Nutrition advice online is 90% noise. Here are the four variables that have actual evidence, ranked by importance.
1. Total Calories
Everything else is secondary. If you're trying to lose fat, you need a caloric deficit. If you're trying to gain muscle, you need a surplus. No amount of meal timing or supplement optimization matters if you get this wrong.
2. Protein Intake
The research is consistent: 0.7–1.0g of protein per pound of bodyweight is the range that maximizes muscle protein synthesis. Higher isn't harmful but isn't more effective. Hit this number every day.
3. Sleep
Technically not a macronutrient, but sleep is the most underrated recovery variable. 7–9 hours per night optimizes growth hormone release, cortisol regulation, and muscle repair. Cutting sleep to train more is a net negative.
4. Consistency Over Optimization
A "perfect" diet you follow 50% of the time is worse than a "good enough" diet you follow 90% of the time. Sustainability beats optimization at every horizon beyond 4 weeks.
TrainSMS includes optional nutrition check-ins in the annual plan — weekly questions about your eating patterns that let the AI adjust your program's intensity and volume to match your recovery capacity.