I started the Velocity Diet last week (September 5th). I did the original version years ago with good success.
I’m down 1.5 lb., 0.2% body fat, and a little over 1/2 in. in my waist in four days, so I would say things are going well so far!
Some relevant details of what I’m doing:
I had to start with a different brand of protein shakes because Metabolic Drive is out-of-stock. However, the protein types and macros are very close. I’ll get the Metabolic Drive when it is back in stock.
My HSM consists of 8 oz. boneless, skinless, grilled chicken breast or lean ground beef for protein, large salad (some mix of spinach, kale, cabbage) with 2 tbsp. dressing or 1 c. steamed broccoli for vegetables, and a mix 3/4 c. diced sweet potatoes and about 100 calories of small white potatoes for starch. I also have 1 c. wild blueberries.
The shakes are each two scoops of the protein. On lifting days, I switch out the mid-afternoon shake with a Finibar.
Workout shake is 1 scoop of Surge Workout Fuel plus 20 g. hydrolyzed caseinate
I distribute 3 scoops of collagen protein among my shakes
Total calories are 1,884 on non-lifting days and 2,220 on lifting days
Supplements: All recommended doses of Flameout, 1 scoop Superfood, Biotest creatine (5 g./day), probiotics, B-complex, Vitamin D (5,000 IU/day), 500 mg. Vitamin C, kelp, magnesium, zinc, Alpha GPC, theanine, and glutathione
Lifting is 5/3/1, 3x/wk.
Extra physical activity is a 15-minute outdoor walk, 7 days/wk., and an hour of slow-paced walking on an under-desk treadmill 5-7 days/wk.
All but one day I have slept about 7.5-9 hr./night. The one other day was 6 hr. 15 min., but only because of some matters out of my control.
Any diet change can be rough when starting it and I feel like I remember that being the case the first time I did the Velocity Diet.
I have found myself becoming extremely tired by about 5 or 6 p.m., to the point that I practically can’t accomplish anything else other than going to bed. My cognitive capabilities seem to go out the window off and on some days. I’m tired and dragging during my lifting sessions. My sleep quality has also not been the greatest due to the diet.
I’m trying to stay ahead of the game in terms of planning potential tweaks to my protein shakes and healthy solid meals. I already made one tweak on my last two workouts by having the Finibar in place of the mid-afternoon shake on lifting days. I know it’s only been a few days, but given how incredibly tired I have been, I’m wondering if I should tweak any aspect of the diet (number of protein shakes scoops, HSM calories or macros, workout nutrition). Thoughts?
I know you don’t have a lot of choices, because MD is currently out of stock, but I will say this reads as a resounding review of the product since you previously served as your own control.
In terms of being tired, it’s hard to say. As @barley1 pointed out, that’s a bigger caloric delta than I had between training and non-training days. Maybe there’s some experimenting you could do with your solid meal at night? Add a little carbs so you sleep more, etc.
I also found I did better when I did not evenly space my shakes. I’d push that first one as late into the day as I comfortably could. That then had me “feeding” more frequently in the afternoon and into dinner, when I was naturally more hungry, and took a little pressure off the solid meal.
@barley1@TrainForPain Thank you both for your responses! You both caught a typo in my original post which I’ve now corrected. The rest day calories are 1,884, not 1,184. That would have been a big delta! The real difference is 336 calories.
My weight at the beginning of the diet was 196 lb., and as of today, I am at 193.6 lb.
I’ve been able to make slow recomp progress at 2,700 calories on non-training days and 3,000 on training days. I decided to give the Velocity Diet a try again because I’d really like to shed some body fat and improve my general health before embarking on adding any serious amount of muscle.
You are right about the resounding review. Metabolic Drive is great, and it’s what I’d be using if it was in stock. Surge is also great. There’s a noticeable decline in performance for me when I have trained without it.
Adding some more carbs to the HSM is what I was considering as a next step, so thanks for the suggestion. I may add them to all of the meals or just on lifting days. I may also try some different sources such as rice for some of the meals.
I’m with you on pushing that first shake as late as possible. I try to have it around 7:30. I then have the lunch shake around Noon or 1 and the mid-afternoon one about 3. I had the morning shake at 6:30 one day last week, and I was crazy hungry by Noon. For me, it’s definitely better to have that first one closer to 7:30.
While it varies, I’m usually pretty good energy-wise early in the day. It’s somewhere around 3 p.m. or so when the fatigue starts to set in, and by 5 or 6, I’m just exhausted. I feel totally out of it. And that’s extra difficult because I train at 5 p.m. And unfortunately, that’s the only time I can do it.
Eating carbs close to bed time can also be helpful if sleep is a problem. Thibs makes this suggestion in several places: carbs can have a sedative effect, and are especially helpful for some individuals to relax before bed.
Conversely, eating fewer carbs, at least in the short term, keeps many people feeling energized and alert due to increased adrenaline.
My own belief is that carbs are significantly more important for some of us than others. Weird things happen to me when I drastically cut cals and carbs for any length of time.