Following this thread along, interesting as always.
CT–Since the goal of contest dieting is definitely to get as lean as possible, can I infer from that that you would be amenable to the idea of short spurts of very low carb dieting between longer low-moderate style targeted carb phases to help accelerate fat loss without really impairing yourself long term given the issues with keto/VLCDs and muscle? Anecdotally speaking I find such an alternating approach valuable.
Totally excited about these new tips. I’m entering the final week of the Velocity Diet now, and hope to continue the progress I’ve made. I just bought a big thing of baking soda the other day after reading this post. The food choices - leafy greens, mango, pineapple are all things I highly enjoy so it will be no problem to eat more of them!
@CT are there any workout methods that you add in as well?
ty
Loaded carries mostly, and increasing the density of my workouts… I dont really use strength work to get leaner
thoughts on this ?
From Charles Poliquin
Always start with a meat and nut, or meat and dark fruit breakfast.
Learn to enjoy black coffee in the morning with breakfast and as a pre-workout.
No more dairy or limit dairy to a dessert
The darker the green vegetable the better it is for you. The darker the berry the better it is for you. Examples of dark green vegetables: spinach, kale, broccoli, brussell sprouts, etc… Examples of dark berries: blueberries, cherries, acai berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc…
Stay away from dried fruit it is the equivalent of candy. Drying fruit concentrates sugars.
Drink a lot of water (2 glasses at each meal). You will adjust.
Green Tea and Yerba mate are excellent teas for fat loss.
Limit processed carbohydrates: breads, pastas, etc… opt instead for sweet potatoes, yams, and beets. Rice is better than grains. Quinoa is great!
For salad dressings oil based dressings are best (ie. olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
If you are going to cheat and have a cheat meal limit it to Saturday or Friday. Sunday is the start of the week and it makes Mondays easier.
When you drink alcohol that is vegetable or plant based is a better choice: potato vodka (Kettle One), Tequila (agave plant) and Gin (Juniper berries).
Stay away from juice (it is liquid candy)
No soda, pop or fizzy pre-workouts. Diet soda is not an option either. Soda, pop and pre-workouts are not good for the protective lining of your esophagus.
When you get a craving try a spoon full of peanut butter or a spoon full of whip cream.
Don’t feel guilty if you slip up just get back in the right direction. The goal is health.
When you limit your carbohydrates you must increase your good fat intake (fish oil, coconut oil, olive oil and cla)
Cook with coconut oil.
Use a protein powder post workout for muscle recovery.
Try not to eat 2.5 to 3 hours before bed.
Make Yourself More Alkaline: Put Lime in Your Water
The more alkaline you are, the more anti-catabolic you are and the less cortisol you’ll produce. Having a healthy pH that is more alkaline is critical because without the correct pH blood level, the body’s enzymes can’t function, negatively impacting protein synthesis. In fact, studies show that low pH levels lead to diminished protein building, a major concern for anyone striving for high energy and a lean physique. The simplest way to shift your pH up towards alkaline is to always drink water with lime in it. Lemon is okay if lime is not available.
Meal frequency is not an issue.
Increase fibre (Metamucil is a good idea)
How about lime mixed with bi-carb?
And why is lime better than lemon?
tweet
I don’t necessarily agree. I’ve done that for a long time, but not anymore. First because I’m not eating red meat anymore, or as little as possible, because of its pro-inflammatory impact (grass fed beef might be different) but also because I’m not a lot more insulin sensitive than I was.
While the "meat and nuts: breakfast might be a good idea when you are insulin resistant, I don’t believe it to be the best option when you are insulin sensitive.
Make sense since coffee has been shown to have many health benefits. I personally do not like coffee though so I can’t talk from experience.
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
No more dairy or limit dairy to a dessert [/quote]
Agreed.
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
The darker the green vegetable the better it is for you. The darker the berry the better it is for you. Examples of dark green vegetables: spinach, kale, broccoli, brussell sprouts, etc… Examples of dark berries: blueberries, cherries, acai berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc…[/quote]
Agreed.
Agreed.
Agreed, but it is what I find to be the hardest, personally.
Agreed. But when having lots of green tea I suggest adding a bit of lemon to it (to prevent kidney stones)
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
Limit processed carbohydrates: breads, pastas, etc… opt instead for sweet potatoes, yams, and beets. Rice is better than grains. Quinoa is great! [/quote]
Agreed.
Agreed, although I personally don’t use any dressing.
I’m not huge on cheat meals. I do believe in carb-ups (if you are using a low carbs diet) but ideally with non-pressed carbs. I don’t like to plan cheats. I find that for many people they make dieting harder, not easier. After a few weeks of dieting you will start to crave, then be obsessed with your upcoming cheat day… and it can make it much harder to stick to your diet. I also find that a cheat gives you enough of a taste to make you continue craving junk food. I find it better to stop eating “cheat food” altogether… understanding that you might have some “accidents” but do not plan to eat cheat food on purpose.
Agreed. But I’ve always been a vodka man so it’s easy for me to agree!
Agreed. I find that more people screw up their diet because of what they drink rather than what they eat.
Agreed. Giving up diet soda was the hardest thing to do for me. I used to drink as much as 3L of it each day.
It depends on your psychological profile. While in theory the density of nutrients in these foods should help with cravings, personally having just a taste would simply drive me to have more. I’m the kind of guy who, when he eats one cookie will eat the whole box.
Agreed. The biggest issue I see when people have an “dietary accident” is to say “screw this, I ruined my day, might as well ruin it for good and start over tomorrow” then overindulge… or the opposite: they punish themselves by starving themselves the next day to compensate… two really bad habits that will do more harm than the actual slip up.
Agreed. Learned this the hard way. Low carbs AND low fat = feeling like crap and losing muscle.
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
Cook with coconut oil. [/quote]
Agreed.
I believe in consuming nutrients prior to the workout to load up the blood with aminos., But I also believe that having a protein shale Afterwards.
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
Try not to eat 2.5 to 3 hours before bed. [/quote]
Agreed.
[quote=“nickj_777, post:147, topic:220483”]
Make Yourself More Alkaline: Put Lime in Your Water[/quote]
I agree with making yourself more alkaline. But lime is only one of the way to work toward that. EVERY meal should be alkaline.
TOTALLY agree.
While it can be done, mixing both can be tricky. You have to put the lime juice first then gradually add bicarbonate, really slowly, when it stops foaming, add water.
Thanks for the response CT!
This is a really interesting thread.
One question I have:
I work out in the evenings 8-10pm, I generally eat a little something before my workout but sometimes train on an empty stomach and then have to eat when I get back home this means that I have had my last meal about an hour before bed. How important is it to try and eat 3 hours before sleeping and what should I be eating if this isn’t possible for me?
Any ideas welcome.
Thank you.
Does training a half hour later upon waking, while sipping peri workout count as training fasted ? Would this method help achieve leanness ?
Anybody-Thanks.
Anytime you put nutrients in your body it is NOT fasted. But training only 30 minutes after waking up is not optimal, rarely will you have really good workouts that way. I train really early (6:30am) but I wake up 2 hours before training (4:30 sometimes 4)
I wake at 4am and begin training at 4.30am, i’ve been doing this over a year now, i’ve adapted. Would it be a negative to skip my pre workout/brekky smoothie and train straight off intra workout. My food/smoothie doesn’t have time to settle and can make me feel sluggish. (This early is my only time to train with work/husband/father duties.
In that case have 2/3rd of your peri-workout protocol before the session (about 20 min before) and 1/3 during
Wait, I thought you should include red meat in your food plan. I thought meats like pork, beef, Chicken or hell even the thanksgiving bird. And I was also thinking isn’t the fat in your meat (at a curtain%) good at lowering the LDL cholesterol even though we don’t have to worry so much about it anymore cause there are no evidence to support the case? Veggies I can understand (I have almost every night with some local potatos), fish, yes I can absolutely understand and eat that on some wholemeal/wholegrain biscuits qith a bit of cheese for added calories and fats, fruits I can understand completely but why butcher meat? I thought meat was a bodybuilders #1 source of protein 2nd only to full fat dairy. I am just so confused and apologies for my crappy daily routine but its their as an example. I have eaten a lot of fats from meat and I had no problems with my health according to my GP. I am lean mean, well oiled machine and on top of that I am a rediculous health nut. Day in and out I reaserch till the cows come home. When it comes to food I reaserch the hell out of one thing. 
again sorry people for this long drawn out paragraph, I just want to know why to avoid meat at all times cause has got quite a bit of macronutrients too so I dont know why some people are so harsh on good quality meats, hell I live in the land down under and I don’t need to get grass fed meat cause of farming support. I can understand grass fed meat over in the US no problem but to avoid it would be very difficult build and maintain glycogen storage within muscle protiens. Anyways I am sure you get the point. Just let me know if you people are ever confused or just bored with this causeI didn’t relies this was going to be very long. 
I’m really confused. Who ever said meat was bad and to avoid it at all times? Who ever said full fat dairy was better than meat? Why are you talking glycogen which is about carbs and not protein?
The only recommendation about meat that CT said is that it is pro-inflammatory and inflammation slows down all the function of the body (including fat loss). So it’s a better strategy to have most of your protein from fish and eggs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t lose fat with meat.
Sorry I that was my fault that I didn’t relies it was pro inflammatory. Its just I should of looked more into fish than meat and I did a bit of reaserch and fish was a lot better than meat in terms of protein. That was my stupid fault. And I don’t mean to jump ahead at topics. The truth is that I do have ADHD and I do tend to jump at conclusions very easily. Hope you understand and Christian is a good man and really does know his shit. So again apologies for the comment
You should never jump to conclusion in the realm of sports. Remember it’s also a business now and many people will tell you whatever, pass as guru and all just to gain money. Truth is there’s no perfect exercise, no perfect program, no perfect diet. That doesn’t mean there are better things and that you can’t elarn but you should not overthink it. After all, stress is bad for gainzzzzz
Just read this whole thread and there is a ton of knowledge in here.
Great thread thanks CP and the crew. Always learning. Stay blessed!