How to interpret the progress you are making

In the progress chart you should have the following columns;
Date, fat percentage, total weight, lean body mass and fat weight. If you're using skinfold
testing also as one way of feedback, you should include the results of that as well. Measure
yourself every week so you can concretely see the results you are producing.

The following part lists every possible result you may encounter and the actions you should
take when each occurs.


Lean mass stays the same and body fat decreases


Awesome! Your nutrition and training program is working as planned and you’re on
your way to reaching your goals. Don’t change anything. Keep up the good work!


Lean mass remains same and body fat remains same


Nothing is happening; you’re at a standstill and you have to make some adjustments to get
yourself rolling again. First you might want to increase your cardio activity level. You could
increase the number of days per week you exercise as well as the time spent on each training
session. If you still don’t lose body fat within the next week, then you can reduce your calories
systematically by 100-200 calories at a time, as long as you do not drop below your maximum
allowable (20-30% deficit of maintenance level) calorie deficit.

You can your nutrient ratios the same unless you’ve been stuck for more than 2 weeks. If you’ve
been stuck even more than two weeks, you might want to experiment with a moderate or low
carbohydrate approach on nutrition or zig-zag carbohydrate cycling.


Lean mass stays the same and body fat increases


You’re in a calorie surplus. You’re eating more calories than what you’re burning and that's why
you body is storing it as fat. Firstly, increase the frequency and duration of cardiovascular exercises.
Then recheck your body fat after one week. If it has not decreased, reduce your caloric intake by
100-200 calories at a time, again making sure you do not drop below your maximum allowable
calorie deficit. Keep your nutrient ratios the same.


Lean mass decreases and body fat decreases


Good, you are losing body fat which, but you're also losing some lean mass, which is not preferred.
A small loss in lean muscle mass (a few tenths of a kilo) is nothing to worry about. If this is the first
time you’ve lost LBM, no need to panic because some of that weight is water weight. But if this is a
recurring pattern and you’ve been losing muscle mass every week for more than two weeks straight,
you’re losing muscle tissue. You need to eat more, at least temporarily. Increase your caloric intake
by 100-200 calories to boost your metabolism, while continuing with your current training program.
Keep your nutrient ratios the same.


Lean mass decreases and body fat stays the same or increases


This is the worst case scenario. When you lose lean body mass and your body fat does not decrease
at all, this usually means your metabolism has slowed down (starvation mode) and you are using up
muscle for energy; you are not in fat burning mode. This often occurs when you are skipping meals.
Losing lean mass means that you need to eat more to keep your metabolism running! Don’t be afraid
to eat, and keep up your meal frequency to five or six times per day.

Remember that it’s always better to burn the fat off rather than starve it off. Keep your calories as
high as possible while using training to burn off the fat. Severely restricting your calories under 
the recommended levels will always result in a loss of muscle mass. Increase your caloric
intake by 100-200 calories and maintain or slightly increase the amount of cardio you are doing.
Make sure you’re consistent with your weight training as well.


Lean mass increases and body fat decreases


This is very unlikely to occur, except for genetically gifted individuals (the pure mesomorph) and
sometimes for those who have highly efficient metabolisms. If it does happen, that's marvellous!
You are leaner and more muscular! Don’t change anything. Keep up the good work, you’re on
your way to reaching your goals!


Lean mass increases and body fat stays the same


Good job, you’ve gained muscle without gaining any fat! This is the most wanted outcome for a
muscle-gaining program. But if you also want to reduce your body fat percentage, you’ll need a
greater calorie deficit, which is accomplished by increasing your cardio while remaining at your
current caloric intake.


Lean mass increases and body fat increases


You gained muscle, which again is good, but you also gained fat, which is not so good. You are in
a big calorie surplus. Some bodybuilders do this in their off season – it’s called “bulking up,” If you
want to stay lean and avoid the bulked up look, you need to increase the amount of cardio training
you are doing. You should also make sure you’re being strict enough with your nutrition plan. Keep
your foods “clean” and free of high fat or high sugar junk foods. Recheck your body fat in one week.
If you still continue to gain fat, then you need to lower your caloric intake.


Conclusion: Let your results dictate your approach.


It's always suggested to let your results dictate your strategy. If you can eat bagels and pasta
all day long and get fitter, that’s great - keep eating them. If you can eat 70% of your calories
from carbohydrates and 20% from protein and you get leaner and fitter - great, keep eating all
those carbohydrates.

If you can eat heavy meals late at night and you still get leaner great - keep doing it. If you can get
lean with just diet and almost no cardio at all – fine, that works for you, don’t do any cardio.
The results you produce every week are the only true measure of whether you’re making the right
choices or not. If you’re getting fit while breaking every rule in the book, then there’s no reason to
change. The ends justify the means, provided of course, that everything you’re doing is good for
your health.


Most important rule of all, once you discover an approach that works for you, DON’T
FIX IT IF IT’S NOT BROKEN! Don’t get locked into a single unbending approach like
so many diet programs prescribe. You are a unique individual and no single program can
possibly work for everyone of us. If you find something that works for you, I’d suggest
you disregard the comments of other people who disagree with what you’re doing and
that you judge your success only by your weekly progress.

By following this system, taking continuous action, getting constant feedback, being flexible,
having an open mind and being willing to experiment and vary your approach, you will, through
an evolutionary learning process, figure out your body type and develop your own personal
formula very quickly. Once you’ve discovered your personal formula by using body composition measurement, performance feedback and progress charting, it will always be there for you for the
rest of your life whenever you want to go back to it!