Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

mass.
    3. Multiply your fat-free mass (as a percentage) by your body weight. This result is your LBM.
    So let’s say you’re a 200-pound man with 20 percent body fat.
    1. You’re 20% body fat.
    2. 100 – 20 = 80% fat-free mass.
    3. 200 pounds x 0.8 = 160 pounds.
    Your LBM is 160. As your percentage of body fat changes, so will your LBM.
    We will refer to LBM in several places throughout the book, so keep this formula in mind. Or write it down. Or tear out this page. It’s your book, so the choice is yours.

    For a while, the GI was all the rage, and people argued that by following a low-GI diet, you’d keep insulin levels in check even while eating more carbs overall. This has turned out to be only partially true. Which is to say that while it’s probably better to eat low-GI foods than high ones, there probably won’t be a tremendous difference in your waistline if you’re still eating your weight in sweet potatoes instead of Cheerios.
    Neither low-carb diets nor low-GI diets are a magic pill for fat loss; the main thing is to eat the right amount of healthy foods that fuel metabolism, which in turn will help you burn fat.
    The important thing to remember is that your body needs carbs, even if some of the fad diets tell you otherwise. Without carbohydrates, your body will begin to break down your muscle tissue to fuel your body, which will sabotage your efforts.
    Carb lovers lament low-carb diets, and anti-carb crusaders posit that you can avoid carbs for the most part and still do well. The truth is a bit of middle ground. So yes, speaking generally you should avoid simple carbs and high-GI foods, but that doesn’t mean you can eat complex carbs or low-GI foods all day either.
    We do not think that carbs are the devil; however, we find that our clients do better in terms of fat loss on low(er) carbs. But low carbs does not mean no carbs. As a general rule, we like to set daily carbohydrate intake at around 0.5 to 0.75 grams per pound of lean body mass (LBM).
    Most importantly, the problem with carbs is eating them alone. Instead, you should try to have carbs with protein. Eating carbs and protein together slows the rate of digestion of the carbs, lowers the glycemic/insulin response, and can generally offset some of the negatives that come with carbohydrate consumption.

    FATS
    For a long time, fats were like carbs—blamed for every damn health problem possible. It’s the reason that for nearly twenty years, low fat was synonymous with healthy . And for many people—maybe even several of you reading this—that’s still how you determine whether something is safe to eat. If it’s low fat, it has to be good. Or if it doesn’t have saturated fat, then it’s okay.
    Lies piled on top of more lies. As our nation’s fat consumption decreased, its obesity increased, according to CDC data. This was due to a variety of factors—the frequency of meals and snacks, the size of meals, and the consumption of sugar.
    So what is the bottom line on fat? For starters, it’s a necessary component of your diet and something you’re probably not consuming enough of. Fat is good. It’s good for testosterone. It’s good for your heart (yes, you read that correctly). And it’s good for your muscles.
    Fat plays an important role in helping the general functioning of your body. Fat is a critical coating for nerves. This coating serves to speed up conduction down the nerve so that every time a neurochemical signal is sent through your body (any time your brain wants to tell your body to do something), it happens efficiently.
    Fat also serves as a substrate for a whole set of hormones known as eicosanoids. While we’re bordering on becoming too geeky, eicosanoids are essential for numerous functions that regulate things like blood pressure, inflammation, and even blood clotting. This kind of fat is needed for basic human physiology, which is reason enough to include it in your diet.
    Now that you know why fats are needed in your diet, here’s what you should know about the different types of fats—and why each needs to be included in your diet, with the exception of trans fats.
    Monounsaturated Fats
    Monounsaturated fats are found mostly in high-fat fruits such as avocados as well as nuts like pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and cashews. This type of fat can also be found in olive oil.
    Monounsaturated fats help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. They’ve also been proven to help fight weight gain and