Getting Down to Single Digit Bodyfat

Training
21

[quote]Spider40 wrote:

  1. NO starch, processed sugar, or agricultural grains. This category includes all potatoes, corn, grains, legumes, beans, and peanuts. Stay away.
    [/quote]

Also - plenty types of potatoes are fantastic and cannot be grouped in with what’s listed above

22

[quote]chillain wrote:

[quote]Spider40 wrote:

  1. NO starch, processed sugar, or agricultural grains. This category includes all potatoes, corn, grains, legumes, beans, and peanuts. Stay away.
    [/quote]

Also - plenty types of potatoes are fantastic and cannot be grouped in with what’s listed above
[/quote]

yes i live off potatoes pretty much these days

23

[quote]Spider40 wrote:
@GSUBarbell,

I recently (over about one year) went from 6’1" 275 down to 230. At 275 I looked like (and was) a powerlifter and now I look more like an NFL linebacker. BF% right now at 230 is around 8%.

The key here is sustainability, so throw out any advice that looks like a pre-contest cutting diet. You need to be able to sustain a diet long-term while never going hungry and always having enough energy to train. My recommendation is paleo-type diet. Here’s what I eat over the course of a day:

8AM (post-training) Shake made w/ 1 cup egg whites, 2 scoops protein powder, 1 tblspn almond butter, 1 pint glass of frozen organic strawberries.
10AM 1 chicken breast and a handful of almonds
12PM Salad w/ oil and vinegar and 2 chicken breasts
2PM Handful of almonds or an avocado
5PM Big dinner consisting of 1 pound (raw weight) of some type of meat along with piles of steamed brocolli, onions, peppers, etc.
8PM 1 chicken breast

Now I will deviate from this diet all the time, but the trick is to limit your intake to only meats, whole fruits, and whole vegetables. Read the packaging on EVERYTHING to make sure you’re not getting any corn syrup, processed sugar, etc.

There are “cheat foods” that are compatible with this diet. A couple times a week I will eat a 90% cocoa chocolate bar (ingredients only cocoa and about 3g organic cane sugar). There is also a new ice cream called “Arctic Zero” that is made from whey powder and a binding agent called xanthan gum. You can eat almonds and almond butter and even bake w/ almond flour if you’re daring enough.

So the takeaways are these:

  1. NO starch, processed sugar, or agricultural grains. This category includes all potatoes, corn, grains, legumes, beans, and peanuts. Stay away.
  2. Eat whole fruits, meats, and vegetables and do not stress too much about portion control.
  3. Fat is now your friend… as long as it comes from meat or a vegetable. If I’m feeling hungry I will sometimes eat a couple handfuls of almonds which equals around 40-50 grams of fat. Natural healthy fat is good, just don’t go crazy.
    [/quote]

so much wrong with this post.

24

i agree with him on keto for fat loss, but it was tough for me sustain less than 5 grmas of carbs for 3 weeks and lifting became tough

25

[quote]GSUbarbell wrote:
i agree with him on keto for fat loss, but it was tough for me sustain less than 5 grmas of carbs for 3 weeks and lifting became tough [/quote]

^Huge reason why so few unassisted competitors go full keto. In my opinion, losing any amount of muscle is unacceptable during a cut. It not only goes against the goal of looking good, but it is metabolically damaging in terms of giving your body a reason to make use of its limited daily nutrients.

S

26

[quote]GSUbarbell wrote:
currently doing a slow cut bodyfat is to high 15+percent at 300 looking to get into single digit territory
what i am doing right now is going just under maintence each day nothing fancy
would like some pointers from anyone who has gone from high teen bodyfat to the single digiits

and how was there experience?what kind of diets were tried? was cardio done or nessasary? was muscle perserved?
i would consider keto diet as that is what has got me the leaness i have so far, but i know doing so will sacrifice much muscle in the process
as it has already. i am ready to take this game to the next level, bulking is an easy one for me, but its time to get lean now and see what i look like with skin bone and muscle on me.

any advice greatly appreciated
[/quote]
Create a caloric deficit…seriously, its that simple.

27

[quote]Spider40 wrote:
@GSUBarbell,

I recently (over about one year) went from 6’1" 275 down to 230. At 275 I looked like (and was) a powerlifter and now I look more like an NFL linebacker. BF% right now at 230 is around 8%.

The key here is sustainability, so throw out any advice that looks like a pre-contest cutting diet. You need to be able to sustain a diet long-term while never going hungry and always having enough energy to train. My recommendation is paleo-type diet. Here’s what I eat over the course of a day:

8AM (post-training) Shake made w/ 1 cup egg whites, 2 scoops protein powder, 1 tblspn almond butter, 1 pint glass of frozen organic strawberries.
10AM 1 chicken breast and a handful of almonds
12PM Salad w/ oil and vinegar and 2 chicken breasts
2PM Handful of almonds or an avocado
5PM Big dinner consisting of 1 pound (raw weight) of some type of meat along with piles of steamed brocolli, onions, peppers, etc.
8PM 1 chicken breast

Now I will deviate from this diet all the time, but the trick is to limit your intake to only meats, whole fruits, and whole vegetables. Read the packaging on EVERYTHING to make sure you’re not getting any corn syrup, processed sugar, etc.

There are “cheat foods” that are compatible with this diet. A couple times a week I will eat a 90% cocoa chocolate bar (ingredients only cocoa and about 3g organic cane sugar). There is also a new ice cream called “Arctic Zero” that is made from whey powder and a binding agent called xanthan gum. You can eat almonds and almond butter and even bake w/ almond flour if you’re daring enough.

So the takeaways are these:

  1. NO starch, processed sugar, or agricultural grains. This category includes all potatoes, corn, grains, legumes, beans, and peanuts. Stay away.
  2. Eat whole fruits, meats, and vegetables and do not stress too much about portion control.
  3. Fat is now your friend… as long as it comes from meat or a vegetable. If I’m feeling hungry I will sometimes eat a couple handfuls of almonds which equals around 40-50 grams of fat. Natural healthy fat is good, just don’t go crazy.
    [/quote]
    Or he could simply create a caloric deficit and eat whatever he wants(provided he counts calories, which you should do anytime you’re losing fat). Your information is a classsic case of read a bodybuilding magazine and watched a few YouTube videos. The whole stay away from starchy carbs and processed foods is just something dietitions tell there patients who are looking to lose weight because its fool proof. The idea is no one is gonna eat enough veggies and lean meat to not lose weight. That doesn’t hold any water when trying to lose fat and maintain muscle mass.
28

yes thts pretty much what im going for calorie deficit through diet, and cardio and training

29

i guess what im asking specifically is there anything you have to do to get that last bit of bodyfat off once you hit single digit
say some sort of carb manipulation ect

30

[quote]GSUbarbell wrote:
i guess what im asking specifically is there anything you have to do to get that last bit of bodyfat off once you hit single digit
say some sort of carb manipulation ect[/quote]

31

[quote]GSUbarbell wrote:
i guess what im asking specifically is there anything you have to do to get that last bit of bodyfat off once you hit single digit
say some sort of carb manipulation ect[/quote]
No, maybe decrease sodium to lose that last bit of water. But to lose body fat, al that’s required is taking in less calories than you are expending. Its seriously that simple.

32

[quote]youngster543210 wrote:

[quote]GSUbarbell wrote:
currently doing a slow cut bodyfat is to high 15+percent at 300 looking to get into single digit territory
what i am doing right now is going just under maintence each day nothing fancy
would like some pointers from anyone who has gone from high teen bodyfat to the single digiits

and how was there experience?what kind of diets were tried? was cardio done or nessasary? was muscle perserved?
i would consider keto diet as that is what has got me the leaness i have so far, but i know doing so will sacrifice much muscle in the process
as it has already. i am ready to take this game to the next level, bulking is an easy one for me, but its time to get lean now and see what i look like with skin bone and muscle on me.

any advice greatly appreciated
[/quote]
Create a caloric deficit…seriously, its that simple.[/quote]

Great contribution. Really, well done.

33

very interesting read thanks

34

Erick Minor wrote a great article on here a while back: Shredded in six weeks

35

But honestly youre a big guy with alot of muscle. I would keep carbs up as high as possible for as long as possible maybe in a cycling fashion. same with cardio, do as little as possible. throw some heavy circuits in to workout schedule once or twice a week. no reason to lose a lot of muscle. keep what youve worked hard for. just slowly see that body fat come down. if you stall take out a carb day or lower the numbers a bit and add another day of cardio. best of luck. your transformation will be cool to see

36

Carb cycling is pretty easy to use, easy to manipulate the macros for the low, medium, and high days. It’s doesn’t leave you drained and freaking out about food choices. A lot of good sources on the site on how to set it up, as mentioned before Shelby Starnes’ articles are good, easy to understand and implement the concepts.

37

[quote]deadliftindago21 wrote:
But honestly youre a big guy with alot of muscle. I would keep carbs up as high as possible for as long as possible maybe in a cycling fashion. same with cardio, do as little as possible. throw some heavy circuits in to workout schedule once or twice a week. no reason to lose a lot of muscle. keep what youve worked hard for. just slowly see that body fat come down. if you stall take out a carb day or lower the numbers a bit and add another day of cardio. best of luck. your transformation will be cool to see[/quote]

fucking good advice bro id like that comment if on facebook

i got low carb on non workout day, and high carb on workout days good place to start

38

what is your typical high day grams wise? when i was coming down from 200(now 185 so no where near your size) my high days were only about 250 but my low days were never under 120g until about the last 2 weeks.

39

thats strange cz im alot different in that my high carb is 400-600 and my low carb is less than 100 but im also a big guy

40

yea i figured there would be a big difference because of the size. have you tried like 500g on back and leg days. then like 350-400 on smaller body parts?