The most important thing that I have learned over the years is that nutrition accounts for at least 80% of your bodybuilding performance. If you can master the nutrition, you will already be on your way towards getting the physique that you desire.
You need to understand what you are putting into your body and how the items you consume affect your body throughout the day.
There are a few things that you need to accomplish to get the right balance between achieving your bodybuilding goals and consuming the right nutrition at the right time in the office environment.
Knowing the amount of calories that you need to consume throughout the day.
You will need to calculate exactly what amount of calories you need to consume throughout the day. The average male can usually consume 2500 calories a day to maintain his weight. If he consumes less than that amount, his body should consume the body fat as energy, which will reduce his overall fat loss, thus sending his body into a calorie deficit.
If he wants to gain more size, he will usually consume more than 2500 calories a day to send his body into a calorie surplus.
It is important that you identify what you need to achieve and set a calorie goal. Since most guys will aim to get lean, it’s likely that they will follow a calorie deficit. So a moderate diet of say 2000 calories a day should suffice to keep the person lean. This should allow the person to lose up to 500g of fat every week.
Should the loss affect the muscle, more can be consumed with the right macro split. In the next section, we provide some of the macro options.
Knowing what macro splits should be in what you consume throughout the day.
What you eat and in what quantity will have a profound impact on achieving the look that you desire with your body. There are different types of macro splits that can help you achieve your goals. (For example, the Keto diet or the Atkins diet). To keep this simple, we will suggest a low to moderate calorie deficit diet that will allow you to stay lean and build lean muscle.
There are a couple of things that you need to understand when consuming your macros.
The type of carbs that you consume.
There are fibrous carbs and there are starchy carbs. Fibrous carbs are the better of the two as they contain a low amount of carbs, but will keep you full and alert if you eat enough. It will also help you maintain your lean look.
It’s ideal if you can include either of the following as the main source of carbs in your food.
- Broccoli
- Cucumber
- Spinach
- Bok Choi
- Zucchini
- Celery
Lean protein
Consuming lean proteins will help you to stay full fuel your muscles so they can build new lean muscle on you. If you eat meat, consume leat meats with little to no oil. These can be:
- Chicken breast
- Chicken legs
- Chicken thighs
- Beef
- Fish
Low healthy fats
You will need to look into your macro split to see how many fats you need to consume. The types of items that you can consider include:
- Avocados
Knowing what time to consume items throughout the day.
The timings for you to consume your items throughout the day can be a bit challenging. You may be involved in meetings, travel, or tight deadlines that will make it more challenging for you to achieve your bodybuilding goals.
You need to make sure that you are focused when doing your job, which means you need to have the right mental energy. You also need to have enough physical energy to train, whether that is in the morning, lunchtime, or evening.
The best way for you to consume your macros throughout the day is to have snacks available to consume. These snacks should take no more than 2 minutes of your time to consume and should already be prepared. As long as they are subtle, you should be able to consume and clean the items using no more than 5 minutes of your time.
You can then aim to consume these items at the following times.
- Just before you start working. (Around 9am)
- Mid-morning snack (Around 11am)
- Lunch (12-1pm)
- Afternoon tea (3-5pm)
- Dinner (6-9pm)
Food and drink options that you can consume in the office.
Here are a couple of simple options that you can prepare to consume at the office.
Protein shake
Take a protein shake scoop. Mix it with water or milk. Shake it and consume. Once you have finished washing it, it shouldn’t take any longer than a minute.
Black coffee without sugar
If you need to break your fast, but need to improve your alertness, you can have a black coffee.
Water
Keep a water bottle nearby you to keep yourself hydrated.
Fruit
Fruits like apples, pears or bananas can be easily consumed. Check the macro splits with the type of food that you would like to consume. You can easily consume and throw away a banana and its peel in 1 minute.
1 cup of cold cooked meat pieces
If you need to eat a lean protein, you can have some pre-cooked meats that can be eaten cold as a snack. For example:
- Chicken strips
- Jerky
- Beef cuts
- Cold chicken drumstick
Snackable vegetables
You can eat cold vegetable snacks such as:
- Cucumber sticks
- Carrot sticks
This should provide you with a good starting point.
The next step is knowing what type of meal options to prepare or look for so that it will compliment your office lifestyle.