OK, I’ve been reading all the different diets and opinions and have some questions I could use some help with.
I'm 6'4", around 290, and I'm not sure what my BF is, but I'm going to get it checked. I'm not weak: I just hit 810 on the leg press last night (a personal best) and I can rep 200 on the bench.
Should I go on a low carb diet? I have been for a week or so, and am feeling pretty good. Yesterday, all I ate was a hamburger patty, three slices of bacon, a handful of beef jerky, and three french fries. (Ok, I cheated a little)
Should I eat more or less? I’ve been trying to find the formula for what my maintenance calories should be and all that, but can’t seem to. I’m also finding conflicting advice on low carb diets - I’m not an athlete, and honestly am not too concerned about burning muscle up.
Is eating once per day enough, or should I eat more? I'm on T2Pro and MD6 and don't have much of an appetite...
I could use some advice from former fat bastards who slimmed down, as much of what I find seems to be guys who are already in great shape trying to get from 8%bf to 7%bf, and that’s a bit different from my problem…
If you’re feeling good on the low carb diet then by all means stick with it. You don’t have to try to starve yourself though and you should be eating more often than once a day. To make it more of a healthy diet make sure you get your fibrous veggies in…lots of broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, salads etc. These will help balance out the acidity of such a high protein/low carb diet, give you much needed bitamins and minerals,give you fiber, and keep you full. Read the recent article by Don Alessi on how to incorporate cheat days on your diet and do so periodically as a carb-up. As far as training goes please get off the leg press machine…800 lbs on the leg press is 800 lbs of pressure on your lower back without much muscle building benefit. I’d rather see you use 20% of that weight for full squats.
If you’re BF% is still high, then you more than likely will not have any energy problems during the begining stages of a low-carb diet. Also, you haven’t really lowered your glycogen stores yet either. Once that happens - yes, you will begin to feel rather lethargic. Even lifting a pencil will seem like a chore.
As for if you should continue or begin a low carb diet: you've kinda answered your own question in your post: that you need to experiment to find out what works for you.
But if you want specifics: you're gonna have to provide them: Find out first what your BF% is. How many calories a day have you been averaging? Begin a food log. Once you embark on a change in diet, you can monitor your composition changes much better and see if a Low Carb diet is effective for you.
How serious are YOU about losing BF? Maybe you should consider the Meltdown Program. I'm not a former fat bastard, but I thought I'd chime in. :-)
I’ve been working on the Meltdown program, and it has been kicking my ass. Plus, there’s obviously no way I can do the chin ups, so I’ve been doing lat pulldowns instead.
I got 2/3rds of the way through it the first time before I had to stop, and I think by the end of the week (tomorrow, gosh.) I should be able to make it all the way through it.
I squat 225 right now with no problem and it keeps going up - the leg press is to win a bet with a buddy who doesn't think I can throw up a grand before the end of the year.
Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll work on improving meal frequency.
i wouldnt be bragging about an 800lb leg press and 200lb bench at 290lbs. youve got more than 100 lbs on me and i blow those numbers away! benching 90 lbs less than your weight, what the hell is that?
First off, I wasn’t bragging. I was pointing out that I’m not a fat flabby sack of shit who can barely rep the bar.
And how long did it take you to get to bench 200? Or are you a scrawny 150lb guy who's happy with benching 150 because it's his weight?
I went from 45 to 200 in 2 months. My leg press went from 300 to 810 in 2 months. I went from curling 50 for ten to 100 for 20 in 2 months. My squat went from the bar to repping 225, and 1rming 350 in 2 months. Am I bragging? No, I'm pointing out I've been doing this for 2 fucking months and my gains aren't bad for 2 months.
Since you've got so much to prove, why don't you post your numbers and maybe even a picture in my Yahoo group?
Hopefully “big-p” got the self-esteem boost he so desperately needed by his post. Now perhaps he doesn’t feel so bad about being [insert whatever self-esteem issue he has here].
Ko: I’m under the impression that the more fat you have to lose, the less muscle you’ll lose. Is this incorrect?
Clint: I can't stand fish at all - it makes me gag something fierce, so fish is out of the question unless I want to become bulimic. So, what would another good option be besides fish? And what's the story with flax? I've read that it's really good, but I haven't read why, or how much.
Do a search in the previous issues section for the T-Dawg Diet. You sound like you could stick to it fairly easily, and it works amazingly well. And for heaven’s sake, EAT, and start keeping a food log so that you can actually see on paper what your diet looks like. You can’t ramp up your metabolism unless you give it something to burn. Good luck.
actually “BIG” jack i will post my numbers for you since i think they are pretty respectable for a natural, 185lb bodybuilder @9%bf with about 2 years of serious training under my belt. i have squatted 450 for reps 5-6. flat bench 315 for another 4-5 reps. incline press 250 4-5 times. deadlift 425 for reps all with strict form. i dont lift for max poundages so i couldnt tell you my 1rm for a particular lift. i wasnt trying to insult or attack you with my previous post, i was simply stating that at your weight i wouldnt be bragging about those #'s. you said, and i quote, “I’m not weak: I just hit 810 on the leg press last night (a personal best) and I can rep 200 on the bench.” in my humble opinion that is weak and that is why i said i wouldnt be bragging about it.
Well P, let’s see here. You’ve been doing this for 2 years, I’ve been doing it for 2 months.
In 2 months, I've managed to hit:
77% of the squat it took you 2 years to hit
63% of the bench it took you 2 years to hit
74% of the deadlift it took you 2 years to hit
What were your numbers at 2 months?
Look, I could tear you a new asshole on the forum, as could many others here. Let me pass on some knowledge to you, instead.
There will always be someone who can out bench/squat/dead/whatever your numbers, and you'll be weak as hell to them. Is a 450 squat at 185 good? Well, no, considering I know of at least one guy who squatted 826 at 198 body weight.
If you think you're so incredibly badass, go hit up Dave Tate and train Westside style with his crew.
Do others agree with Kelly Bagget about the leg press? I’ve gotten sick of squatting without a rack and been doing leg presses for a while. I’m only at about 650 pounds and feel like its helping
Jack, are you keeping a food log? It doesn’t sound like it. If not, then start. Today.
Rather than trying to find out what your maintenance cals are through some formula, you can just keep track of what you eat for a week or two and then see what your actual average caloric intake is per day. Formulae are never totally right for everyone anyway, they just provide a starting point. If you know what you’ve been eating for a while and you also know what your BW is doing (i.e., going up, down or staying the same), you can then figure out what you need to bulk, cut and maintain.
Also, by comparing how many cals at a given BW were necessary for maintenance at one time versus how many are necessary at another time, you can see whether your metabolism is getting revved up or not.
All sorts of benefits to keeping a food log. Knowledge is definitely power in this case.
Oh, and start eating more often. Even sumo wrestlers eat twice a day, and I doubt that you want to look like they do…
Fat people lose more muscle and less fat when cutting. It’s a sad but true curse. To be specific: the ratio of fat:lean lost will be less favorable when your bodyfat is 25% than when it is 5%. But if you are overfat, then it doesn’t matter, you have to lose the fat somehow.
you say you went from benching the bar to 200 in 2 months and from 300 to 800 on the leg press in 2 months. i dont care if i was on my death bed i would still be able to handle a hell of a lot more than the bar straight outta bed. what the hell were you doing lifting only the bar?another thing “fat jack,” those improvements of yours are not from an increase in muscle size but rather a cns response to the new demands being placed upon it. so dont get too excited. everyone goes through the same thing when they first begin to train. i also find it interesting that all of this smack talk is coming from someone that has no idea of how to construct a proper diet. the diet you described sounds like something a yo yo dieting, overweight, atkins following middle aged woman would go with. get your training and nutrition practices together before you try throw smack my way buddy.
Mark, where did you come up with this idea that fat people lose more muscle and less fat than lean people. Actually, the complete opposite is true. For obese people, it is quite easy to lose tremendous amts. of fat w/ little muscle loss, its when you get lean, below your set point, that problems begin. It is tied in to less leptin in lean individuals, as well as going below the bodies desired setpoint of bodyweight/bodyfat that is related to brain chemistry. But As u get leaner, if NATURAL, one loses more muscle than if heavy. Lyle McDonald has looked at the research quite extensively and I have talked to him about this topic and this is his conclusion as well.
Jack: To actually respond to you I think you have a lot of reading to do on diet. You ate terrible things for you, and you didn’t eat enough! Low carb does not necessarily mean low calorie. I wouldn’t suggest a high caloric diet for you, because it’s clear you have a lot of fat reserves to pull from, but since you’re asking for diet help. Go out and get a ‘zone’ diet book and read up on it. I think you’ll get a much better understanding and then you can go and look at all the diet articles here… like foods that make you look great ‘nekkid’ and ‘don’t diet’ and massive eating, etc… Massive eating I would not recommend for you. Anyway, I’m not really sure what you’re going for, but it definitely sounds like you’ve got a lot of fat to lose. You should be benching well over your body weight even though you’re tall. Anyway… I think you should spend a solid 10 hours just researching diet at the least and get an idea of what’s really going on, because my god… I can only think of a couple of things you said you did right. At least you’re not starving yourself, and at least you didn’t say ‘I ate bread all day and I’m not getting thinner!’ But you could really benefitt from those readings suggested… and do so intensely.
