When dieting down for a contest or just to get lean the most important question you need to ask is 'how much should I eat?'

Most people get this part wrong and spend far too much time obsessing about 'what' to eat, and forget that the total calories matters more than what those calories are made of. 

This is largely because people are borrowing ideas from bodybuilders who have a rigid and old school view of how to diet. 

It usually consists of chicken and vegetables, some oatmeal, egg whites,  maybe some sweet potatoes and rice. That's about it. When you only allow yourself this limited choice of food it's not hard to see why dieting starts to feel miserable. It's also understandable why this sort of diet 'works'. There is simply not enough food variety to ever really overeat. There is only so much chicken and veggies you can eat until you'll be sick of both of them. 

There is no magic to this style of eating, it's simply a way to restrict total calories. Being this restrictive also makes it doable without counting calories as there is virtually no chance of going over on your calories if this is all that you're eating.

Most top level competitors hire a coach to monitor this for them and change their diet on a weekly basis. This however is rather costly and most people don't have the funds, or resources, or the need for a coach like this. Which means most people default to doing the strictest diet they can find in order to 'make sure' it works.

There is a better way to diet. A way that isn't so restrictive and a way that allows you eat most, if not all of the foods you enjoy eating. It starts with understanding where you body is and where it needs to go, and then feeding it the appropriate amount of calories to get there.

The two main factors that will determine how many calories you should eat are your current bodyfat levels and how many hours per week you spend working out. 

As your body fat levels changes from week to week so will your total energy requirement as well as your protein requirement. 

Fitness author John Barban has come up with a diet software system that calculates your calorie and protein requires on a weekly basis so you can determine how much you need to eat to hit your ideal lean physique. 

Once you know your daily calorie and protein totals for the week it's up to you to decide what foods you eat to get them. He has used it successfully and has coached multiple clients successfully with this program with great results. 

>>see results here<<

If traditional dieting just seems too restrictive for you may just want to check this new way of dieting out. It could very well be your answer to finally getting ripped, and enjoying the process of getting there!

- Brian