, and it returns when you eat at maintenance again.

Will building muscle make me bulky? No. Some people, women especially, worry that building muscle means getting big. Women produce roughly a tenth to a twentieth of the testosterone that men do, and testosterone is the main hormone that drives muscle growth, so women’s muscle builds slowly and in proportion. Keeping and building muscle on this programme gives a firm, lean shape and keeps your metabolism high.

Change your food gradually. When your calories need to change, your coach changes them in small steps rather than all at once. A sudden large cut quickly lowers leptin (the hormone from your fat cells that tells your brain how much energy you have stored) and the active thyroid hormone T3, so your metabolic rate falls and your hunger rises. A sudden large increase raises insulin and delivers more energy than your muscles can use, so the extra is stored as fat. Small steps give your body time to adjust, and let you and your coach see clearly what each change does.

In simple terms

Leptin. A hormone made by your fat cells. The more fat you carry, the more leptin you make. It travels to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger and energy use, and tells it how much stored energy you have. When leptin falls, the brain increases hunger and reduces the energy you burn.

In simple terms

Thyroid hormones (T4 and T3). Hormones made by the thyroid gland in the neck that set how fast your cells burn energy. The gland releases mostly T4, a storage form; enzymes called deiodinases in the liver and other tissues convert it to T3, the active form. Less T3 means a slower metabolism.

3. Metabolism, Blood Sugar and Carbohydrates

As a Power body type you have a slow metabolism. This means you burn your fuel at a slower rate, which makes fat loss harder than for the other body types. Eating the right number of meals each day keeps your blood sugar balanced and your insulin low, which helps you burn as much fat as possible.

In simple terms

Insulin. A hormone released by the pancreas when you eat, mainly in response to carbohydrate. Its job is to move sugar out of your blood and into your muscles and liver for storage. While insulin is high, fat burning slows right down, because your body is busy storing fuel rather than releasing it.

Your body type does not handle carbohydrate very well, so we have reduced your calories and carbohydrates more than for the other body types, who are more carbohydrate tolerant. On a fat loss programme, the right amount and type of carbohydrate, eaten at the right time in relation to your training, will help you lose fat. Insulin rises after you eat (especially after carbohydrate), and while it is raised, fat breakdown slows right down.

4. Meal Timing and Frequency

All body types have a limited capacity to store fuel, so be careful not to overeat at any one sitting, as the excess will be stored as fat. The hard work has been done for you: at Your Body Programme we have calculated the right amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat for your body type on a fat loss programme, taking your daily activity into account. This will help you lose fat, keep your muscle and stop your metabolism slowing down.

Fewer, larger, well-spaced meals suit your body type. Every meal causes a rise in insulin, so fewer meals means fewer insulin rises and longer gaps in between when your body can burn fat. Because you carry more muscle, your body can also make good use of a larger meal.

Meals and eating window: your plan uses 3 to 4 meals a day (not counting your post-workout shake), eaten within a 7 to 9-hour eating window, which leaves an overnight fast of 15 to 17 hours. Your coach sets where you sit in each range from your measurements and questionnaire (body fat, waist, daily steps, training level, hunger and energy between meals) and reviews it every 4 weeks. Clients carrying more body fat, or who are less active, sit at the lower end (fewer meals, shorter window, longer fast); leaner, more active clients, or those who get very hungry or shaky between meals, sit at the upper end. As you get leaner and fitter you move up the range.

Why never fewer than three meals: each protein-containing meal switches on muscle building, but only once, for a few hours, and a very large serving does less per gram than a moderate one. Three or more evenly sized protein meals switch building on more often, which is what protects and builds muscle. The benefit of low insulin comes from the length of the overnight fast, not from eating only once or twice, so a short eating window with three meals gives you both.

Why your eating window suits your body type: Your muscles are the least sensitive to insulin of any body type, with the fewest GLUT4 ‘doors’ (the transporters that let sugar into the muscle cell). After each meal your pancreas has to release more insulin, and it stays raised for longer. While insulin is raised it switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme inside fat cells that releases stored fat. Fewer meals, the shortest eating window and the longest overnight fast give you the most hours with low insulin, so more stored fat can be released, and repeated low-insulin periods appear to improve insulin sensitivity itself over time.

When your window falls: start it within about 1 to 3 hours of waking and finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed. Insulin sensitivity follows a daily rhythm set by your body clock: your muscles are most responsive to insulin in the morning and least in the evening, and melatonin (the sleep hormone, which rises in the evening) also reduces insulin release. The same meal raises blood sugar more late in the evening than in the morning.

5. Training-Day Nutrition: The Three Phases

There are three nutrient timing phases around your training:

Phase 1: the Energy Phase. Fuelling your body before and during your training session. Your muscles burn mainly glycogen during hard training, so starting with full stores lets you train harder for longer.

Phase 2: the Anabolic Phase. The hour immediately after training. This is the best time to refill your energy stores, which is why we use a post-workout shake. Straight after training your muscles soak up fuel faster than at any other time. Because your metabolism is slow, we want to keep as much muscle as possible to boost it, so getting the right nutrients in this window is essential. Getting protein and carbohydrate in soon after training makes the most of the work you have put in, especially if you trained fasted or several hours after your last meal. We recommend having your shake within 40 minutes of finishing. You hold the most glycogen and keep your muscle most easily, so your window is the longest. On a fat loss plan the window is a little longer, because fat burning stays raised for a while after training.

In simple terms

Anabolic. Anabolic means ‘building up’. After training, your body switches from using fuel to rebuilding and repairing muscle.

Phase 3: the Growth, Repair and Recovery Phase. The 24 hours after training. This is when your body repairs, refills its fuel stores and adapts to your training. The carbohydrates you eat in this phase should be low GL. This keeps your glycogen topped up and prevents muscle breakdown.

In simple terms

Glycaemic load (GL). A measure of how much a portion of food raises your blood sugar, taking into account both how quickly its carbohydrate is absorbed and how much carbohydrate the portion contains. Low-GL foods (oats, lentils, beans, sweet potato, most vegetables) release energy slowly; high-GL foods (white bread, white rice, sweets, dextrose) release it quickly.

In simple terms

Glycogen. The form in which carbohydrate is stored in your muscles and liver. Think of it as your body’s ready-to-use fuel tank.

6. Food Choices, Rest Days and Daily Habits

Your daily food choices and habits support everything above. Choose low-GL carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats from your food list, eat plenty of varied vegetables, and adjust your carbohydrates on rest days. Any protein or carbohydrate drinks recommended in your plan are already included in your daily calorie target.

Small daily habits (drinking enough water, sleeping well and keeping alcohol low) make a big difference. Poor sleep, for example, raises ghrelin (the hormone that makes you feel hungry) and lowers leptin (the hormone that tells your brain you are full), making your plan much harder to stick to. Your personalised water and sleep recommendations are on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.

How to Use This Guide

• Your plan at a glance: your plan in one table.
• Overview: how your body type works, its strengths and weaker points, and how your plan suits it. If you just want the essentials, this is all you need to read.
• Key Points: the list of what to do, with the reason for each, plus an example training day.
• The Science. For those who want the detail: what is happening inside your body and why your plan is built this way.

The guide refers to three other parts of your plan: your nutrient breakdown table (your personal daily targets), your food list, and the nutritional data table (fruit and vegetable sections).

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CALORIES TARGET

Prepared for Daniel
30 October 2026

Your nutrition plan · Power · Fat Loss

Your daily targets

Training days · 4 a week

2,340 kcal

Protein216 g

Carbs180 g

Fat84 g

Rest days · 3 a week

2,070 kcal

Protein216 g

Carbs113 g

Fat84 g

After training59 g carbs + 43 g proteinPart of your training-day totals

Protein per mealAbout 72 gAcross 3 meals a day

Eating window7 hoursFor example 10:00am to 5:00pm

Your meal plan and charts load here.

Reviewed and approved by Terry FaircloughYOUR BODY PROGRAMME

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KEY POINTS

Your nutrition guide · Power · Fat Loss

Key points

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1. Your Body Type and Fat Loss

• You build and keep muscle easily. This is your biggest advantage. Your fast-twitch fibres have the strongest muscle-building response of any type.
• More muscle means a higher metabolism and more fat burned at rest. Every kilogram of muscle uses energy around the clock, even while you sleep.
• Never cut calories or carbohydrates below the targets in your plan. A deeper cut switches the fuel gauge AMPK on more strongly, which brakes muscle building and makes your body break muscle down for fuel.
• Eating too little makes your body break down muscle and hold on to fat. Your body reads a large shortage as famine, so it protects its fat stores and uses muscle protein for energy instead.
• Aim for fat loss of around 0.5 to 1% of your body weight per week. Expect a larger drop in the first week or two: this is mostly water, released as your glycogen (stored carbohydrate) stores fall. Each gram of glycogen is stored with roughly three grams of water, so as glycogen falls the water goes with it.
• Your targets should be reviewed every 2 to 4 weeks and adjusted as you go. The amount of food you need changes as you lose fat.
• Change your calories in small steps, never all at once. Your coach will adjust them gradually as you progress.
• Expect to feel a little more tired, and slightly less strong, during a fat-loss phase. It is normal and temporary.
• Track what you eat and how your body responds: consistency is the key.
• Listen to warning signs: missed periods, low libido, feeling constantly cold or exhausted, dizziness or constant food thoughts mean the deficit is too large. Speak to your coach or GP. These are the signs of an extreme deficit (see “Mild vs extreme dieting” in the science section).

2. Metabolism, Blood Sugar and Carbohydrates

• Your metabolism is slow, so meal number and size matter. A slower metabolism burns fewer calories, so extra food is more easily stored as fat.
• Keep insulin low between meals so your body can burn fat. Insulin switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that releases fat from your fat cells.
• You are the least carbohydrate-tolerant body type, so your carbohydrate targets are the lowest. Your muscles have the fewest GLUT4 ‘doors’ and respond least to insulin, so more carbohydrate is left to be stored as fat.
• Training makes your muscles better at handling carbohydrate, so only eat carbohydrate after you have been active or after exercise.

3. Meal Timing and Frequency

• Spread protein evenly across your meals, and only eat carbohydrate after being very active (work, walking or training). Movement opens the GLUT4 ‘doors’ in your muscles without needing insulin, so carbohydrate eaten then goes into muscle rather than fat.
• Keep carbohydrate low at dinner: leave it out unless you have been active beforehand. In the evening, insulin sensitivity is naturally lower, so carbohydrate is more easily stored as fat.
• Eat 3 to 4 meals a day, not counting your post-workout shake. Your coach will tell you which number suits you.
• Keep all your eating within a 7 to 9-hour window, so your overnight fast is 15 to 17 hours. Water, black coffee, plain tea and sugar-free electrolytes are fine at any time: they contain no energy and do not raise insulin.
• Start your eating window within about 1 to 3 hours of waking, and finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed.
• Where you can, train in the morning or early afternoon: your main carbohydrate meal comes after training, and earlier in the day is when your muscles handle carbohydrate best.
• If you train in the evening, your post-workout shake and the meal after training still carry most of the day’s carbohydrate, but keep the day’s carbohydrate total at the lower end of your target and add nothing extra to ‘refill’. Finish training about 4 hours before bed so your last meal is at least 3 hours before you sleep.
• You can train fasted first thing in the morning if it suits you. When you do, your post-workout shake is your first intake and starts your eating window. Training fasted is an option, not a requirement; your total for the day stays the same.

How your protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread through the day

These tables show how your day’s protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread across your meals. Each figure is the percentage of that day’s total eaten at that meal, so every column adds up to 100%. Use the table that matches the number of meals your coach has set. The grams come from your nutrient breakdown table; this shows when in the day to eat them, because the timing of a nutrient changes what your body does with it. Carbohydrate includes vegetables, salad and fruit as well as starchy foods. The tables assume you train after the middle meal of the day. If you train earlier or later, keep the same pattern around your session.

3 meals a day · 7-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	26%	6%	50%	34%	16%	40%
Meal 2: pre-training meal	25%	5%	50%	33%	16%	40%
Post-workout shake	20%	33%	0%	Not taken
Meal 3: post-training meal	29%	56%	0%	33%	68%	20%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

4 meals a day · 9-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	20%	6%	34%	25%	14%	29%
Meal 2: pre-training meal	20%	5%	33%	25%	14%	29%
Post-workout shake	16%	31%	0%	Not taken
Meal 3: post-training meal	24%	53%	0%	25%	58%	14%
Meal 4: evening meal	20%	5%	33%	25%	14%	28%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Fasted-training day · 3 meals

Meal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Post-workout shake	20%	33%	0%
Meal 1: first meal, after training	29%	56%	0%
Meal 2	26%	6%	50%
Meal 3: evening meal	25%	5%	50%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%

Fasted-training day · 4 meals

Meal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Post-workout shake	16%	31%	0%
Meal 1: first meal, after training	24%	54%	0%
Meal 2	20%	5%	34%
Meal 3	20%	5%	33%
Meal 4: evening meal	20%	5%	33%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%

Carbohydrate: Before training, your only carbohydrate comes from vegetables and salad; the starchy carbohydrate and fruit come in the shake and the meal after training. On a non-training day the same applies around the most active part of your day.

Non-training days: carbohydrate total 10% lower (20% lower on a second non-training day in a row); protein and fat totals unchanged.

4. When to Eat: Waking, Training and Fasting

• Eat your first meal within 2 to 2.5 hours of waking, or after your morning activity or training if that comes first. Your large fuel stores and muscle mass mean you are in no danger of losing muscle overnight, so a longer gap before your first meal keeps insulin low and fat burning switched on for longer.
• You can train fasted first thing in the morning if it suits you. If you do, your post-workout shake becomes especially important. With insulin low after the overnight fast, your body draws more on stored fat during the session, while your large glycogen stores still fuel the work.
• Eat a full meal 3 hours before training, containing protein, healthy fat and vegetables. Your carbohydrate comes after training. The longest gap lets insulin fall right back down before you train, so your body burns the most fat during the session. On a fat loss plan the gaps are a little longer, so more of the energy you use comes from stored fat.
• If you train early in the morning, you can train fasted, or have a light snack 75 minutes before (protein only: no fat and no carbohydrate).

5. Training-Day Nutrition: The Three Phases

• Drink about 5 to 7ml of water per kg of body weight in the 2 to 4 hours before training (roughly 350 to 500ml for a 70kg person). Starting well hydrated keeps your blood volume up, so more oxygen and fuel reach your muscles. Losing just 2% of your body weight in sweat reduces performance.
• Your meal and snack timing before training is set out in “When to Eat” above.
• Avoid fat for 90 minutes before and after training. Fat slows down how quickly your stomach empties, so it would delay the fuel you need for training and the carbohydrate and protein your muscles need straight afterwards.
• After training: have a post-workout shake (available from any health food shop) containing about 0.6g (women) / 0.8g (men) of carbohydrate and 0.55g (women) / 0.65g (men) of protein per kg of body weight, within 40 minutes of finishing. Example: a 60kg woman would need about 36g carbohydrate and 33g protein; an 80kg man about 64g carbohydrate and 40g protein.
• The carbohydrate after training should be high GL. We recommend dextrose (pure glucose, the simplest form of sugar, which is absorbed very quickly). See your nutrient breakdown table for the amount. If you are not having the dextrose shake, eat a high-GL food from your food list instead. Fast sugar raises insulin quickly, which speeds up glycogen refilling and switches off muscle breakdown.
• Take 1000mg of vitamin C after training. Vitamin C is needed to make collagen, the main protein in tendons and connective tissue, and supports your immune system during hard training.
• Eat a meal 30 minutes to 1 hour after your shake. The shake starts recovery; a full meal keeps amino acids and glucose coming while muscle building and glycogen refilling are still running at their fastest.

Example training day

This shows how the guidelines fit together on a day with afternoon training. Move the times to suit your own day: the spacing between meals and training is what matters.

Power body types only eat carbohydrate after being active or after exercise. On this day that means the shake and the meal straight after training. No other meal contains carbohydrate.

Time	What to do	Carbohydrate?
7:30am	Wake up: 200 to 300ml of water
10:00am	Meal 1 (breakfast): protein, healthy fat and vegetables	No carbohydrate
1:00pm	Meal 2 (pre-training meal): protein, healthy fat and vegetables	No carbohydrate
4:00pm to 5:00pm	Training: water only
5:15pm	Post-workout shake (within 40 min) + 1000mg vitamin C	Yes, high GL (fast)
6:00pm	Meal 3 (after training): protein, vegetables and your carbohydrate for the day, no fat yet (within 90 min of training)	Yes, low GL
10:30pm	Bed

6. Food Choices, Rest Days and Daily Habits

• Track your intake with MyFitnessPal, a free food-diary app that adds up your calories and macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat) for you. Most people underestimate how much they eat; tracking shows exactly how close you are to your targets.
• Drink 200 to 300ml of water as soon as you wake. You lose water overnight through breathing and sweating, so you wake slightly dehydrated, and even mild dehydration reduces energy and concentration.
• Keep drinking regularly through the day: roughly 30 to 35ml per kg of body weight (about 2 to 2.5 litres for a 70kg person), plus extra on training days. Water carries nutrients into your cells and waste out, and muscle is about three-quarters water.
• If you sweat heavily, weigh yourself before and after training. For every 1kg lost, drink about 1.25 to 1.5 litres of fluid over the next 2 to 4 hours, with a little salt or an electrolyte drink. You keep losing fluid through urine after training, so you need to drink more than you lost, and the salt helps your body hold on to it. Your personalised water recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
• Eat low-GL carbohydrates at all times except straight after training. Low-GL carbohydrate releases sugar slowly, so insulin rises gently and fat release is not switched off for long. Straight after training your muscles want sugar fast, so high GL is better then.
• Choose lean meats from your food list and spread your protein evenly through the day. Your muscles can only use a limited amount of protein for building at each meal, so spreading it out gives you more building periods across the day.
• Include protein at every meal. As a rough guide, aim for a palm-sized portion of meat, fish, eggs, Greek yoghurt or tofu. Your exact amounts are on your nutrient breakdown table. Each protein-rich meal switches muscle building on again.
• Choose healthy fats from your food list and spread them through the day. Healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, oily fish and avocado are needed to make hormones, including testosterone, and to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Build each meal around protein and vegetables first, then add your carbohydrate. Eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrate slows the rise in blood sugar.
• A 10 to 15-minute walk after meals helps your muscles take up sugar from the blood without needing as much insulin.
• Nutrients to focus on: chromium and magnesium (wholegrains, leafy greens, nuts), which help your body manage blood sugar; omega-3 fats (oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines; walnuts; flaxseed), which help insulin work better and calm inflammation; plenty of fibre and colourful vegetables; and fermented foods such as live yoghurt and kefir for a healthy gut.
• Limit fruit to 2 to 3 pieces a day because of its sugar content. Most of your weekly fruit should come from section A of the nutritional data table. Fruit sugar (fructose) is handled mainly by the liver, which turns any excess into fat once its own glycogen stores are full.
• Eat 6 to 12 portions of vegetables a day, mostly from section A of the nutritional data table. This provides the fibre you need: fibre keeps you full for longer and slows the release of sugar into the blood.
• Vary the type and colour of your fruit and vegetables: different colours supply different vitamins, minerals and protective plant compounds.
• Reduce your carbohydrates only once 24 hours have passed since your last training session: by 10% on that non-training day, and by 20% on a second non-training day in a row. If you trained in the evening, keep your normal carbohydrate until the following evening. The 24 hours after training are when your body is repairing, rebuilding and adapting, and when your muscles refill their glycogen, so they still need their full fuel. After that, without another session, they use less, so they need less refilling.
• Make sleep a priority: it is when most repair happens and when your hunger hormones reset (see the science section). Your personalised sleep recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
• Keep alcohol to a minimum: your body burns alcohol before anything else, which pauses fat burning, and it can interfere with muscle repair.
• These are guidelines, not strict rules. Some may be hard to stick to. Just do the best you can.

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NUTRITIONAL DATA

Quick look macro tables

Easy to use tables to help you get the right amount of protein and carbohydrate into your meal plan. What does 10g of protein and carbs actually look like....

Your food list

Food, grouped by protein and carbohydrate

Each group lists portions with roughly that amount of protein or carbohydrate. Tap an amount to see the foods.

ProteinCarbohydrate

Protein

5gprotein8 items

• Handful of chickpeas
• 20 almonds
• 1 small egg
• Serving of peanut butter (for 2 small slices of toast)
• Handful of pumpkin seeds (20g)
• 1 slice of prosciutto
• 2 large handfuls of edamame beans (50g)
• Handful of cashew nuts (25g)

10gprotein8 items

• 2 small eggs
• 1 cup of soya milk
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds (big handful)
• Serving of Greek yoghurt (100g)
• Serving of quinoa (60g)
• Serving of tofu (1/4 pack)
• 1/2 buffalo mozzarella ball (62g)
• Small portion of squid rings (100g)

15gprotein8 items

• Half a ready to eat pouch of Puy lentils (125g)
• 3 medium eggs
• 2 to 3 slices of smoked salmon (60g)
• 2 to 3 rashers of bacon
• Small handful of beef biltong (25g)
• Small sea bass fillet (90g)
• Small lobster tail (100g)
• Portion of smoked mackerel (75g)

20gprotein6 items

• Half a pot of cottage cheese (165g)
• Single hamburger patty (110g)
• Skinless cod fillet (120g)
• Skinless haddock fillet (120g)
• Serving of monkfish (150g)
• Single venison burger

25gprotein6 items

• Single beef steak (120g)
• 4 large eggs
• Tuna steak (120g)
• 2 skinless chicken thighs (120g)
• Single pork loin steak (130g)
• Skinless salmon fillet (110g)

30gprotein4 items

• Tin of tuna (120g)
• 6 slices of roast turkey breast (120g)
• Small venison steak (140g)
• Half a pack of venison mince (150g)

35gprotein2 items

• Average skinless chicken breast (170g)
• Packet of prawns (150g of raw prawns)

40gprotein2 items

• Half pack of lean beef mince (200g)
• Sirloin steak (230g)

45gprotein1 item

• Half a pack of turkey mince (150g)

50gprotein1 item

• Portion of diced turkey breast (150g)

Carbohydrate

5gcarbs2 items

• Small bowl of strawberries or raspberries (100g)
• Portion of blueberries (75g)

10gcarbs5 items

• 1 large carrot
• 15 cherry tomatoes
• Serving of mange tout (150g)
• Small slice of pumpernickel & rye bread
• Slice of rye bread

15gcarbs7 items

• Single aubergine (250g)
• Medium pear
• 4 Nairn's oatcakes
• Slice of wholemeal seeded bloomer
• Glass of Alpro oat milk (250ml)
• Portion of brown rice (75g)
• Portion of bulgur wheat (65g)

20gcarbs6 items

• Small banana
• Medium apple
• Serving of wild rice (85g)
• Glass of Alpro soya chocolate milk (250ml)
• Slice of Biona millet bread (50g)
• Serving of granola (50g)

25gcarbs3 items

• Slice of white sourdough bread
• Large banana
• Slice of spelt sourdough

30gcarbs5 items

• Single ciabatta roll
• Sweet potato jacket
• Half a pack of fresh egg noodles (150g)
• Serving of buckwheat soba noodles (50g)
• Serving of porridge oats (50g)

35gcarbs3 items

• Large wholemeal bread roll
• Serving of Straight to Wok Udon noodles
• Serving of giant wholewheat couscous (50g)

40gcarbs1 item

• Half pack of fresh rice noodles (150g)

45gcarbs2 items

• Medium jacket potato (200g)
• Serving of wholewheat spaghetti (75g)

50gcarbs2 items

• Serving of spinach pasta (75g)
• Serving of spelt pasta (75g)

Nutritional data tables

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Vegetables Section A24 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Asparagus	20	2	4 / L	0	2
Beetroot	43	2	10 / L	0	3
Capsicum Pepper Green	20	1	5 / L	0	2
Capsicum Pepper Red	31	1	6 / L	0	2
Capsicum Pepper Yellow	27	1	6 / L	0	1
Broccoli	34	3	7 / L	0	3
Brussels Sprouts	43	3	9 / L	0	4
Cabbage, Savoy	27	2	6 / L	0	3
Carrots	41	1	10 / L	0	3
Cauliflower	25	2	5 / L	0	3
Celery	16	1	3 / L	0	2
Aubergine	24	1	6 / L	0	3
Fennel	31	1	7 / L	0	3
Garlic	149	6	33 / L	0	2
Green Beans	31	2	7 / L	0	3
Kale	50	3	10 / L	0	2
Leeks	61	1	14 / L	0	2
Lettuce, Iceberg	14	1	3 / L	0	1
Mushrooms, White	22	3	1 / L	0	1
Onions	40	1	9 / L	0	2
Spinach	23	3	4 / L	0	2
Sugar Snap Peas	42	3	8 / L	0	3
Swiss Chard	19	2	4 / L	0	2
Turnips, Boiled	22	1	5 / L	0	2

Vegetables Section B6 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Butternut Squash, baked	40	1	10 / L	0	0
Olives, Green	145	1	4 / L	15	3
Peas	81	5	14 / L	0	5
Potato, baked with skin	93	3	21 / M	0	2
Sweet Potato, baked with skin	90	2	21 / H	0	3
Yams	118	2	28 / M	0	4

Fruits (Raw) Section A19 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apples	52	0	14 / L	0	2
Blackberries	43	1	10 / L	0	5
Blueberries	57	1	14 / L	0	2
Clementines	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Cranberries	46	0	12 / L	0	5
Grapefruit	42	1	11 / L	0	2
Gooseberries	44	1	10 / L	1	4
Lemons	29	1	9 / L	0	3
Limes	30	1	11 / L	0	3
Melon, Honeydew	36	1	9 / L	0	1
Melon, Watermelon	30	1	8 / L	0	0
Nectarines	44	1	11 / L	0	2
Oranges	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Peaches	39	1	10 / L	0	1
Pears	58	0	15 / L	0	3
Plums	46	1	11 / L	0	1
Raspberries	52	1	12 / L	0	6
Strawberries	32	1	8 / L	0	2
Tomatoes	18	1	4 / L	0	1

Fruits (Raw) Section B11 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	48	1	11 / M	0	2
Avocado	160	2	9 / L	15	7
Bananas	89	1	23 / H	0	3
Cherries	63	1	16 / L	0	2
Figs	74	1	19 / L	0	3
Grapes	69	1	18 / L	0	1
Kiwi	61	1	15 / L	0	3
Mangoes	65	1	17 / L	0	2
Melon, Cantaloupe	34	1	9 / H	0	1
Papaya	39	1	10 / L	0	2
Pineapple	50	1	13 / L	0	1

Seafood13 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Clams, steamed	148	26	5 / L	2	0
Cod, oven cooked	105	23	0 / L	1	0
Halibut, oven cooked	140	27	0 / L	3	0
Mackerel, oven cooked	134	26	0 / L	3	0
Monkfish, oven cooked	97	19	0 / L	2	0
Mussels, steamed	172	24	7 / L	4	0
Prawns, cooked	77	18	1 / L	1	0
Salmon, oven cooked	206	22	0 / L	12	0
Scallops, steamed	112	23	0 / L	1	0
Sea Bass, oven cooked	124	24	0 / L	3	0
Shrimp, steamed	99	21	0 / L	1	0
Tuna, oven cooked	139	30	0 / L	1	0
Tuna, tinned	128	24	0 / L	3	0

Eggs and Dairy21 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Eggs, fried	196	14	1 / L	15	0
Eggs, poached	142	13	1 / L	10	0
Eggs, scrambled	167	11	2 / L	12	0
Eggs, whole hard boiled	155	13	1 / L	11	0
Camembert	300	20	0 / L	24	0
Cheddar Cheese	403	25	1 / L	33	0
Cheshire Cheese	387	23	5 / L	31	0
Cottage Cheese	98	11	3 / L	4	0
Cow's Milk, 3.25% fat	60	3	5 / L	3	0
Edam Cheese	357	25	1 / L	28	0
Feta Cheese	264	14	4 / L	21	0
Goat's Cheese, Hard	452	31	2 / L	36	0
Goat's Cheese, Soft	268	19	1 / L	21	0
Goat's Milk	69	4	4 / L	4	0
Gouda	356	25	2 / L	27	0
Gruyère	413	30	0 / L	32	0
Mozzarella	300	22	2 / L	22	0
Parmesan	392	36	3 / L	26	0
Ricotta	174	11	3 / L	13	0
Roquefort	369	22	2 / L	31	0
Yoghurt, plain whole milk	61	3	5 / L	3	0

Beans and Legumes10 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Black Beans, cooked	132	9	24 / L	1	9
Chickpeas, cooked	164	9	27 / L	3	8
Haricot Beans, cooked	140	8	26 / L	1	11
Kidney Beans, cooked	127	9	23 / L	0	7
Lentils, cooked	116	9	20 / L	0	8
Lima Beans, cooked	115	8	21 / L	0	7
Miso	199	12	26 / M	6	5
Pinto Beans, cooked	143	9	26 / L	1	9
Tempeh	193	19	9 / L	11	0
Tofu	76	8	2 / L	5	0

Poultry and Meat16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Beef fillet, pan fried	179	28	0 / L	7	0
Beef Sirloin, 0% fat, pan-fried	188	30	0 / L	7	0
Beef Mince, 5% fat, cooked	137	21	0 / L	5	0
Chicken Breast, oven cooked	165	31	0 / L	4	0
Chicken Breast, pan/stir fried	187	33	1 / L	5	0
Chicken Legs without skin, oven cooked	191	27	0 / L	8	0
Chicken Thighs without skin, oven cooked	209	26	0 / L	11	0
Duck Breast without skin, oven cooked	201	23	0 / L	11	11
Duck Breast without skin, pan/stir fried	140	28	0 / L	3	3
Lamb Mince, cooked	283	25	0 / L	20	0
Pork Mince, cooked	297	26	0 / L	21	0
Pork Loin, cooked	131	25	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Breast without Skin, oven cooked	135	30	0 / L	1	0
Turkey Legs without Skin, oven cooked	159	29	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Mince, cooked	235	27	0 / L	13	0
Venison Steak, cooked	152	31	0 / L	2	0

Nuts and Seeds16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Almonds	575	21	22 / L	49	12
Brazil Nuts	656	14	12 / L	66	8
Cashews	553	18	33 / M	44	3
Chia seeds	490	16	44 / L	31	38
Coconut, fresh	354	3	15 / L	33	9
Flaxseeds	534	18	29 / L	42	27
Peanuts, plain	567	26	16 / L	49	8
Pine nuts	673	14	13 / L	68	4
Pistachio, plain	557	21	28 / L	44	10
Pumpkin Seeds	541	25	18 / L	46	4
Sesame Seeds	573	18	23 / L	50	12
Sunflower Seeds	584	21	20 / L	51	9
Walnuts	654	15	14 / L	65	7
Hazelnuts	628	15	17 / L	61	10
Chestnuts, roasted	245	3	53 / H	2	5
Pecans	691	9	14 / L	72	10

Dried Fruits4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	241	3	63 / H	1	7
Cranberries, sweetened	308	0	82 / H	1	6
Prunes	240	2	64 / H	0	7
Raisins, seedless	299	3	79 / H	0	4

Grains15 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Barley, Pearled	352	10	78 / H	1	16
Bread, Pitta Wholewheat	266	10	55 / H	3	7
Bread, Rye	258	8	48 / H	3	6
Bread, Wheat	266	11	48 / H	4	4
Bread, Wholewheat Commercial	247	13	41 / M	3	7
Buckwheat	343	13	71 / H	1	10
Millet, cooked	119	4	24 / M	1	1
Oats	389	17	66 / H	7	11
Quinoa, cooked	120	4	21 / L	2	3
Rice, Brown Long Grain, cooked	111	3	23 / M	1	2
Rice, White Long Grain, cooked	130	3	28 / M	0	0
Rice Noodles, cooked	109	1	25 / M	0	1
Rice, Wild, cooked	101	4	21 / L	0	2
Rye	335	15	70 / H	3	15
Spelt, cooked	127	5	26 / M	1	4

Natural Sweeteners3 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Honey	304	0	82 / H	0	0
Maple Syrup	261	0	67 / H	0	0
Molasses	290	0	75 / H	0	0

Oil4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Coconut Oil	862	0	0 / L	100	0
Olive Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0
Rapeseed Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0
Walnut Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0

GL = glycaemic load: L low, M medium, H high. Tap a section to open it.

Nutritional data table – Foods to avoid

Your food list

Foods to limit or avoid

FoodWhy

• Highly processed foods

  Typically these foods are low in nutrients and high in artificial chemicals and preservatives, which are potentially damaging to the body. These include ready-made meals, breakfast cereals, tinned produce, white bread, refined grains, cheese, fast food, crisps, fizzy drinks, bacon and ham.

• Added sugar or high fructose corn syrup

  These have a negative effect on your hormones. High sugar consumption is linked to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

• Trans fats (also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats)

  These are unsaturated fats that have been chemically changed to increase shelf life and make them solid at room temperature. They increase levels of small dense LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good kind). They also increase abdominal fat, which can lead to various health problems.

• Seed and vegetable oils

  They contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids, but these need to be in the correct ratio with omega 3 for optimal use by the body. If not in balance it can lead to inflammation in the body.

• Artificial sweeteners

  These can increase your appetite as your body is expecting a large hit of carbohydrate that doesn’t arrive. They have been linked with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Sweeteners are also many times sweeter than table sugar and therefore can perpetuate sweet cravings.

• Low fat or diet foods

  Often these products are high in wheat, high in sugar and highly processed, so you may be better to choose the full fat version.

• Grains

  Be aware to eat the right type of grains at the right time of day for your particular body type and goal (this will differ for each person and is explained in your nutrient timing section). If you feel uncomfortable after eating them, it may be worth considering having an intolerance test.

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RECIPES

Check out our recipe page for lots of healthy tasty meals. 

Beneath every recipe there is a chart to advice you whether it's a good meal for an Endomorph on a fat loss goal, and if so then what time of day to eat it and whether to remove/add carbohydrate. Also remember to watch the video at the top of the recipe page for an explanation on how to use the chart.

Meat and poultry
Fish and seafood
Vegetarian
Smoothies

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NUTRITION INFO FOR YOU GEEKS

For those of you who are interested in understanding the science behind our methods, this is the section for you. Tap any topic to read more.

The science of fat lossHow your body releases and burns fatRead more Why your body type mattersSame pathways, different strengthsRead more How fat loss worksStep by step, inside your bodyRead more Why your plan suits youYour fibres, insulin and fuelRead more Metabolism and carbohydrateHow your body handles carbsRead more Meal timing and eating timesWhy your meals are spaced as they areRead more Around trainingWhat happens when you trainRead more Food, sleep and your bodyFibre, sleep and key nutrientsRead more ElectrolytesWhat they do and why they matterRead more Changing your foodWhy your targets change graduallyRead more Mild vs extreme dietingWhy the size of your deficit mattersRead more Muscle damage and repairHow training builds you back strongerRead more Sleep and your hormonesHunger, blood sugar and repairRead more

The science of fat loss

How your body releases and burns fat

Your body stores energy in two main places: as fat in your fat cells, and as glycogen (stored carbohydrate) in your muscles and liver. To lose fat, your body must take in less energy than it uses (an energy deficit) so that it has to make up the difference by releasing stored fat.

When energy is short, a fuel gauge inside your cells called AMPK switches on. It tells your body to release fat from your fat cells (a process called lipolysis) and burn it in your mitochondria. Low insulin, together with the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline (released during exercise), opens the fat cells’ doors. This is why keeping insulin low between meals matters so much for fat loss.

AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase)A fuel gauge inside every cell. When energy runs low (during exercise, or when you eat less than you use), AMPK switches on. It tells the cell to burn fat and sugar for energy and to pause energy-hungry jobs such as building new muscle.

LipolysisThe release of stored fat from your fat cells. The fat is split into fatty acids, which travel in the blood to your muscles and other tissues to be burned for energy. Insulin slows lipolysis down; adrenaline, noradrenaline and low insulin speed it up.

The challenge is that AMPK also slows muscle building, and your body treats a large energy shortage as a threat: it lowers leptin (the hormone that tells your brain you have enough fat stored), slows your metabolism and starts breaking down muscle for fuel. Your plan therefore creates a deficit large enough to release fat but small enough to protect muscle, with enough protein and regular training to keep the muscle-building switch, mTORC1, turned on.

mTORC1The master ‘build’ switch inside your muscle cells. It is switched on by lifting weights, by protein (especially the amino acid leucine) and by insulin, and switched off when energy is short. When it is on, your muscles make new protein.

The key facts

Main pathways	AMPK (the fuel gauge) and lipolysis: releasing and burning stored fat
Main fuel	Stored body fat at rest and during easy activity; glycogen during hard training
What your nutrition must do	Create a controlled deficit, keep insulin low between meals, keep protein high and fuel training so muscle is kept

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Why your body type matters

Same pathways, different strengths

These pathways are the same in every body. What your genetics change is how strongly each one works: your mix of muscle fibres, how sensitive your muscles are to insulin, how fast your metabolism runs and how much fuel you can store. Your tendencies: Mostly fast-twitch; lowest insulin sensitivity; fat release easily blocked by insulin; large muscle mass. So your plan: Largest deficit with diet breaks; 3 to 4 meals; carbohydrate only after activity.

Insulin sensitivityHow well your muscles respond to insulin. High sensitivity means a small amount of insulin moves sugar quickly into your muscles. Low sensitivity (insulin resistance) means more insulin is needed, fat burning stays switched off for longer, and spare sugar is more easily stored as fat. It is partly genetic but improves greatly with training.

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How fat loss works

Step by step, inside your body

Here is what is actually happening inside your body as you work towards your goal, step by step.

Step 1: The energy gap. You eat a little less energy than your body uses each day. Your body still needs that energy, so it has to find the difference from its own stores.

Step 2: The signal to release fat. Between meals your insulin falls, and the fuel gauge AMPK switches on because energy is short. During exercise your body also releases adrenaline and noradrenaline. Together, low insulin and these hormones tell your fat cells to open up.

Step 3: Fat leaves the fat cell. Inside each fat cell, fat is stored as triglycerides: three fatty acids joined together. The enzyme hormone-sensitive lipase cuts them apart, and the fatty acids pass into your blood to be carried to your muscles.

Hormone-sensitive lipaseThe enzyme inside fat cells that cuts stored fat into fatty acids so they can be released and burned. Adrenaline switches it on; insulin switches it off.

Step 4: Fat is burned. In the muscle, the fatty acids are carried into the mitochondria by a transporter called carnitine. There they are broken down, step by step, to make ATP, the energy that powers every cell. The leftovers are carbon dioxide and water: about 80% of the fat you lose actually leaves your body in your breath.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate)The energy currency of every cell. All the fuel you eat (carbohydrate, fat and protein) is turned into ATP, and ATP is what directly powers every muscle contraction.

Step 5: The fat cell shrinks. Fat cells do not disappear when you lose fat. They empty and shrink, which is why your shape changes.

Step 6: Muscle is protected. Because AMPK also brakes muscle building, a deficit can eat into muscle. Your gym training and enough protein keep the muscle-building switch, mTORC1, turned on, so the energy gap is filled from fat rather than muscle.

How these steps work in your body type: In your body type, step 2 is the main bottleneck: low insulin sensitivity keeps insulin raised for longer, holding fat inside your fat cells, and fewer mitochondria slow step 4. Your plan’s fewest meals, carbohydrate only after activity and walks after meals all lower insulin so fat can be released. Step 6 is your advantage: your muscle is easy to keep.

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Why your plan suits you

Your fibres, insulin and fuel

Power body types are dominated by fast-twitch (power) muscle fibres, the fibres used for powerful, short bursts of effort. These grow easily, which is why you build muscle so readily. Fast-twitch fibres have the biggest muscle-building response to training of any fibre type. Once trained, this is a real advantage: muscle is your best tool for fat loss.

Your genetics give you mostly fast-twitch fibres, the lowest insulin sensitivity of all the body types and fewer mitochondria, so fat release is easily blocked by insulin and fat burning at rest is lower. Your large muscle mass is a real asset. That is why your plan uses the largest deficit with diet breaks, the fewest meals, carbohydrate only after activity, walks after meals and high protein to protect your muscle.

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Metabolism and carbohydrate

How your body handles carbs

Why carbohydrate is harder for you: your muscles are less sensitive to insulin, so your body has to release more of it to clear sugar from the blood. More insulin means fat burning stays switched off for longer, and spare sugar is more easily stored as fat. The good news is that training improves this: each session makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin for up to 24 to 48 hours, which is why your carbohydrates are best eaten after training. Consistency pays off: after 8 to 12 weeks of regular resistance and aerobic training, even Power-leaning body types show big improvements in how well their muscles respond to insulin.

Your muscles are dominated by fast-twitch fibres, which have the fewest mitochondria and rely most on carbohydrate for fuel. They also respond least to insulin, because fewer GLUT4 ‘doors’ move to the surface when insulin knocks. Your pancreas compensates by releasing more insulin, and high insulin switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that frees fat from fat cells, so fat stays locked away for longer. Exercise opens the GLUT4 doors without needing insulin, which is why your carbohydrate is placed after activity.

GLUT4A ‘door’ (transporter) that lets sugar from the blood into your muscle cells. Insulin moves GLUT4 doors to the surface of the cell; exercise does the same thing on its own, without needing insulin. The more GLUT4 doors your muscles have, the better you handle carbohydrate.

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Meal timing and eating times

Why your meals are spaced as they are

Your meal timing

Your body type has the lowest insulin sensitivity, so insulin stays raised the longest after each meal, and while it is raised, hormone-sensitive lipase (the enzyme that releases fat) is switched off. Two or three well-spaced meals mean the fewest insulin rises and the longest periods when fat can be released. Your large muscle mass is a big store for protein and glycogen, so you can make good use of larger meals.

Your eating times

Your body type has the largest glycogen stores and holds on to muscle best, so it gains the most and risks the least from a fasted start. Low insulin keeps hormone-sensitive lipase (the fat-releasing enzyme) switched on, and training in that state activates AMPK, which brings more GLUT4 “doors” to the muscle surface and improves how your muscles handle carbohydrate, the area your body type needs most help with.

Your eating window and meal spread

What the research shows about eating windows. Most trials of time-restricted eating (eating within a set number of hours each day) use windows of 6 to 10 hours. In men with prediabetes, eating within 6 hours on the same calories improved insulin sensitivity without any weight loss (Sutton, 2018); in adults with obesity, an early 8-hour window gave a little more weight loss and lower blood pressure than a 12-hour one (Jamshed, 2022). Resistance-trained men eating within 8 hours kept their muscle and strength and lost fat (Moro, 2016). But when calories are matched, adding an eating window to a calorie reduction does not by itself produce more weight loss (Liu, 2022), and without protein and weight training some of the weight lost can be muscle (Lowe, 2020). So your eating window is a tool for controlling how much you eat and, for the less insulin-sensitive body types, for improving insulin sensitivity. It works together with your calorie target, protein and training, not instead of them.

Protein per meal. Muscle protein synthesis (the building of new muscle protein) is switched on by each meal that passes the ‘leucine threshold’: enough of the amino acid leucine to trigger mTORC1, the muscle’s build switch. In younger adults the response is close to its maximum at about 0.25g of protein per kilogram in a meal, and in adults over about 60 at about 0.4g per kilogram, because ageing muscle needs a stronger signal (‘anabolic resistance’). Very large servings are not wasted, but each extra gram does less, which is why your protein is spread across at least three meals.

Evening training. For a couple of hours after training, muscle contraction moves GLUT4 doors to the surface of the muscle cell without needing insulin, at any time of day, so carbohydrate eaten after an evening session still goes into muscle, and the evening fall in insulin sensitivity is largely overridden. That is why your shake and post-training meal keep their large share. Training also leaves your muscles more sensitive to insulin for about 24 to 48 hours, an effect linked to glycogen being partly used; refilling glycogen as fast as possible switches it off sooner, and studies that held some carbohydrate back after exercise found better insulin sensitivity the next day (Holtz, 2008). Glycogen refills within about 24 hours anyway, so on evening-training days a slightly smaller total keeps the session working for you overnight.

Training fasted. Training first thing, before eating, means training with insulin at its overnight low, so more stored fat is used during the session. Over the whole day, though, the body balances this out by burning less fat later: when calories are the same, fasted and fed exercise produce the same fat loss (Schoenfeld, 2014). Training fasted is therefore an option if it suits your routine, not a fat-loss advantage in itself.

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Around training

What happens when you train

Training is when your body type handles carbohydrate best. Muscle contraction moves GLUT4 ‘doors’ to the surface of the muscle cell without needing insulin, getting around your low insulin sensitivity for the first 30 to 60 minutes and keeping it improved for up to 24 to 48 hours. That is why your carbohydrate is placed only after activity. Your fast-twitch fibres have the biggest rise in muscle building of any type after training (up to 120 to 180% above resting), but it fades within about 12 to 24 hours, so getting protein in promptly matters.

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Food, sleep and your body

Fibre, sleep and key nutrients

Low-GL foods and fibre slow the speed at which sugar reaches your blood, so insulin rises gently instead of spiking. Fibre also feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, which make compounds that improve insulin sensitivity and appetite control. Sleep matters because even one poor night can reduce insulin sensitivity the next day and raise cortisol, the stress hormone that encourages muscle breakdown and fat storage around the middle. Chromium, magnesium and omega-3 fats all help insulin work better inside the muscle cell, and fermented foods support the gut bacteria linked to better blood-sugar control.

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Electrolytes

What they do and why they matter

Electrolytes are minerals that carry a tiny electrical charge when they dissolve in your body’s fluids. That charge is what lets your nerves send signals and your muscles contract: every heartbeat and every rep depends on them. Electrolytes also decide where water goes in your body: sodium holds water outside your cells and potassium holds it inside, so the balance between them controls how well hydrated your muscles and blood stay.

ElectrolytesMinerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride that carry an electrical charge in your body fluids. They power nerve signals and muscle contractions and control the balance of water inside and outside your cells.

When you sweat you lose mostly water and sodium (roughly 0.5 to 1.8g of sodium in every litre of sweat), with only small amounts of potassium, magnesium and calcium. Running low can show up as cramp, headaches, tiredness, dizziness and weaker training. A balanced diet covers most people’s needs; a pinch of salt or an electrolyte drink matters mainly after long or very sweaty sessions, or in hot weather.

Electrolyte	What it does	Signs of low levels	Good food sources
Sodium	Holds water in your blood and around your cells; carries nerve signals. The main electrolyte lost in sweat.	Headache, nausea, tiredness, muscle cramps, confusion; in severe cases, seizures.	Salt, stock, olives, cheese, bread
Potassium	Holds water inside your cells; sets the electrical charge across nerve and muscle cells; controls heart rhythm.	Muscle weakness, cramps, tiredness, constipation, palpitations or an irregular heartbeat.	Potatoes, bananas, beans, lentils, leafy greens, avocado
Magnesium	Needed by over 300 enzymes, including those that make energy (ATP); helps muscles relax; keeps nerves from over-firing.	Muscle cramps, twitches and tremor, tiredness, weakness and an irregular heartbeat; low magnesium also lowers potassium and calcium.	Leafy greens, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, dark chocolate
Calcium	Triggers every muscle contraction; builds bones; helps blood clot and nerves signal.	Short term: tingling around the mouth and in the fingertips, muscle spasms and cramps. Long term: weaker bones and a higher risk of stress fractures.	Dairy, fortified plant milks, tinned fish with bones, tofu
Chloride	Works with sodium to balance fluids; used to make stomach acid for digestion.	Usually lost together with sodium: weakness, tiredness, cramps and signs of dehydration.	Salt, seaweed, tomatoes, olives

How low levels cause these signs. Every nerve and muscle cell carries a small electrical charge across its membrane, set by the balance of sodium and potassium inside and outside the cell. Sodium: when blood sodium falls (most often from drinking large amounts of plain water during long, sweaty sessions), water moves into cells by osmosis (water moving towards where dissolved minerals are more concentrated), and swelling of brain cells causes the headache, nausea and confusion. Potassium: low potassium makes the resting charge across cells more negative, so nerves and muscles are harder to fire, causing weakness, and the heart’s rhythm can be disturbed. Magnesium acts as a natural brake on calcium entry into nerve and muscle cells; when it is low, nerves fire too easily, causing cramps, twitches and tremor, and the kidneys lose more potassium. Calcium: your blood calcium is held very steady by parathyroid hormone, which draws calcium from bone when intake is low, so a low intake usually shows up slowly, as weaker bones; when blood calcium itself falls, nerves become over-excitable and muscles spasm. Chloride is lost alongside sodium in sweat and vomiting, so its signs are those of sodium loss and dehydration.

These signs have many possible causes. If they persist, see your GP: a simple blood test can check your electrolyte levels.

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Changing your food

Why your targets change gradually

Why calories change gradually. Leptin is made by your fat cells and acts on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger and energy use. In an energy deficit leptin falls quickly (within days, and further than the fat you have lost would explain), and the brain responds by raising hunger, lowering the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (which drives energy use), and reducing everyday movement (NEAT). At the same time, the conversion of the storage thyroid hormone T4 into active T3 falls, so cells burn less energy. Together these changes are called adaptive thermogenesis: energy use falls by more than the weight lost would predict. The bigger and faster the cut, the stronger the response. In the opposite direction, a large sudden surplus delivers more energy than the muscle can use (muscle can only be built slowly), so the extra is stored as fat, mostly from dietary fat, which needs very little processing to be stored.

NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis)The calories you burn through everyday movement that is not planned exercise: walking, standing, fidgeting, household jobs. It can differ by hundreds of calories a day between people.

Where the energy comes from in a deficit. Between meals and overnight your liver releases its glycogen to keep blood sugar steady. As that runs low, the liver makes new glucose by gluconeogenesis: from glycerol (released from fat), lactate, and amino acids, mainly alanine and glutamine released from muscle protein. Cortisol and glucagon drive this process. The larger the deficit and the lower the carbohydrate, the more amino acids are drawn from muscle. An energy deficit also slows the building side: in short-term studies, muscle protein synthesis fell by about a quarter. That is why protein is kept high, weight training continues, and the deficit is matched to your body type: larger for yours, because your fast-twitch muscle and calmer stress response protect it well.

GluconeogenesisMaking new glucose (sugar) from non-sugar sources. The liver uses glycerol (released from fat), lactate, and amino acids (mainly alanine and glutamine, released from muscle protein). It rises when glycogen is low and is driven by the hormones cortisol and glucagon.

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Mild vs extreme dieting

Why the size of your deficit matters

A calorie deficit means eating less energy than your body uses, so it has to make up the difference from its stores, ideally fat. The size of the deficit changes how the body reacts.

Mild vs extreme: the key difference

A mild deficit is roughly 10 to 30% below what you burn each day, with planned diet breaks at the top end, giving a loss at the weekly rate set for your body type in your plan. The body treats this as a normal ups-and-downs period. It releases stored fat to cover the gap, and your hormones, muscle and metabolism carry on largely as normal.

An extreme deficit is roughly 40% or more below what you burn: very-low-calorie diets, long fasts, or heavy training on too little food. The body treats this as a famine. It switches on a survival programme designed to save energy and protect life, and that programme works against your goal.

Leptin, the fuel-gauge hormone made by your fat cells, depends partly on how much food is coming in, so on a crash diet it can halve within two to three days, before much fat has gone. The brain reads that sudden fall as famine and starts conserving. On a mild deficit leptin falls slowly, in step with the fat you lose, so the alarm is never sounded.

What goes wrong with an extreme deficit

Your metabolism slows down more than it should. Losing weight always lowers the energy you burn a little, because there is less of you. In an extreme deficit the body cuts further, in the ways explained in “Changing your food”. In a famine, the body that burns the least survives longest, so the brain treats saving energy as the priority. This “adaptive” slowdown can last for years. Six years after a TV weight-loss competition, contestants were still burning about 500 kcal a day less than expected for their size.

You lose muscle, not just fat. A quarter or more of the weight lost on a crash diet can be lean tissue, and leaner people lose more, because they have less fat available to cover the shortfall. Less muscle means a lower metabolism, less strength and a body that looks “softer” at the same weight.

Your hormones are turned down. Reproduction uses a lot of energy, so the brain switches it off when food is short. Sex hormones are made on instructions from the brain. The hypothalamus sends pulses of a hormone called GnRH, which tells the pituitary gland to release LH and FSH, which in turn tell the ovaries or testes to make oestrogen or testosterone. Low leptin, low insulin, high ghrelin and the stress hormone CRH all slow those GnRH pulses, so the instruction to make sex hormones gets weaker. Cortisol adds to this by making the pituitary and the ovaries or testes less responsive. In women this can mean irregular or missing periods. In men, testosterone falls, and the liver makes more SHBG, a protein that binds testosterone so less of it is usable. Both affect libido, mood, energy and the ability to keep muscle.

A common myth: “pregnenolone steal”It is often said that cortisol “uses up” the raw material (pregnenolone, made from cholesterol) needed for sex hormones. Research doesn’t support this. Each gland makes its own hormones from its own cholesterol supply, so the adrenal glands making cortisol don’t drain what the ovaries or testes need. Sex hormones fall mainly because the brain turns the signal down, not because the ingredients run out.

Your bones weaken. Lower oestrogen, testosterone and growth signals mean bone is broken down faster than it is rebuilt. Oestrogen normally holds back the cells that dissolve bone (osteoclasts), while growth signals such as IGF-1 support the cells that build it (osteoblasts), so when both fall the balance tips towards loss. This raises the risk of stress fractures and, in the long term, thin bones (osteoporosis). Unlike most effects, bone loss may not fully recover, especially in younger people.

Other effects. These include feeling cold, tiredness, a slow heart rate, dizziness, bloating and constipation, poor sleep, low mood, irritability and constant thoughts about food. The body is cutting the energy cost of everything it can. It makes less heat, slows the heart and narrows blood vessels to the hands and feet to protect core temperature, and the gut muscles move more slowly. Meanwhile low leptin and high ghrelin make the brain focus on finding food.

Fat loss can appear to stall. Raised cortisol can cause water retention that hides fat loss on the scales, and the slower metabolism shrinks the real deficit. The diet feels harder while results slow down.

Why this mattersAn extreme diet doesn’t just lose weight faster. It changes what kind of weight you lose, and it leaves your body set up to regain it.

Yo-yo dieting: why the weight comes back, and more of it as fat

Yo-yo dieting (weight cycling) means repeatedly losing weight on a hard diet and then regaining it. The real problem is what happens after an extreme diet ends, when your body is primed to refill its stores:

• Hunger stays high. Leptin (the fullness signal) stays low and ghrelin (the hunger hormone from the stomach) stays high, for a year or more after a very-low-calorie diet, because the brain still reads your reserves as “not yet safe” and wants them refilled.
• You burn less. The metabolic slowdown persists while appetite is raised, which is the perfect set-up for regain.
• Fat cells grab fat quickly. Fat cells don’t disappear when you lose weight; they shrink. Shrunken fat cells raise their fat-storing enzyme, lipoprotein lipase (LPL, which pulls fat out of the blood into the cell), above its original level, so incoming food is stored efficiently.
• Fat comes back faster than muscle. The body keeps hunger high until lost muscle is rebuilt, and fat piles on while it waits. This is called “fat overshoot”. In the classic Minnesota starvation study, men regained more fat than they started with before their muscle had recovered.
• It tends to go to the middle first. Early regained fat is laid down preferentially around the trunk and abdomen, the area most linked to health risks. This is likely because stress hormones are still raised just as insulin returns with food, and abdominal fat is especially responsive to that combination.

Repeat the cycle and it compounds. Each round can take away muscle and give back fat, so you can end up at the same weight with a higher body fat percentage, a slower metabolism and a body that finds the next diet harder. Repeated cycles are also linked with a more difficult relationship with food, and some studies associate frequent weight cycling with poorer heart and metabolic health, although the evidence there is still mixed.

Why this mattersThe biggest risk of an extreme diet isn’t during the diet but after it. A steady approach that you can keep up beats a fast one you have to recover from. That is why your plan keeps your deficit moderate, your protein high and your training hard, with planned breaks and a gradual finish.

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Muscle damage and repair

How training builds you back stronger

Hard training, especially the lowering part of each rep, causes small-scale damage in the muscle fibre: some of the contractile filaments are pulled out of line and the fibre’s membrane becomes leaky, letting calcium in. Calcium switches on enzymes called calpains that begin breaking down the damaged proteins. White blood cells then move in: first neutrophils, which clear debris, then macrophages, which also release growth factors such as IGF-1 that activate the muscle’s stem cells (satellite cells). Over the following days the damaged areas are rebuilt, and the muscle adapts so the same work causes less damage next time. Soreness from this process (DOMS) usually peaks 24 to 72 hours after a session.

Exercise-induced muscle damageTiny disruptions in the muscle fibre caused by hard training (especially the lowering part of each rep), which the body then repairs. It is what causes delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which usually peaks 24 to 72 hours after a session.

Damage is part of the process but not the goal: the main signal for muscle growth is mechanical tension (the force the muscle produces against the weight), which switches on mTORC1. Nutrition supports repair and adaptation: protein supplies the amino acids to rebuild, carbohydrate refills glycogen, and getting both in soon after training makes the most of the session, especially if you trained fasted or several hours after your last meal. Over the whole day, your total protein and carbohydrate matter most; timing adds to that rather than replacing it.

Vegetables and salad only in the evening meal (unless you have just trained or been active). In the evening, insulin sensitivity is at its lowest, and yours is lower to begin with, so starchy carbohydrate eaten then is more easily stored as fat. Vegetables and salad give fibre, vitamins and minerals while keeping insulin low overnight, so stored fat can keep being released while you sleep.

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Sleep and your hormones

Hunger, blood sugar and repair

Hunger and appetite. Sleep loss shifts the two hormones that control hunger. Ghrelin, the ‘hunger hormone’ made by the stomach, rises; leptin, the ‘fullness’ hormone made by fat cells, falls. In a controlled study, two nights of four hours’ sleep lowered leptin by 18%, raised ghrelin by 28% and increased hunger by about a quarter, with the strongest cravings for high-carbohydrate, high-calorie foods (Spiegel, 2004). Brain scans show why: after a short night, the brain’s reward areas respond more strongly to food, while the frontal areas that weigh up decisions are less active (Greer, 2013). Across studies, people who are short of sleep eat roughly 250 to 400 kcal more the next day, enough to cancel out much of a typical fat-loss deficit.

GhrelinThe ‘hunger hormone’, made mainly by the stomach. It rises before meals and acts on the hypothalamus to make you feel hungry; it falls after you eat.

Blood sugar and insulin. A single night of four hours’ sleep reduced insulin sensitivity by about a fifth in healthy adults (Donga, 2010). The causes include raised evening cortisol, higher activity of the sympathetic (‘fight or flight’) nervous system, and more fatty acids in the blood, which interfere with insulin’s signal inside the muscle cell. The result is that the same meal raises blood sugar and insulin higher, and more of it is stored.

Repair and growth. The largest pulse of growth hormone each day is released in the first period of deep (slow-wave) sleep, early in the night, and testosterone rises during sleep and peaks in the morning. Both support repair and muscle building, and both fall when sleep is cut short.

Deep (slow-wave) sleepThe deepest stage of sleep, when brain waves are slow and large. Most of it comes in the first half of the night, and it is when the biggest pulse of growth hormone is released.

For your goal: In one study of people on the same calorie-reduced diet, those sleeping 5.5 hours a night lost the same weight as those sleeping 8.5 hours, but 55% less of it was fat, and about 60% more of it was muscle (Nedeltcheva, 2010). Short sleep therefore turns fat loss into muscle loss. Your muscles are already the least sensitive to insulin of any body type, so the further drop that short sleep causes affects you most.

Your personalised sleep recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.

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