Keep Kyle Fit is a fitness initiative created by Will Caldwell, Program Coordinator @ Dojo Kyle Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Personal Trainer. Will’s goal is to lead our community into healthier lifestyles through affordable, effective group workouts and education that empowers people to make better choices for their health.
Nutrition Basics
The following is an excerpt from a free ebook I put together called Fitness Made Simple. We are a jiu-jitsu school, but we offer fitness classes for members and non-members. You don’t have to be in great shape to start jiu-jitsu and it has been our experience at Dojo Kyle that the people who get out of their comfort zone and take the plunge into the lifestyle, not only get exercise, but they also join a community of people who are interested in nutrition, fitness, and general healthy living. I hope you enjoy the article. -Will
Calorie basics & macro breakdown
A calorie is a unit of energy given by food. Fit people usually focus on their macronutrient profile instead of strictly monitoring calories. So what is a macronutrient? It’s a substance (such as protein, fat, or carbohydrate) essential in large amounts to the growth and health of a human. Macronutrients are measured in grams but they can be broken down into calories.
The basics:
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
When reading a label keep in mind that the calorie total is just the sum of it’s macronutrient profile.
Reading a label properly
Understanding how to read a label properly can help a trainee make more informed decision on what they’re putting into their body.
With this egg… 
fat: 9 x 4.5 = 40.5 calories
protein: 4 x 6 = 24 calories
carbs 4 x ~1 = ~4 calories
Rounded up to 70 total calories on this label.
Extra credit:
Trans fats do not occur in nature. That’s weird, right? Don’t put them in your body! Read more about trans fats.
Calories are Energy
Everyone’s body requires a certain amount of calories (energy) to function properly. This is usually a lower level than the amount of calories required for a person to maintain their current weight. If a trainee eats more than their body’s maintenance level of calories, the excess will be stored and the trainee will gain weight. Sometimes these extra calories will be used to build muscle if a fitness routine is being followed, but more commonly they are stored as body fat on a sedentary individual. If a trainee eats less than their maintenance level of calories, their body will begin to use itself for fuel and they will lose weight.
Ideally, a trainee will maintain (or gain) muscle while losing excess body fat. Without proper eating habits and macronutrient percentages, new trainees will often lose fat and lean body mass by solely restricting their calories. We will go into more detail as this manual progresses.
Basic Calorie Breakdown
The typical fitness diet will be broken down by macronutrients and displayed as 30% protein/40% carbohydrate/30% fat or something generally near this range. Depending on a trainees goals, these numbers can be adjusted. But for the sake of this example, the above percentages will be used.
With 2000 calories as an example ( find your daily required calories here)
30% protein= 600cal (150g)
40% carbs= 800cal (200g)
30% fat= 600cal (66.6g)
Where most trainees fall short is protein intake. The typical American diet doesn’t usually require much effort to reach carb or fat requirements, but getting these calories from healthy sources can be challenging.
Protein should be consumed with every meal and spread out over the day. Our bodies aren’t as efficient at storing protein as they are with carbs and fat, so a steady stream throughout the day is recommended. To read more about how your body uses macronutrients CLICK HERE.
Basic food choices 
In general, a guideline for new trainees is that the less processed a food is, the more acceptable it is as a food choice. We all understand how fruits, vegetables, meats, seeds, nuts, legumes, and (for occasional use) dairy are produced, and they are also generally safe bets as healthy choices. While bread, pasta, TV dinners, sugary beverages, and sweets, are more complicated to produce and in general also considered more unhealthy.
A basic rule of thumb is if a trainee can’t pronounce the ingredients on the product, it shouldn’t be a staple of their long-term diet.
Having an eating system
The eating system that has given me the most success was developed by John Berardi, PhD, of Precision Nutrition. Berardi offers sensible advice that not only focuses on improving body composition, but also achieving the results in a healthy manner. Just because a trainee is losing weight doesn’t necessarily mean they are improving their health.
The following section regarding healthy eating habits is based on my experience following the Precision Nutrition system since 2006. The information can be found freely on the internet, but the reader should consider purchasing Berardi’s products for two reasons: one, they’re very good and take human nature into account; and two, when a person pays for something, they are more likely to follow the advice and work at it because they have some “skin in the game.”
John Berardi, PhD. Nutrition wiz and the man with a plan for you.
The general guidelines Berardi lays out for healthy eating habits are:
1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what. You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
2. Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.
3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.
4.Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables. Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals.
5.Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
6. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.
7. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
Calorie Counting
The dreaded calorie counting. Maybe there are a few people out there who can get into it, but for most trainees, it’s just a means to an end. Unfortunately in the early stages of a trainee’s fitness lifestyle, it is necessary. After a few months of measuring and weighing portions, trainees can graduate to “eyeballing it,” because they will have spent the time initially learning what serving sizes look like. A phone app such as My Fitness Pal can make life a lot easier, but the trainee has to be committed to keeping accurate track of their calories – including the 2,000 calorie meal they consumed with one drive-thru meal at Burger King.
Meal Preparation
A little planning can go a long way to insure a trainee is able to follow the healthy eating habits above. The idea is planning and preparing all of the meals for the week in a couple of hours. It could be any day of the week, but Sunday is usually people’s lazy day when they’re around the house and can knock this out. If Tuesday night is a trainee’s preferred time, it is fine as long as they stick with it.
The basic idea of meal prep is to plan out 2-3 big meals (6-10 servings), break them down into individual containers, and take the individual meals to work with you.
Packing Your Meals
A lunch box is a little embarrassing to carry around at first, but as a trainee’s body begins to improve, the embarrassment of the lunch box is offset by the confidence that comes from being in shape. With proper packing, up to 5 healthy meals can be kept ready to go throughout the day. One of the hardest parts of eating correctly for new trainees is managing portions. At a restaurant, a plate of food could be up to 2,000 calories. Most people don’t have the self-control to eat ¼ of their meal and take the other ¾ to go- and even if it is taken to go, can it be properly stored once back at the office?
With a lunchbox and tupperware, it is easy to pack the correct portion size and it is easy to stop eating once the entire portion has been finished.
Fad diets
This has been covered probably a million times so there is no need to go into too much detail concerning fad diets. People who lead fit lifestyles rarely diet. They do make healthy decisions with food, might lower their calories, or make some other adjustments to their eating habits, but in general they know investing their time and money in achieving long-term success is a more sensible approach. A term often used in the fitness community is “delayed gratification;” sacrifice today’s short-term success with dieting for sustained long-term success by following the advice in this manual. It will end up being easier to just do it right the first time.
The 90% Rule
For any trainee, perfection with their diet shouldn’t be the goal. If they are eating correctly 90% of the time, results will still be impressive and mental sanity will be spared.
The 90% rule allows for you to make some mistakes during the week as well. If a trainee misses breakfast, that is going to count as part of the 10% that makes up their “anything meals”. It is recommended that trainees not waste their 10% on missing meals or eating lunch out of the vending machine. Ideally, these meals will be planned. They should be favorite meals of the trainee that don’t fit the healthy eating habits but are enjoyable. Friday night could be a scheduled pizza night if a trainee has been compliant for the week.
With the 90% rule, a trainee can maintain a healthy lifestyle without having to give anything up forever.
Supplements & post-workout
Supplements, in general, should be kept fairly basic. It’s important to realize that supplements are a multibillion dollar industry and claims aren’t verified by the FDA or another watchdog group, which results in the marketing being over the top and occasionally misleading. There are a few supplements I recommend and to continue reading, download the full 30 page ebook here.
