Hello everyone,
My name is Krasimir "Kras" Atanasov, I'm 24 and I live in London. I've been doing sports all my life, but last year I had to work really hard on something different and not worked out at all. My dreams were slowly getting far away from me. Then in November I decided it's time get back into my previous shape but eventually I wanted more! I wanted a shredded look and my dreams fulfilled!
Long story - short: I started training again in November 2016 and even managed to get on stage April 2017. I also did few photoshoots, as I'm quite interested in modeling (fashion and fitness).
Let me start with this - this article is not just the usual bro-based information and lies about getting fit, lean, etc. This is a scientifically based information from science journals and other sources that actually helped me achieve everything so far! I'm not going to dig very deep into it as it's a very long topic and if you are interested I will keep posting and updating with more information in time. Let's start simple.
As the headline states I did zero cardio and I wasn't hungry at all. Why? It's called flexible dieting (I will explain that as well). Basically, you can eat anything, as long as it fits in your macronutrients.
Macronutrients are the 3 key food groups our bodies need to function properly. These 3 groups are: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Proteins and carbs (short for carbohydrates) are equal to 4 calories per gram while fats are 9 calories per gram.
The main thing about losing or gaining weight lies within the so called energy balance as well as calorie intake. Basically, this is how many calories you need a day and how many of them you consume. If you consume more, you will gain weight. If you consume less (the so called calorie deficit) you lose weight. Simple, right?
Then comes the composition of those calories or your diet. Remember: In order to look good, you need more muscle mass and less fat mass! So, if you want to lose fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit, but as well making sure that you take enough protein to keep those muscles from falling apart.
After that come micronutrients, minerals, water, etc. Then nutrient timing and the last place (to surprise some people) are suppements. I was actually and I still am taking only whey protein (when I don't have enough time to cook and eat), Omega 3s and creatine.
There are so many different diets and rejimes in order to have good diet composition. My personal favourite one is called flexible dieting.
Basically, there are no clean or dirty foods. It's all about energy balance and calorie intake! You don't have to stick rigidly to chicken, rice and broccoli to look good! Strict diets like these are no good in the long run. Why? Because no one likes to eat the same everyday for long periods of time. Simple as that.
The flexible dieting or so called IIFYM (If it fits your macros) diet is for people who are ready to track their macros and calorie intake. I, personally, ate chocolate and got rid of so much fat. Fascinating, eh? And I forgot to add. Most of the people hate running on a treadmill or any kind of cardio, but no one admits it. I do hate it as well. And I haven't done a single minute of cardio. How is this possible? Well, 30 minutes of steady running burns about 300 calories. Why run for 30 minutes when I can just cut these 300 calories from my food? 300 calories = 75 grams of carbs, or 33 grams of fat. Simple.
To back up my article, here are some photo proofs of me and what I achieved.
I hope it was interesting for all of you guys! If so, let me know so I can keep posting stuff and explaining more about training, nutrition, etc.
Take care all!