My Diet to Add Muscle for The Next 5 Months (or how to Manage the Former Fat Boy Syndrome)
That being said, one of the best things I have done is outsource my nutrition and have changed my workouts to include metabolic conditioning and TRX workouts. I feel stronger and better about myself.
Then why the hell did my recent BodPod results go EXACTLY the wrong way!
My Recent BodPod Results
According to my recent BodPod results, my lean muscle went down and my fat mass stayed the same. What I wanted to see was my fat mass go down and my lean mass go up or at least stay the same. Obviously something was totally messed up.
There is usually only one reason for results like this, especially since I have been
lifting heavy and working out so hard. That reason can only be diet!
lifting heavy and working out so hard. That reason can only be diet!
More specifically, I have NOT been eating enough food. When you want to build muscle a person needs to eat enough food. No matter what anyone tells you – you need to eat enough food to build muscle. I am not a scientist nor a nutritionist but I do know that I you don’t eat enough you will not add muscle. Worse, if you workout hard enough you may actually lose muscle. I am living proof of that fact and it took having to live through these results to actually believe it.
I have trouble eating enough food though…
My Psychological Barrier – Former Fat Boy
My problem with food stems from the fact that I am a former fat boy. If you are unfamiliar with this term, let me explain it like this.
A former fat boy is a guy who used to be fat, lost a lot of weight and is giving it all to make sure it stays off. What this does do is create some issues with food where the last thing you want to do is eat too much because you feel that if you do you will put all that fat back on.
That is why when left to my own devices, I will eat much less food than I need as opposed to enough food. Even with a nutritionist I am at risk of this.
However, based on the BodPod results it is very clear that this is not working. I know empirically now that I am ok to eat more and should see better results. My workouts with the heavy lifting, TRX workouts, and metabolic conditioning are where they need to be – I just need to eat more food to support it.
The key is going to be monitoring my food intake as well as eating the right foods…
The Next 5 Months
My last couple of posts have covered my diet in some detail. In fact, in this post I covered my two protocols for both fat loss and for muscle gain. In that post I outlined the calories that I need to do either or. The trouble is is that the calories for fat loss are an after the fact reflection. Those 2000 – 2200 calories I need for fat loss were actually more like 1200 to 1400 calories per day with a couple fasts in there. That was WAY too low and I know that know. The right amount is more likely 2000 – 2200 calories.
As we are in the winter months and to get the body I want I need to focus on building muscle. That will give me the foundation I need to then drop some fat slowly for the summer months.
As I go along, I will be using my Withings body fat scale and more BodPod test to gauge my results and adjusting calories up or down depending on results. I want (need) to see lean muscle going up and body fat going down, or at least staying the same. My main goal is building muscle however so that will be my focus.
As was written about in this post, I will continue to live by very simple nutrition rules. Since I am looking to build muscle I will not be doing the Eat Stop Eat fasts. As a reminder, here are those rules:
- A post workout shake from the best nutrition book available – Power Eating – that includes 1 cup milk,
1/2 cup orange juice, 21 grams of whey, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1/3 cup of frozen berries. If you don’t have this book I highly recommend you get it now – Amazon is the cheapest. - Five to six meals per day – this is just to keep hunger at bay and because I struggle if I get too hungry.
- As long as the food is natural and not full of sugar or processed crab, I do not worry too much about eating it. I don’t worry too much about food selection – moderation is key.
- Balance the carbs, proteins, and fats in each meal – don’t worry too much about the ratio, but I try to get some protein in every meal. The key is everything in moderation and not trying to overcomplicate things by eating too much of anything.
- Take one day off from counting per week – my days are Fridays. I eat pretty much whatever I want on Fridays.
I am going to start my calories at around 2500 calories per week and adjust up or down depending on my metrics. I will post this metrics here so we can all see the results.
Summary
I am confident that I have a good plan in place. It took me seeing some pretty shitty results to know what I now need to do. Even with outsourced nutrition, I now that I need to take full ownership of my results. For me, I know now that I need to actually eat more food instead of less. While I was losing my first 50 pounds it was simply less food that mattered. However, now that I am focused more on the minutia of building muscle as opposed to just losing fat, that means I need to dial the diet in even more and put my focus on the right things. As always, I will keep you updated.
P.S. If you have any comments I would love to hear from you…please post away in the comments section.
The Anabolic Diet – My Experience So Far
This week I have started a new (for me) diet protocol – The Anabolic Diet. The diet was created by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale and can be seen over at Metabolicdiet.com. In this post I am going to run through how the diet works and provide my perspective so far.The Diet Protocol
The diet is what Mauro calls a phase-shift diet. That is a fancy way of saying that you cycle your eating with two distinct periods of eating – one very low-carb and one high carb. Basically, as your start the diet you go with 12 days straight of eating no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day – this is called the Start-Up Phase. Your primary foods during this time include lots of meats and fats. Think steak, chicken, turkey, buffalo, any fish, shellfish, olive oils, butter, bacon, avocado, and full-fat cheeses. Your ratio of macros are generally 40%-60% fat, 40%-50% protein, 4%-10% carbs or 30 grams of carbs max.
After those 12 days you then do a 12-48 hour carb-up where you still eat the protein and fats, but reduce the proteins slightly and focus more on carbohydrates. Your macros on these carb-up days will be somewhere around 20-40% fats, 15%-30% proteins, and 35%-60% carbs.
Once you are done the 12-days you then start a 5 day low carb phase (Monday to Friday) and then on the weekend you start your carb up for 12 – 48 hours. The length of time you do the carb up is very dependent on you – as soon as you start to feel bloated you stop. Easier said then done, but over time you get the hang of it. During this phase of the diet, Mauro says you can really eat whatever it is you want. Pizza, donuts, sugar cereals – anything that is high carb. However, this does not mean it is a license to gorge yourself on sugar laden crap. Too much sugar is still a bad thing. Really, your should focus your food choices on things like bagels, breads, sweet potatoes, and pasta. That way you will fill your muscles with the glycogen you need to grow muscles and recover.
My Experience So Far
The Anabolic Diet works by manipulating your muscle building hormones. The key is eating the right combination of foods at the right time. I have found that this is working well. I am still gaining strength on my 5/3/1/ Program and I don’t feel tired or weak. The weekend carbs-ups are enjoyable, however I need to be sure not to let them get away from me. Once I have some sweet stuff I can open a whole floodgate of food desires so I really need to watch that.
The toughest period was the 12 days to start the program. Going low-carb for that long can be tough, but if you focus on doing what Mauro says – not reducing your calories during this period – then it is definitely manageable. Eating lettuce and other vegetables helped as well as they provided me with some good satiation.
As I progress on the program I will keep you updated on my experiences. Stay tuned for more…
Fitness Measurement Update – July 30
Today I a fitness measurement test using the BodPod. My last test was on May 3, 2011. Since that time I have had a couple of vacations with unlimited eating. In between that time I have been relatively strict, especially in the past two weeks as I was done with the mental diet break of looser eating protocols and not watching/tracking the macros. In the past couple of weeks I have limited my carb intake to 100 grams (net carbs) per day and about 160 grams of protein and the rest fat. This works out to about 1850 kcal’s per day.My training has also changed. I am now going to a new gym which is very strength and conditioning focused. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I do work with a class where everyday is different, but we primarily do things like battle ropes, TRX moves, tire flips, and other metabolic strength work. On the other days I lift for strength and growth with lifts like squats, pull-ups (chins and wide grip), deadlifts, glute ham ham raises, etc. It seems to be a good balance and as you will see below it is working.
Here are the BodPod measurements:
May 3, 2011 (lb)
Body Mass : 160
Fat Mass: 38
Fat Free Mass: 122
BF %: 23.8%
July 30, 2011 (lb)
Body Mass : 159.7
Fat Mass: 28.8
Fat Free Mass: 130.9
BF %: 18%
As you can see, I have gained 8 pounds of muscle and dropped around 4% body fat, all while staying at the same weight. To me that is what I am looking to do.
My goal is still to get to 10% bodyfat which means I need to get my body weight down to around 145 pounds and put on some more mass. I hope to hit this goal on October 31, 2011. Stay tuned and we will see….
Starting the Rapid Fat Loss Diet this Week
I started the Rapid Fat Loss Diet this week and today is day 2 and so far so good. I decided after a lot of research online, that one of the best tools I could use to see my abs by the time I leave on my cruise in May 2010 is to utilise the methodology outlined in Lyle McDonald’s Rapid Fat Loss Diet. It will also help me with the Turbulence Training contest I am enrolled in. According to the forums over at his site, many people have had good success with it.
What it is?
The Rapid Fat Loss Diet is essentially a protein only diet that seriously limits the calories coming in. As I wrote about awhile ago, calorie restriction has been working for me and using Eat Stop Eat was a great step. This diet is essentially the next step and is really hard-core.
Called PSMF (Protein Sparing Modified Fast), it is a scientifically based approach to quick weight and fat loss. The diet has you eating a specific number of calories for your height, weight, and body mass index (all of which is calculated in the calculator that comes with the course. In the diet, you add in some fibrous vegetables and some very key supplements (magnesium, potassium, calcium, omega-3′s) to keep things moving.
Based on my category of body (the tools help you figure this out), I also have one free meal per week as well as a 5 hour structured refeed. I have not done these yet but am looking forward to doing them. There are still rules around these meals, but essentially you are looking to incorporate some more carbs in to the meals and satisfy any cravings you may have. Lyle really goes into all the details about the process so there are no questions left unanswered.
The program also incorporates a full diet break for 2-weeks, which I will discuss later.
My First Couple of Days
Today is day two and the hardest part is really the planning. It takes work to hit the protein number and add in those vegetables. If you have a protein goal of 154 grams, then you need to hit 154 grams, not 165, not 140. The most helpful tool for this has been Daily Burn.
Essentially, the night before I plan exactly what I am going to eat for the day using Daily Burn, cook up the breakfast and lunch to pack to work. For example, last night I grilled some chicken with dill and mushrooms for lunch and some scallops and spinach for breakfast (I love seafood so I could eat that for breakfast any day). Tonight for dinner I am going to have some cod and chicken with asparagus.
As you can see, the components of the diet are simple natural foods. A very very very small amount of carbs and fat are allowed. I will be eating protein almost exclusively.
I also had to head out and buy up some supplements – calcium, magnesium, and omega 3′s. Lyle recommends 10 grams of omega-3′s per day and that can add up in cost. However, once set up with all the “tools” lined up it should be pretty easy to move forward.
No Cardio but Weights are Ok
Since this is a very low calorie diet, my daily bike commutes are no longer allowed. This is really because on such low calories one has to be very careful about what extra energy expenditure one does. According to Lyle, doing too much cardio while on the diet can actually hinder results.
However, he does recommend continuing weight training and I am not going to change my plans for that at all.
How Long
I have set up a structured program that has me doing the RFL program for 3- 4 weeks at a time with 2 week full diet break. These breaks coincide with vacations I have coming up including trips to London, April break, and ultimately my cruise in May. It also coincides with this contest! Once that is done, I will go back to eating at maintenance using the Eat Stop Eat methodology.
As usual, I will be posting my results over the coming weeks and it will be very interesting to see how this program helps (or not). I have high hopes for it.
Reducing My Cardio to See What Happens
I am going to try an experiment over the next month or so. I am going to reduce the cardio I do to see how that impacts my progress towards weight loss and a fit body. I have been reading a number of materials, primarily the Vacation Body Blueprint over at Fitness Black Book, Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon, and this podcast over at AdonisLifestyle.
As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I have been working on a calorie restriction and find that it has been working well for me. I am not going crazy, just really watching what I am eating. Now I am going to see what impact less cardio is going to have.
The important thing to note is that I am not going to cut out my regular bike commutes to and from work. I am fortunate enough to live in an area (Stavanger, Norway) that allows me to bike 12 kms to work and 12 kms back at the end of the day. What I am going to cut out is the extra sessions I have been doing for HIIT, particularly the session I do on Saturdays.
Another change I am going to make is to make at least two of my commuting sessions HIIT sessions. Instead of just pedalling away at a constant rate as I usually do, I am going to mix it up and really mash the pedals for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of my normal cadence. I think this should allow me to get the heart rate a lot higher for short periods of time and hopefully ramp up my fat loss.
The two primary benefits of doing this as I see it is that I have more free time (that extra Saturday session can be tough with a young family) and I will have more rest time for recovery. I will still do my Turbulence Training (which has been unbelievable – I am actually getting bigger biceps) three times per week for resistance training.
I will report back on this in a bout a month and let you know how it works.
