Tip How to Not Be Chubby Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Eating Tip How to Not Be Chubby It takes a lot of work to get ripped but going from flabby to average Not too tough Here' s your plan No calorie counting required by Paul Carter March 11, 2020September 2, 2022 Tags Losing Fat, Nutrition & Supplements It's take hard work and discipline to get your body fat down to the single digits. But if you have quite a bit of excess fat to lose, you don't have to adopt the strict diet of competitive bodybuilder. Instead, just follow these guidelines. From High Body Fat to Average Body Fat Let's assume you're above 20% body fat and male. These guidelines will help you get down to around 15% – an acceptable level of body fat. For women starting at 30% body or more, this should help you get down to 25%. This is an area where you'll probably look pretty good, but it still won't qualify as "ripped." Reduce intake of desserts, sugary drinks (soda, fruit juices), alcohol, and most overly processed foods. Include vegetables in at least one meal a day to increase satiation. Lift 3-5 times a week. Do cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes per session to help expedite the process. Get protein intake up to about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. If you make the above changes, then you probably don't even need to count calories yet. Eating healthier foods and getting rid of most of the junk tends to be fairly self-regulating in terms of caloric control. Here's an example of what to eat to simply get to this level without counting calories. Breakfast Whole Egg Omelet with Added Egg Whites Vegetable of Choice Oatmeal or Ezekiel Bread Lunch Chicken Jasmine Rice Salad with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Post-Workout Metabolic Drive Protein Banana Rice Cakes Dinner Fatty Fish Like Salmon or Lean Cut of Red Meat White, Red, or Sweet Potato Before Bed Metabolic Drive Protein with Fruit There are no macros or calories listed because the goal is to simply make better food choices. You're not trying to contest diet on day one. If you were to fit in foods you enjoy here that are minimally processed and nutrient dense, you'd naturally find yourself coming down from the fuscular (fat-muscular) range, to the "hey you look like you stopped eating like an asshole" range. You'd be surprised how far you can get by simply making better choices. This phase could last from three to six months depending on where you're starting from and how well you adhere to the guidelines. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Diet & Fat Loss Tip Stop Putting Hunger On A Pedestal This is the problem with diets that promote hunger. Dietary Myth Busting, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips Dani Shugart July 10 Eating Tip A Good Diet Goes Goofy It started out as a fine idea, at least for very overweight people, then things got weird. Losing Fat, Nutrition & Supplements, Paleo Diet, Tips Chris Shugart February 8 Diet & Fat Loss Tip Natural Lifters and Protein Synthesis Want more muscle? Trigger protein synthesis often. Here's how. Bodybuilding, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips Christian Thibaudeau November 21 Eating The Can t-Believe-It s-a-Diet Diet An easy, week-long diet to quickly drop the pounds you've gained from your social isolation. Losing Fat, Nutrition & Supplements TC Luoma December 24