Shredding 101: the perfect shredding meal plan to get and keep your abs!
I don’t think there’s a person in this world who wouldn’t be happy with the washboard abs and toned limbs. It’s a look that has been popular for forever and a day, yet so few are able to obtain and even fewer people are able to maintain. Whilst building muscle and burning fat can require significant effort, I believe that it’s the understanding of the process which holds most people back.
Firstly, it’s important to recognize that fat loss is the result of the crossover between activity and diet. A good ‘shredding diet’ should have you in a small calorie deficit, be high in protein and keep your hunger under control. Resistance training, low-intensity exercise and NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) will need to be optimized to help create the calorie deficit and maintain muscle mass long term.
Chris Dalmau, one of The Clean 5's Founders
Calories: How big is ya bucket
For those of you who keep up with our content, I would hope that you are now familiar with why calories are important. For everyone else, listen up!
Calories intake and expenditure determine how much fat you have on your body. Depending on your genetic profile and your level of activity, you will have a ceiling on how many calories you can consume before you start storing energy as fat. Think of it as a bucket of water, once you fill it up, some of the water starts pouring over the edge. In the calorie world, anything over the edge will be stored as fat. To lose fat, we need to keep our energy below the brim of the bucket.
Keep your calories in the bucket
There are a few things that you can do to keep your calories in the bucket. Firstly, you can get active and ultimately create a bigger bucket, the more active you are, the more energy you can consume. Alternatively, you can reduce the number of calories you pour into the bucket. The easiest way to do this is to make a conscious effort to consume whole foods. Whole foods include fresh meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, potatoes, rice, fruit, grains, dairy, nuts, and seeds. Anything that you would consider ‘natural’ is most likely a whole food. Why do we recommend whole foods? They are generally lower in calories per gram and leave you feeling fuller for longer. They are also less palatable, reducing the drive to overindulge.
If switching to a whole foods diet doesn’t work for you, a more drastic approach would be to count your calories. Calorie counting involves researching and documenting the calories found in all of the food that you consume. Apps such as MYFITNESSPAL can make documentation fairly easy, though you may need to weigh your ingredients initially to ensure you are accurately recording your portion sizes. Once you have an understanding of the total calories you are consuming, you can slowly reduce your intake to create an energy deficit.
Silencing the rumbles
In a world of readily accessible food, hunger and cravings can oftentimes lead you astray and derail your shredding meal plan. It’s incredibly hard to stay lean without the correct knowledge. To stay on track and avoid binge eating, you need to make sure that your meals are filling you up and satisfying any major cravings.
High protein and high fiber foods have the ability to slow down your digestion and keep you satisfied for longer periods of time. Due to their water content, they also take up extra space in your stomach, limiting the number of calories that you can take in. You should always try to include a protein component (meat, dairy, poultry, fish) and a fiber component (vegetables) to your main meals. Adding salt or a sweet sauce to your mains can also help to satisfy any cravings you may have, without taking in all of the extra calories found in processed meals.
The most common mistake I see made during a shredding diet plan is criminalizing particular food groups. As mentioned above, whole foods should make up the majority of your diet. Sweets, savories, and special snacks can be included as long as they fit within your calorie bucket.
The same goes for eating out. If you know you are going out for a meal and a drink, it’s important to make room for the extra calories that come along with it. One strategy might be to reduce the size of earlier meals, another might be to remove breakfast altogether. It’s simply understanding that fat loss comes down to calorie intake and planning your meals to facilitate a deficit no matter the scenario. This is literally how any shredding diet works, you consume less calories than your body uses in a 24 hour period, consistently.
Shredding without losing muscle
Losing weight isn’t much fun if you lose all of your muscle mass during the process. Luckily there are particular nutritional and training strategies that you can implement to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss.
A shredding diet designed to maintain muscle mass should prioritize protein intake. A high protein shredding diet has been proven to effectively preserve muscle during a caloric deficit no matter the activity level. A good place to start is 2g of protein per kg of body mass. Most of the research into experienced trainers supports this recommendation and I have found it to work exceptionally well with my clientele.
Your Training
A shredding training plan has two key objectives: preserve muscle mass and increase energy expenditure. Often times people will focus solely on energy expenditure and forget about their strength training. The methods that best achieve muscle growth are the same ones that will preserve the most muscle mass. Therefore it’s important that you include either heavy powerlifting (1-5) or mid-range bodybuilding (hypertrophy) (6-20 reps) type exercises in your weekly schedule.
Maximizing your energy expenditure should occur away from your strength and hypertrophy training. Increasing your weight lifting in an attempt to increase energy expenditure will only leave you sore and sorry, especially when you are in a calorie deficit. You should instead look to increase your low-impact exercises such as cycling, walking, jogging or swimming.
Some of our weekly meal prep recipes ideal for getting shredded.
NEAT is pretty neat
It might suprise you to find that your shredding meal plan is greatly affected by the activity you undertake outside of the gym! Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the exercise we do unintentionally. It’s walking to the shops, cleaning the house and mowing the lawns. NEAT is important to us because it’s a major contributor to energy expenditure. Most of you reading this article will already be hitting the gym 3+ days a week, spending your 1-2 hours crushing weights and cardio, yet many of you will not do much outside of the gym. A great way to increase activity is to simply walk the dog or go for an hour stroll with some music. Walking will not only help you spend energy, but it’s also great for recovery and stress relief.
Don’t get frustrated!
Losing body fat does not occur in a linear fashion. You will not always lose weight or see visual changes week to week. Water, salt and fiber intake, stress and sleep time are just some of the reasons your weight may or may not change week to week (or even day to day). It’s very important that you stay consistent long term. Diet and activity consistency is the only thing that will lead to substantial and sustained fat loss. Although your shredding diet might not seem like it’s working, it can take some time to notice the results in the mirror!
With this in mind, I highly recommend keeping track of your progress. Weight tracking, taking measurements and visual documentation are all great ways to ensure you are travelling in the right direction. Logging your activity and nutrition on your phone or in a diary can also help you work out where you might be slipping or what you need to change to ensure you keep progressing towards your goal. Remember that the best diet and training program is the one that works for you. Never force yourself to do something you won’t still be doing in 3 months time. Start small and build yourself up!
An example shredding meal plan by The Clean 5
These meals can be prepared in advance & eaten throughout the week. The Clean 5 app provides 2 brand new shredding meal prep recipes each week, tailored to your calorie goals, for just $5 (AUD) per week.
It’s really important to work out how many calories you need to consume, in order to slowly lose weight. As mentioned above, you need to ensure you are in a calorie deficit throughout your regime. As part of The Clean 5 app, we have a calorie calculator function that tells you exactly how many calories you need to consume, to lose body fat. You can then plan your entire diet through our app, using the 2 new meal prep recipes we upload each week. We make creating your shredding meal plan easy, with The Clean 5’s App.
A brand new shredding meal plan, is added each week to our app, giving you a huge database of easy, cheap and nutritious meal prep recipes to choose from. We have a 7 day free trial, click here to read more.
Your Meals
Breakfast
Fast until lunch
Snacks
20g almonds & 1 protein shake & 1 banana.
Lunch
Zucchini and Corn Fritters With Black Bean Salsa: A healthy, vegetable-filled recipe full of flavour and all things good!
Zucchini and Corn Fritters
3 Zucchini (grated)
1 Carrot (grated)
400 g Corn Kernels
6 Spring Onion Sprigs
1 ½ cups Plain Flour (possibly more if needed)
2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
1 tsp Salt and Pepper
1 Egg (beaten)
3 tbsp Olive Oil
Black Bean Salsa
1 Green Capsicum
1 Red Onion
1 tbsp Paprika
400 g Italian Diced Tomatoes
400 g Black Beans
400 g Chickpeas
280 g Fresh Spinach
1
Begin by placing grated carrot and zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Drain the corn kernels and add to the bowl.
2
Add chopped spring onions, garlic and salt and pepper. Add the flour and beaten egg, stir together until well combined. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes while the flour absorbs the moisture from the zucchini (if mix is too runny and won't form into patties, add more flour).
3
Meanwhile, to make the black-bean salsa chop the capsicum into small cubes, dice the onion and add both to a medium sized bowl. Add the paprika, italian diced tomatoes, drained chickpeas and black beans, stir.
4
Bring a medium sized saucepan to a medium heat and add the black bean mix. Stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens, allow to simmer while you make the fritters.
5
In a large saucepan or electric frying pan, grease with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Scoop out a spoonful of mixture at a time and cook on the pan for approximately 3-5 minutes each side, until light golden brown.
6
Serve fritters with black bean salsa and a large handful of fresh spinach on the side.
Serving suggestion: add a dash on mayonnaise to the fritters at the end for extra flavour.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1
Servings 5
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 530
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 13.4g21%
- Total Carbohydrate 77.2g26%
- Protein 21.7g44%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
Zucchini and Corn Fritters
3 Zucchini (grated)
1 Carrot (grated)
400 g Corn Kernels
6 Spring Onion Sprigs
1 ½ cups Plain Flour (possibly more if needed)
2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
1 tsp Salt and Pepper
1 Egg (beaten)
3 tbsp Olive Oil
Black Bean Salsa
1 Green Capsicum
1 Red Onion
1 tbsp Paprika
400 g Italian Diced Tomatoes
400 g Black Beans
400 g Chickpeas
280 g Fresh Spinach
Directions
1
Begin by placing grated carrot and zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Drain the corn kernels and add to the bowl.
2
Add chopped spring onions, garlic and salt and pepper. Add the flour and beaten egg, stir together until well combined. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes while the flour absorbs the moisture from the zucchini (if mix is too runny and won't form into patties, add more flour).
3
Meanwhile, to make the black-bean salsa chop the capsicum into small cubes, dice the onion and add both to a medium sized bowl. Add the paprika, italian diced tomatoes, drained chickpeas and black beans, stir.
4
Bring a medium sized saucepan to a medium heat and add the black bean mix. Stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens, allow to simmer while you make the fritters.
5
In a large saucepan or electric frying pan, grease with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Scoop out a spoonful of mixture at a time and cook on the pan for approximately 3-5 minutes each side, until light golden brown.
6
Serve fritters with black bean salsa and a large handful of fresh spinach on the side.
Serving suggestion: add a dash on mayonnaise to the fritters at the end for extra flavour.
Dinner
Chicken Pad Thai: A simple Thai style chicken meal!
600 g Chicken Breast (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (diced)
1 Egg
3 Large Carrots (thinly sliced)
4 Spring Onion
1 Broccoli Head
200 g Pad Thai Rice Noodles
1 Pad Thai Stir Fry Sauce (store bought)
250 g Bean Sprouts
1 Lemon
½ cup Crushed Peanuts
1
Begin by preparing your chicken. Cut into very thin slices and put aside.
2
Dice the onion and cut your carrots into long thin sticks (julienne). Chop the heads off the broccoli and cut the spring onion sprigs into slices, approximately 3-5cm long. Place in a bowl and put aside.
3
Place the pad thai noodles in a large bowl and boil the kettle. One the water has boiled, pour over the noodles and allow to sit for 5 minutes until they have softened.
4
Begin sautéing the onion in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and cook until brown.
5
Quickly beat an egg in a bowl and then make a well in the frying pan, pushing the chicken to the sides. Pour egg into the well and lightly scramble. Once fully cooked mix together with chicken.
6
Add the carrots, spring onion, broccoli and bean shoots. Mix through the pad thai sauce.
7
Drain the water from the noodles and then add to the wok. Continue stirring until well combined.
8
Serve up meals and sprinkle with crushed peanuts and lemon juice to add flavour.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 626
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 14.5g23%
- Total Carbohydrate 80.1g27%
- Protein 54g108%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
600 g Chicken Breast (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (diced)
1 Egg
3 Large Carrots (thinly sliced)
4 Spring Onion
1 Broccoli Head
200 g Pad Thai Rice Noodles
1 Pad Thai Stir Fry Sauce (store bought)
250 g Bean Sprouts
1 Lemon
½ cup Crushed Peanuts
Directions
1
Begin by preparing your chicken. Cut into very thin slices and put aside.
2
Dice the onion and cut your carrots into long thin sticks (julienne). Chop the heads off the broccoli and cut the spring onion sprigs into slices, approximately 3-5cm long. Place in a bowl and put aside.
3
Place the pad thai noodles in a large bowl and boil the kettle. One the water has boiled, pour over the noodles and allow to sit for 5 minutes until they have softened.
4
Begin sautéing the onion in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and cook until brown.
5
Quickly beat an egg in a bowl and then make a well in the frying pan, pushing the chicken to the sides. Pour egg into the well and lightly scramble. Once fully cooked mix together with chicken.
6
Add the carrots, spring onion, broccoli and bean shoots. Mix through the pad thai sauce.
7
Drain the water from the noodles and then add to the wok. Continue stirring until well combined.
8
Serve up meals and sprinkle with crushed peanuts and lemon juice to add flavour.
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