Here’s some stuff that I find useful for my nutrition and fitness planning.
Note: These are tools and links that I find useful and I use regularly. However, I am not a medical doctor or nutrition professional. So, make sure to talk to your healthcare professional before modifying your health regimen.
Daily Calorie and Macronutrient Targets Calculator
Arguably the single most important thing you can do for your body composition is to manage your calories. This is true whether you are bulking, cutting or “recomping” (losing fat and gaining muscle… yes it’s possible). Dive into this post from the Bodybuilding.com Forums f you want to learn more about macronutrients and the nitty gritty behind how to calculate this stuff.
If you want to skip the homework and just know how many calories, proteins, fats, and carbs you should be eating daily, there are tons of calculators available online. This calculator is one of the most popular in the IIFYM/Flexible Dieting community. This calculator is more in-depth and comprehensive, but requires a bit more legwork and knowledge of fitness lingo.
Nutrition and Fitness Planning and Tracking Tools
Knowing what to eat and how to workout is half the battle, kudos for getting that far. But actually sticking to your plan and program is just as important. Tracking your diet and exercise is one of the best ways to make sure that you stick with with it. Also, tracking can give you incredible insights that you might be completely unaware of. When I first started monitoring my caloric consumption, I was astonished at how little I was actually eating. No wonder I wasn’t making sweet sweet gains.
To help you adhere to your nutrition and fitness plan, I recommend using an app like MyFitnessPal(iOS/Android). MyFitnessPal is an invaluable tool for my nutrition and fitness planning and tracking. It’s easy to use, has a comprehensive database of food and exercises (even lots of Indian food!), and great support from the developer. Also, you can log into your account on their website to access even more features and deeper analytics.
Independent Supplement and Nutrition Reviews
The internet is a damn labyrinth of health and wellness websites, resources and self-professed gurus. It’s really hard to separate the good from the bad, the science from the BS, and the valuable info from the scams. Especially when it comes to supplementation, it can be downright maddening to find truly well-researched and vetted info.
Thankfully, the heroic folks at Examine.com maintain one of the most excellent sources of science-based supplement and nutrition info on the internet. They offer everything from supplement reviews to stack guides to health recommendations. They don’t have shady agendas, they continuously update their info as new research and evidence emerge, and best of all, most of their info is available completely for free. Bookmark Examine.com!
Product Research and Analysis
There are myriad supplements available today! It’s really hard to be certain that what you buy is actually a high quality product or a dud. Product reviews on sites like Amazon.com and Bodybuilding.com are a great start but they still don’t necessarily tell you how pure or safe the products are, among other important factors (e.g.: concentration of bound protein in protein powders).
This is where Labdoor.com comes in. These guys test a wide range of supplements, such as protein powders, vitamins, probiotics and everything in between. They provide detailed info on product purity, safety, efficacy, label accuracy, and much more. This is an awesome resource to ensure the products you use or are interested in purchasing are worth the money.