The Best Intermittent Fasting Meals For Losing Fat
I have been using these intermittent fasting meals for fat loss and it has been so effective, pleasurable, and simple that it would be a crime not to share my strategy with you! I have found it to be the perfect dieting strategy while following my Aggressive Fat Loss Program!
By using these intermittent fasting meals for fat loss, I have been able to consistently eat low calories without feeling deprived and thus get lean rather quickly.
It has also freed up massive amounts of time cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Ever since I implemented intermittent fasting for fat loss, I have plenty of energy all throughout the day, laser like focus and I sleep like a baby at night.
I would now like to run you through the intermittent fasting meals fat loss diet plan and how it works…
Enjoy!
How to use intermittent fasting to lose weight
When using fasting to lose weight, you will eat all of your meals in a 6-8 hour eating window. This is best accomplished by going 5-6 hours upon waking before having your first meal. Your last meal should be around 2 hours before going to sleep.
Example:
Wake up at 10am.
Meal 1 at 3-4pm.
Meal 2 at 6-7pm.
Meal 3 at 10pm.
By skipping a morning breakfast you force your body to break into it’s fat stores to fuel itself instead of burning food energy. That is why intermittent fasting is the ultimate fat loss diet for men and women! In addition, by pushing your first meal later into the day you can enjoy big, satisfying healthy meals while staying in a caloric deficit.
If you haven’t skipped breakfast before it may take some getting used to. This is probably the hardest part about transitioning into using intermittent fasting for fat loss.
But after a few days of skipping breakfast your body will learn to thrive in the fasted state. You will stimulate the sympathetic system and feel effects such as alertness, laser like focus, and a hunger blunting effect.
Should You Drink Coffee in the Fasted State?
Consuming 2-3 cups of coffee while fasting will accelerate your metabolism, reduce your appetite and make you feel good. If you are going to be working out then the coffee will have a positive impact on your strength and stamina.
My absolute favorite type of intermittent fasting coffee for fat burning and reduced appetite is Fasting Fuel. I drink it almost every day.
The effects of coffee seem to last up to 6 hours so even if you train later in the day you should still get an extra kick from the morning coffee. Furthermore, coffee is a rich source of antioxidants and has been shown to have numerous health benefits.
How To Break the Fast
I recommend keeping the first two meals of the intermittent fasting meal plan very healthy and modest in size.
If you break your fast with a big meal you will shift your body out of the sympathetic mode and into the para sympathetic mode. This will shut off fat burning and make you tired.
Definitely not ideal for the midday/afternoon. Moreover, a big meal during the day doesn’t seem to be very effective for limiting hunger (my own personal experience, could be different for you).
Lastly cooking, eating and cleaning a large meal during the day is a hassle and is not very lifestyle friendly.
With this intermittent fasting diet meal plan, the goal is to eat just enough food to nourish your body and stave off hunger without overtaxing your digestive system. This will allow you to maximize energy and focus.
I like to have a smallish meal of 300-400 calories. I opt for some quick/easy protein, fruit and some healthy fats.
Meals 1 & 2 Example:
- Option #1: Greek Yogurt or Cottage Cheese topped with berries and almonds.
- Option #2: Can of Tuna, Apple and 1tbs of olive oil
- Option #3: Chicken breast, Salad Greens, Apple and Half an Avocado
- Option #4: Omelette (2 whole eggs + 0.75-1 cup whites) and Berries
- Option #5: 40g whey protein mixed with 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened), 20g almonds and serving of fruit
Key Points For Intermittent Fasting Meals and What To Eat
As you can see all of the sample intermittent fasting meals included in the fat loss diet have a convenient source of protein, fruit and some healthy fats. This food combination is what I have personally found to be the most effective for staying satisfied on low calorie meals. The fruit is highly nutritious, easily digestible and is effective at replenishing liver glycogen.
By increasing liver glycogen you will bring your body into an anabolic state and reduce hunger. I recommend including the fat source (nuts, olive oil or whole eggs). If you keep fat too low in these small meals you will get hungry again very quickly.
I pretty much stick with Greek Yogurt (250g), Fruit and Nuts (25g) for these two meals. It’s quick, easy, doesn’t require cooking/preparation and tastes amazing. I will usually throw some cinnamon in too.
What Should The Grand Feast Look Like?
By this point you have fasted, consumed two small meals and thus have creating a very large calorie buffer. It is likely that you have only consumed 600-800 calories by this point.
When on a fat loss diet I like to eat around 10 calories per pound of goal bodyweight per day. This may seem on the low side for calories… but that’s why fasting and fat loss go hand in hand. You can still eat massive meals and not feel deprived all while still being a caloric deficit!
This level of calories has never failed me at getting lean even with the absence of cardio.
Depending on what your goal weight is this may give you 600-1200 calories to play with. I generally keep this meal around 800-1000 calories in size. I recommend keeping this meal high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and carbs.
If you are having a very lean source of protein (chicken) then you can use fats more sparingly (butter with potatoes or rice, coconut oil for cooking, cheese for topping). If you are going for a fattier cut of meat (beef, salmon) then I recommend staying away from any additional fats.
Intermittent Fasting Meal Plan Example
1. Chicken Breast, Veggies, Brown Rice, Coconut Oil (add 1-3tsp to rice and 1tsp for cooking chicken)
2. Chicken Breast, Veggies, Potato Wedges (boil for 5 minutes and cook on skillet in 2-3 tsp of oil)
3. Steak, Veggies, Sweet Potato (add cinnamon)
This Is The Best Program For Getting Ripped
For a complete intermittent fasting workout routine on getting absolutely shredded, I recommend my Aggressive Fat Loss Program.
This course utilizes intermittent fasting to lose weight effortlessly and drop body fat all while building strength in the gym and getting more chiseled than ever. This is intermittent fasting workout plan I use when I want to cut down to very low body fat without going crazy.
Frequently Asked Question & Answers
- Why have you included carbs in the main meal? I thought carbs make you fat?
Carbs are only problematic when eaten excessively, beyond what your body requires. As long as you are eating low calories then carb intake will make very little difference in respect to fat loss. In other words, two diets of equal calories with varying levels of carb intake will result in the same level of fat loss. If you are still unsure then you can read this brilliant article by Lyle McDonald, Low Carbohydrate Diets Have No Metabolic Advantage. In addition, carbs in the main meal serve very important functions such as increasing leptin (improved satiety and metabolic rate), refilling depleted muscle glycogen stores and triggering the release of serotonin which will improve your quality of sleep and make you feel good. - Can I have Fruits instead for the Main Meal?
I recommend avoiding fruits for the main meal. Fruits are rather inefficient at replenishing muscle glycogen and don’t have as much of an effect on leptin levels as grains/tubers. - Won’t eating a big meal before bed make me fat?
As long as you are in a calorie deficit then meal timing is irrelevant. In some cases large late night meals have been shown to preserve muscle mass better on a diet and result in a greater loss in body fat percentage. I highly recommend reading Martin Berkhan’s article on the subject – Is Late Night Eating Better for Fat loss and Health. Check out this post for more on the differences between the Kinobody approach and LeanGains (Martin Berkhan’s approach). - I am hungry during the day, what should I do?
Give your body time to adapt to fasting and under eating during the day. This adaptation process may take a few days or a couple weeks. The best part about this diet is that while you might feel slight hunger sensations at times there will be no junk/food cravings. Many people including myself find it easier to deal with a little intermittent hunger then to deal with sneaky food cravings. As well everyday you get to look forward to eating a very big and satisfying meal at night. This takes the grind out of dieting. - Can I have a cheat meal?
Once or twice per week you can have a treat. Remember you will have 600-1000 calories to work with in the main meal. This should make it pretty easy to enjoy some of your favorite foods or go out to a restaurant with friends/family. Just make sure to not go over the calorie budget for the day. If you do end up going over the calorie budget for the day then you can compensate by slightly reducing calories the following days. - Won’t I lose muscle and have no energy if I train on an empty stomach?
I have had my best workouts completely fasted! Once you adapt to training in the fasted state you get a boost of energy and strength. I think this goes back to stimulating the sympathetic system (fight or flight). In addition Fasted training has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and improve nutrient partitioning. This means that your body will be more efficient at directing nutrients into muscle cells and away from fat stores. Thus training in the fasted state makes the subsequent meals more anabolic. This is why I absolutely love intermittent fasting for fat loss and building muscle. With that said pre- workout protein is beneficial at increasing protein synthesis, elevating metabolism and reducing muscle breakdown. Therefore I recommend 10 grams of BCAA before an intermittent fasting workout.
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Greg,
I’m a recent subscriber(just within the last week) and I have to say that much of the information on this site has been quite eye-opening and revelatory. I;m not a particularly big fan of eating breakfast, either, so I’m particularly enamored with this Intermittent Fasting philosophy. I do have just one concern though. I like to work out early in the morning (usually starting before eight am). Should I still follow the IF protocol, even under those circumstances, or should I have a small nutrient dense meal to aid in recovery? I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Hi Will,
I am also an early riser and have shifted around the intermittent fasting schedule to fit my routine. It looks something like:
5a: wake up, coffee
11a: meal 1
1p: work out
2: meal 2
5p: meal 3 (FEAST)
I’m finding that the lighter meals before and after my workout give me great energy for lifting, stave off the hungry jitters, and leave me super-excited but not starving for my big feast meal.
This schedule also meets your criteria for the small nutrient dense recovery meal as well.
Maybe experiment with a schedule similar to this and see how you feel?
Thanks for the advice.
If im fasting for ramadan and the only way i can work out is in the morning 8 hours or 10 hours before i eat do i lose muscle or do i get cut up
going to have to try this
Hello Greg,
I am suffering from bloated stomach. Even if i took small meals my stomach will become a balloon. My waist is 31, but my bloated stomach is 35 inch. I am 5 feet 10 inches and 145 lbs in weight. I do workout for 4 days/week. I avoid fats and unhealthy food, but still my stomach is bloated. Pls help me out.
Regards,
Shafi.
drink more water. intake enough fiber.
Hello Greg,
You are suggesting to take 30g of whey or 10g of BCAA 15 mins before the fasted workout, but won’t the proteins break the fasted state and start the eating window?
Hi Greg! I´m 5’9” tall and have 156lb, the pharmacy machine tells me i have 10%bf but i dont believe it because i still have the abs covered. I´m not a noob in gym but i stopped trainning 6 moutnhs ago. I dont know what program should i start…Shoul i build muscle or shred to a little more and start from there to build muscle? What program you think it´s better for me?
By the way i start today fasting with 3 meals a day, but i only can workout after the second meal, it´s any problem? I´m thinking start to workout at 7pm and have the third meal (Big Meal) at 8pm. What do you think?
you should be 44-45% of your height before lean bulking. if you’re not then you can go ahead and do warrior shredding program. what physique are you aiming for ? Warrior, Greek God, or Superhero?
Hey Greg I woke up at 9am ate at 1pm and then at 6pm when I wake up at 9am I will already have fasted 15 hours and then pushing my first meal back will be like 20 hours I go bed early like 8:30 pm I want to wake up early can u give me a plan
Hey Greg!
Love all your info and knowledge! :)
I am interested in getting your Aggressive Fat Loss program, I am female and around 19%bf, looking to get down to 12% (maybe to compete in the future) – I have a very solid muscle base, but would like to cut as quickly as possible in a safe and sane manner for a specific date. I have experience with Ifing/”clean eating”, ect, but can never seem to control my need for high-volume meals without going overboard haha! Which results in too many over-calorie deficit dates to see the results I’m looking for. So I’m thinking this 1 meal a day thing might work for me for cutting!
I have 2 questions before I get the program, to know that it’s “right” for me:
-Is the program also relevant/directed to women? (I understand the basic fat loss mechanisms are not sexist ;) but just wondering if the program is also directed to us women)
-Do you think 2 months with this program (with 100% compliance :) would get me to my goal? (then from there, I can maintain with 16/8 IF plan or something)
Thank so much in advance and hope this makes sense :)
Alma-Jade x
Slowdown. You’re not in the right headspace to get lean. Meaning, from my experience, nothing good will happen from you trying to lose weight right now. Trying to get lean as quickly as possible is the problem. You need to focus on enjoying the process, taking your time. There’s no rush. Instead you should be focusing on eating in a way that’s enjoyable and that promotes leanness.
Hey Greg!
Quick question for you….
I’ve been trying to eat a pretty lean and healthy lunch which consists of Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, a chicken breast, half an avocado and salad dressing.
As for counting daily calories and macros, would I just count the chicken, avocado, and dressing?
Also, if I substituted Incline Flys for Flat Bench in the Warrior Program would I do RPT or SS?
Thanks a lot man! Your physique is lookin insane right now!
I would also technically count tomatoes. It’s a fruit. I wouldn’t bother with flyes, you’ll get better gains with bench. But if you want to do flyes go with straight sets.
Hey Greg lets say i wake up @ 9am and workout @ 10 am. Can i eat after my workout if im done by 11:30?? if i were to do so id only be 2 hours fasted by the time i eat… which would defeat the purpose…fyi i hit the sack around nidnight. Kinda confused as to what i should do!
You dont’ have to eat right after your workout. You could push your first meal to 2pm. THat’s what I would do.
Great article! I just have one concern; I am a female at about 123lbs, if I want to get down to 115lbs, isn´t 1150 calories per day extremely low for someone who lifts heavy 4-5 times per week? I mean, my BMR is at 1400 cals.
It’s not actually that low. But you can start around 1300-1400 and track fat loss and see how that works. You may lean down nicely around 1300-1400 – but 1150 would be a fool proof way to lose fat.
Hey Greg, awesome article! If you train fasted in the morning do you have to take the bcaas or would coffee alone be okay? Thank you.
I just do coffee. Some people recommend BCAA’s but I doubt it makes much of a difference, provided that you’re getting in enough protein each day.
Hey, Greg. This nutrition plan is different from the warrior diet. Is this the outdated version, or does it still have merit?
This is a different variation. If you want a more strict approach and aren’t worried about strength and muscle as much then this can work well. But for longterm success and improvements in muscle and strength I suggest the warrior shredding program.
Ok, so i just started the aggressive fat loss program, and i wanna now how many protein shakes do you recomment a day? And when? Before or after my workout
I don’t recommend any protein shakes. You’ll be getting more than enough protein from the two meals per day.
Great read! Whats your thoughts on using preworkout supplements, such as Jack3d or what not? Im kind of reliant on preworkouts to get more out of my workouts.
They’re fine, I prefer black coffee however. Also be careful not to use too much of it, especially later in the day as it can fuck up your sleep.
Hey Greg, I was wondering how many grams of cottage cheese you recommend in the evening, around 10pm?
Well as much as it takes to hit your proper protein intake. Usually about 250g to 500g.
Is is important to not drink a protein-shake (whey) in the morning?
And in general, have whey, multi component or casein a role or could they have a role? (Also whey after training) I have kind of a hard time getting so much protein in my body just with normal food. Thanks for the great stuff here!
Hey Mike. Having protein shakes are completely fine, especially if you have trouble getting in enough calories or protein. But you don’t need that much protein, 1g per pound is sufficient, then getting the rest of your cals from fats and carbs is idea.
Hey Greg I wake up at 9am eat at 1 then the next meal at 6 if I wake up at 9am I have already fasted for 15 hours is it ok to wait 4-5 hours then eat or is that too long of a wait
In another post you suggested eating at a 20-25% deficit every day, except for refeeds. What are you shooting for calorie or macronutrient wise on the refeeds?
Usually around 15-16 calories per pound of bodyweight. 25% fat, 25-30% protein and 50-55% carbs
I believe I read somewhere that for some individuals that still get hungry during the fast, that some fruit wouldn’t hurt? Is that true & why? Also how often is a refeed? Thanks your an inspiration.
Yeah fruit near the end of the fast can hold your until meal time. It replenishes liver glycogen staving off hunger.
1.) So when I breaking the fast the first meal is around 300-400 calories. (as you wrote)
2.) The second meal 2 hours before the weight workout (to have power from the carbs)
3.) Last meal I guess where I eat my main calories is a post workout meal
Do you recommend this plan?
Yes that’s a very good strategy if you enjoy it and can stick to it.
Hey greg.
While fasting, is it ok to use stevia in my coffee to improve taste, since it is zero calories? I know you encourage drinking it black but i thought this might be acceptable.
Yah that should be fine but I definitely encourage people to go without any sweeteners of any kind during the fasting.
Greg,
I’ve recently stumbled upon your site and am finding your message truly resonates with me. So, here’s my question: Which program?
I’m 5’10”, 210 lbs., and 18-20% bf. I’ve a decent base of muscle and have been lifting for several years but am obviously in need of a serious trim down. On the other hand, I lack development in the “upper/inner” area of my chest and biceps.
So… Greek God or Warrior Shredded?
Thanks!
Well looks to me that you biggest priority should be dropping fat. You’re probably going to have to lean down to about 185 lbs. The warrior shredding program is going to be the best bet. After getting lean and bringing your body fat down to the 8-12% range, then you can focus on building muscle and developing your weak points.
Hey Greg,
I bought your Kinobody Shredding Program lately and I was wondering what’s your take about diet sodas and zero calorie energy drinks while cutting? And what about bread as carb source?
And I just want to say that I already noticed some great result from your program thanks a lot!
Glad to hear you’re making kick ass results!
I recommend people stay away from artificial sweeteners for health reasons. Plus a lot of the time this stuff can increase cravings. I don’t consider bread to be the ideal carb source. I recommend gluten free carbs but that’s partially because I feel much better not having gluten in my diet. You’ll have to evaluate that for yourself.
This article helped me so much!
What is your favourite food to when you want to hit your macros?
What is usually your P C F in %? any differens between workout days and rest days?
Hi Greg,
Actually I bought your Kinobody Shredding Program (20th of may 2013, previous mail adress: locpa@libero.it ) and I saw that a few months later you changed your system to lose fat…
So I had great results (thanks for that!) and I’m looking forward to lose other 3,4 kg before the summer season and now I’m wondering if you would make me an update or if I had to purchase your shredding program for the second time? Thanks a lot pal and many greetings from Italy and Germany
Hey Raphael,
It’s an entirely different system so unfortunately it won’t be a free update. That said, I can give you a discount since you purchased the first one.
I see… How much would it be? How would you manage it to give me this discount since the easiest way for me is using PayPal?
Hi! Awesome post!
Do you see any reason to limit carbs during day (<10g) to limit insulin spike and remain fatloss state? Refering to Kiefer…
Hell no! Fat loss comes down to the calorie deficit. I’ve worked with tons of people that got ripped eating plenty of carbs at lunch. An insulin spike does not matter and it’s helpful for blunting cortisol and muscle retention.
Hi Greg,
I am currently 91.5kg (so around 202 pounds) and 20% bf.
I am going to follow this diet, and think I can achieve what I am after.
I am comfortable that I have calculated the correct calorie intake, and breakdown of macros, but my question is this…. I currently train as a semi competitive masters rower, and on training days (3 or 4 days per week) I will burn approx 700-1000 cal per session. On very heavy training days it has been over 1000, but on average lets say around 800 per session.
Should I alter my goal calorie intake to take this into account, or now that I have mapped out my calorie requirements I will drop weight quicker given this level of cardio?
My thoughts are wait and see if I am dropping weight TOO quickly, then up the calories a bit if needed?
Thanks
Paul
Yeah you should definitely increase calories on your training days to accomodate all of the burned calories otherwise you will be in too big of a deficit. I’d add about 600 calories or so to your training days and see if fat loss takes place at a good rate. You can always adjust that number up or down
Hey Greg! The article explains very well the food consumption bu how about water consumption?
I am used to drink 2.5 liters of water a day because I have a physical job and lifestyle. During the period that I am fasting, how much water should I drink? As well what is your approach to water during this period in general?
I don’t have a set amount of water that I recommend drinking. But I encourage people to train themselves to drink plenty of water. I have at-least 3-4 liters of water per day and that’s if I’m inactive.
Hi Greg, I’ve had great results following your warrior shredding program and have adapted seamlessly to intermittent fasting, losing over 40 lbs while gaining strength in the past 12 weeks. I seem to have hit a plateau with fat loss now that I’m in the 190 lb range. With the kinobody transformation contest getting underway, I want to make sure I can crank my body back into fat loss mode again for the next 12 weeks with the goal of losing 15-20 lbs of fat.
One thing you mentioned in this article struck me: “If you break your fast with a big meal you will shift your body out of the sympathetic mode and into the para sympathetic mode. This will shut off fat burning and make you tired”. I am very accustomed to fasting all day and eating just one big meal at around 7-9PM (1200-1500 cals) and a snack such as casein pudding closer to bed. I sleep very well which is probably due to the phenomenon of going into para sympathetic mode.
Would you recommend breaking my fast with a smaller meal (200-600 calories) in order to keep my body in sympathetic mode throughout the night and into the next day?
Hey Shea!
Great to hear your awesome progress. The short winded answer is no. You’re doing a very long fast and you need a big meal. If you were to do a meal around lunch time then you could keep it small. But you’re just doing a late dinner and a small meal so there’s no need to change anything. You’re probably building muscle and dropping fat at this point because you’ve been consistent with the strength training.
Greg,
My goal is to get down to 200lbs but that means eating 2,000 calories. When I calculate BMR online I find that 2,670 is my daily maintenance calories. I’ve been eating at 1,000 calorie deficit (1,670) but wondering if there is risk in maintaining that or risk in plateauing with nowhere left to go down….what do you think?
Also just started Rusty Moore VI Cardio as you recommended on the site – good stuff in there!
I really wouldn’t recommend going lower than 10 calories per pound of goal weight. It’s really not necessary and it’s just not enjoyable. Keep the calories around 2000 and you’ll drop weight at a really good rate but you’ll maintain muscle and sanity.
I am totally confused. If I weight 138 and am 5.4″ and my goal is to be 116 how much should I be consuming?
You want to consume about 10 calories per pound of goal bodyweight on this diet plan. So about 1160 calories.
Could i add coconut oil on the rice instead butter?
Yes
Hey Greg!
What are your toughs about carb-cycling?
It’s not necessary, It’s about weekly calorie intake. I prefer to keep carbs balanced on a daily basis, much more enjoyable. Plus it sucks to do very high carbs then have to go to low carbs the next day.
1. Oatmeal and a fruit? any suggestion how to ad fat to that meal like that.
2. How can i make vegetables taste better?
1) You can add some walnuts to the oatmeal
2) Add seasalt. You can also fry some veggies in a bit of coconut oil.
1.Could i use 2-3 eggs as a fat source to oatmeal instead of nuts?
2.Chicken and veggies ? any suggestion how to ad fat to that meal like that.
Yes
Hi Greg, You mentioned above that you should be eating 10 calories per pound of goal weight. I’m 5’2″, my current weight is 121-122 lbs and my goal weight is 110, that means I should be eating 1100 calories? That seems really low especially because I do work out at a high intensity and according to my Polar Heart Rate Monitor, I can burn anywhere between 300-600 calories. Also, for me, whenever I eat so low calories per day for a few days or a week at a time, I end up binge eating. It’s usually Ezekiel toast and coconut oil but way, too much and I end up undoing all the good I’ve done. What can I do to avoid this vicious cycle? Any tricks up your sleeve?
Yah I’d suggest doing 12 calories per pound of current bodyweight. That’s more sustainable.
Ok, thank you!
Would 10-12 percent Beef count as a Fattier cut of meat ?
Yes
What about 5 percent beef would that count as fattier meat?
You mean 95% lean beef? that would be really lean actually.
Another thing Greg,
Shouldn’t we have a “normal” eating day? Most diets I’ve seen recommend eating at maintnance once per week to trick your body into thinking it’s not starving or something like that, which prevents metabolism changes and muscle loss.
Do you think that’s necessary or can we safely go low calories for several weeks straight?
Yes, once per week you can bump up calories to maintenance.
My store docent have almond milk. What kind of milk would you recommend instead?
You can just use skim milk or rice milk.
What do you think of using coconut butter instead of butter or coconot oil?
That’s completely fine, are they not the same? Never heard of coconut butter.
I never heard of it eaither. Saw it in the store yesterday and bought some :P
Hi Greg, thank you for an amazing site!
I´m having really hard problems determing how many calories I need per day! All websites says different no matter regarding how many calories you burn as non active, little active or very active! Do you have any tips?
Thanks for everything!
Just start tracking your calorie intake and weight. Start with something like 12 calories per pound per day. If you’re not losing weight drop cals by 200-250. If you’re losing weight too fast, 2+ lbs per week then increase calories by about 200-250.
Hey Greg,
You and Rusty both recommend around 10 x target bodyweight of calories in order to lose fat quickly and safely. However, Rusty also recommends a shit load of cardio, which would burn even more calories.For someone looking to get below 10% BF, would you recommend Rusty`s approach (10 x target bw + cardio), your approach (10 * target bodyweight + no cardio) or a higher caloric input (maybe 14 x target bodyweight) + cardio?
I don`t know if cardio really is necessary to get below 10% BF when you` re already eating 10 x target bw calories and doing heavy lifting.
What do you think?
If you’re eating 10 calories per pound and doing heavy lifting, you will lose fat. There’s no need to add cardio, you will be in a solid calorie deficit. I actually prefer 12 calories per pound with only 40 minutes of walking on rest days. This is a very modest deficit but still should allow for 1 lbs of fat loss per week. And yes, you can get as lean as you want as long as there is a calorie deficit in place. Cardio isn’t necessary but cardio will allow you to consume slightly higher calories.
hey Greg..
I have been followinh ur intermittent fasting cutting protocol with superhero physique traininh…doing both rpt and spt style training..
following IF and maintaining a caloricdeficit I have got dwn to 9.4%bf …
I see a significant loss inmy trap mscles..they have just got plainer…I mean…i have done hanging power cleans for two days in 2 weeks…as most of saturdays…I uses to be out of city…and so I would neglect some trap work…
do u experience the same while getting to low bf…do u tend to loose some trap muscles..
also I wanted to ask…as now I m planning to get down to 8% bf or near it…and so I will have to remain in a caloric deficit…for 1 more month….do u think I should cntinue with superhero physique training…or should I go with warrior physique and remove SPT training…
Note- I will start a
lean bulk woth 16 calories perpuound bw and aim for 250gmmuscle per week after ihave reached 8%bf…
I had this question about wheter to follow superhero or warrior traing…because in ur recently posted success stories on facebook…their is a guy whofollowed superhero training…and got to great physiques aftr cutting yet he plans to continues to shed more fat..
what should I cntinue…please help.sir
Great work on leaning down. And yes, as you drop fat, some muscle groups will become visually smaller. You can’t change that. I’d focus just on warrior physique training and only resume superhero training when you’re bumping up calories to maintenance.
u r saying that i should do SPT training…when iam starting a lean bulk wth 250-500…calories above maintenance
You can do SPT while eating at maintenance or slightly above.
Hey Greg! Awesome article! Would you recommend this for a person who weighs 180 and lifts at night? What time should i start the eating process? I also do p90x (in the evening) on my non lift days. Should I increase my caloric intake if I do p90x?
Yes, this can work well. Just follow the guidelines of the article. You may need to bump up the calories to accommodate your training. You may actually be better off following the beach ripped diet – https://kinobody.com/2552/beach-ripped/
Awesome thanks man!
Hey Greg
just a quick question
question-i was thinking of Buying ON 100% Natural Whey Protein…i was going through its nutritional info…and then at the last in precaution cateogory…i saw…”it contains soy…so people allergic ..dont take it”
since everyone including you suggest to avoid soy protein completely…and go for whey protein…
Should i BUY this whey protein ?…or go for some other whey protein..
i am sending u the link which said it contains soy protein..
please help Sir..
http://www.healthkart.com/product/on-gold-standard-100-whey-protein/NUT304?productReferrerId=1&productPosition=1/4
Most whey protein powders use soy letichin. So it’s just a very small amount of soy. Soy is not being used for the protein. This is perfectly fine, and there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. A tiny bit of soy will do absolutely nothing to your test and estrogen levels.
What would you recommend for Macro percents or grams of each? I’m 185, trying to cut about 10lbs.
Would you recommend the same amount of carbs as you have in this article, 50-80?
https://kinobody.com/1151/how-many-carbs-for-fat-loss/
1g Protein/lb goal body weight? .5g of fat per pound of goal bodyweight? Or have you changed your approach/percentages since you wrote the last article?
Appreciate the diets & workouts, you’ve got a lot of great information here.
I no longer encourage very low cab dieting. It definitely worked but you can get just as ripped eating moderate amounts of carbs. Plus it will be more enjoyable and you’ll maintain more muscle mass.
So my recommendation would be something like calorie intake around 12 calories per pound of bodyweight for fat loss. Protein at 35-40%, carbs at 30-35% and fat at 30% of total calories. If you like more protein and less carbs then keep protein at 40% and carbs at 30%. If you like more carbs then keep protein and carbs equal at around 35% each. I think a fat intake of 30% works best at keeping you full and supporting testosterone.
Excellent Greg. Low carb doesn’t kill me, but it sure is more enjoyable (and easy for that matter) to keep the carbs a little higher than 50-80. Thanks for the quick reply.
Hey,
I am 18 years old and around 13% bodyfat. I study on a danceacademy so begin at 8:30 in the morning and dance a lot so how would you recommend me to eat sturing the day.
Now I have vacation I have more time I already had à caloric deficit for 4 weeks now and dropped very little bodyfat maybe like 0,5. With 20 min cardio workout(weights plus bodyweight excersise) between te lifting and stuff I do à short interval training and at the and I end with 20 min cardio.
I eat like first meal black coffee with two whole wheat bread with salm,cheese or chickenfilet and proteïne shake(skimmedmilk). After an hour or so I eat black choclate 86%cacoa an later on an handfull mixed nuts. An Apple troughout the day and half hour before workout à banana. After workout again proteïne shake with skimmedmilk and dinner.
Hope to have soms tips from you bro, because I saw hour video with spartan breek etc damnn… I am trying for so long to drop bodyfat Its one of my goals in life and for my dancing!
Greetz,
V.
If you’re very active you’ll have to eat more to compensate for the calories burned.
If you have only dropped half a pound of fat dieting for 4 weeks then clearly you weren’t in a big enough deficit. You’ll have to cut the calories down and watch your weekly intake. No super high calorie cheat days.
Finally, ive read man 2.0 and was not completely satisfied with the nutrition explanation.. Maybe im dense.. But this is so blissfully simple i can wrap my carb starved brain around it. I have lost 58 lbs doing intermittent fasting and intense workouts in 3 months. It is so great to actually see some real results for my hard work. The strategy is the best around. Im 37 years old and am in the best shape ive been in for 20 years. Thanks for your research and hard work. Alpha status and adonis body is just within grasp, shan
hey Greg
i had a question…
in ur last question/answer…u said we must train in a fasted state which means 3-4 hours without food…then u say we should take BCAA protein pre workout…i mean i am confused…what it actually means …and what so u want to.say…
Well there is a big difference between eating a meal and taking 10g of BCAA. But as a general rule, take 10g of BCAA before fasted strength training workouts only. No need before cardio.
Hi
How does one get rid of the last bit of fat on lower abs and around the tummy (not exactly love handles but little bit of fat)?
I know “spot reduction” doesn’t work. My diet and exercises are in check. I don’t do any exercises for the sides like side bends etc because that would just end up increasing the size there through muscle gain. I ask because your physique, which is otherwise very impressive by the way, also has that muscled look on the sides and it is not lean. I don’t like the way the sides stick out in your body and would like to avoid that for myself too. I guess it has to do with personal sense of aesthetics more than anything else. Your methods seem to have worked for me in the past so I was wondering if this is something you could help with.
Any way you would recommend?
You’re just going to have to lean down to a lower bodyweight to get the last bit of fat off. It may take some time because often your body will start to lose fat in other areas before burning the fat off your abs. For example, your legs, butt, arms and chest might get more defined before your lower abs change. Just keep leaning down and eventually it will improve.
Off course continue leaning up is the way to get rid of stubborn fat but what if the metabolism just slow and you stop losing fat after 10 or 12 weeks? The traditional weekly refeed sometimes doesn’t work, so how many days eating at maintenance?
By the way, my waist is exactly 45% my height and I still don’t see my abs. I am about 13 bf. So what? Is that a universal measure?
THANKS A LOT! GREAT WEBSITE.
Yeah some people will need to drop more fat to get to their goal.
Sir it seems like during the fast I am great but once I eat I get incredibly crazy hungry and tend to beige… Ever heard of this?
Perhaps consider having a bigger meal for your first meal. That should help. So have like 0.4-0.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight in the first meal.
in my country is not common to find berries and coconut oil. what other fruits and oils can I use to replace these?
You can replace berries with any other fruit. Apples, oranges, bananas, pineapple… Instead of coconut oil you can use butter.
Hey Greg, when you say not to count veggies cals, you mean only lettuce cucumbers brocoli etc. or all kind of vegetables? tomatoes carrots? beans and legumes?
Well tomatoes technically are a fruit so you’d want to count them. Beans and legumes are not actually veggies, plus they have plenty of carbs and protein, definitely count them. Just don’t worry about counting fibrous veggies like the first ones you mentioned.
Great BBC documentary on intermittent fasting here:
http://vimeo.com/54089463
Hey Greg, once you reached your weight goals while consuming 10cal x pound, which is lower than most reccomended websites, but seems more effective. How many cal x pound do you recommend to maintain that weight once reached?
plus, lets assume you would say 12 or 14, coud you jump right there or you would need to increase it gradually such as 100cal surplus x week?
Good question. You should be able to maintain your weight at around 14-16 cals per pound.
You can probably jump right to 14 cals per pound. Stay there for 2 weeks. You may gain a few pounds the first week. This is simply from more water and glycogen from the higher calories. After the first 2 weeks depending on your weight change you may need to adjust upwards or downwards to find your maintenance.
Hey Greg, would you modify this diet to the Intermittment Feast and only have 2 meals, or do you still recommend the 3 meals outlined in this diet? I want to lose more then 1 lb a week for about 4-6 weeks, and I read on one of the replies you posted that the Kinobody Fat Loss Diet will help me lose fat faster than the Beach Ripped diet. Obviously i’ve been reading your postings so im just trying to differentiate between diets and see what will work best for me. Trying to go from 205lbs to 185-190lbs. Thanks man.
Yah after doing this diet for several weeks I naturally gravitated towards 2 bigger meals. More enjoyable that way I found.
Hey Greg. Thank you for this great article!
I have a quick question. What is your take on post workout shakes for fat loss? Would you include that in the meal plan? How about if I’m training in the morning during fasting time.
Thanks!! :)
Whole food is superior for fullness so it makes sense to stick mostly to real food that you can chew when dieting. That said, if you stick to your calories and consume protein shakes you will drop fat no problem. You might just find that you’ll be a little hungrier.
I have diabetes and can not skip breakfast, whats your suggestion I do to follow your diet plan?
I’d recommend sticking to the meal plan but consume breakfast. So you’re meals would just be spaced 4-5 hours apart. Hitting the calories is what matters.
Hi Greg ……great post I was wondering what workout would you recommend doing with this diet and how much weight would I lose by donig this? hope to hear back soon. thanks a lot.
Hi Greg,
First of all, i would like to thank you for this great post.
I would like to ask, is there a risk of losing muscle mass or it’s just normal
that if during my Intermittent fasting days I do some bodyweight exercise upon waking (at 7am)
of approx. 250 push ups and 40 pull ups, and then continue fasting before i had my first meal around 7pm in the evening?
thank you
That’s a very long fast, I don’t recommend going more than 6 hours after waking without eating. Looks like you’re trying to do 12. Remember this has to be something that you can maintain.
until now, i have been doing it since 2011 for every monday and thursday. i’m able to maintain it,hopefully, but i’m just afraid that i might lose muscle mass or the catabolism effect.
i’m also quite fixated with the body weight fluctuation through out the day and does daily fluctuations significant? thank you
You won’t lose muscle mass as long as you strength train 3x per week and get sufficient protein. Don’t worry about bodyweight fluctuations. They’re meaningless.
thanks Greg. by the way, I just would like to ask you , could you please have a look at my training log and advice me since i did not see any progress despite training at this rate, or maybe it’s still below average. how can i pass it to you or should i just post it in the comment box? thanks
Sorry nazrin but I don’t give this type of attention for free. If you’re interested in coaching you can email me.
[…] Kinobody Fat Loss Diet: […]
Hey man, how can you tell if its loose skin on your stomach or fat? Cause i looked in a recent response to someones question you said if your waist is 45% of your height then you are doing well. My height is 67 inches and my waist is 30in. And i still cant see my abs, and when i bend over there is a good chunk of loose skin or fat hanging down. ANy thoughts?
Appreciate it man!
It’s probably still fat.
Hi Greg! What’s a good instrument to measure body fat? What do you use?
Also I’m experiencing bad breath or Ketosis lately due to intermittent fasting. How do I remedy this?
Thanks!
I don’t bother measuring bf%. I prefer to do the mirror test and waist measurement. Get your waist to 45% of your height and you’re doing very well.
Ok great! Will do that. Thanks!
How about the bad breath (ketosis) issue?
Also, I find my acne to be breaking out when I take Whey Protein. It stops when I stop taking Whey. Should I consider different sources of protein?
Maybe use cottage cheese or greek yogurt as an alternative for whey protein.
I’m surprised you are going into ketosis? How many carbs are you eating per day? Eat at-least 100 grams of non vegetable carbs per day and you shouldn’t go into ketosis. Intermittent fasting won’t put you into ketosis as long as you include carbs into your meal plan.
Hey Greg
I had a question for ya regarding water retention. I recently lost alot of weight and got my self really lean(7%Body Fat). My arms, legs, chest and upper back is ripped but my mid section is still kind of blurry. I have a six pack flexed, but blurry when unflexed.
My skin doesn’t feel tight, it feels thick. I’m not sure it its fat. Could this be water retention? Or lagging skin from the diet?
Also, should I be increasing my water intake ( 1 gallon a day or more)?
Any advice is greatly appreciated Greg, Thanks man.
You’re not 7% bf. Your measuring device is probably inaccurate. If you’re under 10% bf then your abs should be very visible when relaxed.
Hi Greg, been following your plan for a few months now and have gotten great results! Down 14lbs, 3inches on my waist, and i hold steady around 8% body fat (previously at 14% =/-). But i’ve moved on to the maintenance portion (and trying to put on a few lbs of lean mass and I’m having trouble eating that many calories in 3 meals. My maintenance goal is about 2500 so I ain for 2800. Even drinking protein shakes i find myself short about 200-500 calories quite often. What do you recommend?
Suck it up and eat man! This is food we’re talking about.
Instead of keeping calories low in the first 2 meals I recommend keeping the calories even. So have some protein and starches (rice/potatoes) with 2 or 3 of your meals. Stick to less filling foods like rice or pasta instead of potatoes
Hi Greg, I was just wondering, when I flex my abs they tend to show with good lighting; however when I leave them unflexed it seems as though I don’t have abs and I am currently at 8% body fat. What would you advise me to do? Can your new fat loss program help me get to the low body fat digits? Could you also say more about which exercises create thick and dense abs and explain the sets and reps. Thanks for your time.
If you’re 8% body fat then your abs should show without flexing. Perhaps your didn’t get an accurate reading. Do you have visible lower abs veins? If not you’re probably higher than 8%. If you do then you will need to work your abs harder. Get strong at hanging leg raises.
Hi Greg.
I do my workout first thing in the morning, around 5:30 or 6:00 AM.
How will my eating schedule (with fasting) look like? Heaviest meal in the morning after workout? 8am, 12pm, and 4pm?
Thanks!
I always recommend the biggest meal in the evening even when you’re training in the morning. For fat loss this seems to be the most effective.
If I were you I would do meal 1 around 12pm, meal 2 around 4pm and meal 3 around 8pm.
The other option would be to combine meals one and two. This way you’ll be eating two big meals per day. In this scenario you would have have your first meal at noon and second meal at 6pm.
Thank you for the helpful comments, Greg. I truly appreciate it.
Just to clarify, after my 6am workout, do I wait until 12pm for my first meal? If I finish at 7am, I have to wait 5 hours until my post-workout meal? That seems kinda tough! :-)
Thank you again.
You can. May be wise to take 10 grams BCAA after training. If you find the fast unbearable it may be easier to plan your workout before anyone of your 3 meals.
Thank you Greg. I’ve been sharing your site to my family and friends.
How does this look?
Whey protein – pre-workout
6am – workout
Whey protein and bcaa – post workout
8am -first meal
12pm-second meal
4pm-last meal (heaviest)
Well this isn’t using IF. You would need to use strictly BCAA before/after training. Also I would recommend pushing your first meal later (10-12pm) and your last meal around 6pm.
My job requires me to be awake at 5am. Based on your program my meals would be 10am, 1pm, and 5pm. I can fit cardio in before I leave for work but my resistance training window is somewhere between 530pm and 8pm. If my last meal is at 5pm will I actually make any muscle gains by lifting at 630pm and not eating till 10am the next day. Should I consume some sort of low calorie protein shake after my 630pm resistance training?
Thanks for your help!
Mike
Definitely try and get your last meal in after training. See if you can do 12pm, 4pm and 8pm. I wouldn’t bother with morning cardio because it will make the fast unbearable.
Hey Greg,
Just a few more questions. In this article, you mentioned that intermittent fasting with an 8 hr eating window of around 10 cals per pound of target body weight. How about protein intake? Don’t we also need to regularly consume at least a minimum amount of protein so as not to lose muscle? Lastly, is this program similar to your Kinobody Cut Protocol that you posted in your IF article -> https://kinobody.com/1576/intermittent-fasting-for-maximum-muscle-and-minimum-fat/ ? which requires 10 cals on rest days and 14 cals on training days?
Thanks a lot! :)
Yes! Aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. If you choose from the sample meals in the article you will be eating plenty of protein. You can blend concepts by following the kinobody fat loss diet but having 14 calories per pound on training days 3x per week.
I’ve never actually had coffee just the smell its self doesn’t seem to please me what coffee should I try what to add what not to add and everything
Suck it up and drink it. You will eventually love it. Or you can have caffeine pills instead.
Greg!
Any updates on that Bulking Diet program? I remember a while back you said you were planing on making a bulking manual. I can’t wait to see that, looking foward to it!
Just a quick question: I recently started a leangains-slowbulk bulk and took your advice about eating maintenece cals for a while to makes some gains. So far so good, strength is going up in all lifts and making some gains.
For a bulk, would you suggest fasted training? Or go wth a pre workout meal? I was just going to do the same thing as I did on my cut and just do 200mg coffeine or a pre workout(1MR) Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Yes. My bulking program should be released in the next month or so.
Hi,
I love your article, it’s very informative. Just a few questions though:
– Do you recommend intermittent fasting for guys like me who are just starting out?
– Do you fast whole year round or just a few months a year? Since this is a ‘diet’ program which usually means temporary.
– I checked out the link in the last part of your article about “pre-workout protein” and in that site, in the author’s summary, he says that you should end the fast with the biggest meal of the day and gradually taper down, which is a reverse of what is in your article, what do you think about that?
Thanks again and hope to hear from you
I do intermittent fasting every single day. Once you adapt to fasting it becomes something you really enjoy. You get hooked to being in the fasted state. As a result you embrace every single fast.
I have tried that approach with myself and my clients and I don’t find in nearly as effective and enjoyable as making your last meal the biggest. After eating a big meal during the day it almost opens up your appetite for more and more food. So it’s really hard to go from a big meal during the day to a smaller meal in the evening. For me a big meal during the day welcomes overeating by triggering cravings that I don’t normally get.
As long as you get in protein within a couple hours after the workout and load up on carbs/calories at night then you will get great muscle building benefits. No need to load up on carbs post workout. It is a misconception that you need an insulin spike from carbs after a workout to trigger protein synthesis. After training insulin sensitivity is higher which is enough to trigger mTOR/AKT – the cellular pathway that deposits protein in the muscle towards repair and growth.
“After eating a big meal during the day it almost opens up your appetite for more and more food.”
Hey man. First off… I’m loving your blog. I just started on this diet and I’m already feeling more energized after just a couple days. Its a lot easier also from knowing before i wake up what my meals are going to be for the day. Quick question. What is your stance on low calorie drink mixes like crystal light and great value? Only 5 calories a serving. They are helping me kick sweet tea and soda.
Awesome dude! Keep it up.
If the low cal drink mixes help you stick with your diet and kick your sweet tooth to the curb then I think that’s great. I see no reasons why you would need to give up crystal light.
Hi, greg, got some questions:
1.-What are the BCAA for??
2.-When do you recommend taking them on bulking ,cutting or recomp??
3.- How much do i take???
Branched chain amino acids. They are useful to take before fasted strength training workouts. Take 10 grams.
first of all bro ur website is amazing!! So much info and all so useful. So I rly respect people like you. Dont give out bogus info. But I been doin this program for a 1 week and a half now and when I started I was 182 lbs and now I am 178. dont really know the specific bmi. But Ima ectomorph type. So I gotta skinny frame but real soft. Just lost the love handles and shizz. Is it possible to tell if you lose fat and muscle?
If you’re dropping weight and your strength is maintaining or increasing then you are maintaining muscle very well.
Hey Greg,
First of all, awesome site man. Really great info! I have been on this plan for about 2 weeks now and enjoying it a lot. I’m seeing fat loss and still get to enjoy my big ass meal at night (not over my limit of course). Just a quick question, I’m not much of a coffee drinker plus I’m currently deployed so making coffee is not much of an option since I don’t have a coffee maker in my room. I been drinking calorie free energy drinks from time to time when I’m hungry to help with the morning fast. What’s your opinion on that! Replacing coffee for zero cal energy drinks? (“Monster Absolute Zero” to be exact.) thanks again for your input.
Thanks Mikey! Thrilled you enjoy it and that you have made great results thus far.
Well let me start by saying that coffee is the most awesome thing on this planet. Initially it may taste like crap but somewhere after a few weeks of drinking coffee your brain will begin to accept it’s awesomeness. From that point on coffee will be as good as waking up with a perfect 10 next to you. Okay maybe I exaggerated a little :P
Seriously though the power of coffee related to fat loss/appetite is in the caffeine. Any zero calorie source of caffeine will suffice. I like to get 200mg of caffeine in the morning (2 cups of coffee). Another option is to take caffeine tablets. These are super cheap and get the job done.
Thanks much for that fast reply! Haha well I don’t know about coffee being like waking up to a perfect 10 but I’ll give it a go whenever I can access one of my buddy’s coffee maker. Whenever I can’t, I can always have my Monster for all these early days ;) anyway, Thanks again and definitely looking forward to reading up more on your site Greg!
Hey mate,
awesome diet I’m starting it tomorrow!
Just a quick question, when I train I take extend during the session and a protein shake afterward, i normally train during the fasting period.
Can i keep doing this?
BCAA are fine but ditch the post workout shake. Have some BCAA’s before and after and continue fasting until your first meal.
Hi Greg,
Upon workout days and during the feasting window how would you go about taking a quick release protein straight after a workout if you only just ate an hour before training ?
I don’t use pre or post workout shakes. They are really not necessary and have no benefit if you are getting in adequate protein and eating within 2-3 hours after training.
Greg
May not be the best place to ask, but I gotta ask a few questions. I just got myself to 8% body fat this week (YEEEESSS FINALLY! First time) I plan on eating at maintence for a week or two before I strat reintroducing more calories and start a muscle gain phase. I understand that supps isn’t necessary, but I was just giving it some consideration and was thinking about buying creatine and some whey( possibly dextrose too) I also read that you basically lose the effects and like 60% of the gains you get from creatine once you start cutting again.
Whats your take on creatine and your experience with it? Do you think its worth purchasing?
Last thing I want to ask you is that once you reach those low body fat levels and you start a muscle gain phase, how much does your body fat increase during/end of your phase? Or how much of an increase would you recommend? Reason I ask is because now that I got a 6pack, I don’t want to lose it completely. It felt like I worked so hard to get here and now that im lean, I don’t want to ruin it.
Im using Leangains Slow bulk approach. I got everything figured out but these two things are my main concerns at the moment. Any tips or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Thanks Greg!
Congrats on hitting 8% bodyfat! That is an incredible accomplishment. Creatine is an effective supplement. This has been proven in research! With that said I don’t have any personal experience with creatine. I will consider taking it in the winter to experience it for myself.
Honestly I would stick at maintenance for a while. Coming off of a cut you should be able to make some muscle and strength gains by just bringing calories up to maintenance. Stick with this for 1-2 months. See how your body is responding. If you are growing and getting fuller and remaining lean then no need to change anything. If strength gains are consistent then continue eating at maintenance.
If muscle growth is non existent then a 2000 weekly calorie surplus is the maximum I recommend. This can be accomplished by eating maintenance of rest days and +500 on lifting days.
I don’t remember where i find this, but it kind of goes in the same line you are here. Supposedly this are the natural cycles goes each day.
12 pm – 8 pm : Digestion & Absorption
8pm – 4am: Assimilation of nutrients
4am – 12pm: Detoxification & elimination of waste
Hope this help your research in some way.
Greg
Aside from your Shredding program, do you ever plan on making a bulking manual/plan? I’d really like to see you put together something. Your Shreding manual is well put together and emphasizes on diet very well. I’d like to see a muscle gain version.
Thanks Jay! Appreciate it and yes I am currently working on one :)
Hey Greg.
I have a question regarding BCAA’s. I currently take Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard protein shakes which has BCAA’s already in the mix. My question is, should I take BCAA’s by itself, or is what I am getting from the protein powder sufficient enough? I ask because sometimes the protein shake is a bit heavy and I feel sluggish sometimes in the gym (could be I just downed it too fast), and I wasnt sure if the BCAA by itself is a lighter mixture. Thanks in advance for your response.
40g of whey = 10g of BCAA
So you’re getting 1/4 of the calories with BCAA. Useful to take when training fasted.
Sorry for all the questions….
I was under the impression, it was best to have a pre-wrokout/post-workout protein shake (as that is most effective?) now im not sure??
I have been doing the fasting from around 7-8PM – about 12PM daily (or at least week days) and I am use to it now, but am I better off just drinking a coffee before my workout in a fasted state or taking the protein shake pre-workout? Still fairly new to this, sorry. Or should I be considering BCAA’s? I find it tough to get enough protein unless I’m taking the 2 doses of protein powder a day….
Anyways, thanks again for any help Greg!
John
I would have a protein shake 30 minutes before training (around 12pm). Skip the post workout shake and have your meal at 2pm and then dinner at 6pm. No need for a post workout shake if you are having your meal 30-60 minutes later.
As always, thanks for the reply Greg!
So should be adding in another meal to get sufficient protein/calories?
I was always under the impression (from different reading I suppose) that the post-workout protein shake was the most important one to have?? Is that a total misconception??
Seems like if I take out the one protein shake, I wont be reaching even close 1lb per weight goal….a little confused….
Thanks again Greg, your a great help!
No need for a post workout shake if you have eaten a few hours before or if you are having a meal 1-2 hours after your workout. The humans need or benefit of a post workout shake is completely untrue. It is extremely counterproductive when dieting because shakes add calories with little fullness.
If your short in protein then you can increase the protein serving size in your other meals.
Hey Greg,
Awesome article!
Just wanted to make sure im going about this right….
If my diet was approximately the following, would this be the right track?….\
I wake up around 7:15AM…
Have a cup of coffee at 10AM
Until recently, I have been having protein powder in water 15 minutes before my workout at 12:30ish
After workout, have another protein shake in water
Around 2:00ish I have a chicken breast, with veggies
6:00PM chicken, or salmon, with potatoes or yams, and veggies…..
Im wondering if I should substitute the first protein shake and workout without it, and then have the cottage cheese, berries, and nuts meals instead of the first veggies and chicken meal? Or use BCAA’s preworkout instead??
Sorry if this is confusing!
John
Hey Greg,
I want to start this diet, but I am not sure if I should do this one or your diet in the shredding program. Fatloss/low body fat% is my main goal along with getting ripped of course.
Also, does it really make a difference if I do the cardio after the strength training VIMB phase 3 style, or can I just do it on a separate day altogether like in your shredding program? OR, can/should I do the cardio after strength days AND on a separate day?
Sorry for all the questions.
THANKS A LOT GREG!!!!
Visual Impact Phase 3 is a very intense program! I can only handle that much training volume and low calories for 3-4 weeks or so. I would recommend just doing cardio on your non lifting days. If you want to add in cardio on lifting days then do 30 minutes at a low intensity.
Above and beyond my friend,
Thanks a million!!!!
I think I’ll incorporate your cardio & abs workout on non-lift days instead 2-3 times per week. So should i just stick with this diet or the shredding program diet?
Both work quite well! Perhaps follow the eating guidelines in the kinobody shredding program but instead make your first two meals one of the light meals as provided in this article. For your last meal go with either the protein/fat meal (rest day) or the protein/carb meal (training day). I would also cut out the full 24 hour fast days. Maybe do 1-2 20 hour fasts per week where you have 2 meals instead of 3.
So then, 1 small meal and then the last big meal for the 20hr fasts? How many calories should i intake? Thanks again!!
Yes. Keep the last meal the same size as it usually is. Probably 800-1000 calories.
Hey, Gregg. I am already quite lean, so only think I’ll need to follow this strict calorie reduction for a couple weeks to be where I want to be, but I do not eat dairy products because it gives me some minor inflammation issues. Do you have a good way of tweaking the Greek yogurt/whey shakes? Also, I have to watch my nut consumption because they give me some GI distress (I do eat avocado though). Would an egg/egg white scramble with fruit for meal 1 and then a tin of sardines over bed of leafy greens and a cup of berries be okay for meal 2? Any suggestions? For my final meal, regardless of whether I’m dieting or not, I pretty much always make it a lean cut of beef/bison or some seafood with veggies and starch (rice, sweet potatoes, or potatoes).
Those two options you provided would work very well. Does whey protein or casein protein shakes give you issues? I’ve heard that many people that don’t tolerate dairy are fine with protein shakes.
I meant to say was instead of the meals you created can you Replace with 1-2 apples so in other words in words I would just eat 1 or 2 apples instead the example meals thats was i trying to say.
1-2 apples isn’t a meal. Are you anorexic or something?
Hey greg loving the post . just have few question see how you show the diet by fasting every day , i was just wondering if the days you workout and dont workout are the same eating style such caliores carbs and ect? Do you sugggest eating higher on workout days and lower on non workout days or just be consistent all the way around?
Thanks Man
If you have a lot of weight to lose then there’s no need or benefit to cycle calories. However when you have less than 10 lbs to lose it is a good idea to increase carb intake on lifting days 3x per week. Try adding 50 to 100 grams of carbs on lifting days then what you normally have. Best time to have these carbs is in your last meal.
The higher carbs will help with maintaining muscle and elevate leptin to keep your metabolism from declining.
Hi Greg,
Been on the plan since Sunday and going really well. Not struggled at all with it and feel full / satisfied and I am sleeping well. I am aiming for gym = weights x 3 and hiit/ssc x 2 or 3 per week with 1 days rest.
Another question if you do not mind…Regarding the evening meal you state…
” I generally keep this meal around 800-1000 calories in size. I recommend keeping this meal high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and carbs. ”
Please could you give an example and advise the amount of protein, carbs and fat you intake in grams? i will use this to gauge my own intake. thanks.
Also do you ever use condiments such as tomato sauce or mayonnaise for example? or do you just see these as unecessary calories etc? thanks.
also what do you think about wholemeal bread as a carb food source?
I don’t recommend bread products. I prefer people to get their carbs from gluten free sources like potatoes, yams, rice…
Adrian get plenty of protein in the meal (0.5 grams per pound of lean body mass). Make up the rest of the calories with carbs and fats to your preference. If you are having a fatty cut of meat (beef, steak, salmon) then don’t add any additional fats to the meal.
Hey Greg instead of the example main meals you set out in the article can you replace with 1-2 apples instead ?
I don’t really understand the question? Replace 1-2 apples for what? Apples for the carbs as the main meal?
Hi, greg i am currretly on phase 3 of visual impact body muscle building, I do five days workout with 15 min of HIIT and 15 min of steady state cardio and i am implementing your diet for fat loss. I am currently 20 % of body fat, and i was considering doing my two cardio in my rest day too (saturday and sunday), also i take 8 calories per pound of bodyweight. I’d like to be around 6% ,7% or 8% percent of body fat in 2 months. What do you think about this? You think i can achieve it??? Should i eat 30g whey protein preworkout or not , i have in phase 3 by 2 days and i did not include any 30g whey protein preworkout yet (In this phase i mean)?
Hope you can answer soon
Thanks,,
Srry forgot, i doing my workout around 12-1 pm
Slow down my man!
It’s going to take at-least 12 weeks of dieting to get to 8% body fat and even that is being highly optimistic. If calories are at 8 per pound of bodyweight then you have no business doing intense HIIT sessions. Stick to 30-45 minutes of walking per day for fat burning exercise! Make sure to strength train 2-3x per week too.
If you are not training fasted then there is no need for pre workout protein. If you are training fasted then it would be better to go with 10g of BCAA. Fewer calories.
hey Greg i have a question do you think it would be good to fast before a game because you say that you feel more focus and alert during your fast . just wondering.
thanks so much.
It really depends! Assuming the game is only 1-2 hours here is what I would do:
I would make sure to eat a very big, high carb meal the night before. I would probably have a serving of fruit and 40-50g of protein 2-3 hours before the game.
Should coffee be cycled to maintain caffeine sensitivity?
Just have 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning and you’ll be fine! I found that when I started drinking coffee a few times throughout the day I stopped responding well to it. However since only drinking coffee once per day (morning) I am more sensitive to it and less dependent on it.
Hi greg,
Awesome post, like every other
I had a question tough
Its Ramadan as you probably know, and i am allowed to eat at 9:30 pm
Now I do my lifting around 7Pm so i have an hour before i eat.
I have great results so far, yet had one simple question.
I love swimming would it be a good addition to do a ”slow steady cardio” like training with swimming? Like 30-40 mins every day
just doing some laps in the early morning, I would love to do that for fun and fat loss benefits, but is it OK to do so?
would it negativly affect my fat loss or could I do it :)
Thanks :)
Of course it is fine to do! Swimming is a great form of fat burning exercise. Especially if you really enjoy doing it.
Hello greg!
Is this fat loss diet better than your kinobody shredding program for loosing weight?
My mom is 185 pounds (84 kilos). And I want to adjust one of these to fat loss diets for her :) But maybe making it a bit easier and not too intensive. She wants to loose around 9 – 12 pounds of weight in a couple of months, her age is 46 y/o. What do you think?
Thanks!
The kinobody shredding diet is better for people involved in strength training who are concerned with maximizing strength and muscle mass while dieting to a very low body fat.
In your moms case this diet would probably be better for her. I would set her calories between 1200-1500 and make sure she gets 30-60 minutes of walking daily.
Ex Meal 1 – 300 cals. Meal 2 – 300 cals. Meal 3 – 600-800 cals.
Hi Greg,
Been back to the supermarket tonight. Please could you let me know how this looks?. Thanks.
Meals 1 & 2:
Greek Yoghurt (0% Fat) (250g) = 142.50 kcal, 25.75g protein, 10g carbs, 0g fat.
Strawberries (300g) = 84 kcal, 2.4g protein, 18g carbs, 0.3g fat.
Almonds (25g) = 157 kcal, 5.3g protein, 1.7g carbs, 14g fat.
Total nutritional value per meal:
383.50 kcal, 33.45g protein, 29.7g carbs, 14.3g fat.
Looks solid my man! Try it out and see how you feel. I do find the casein pudding to be a great substitute for the greek yogurt. So perhaps consider trying that.
Thanks Greg, I will give it a go.
Hi Greg,
First, thank you for all that you do in your service to others through your knowledge and wisdom. You are a great inspiration! Thank you.
Greg, is it ok to workout (cardio) while doing the 24hr fasts, or should it be the fast alone and do the cardio on the other partial fast days? Also, are rests days 24hr fast days or do you mean a complete non diet and workout day(s)??
Thank you again for everything!!!
24 hour fasts are not included in this diet. Instead you should be fasting 16-18 hours daily.
If you do a 24 hour fast you can definitely include cardio. Keep it low intensity (no more than 70% of your max heart rate). Best to do the cardio a few hours before breaking your fast. If you do cardio earlier in the day it will make the fast unbearable.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to me Greg, it is much appreciated and I will stick to your recommended eating times.
Additionally: Do you buy low fat greek yoghurt? I bought some natural greek yoghurt from the supermaket and 250g (half a pot) has 25g fat (337.5 kcal). Also you state 25g of fruit and nuts, however 100g strawberries for instance is only 28 kcal…but 25g Almonds is like 157 kcal. Just played around with this today to get near 400 kcals for the meal like.
A
Definitely get 0% or 2% greek yogurt otherwise you get way too much fat. The meal should include a small amount of fat (10-15g). If you get low fat greek yogurt you should add 20-25g of nuts.
I have actually been switching to a different small meal that I find more satisfying, cheaper and more effective. I am now making casein protein pudding (60g of casein protein mixed with water to a pudding consistency and then placed in the fridge or freezer for 30-60 minutes. I then include a serving of fruit with the pudding and 2-3 teaspoons of coconut oil or peanut butter added to the mixture.
This provides around 400-420 calories and is very enjoyable and filling.
Hi Greg,
Excellent post as always. I love reading your FB page and Kinobody Website articles but this one has struck a cord with me. Sooo easy to read / understand / follow etc. Definately going to start this diet plan as of now!!!.
Please could you offer me one small piece of advice?. I usually wake each morning around 7am and start work for 9am. I guess this would make my first meal about 12noon. However I usually go to the gym after work at around 4.30pm. Please could you advise at what time I should have my 2nd meal?. I know from reading your posts that it is recommended to go into my workout in a fasted state or to have not eaten for a number of hours. However I am consious that I will be due a 2nd meal around this time.
Would appreciate it if you could advise whether to have my 2nd meal pre or post gym or what time would you recommend? Many thanks.
Adrian.
Glad you enjoyed this article!
I would definitely try and have your second meal after your workout. Try and go until 1pm before having your first meal. Hit the gym at 4:30 then have your second meal around 5:30 or 6pm. Then have your last meal at around 9pm.
Meal 1 – 1pm
Meal 2 – 5:30 or 6pm
Meal 3 – 9pm
If you prefer to have your first meal at 12pm that’s fine. But still wait until after your workout before having your second meal.
Hi Greg,
I’m 6’2” and around 175 lbs and I have recently started with IF for the past few months. When you do intermittent fasting, do you notice huge weight fluctuations? Some days I’ll be up to 178 and some days I’ll be down to 171/172. I drink a lot of water, but is there a way to prevent such huge weight fluctuations? Or is it normal to have them? I am on the slimmer side with about 10% body fat so when I fast for 16-18 hrs sometimes I feel almost too thin.
Thanks,
Adam
Of course if you weigh yourself after eating a big meal vs. weighing yourself 16 hours fasted there will be a big difference. Don’t focus on weight fluctuations. They are meaningless. Track your weight by weighing yourself in the morning, after taking a piss and no other time of the day.
During Ramadan do you think that just working out 4x a week, and eating two-three small meals enough to lose a lot of fat?
Hi Greg,
I have three quick questions I’d like to ask you:
1. Could I add pre-bed casein shakes to this?
2. My shifts vary from day to day, so there are days where I do my workouts in the morning and days where I’m able to do them in the afternoon, like the posts basically requires. What would you recommend during those days where I have to do them in the morning?
3. Would the amount of meals/quantity of the individual meals be any different on a training day vs a rest day?
I hope you can get back to me. Thanks in advance!
– Richard
1. There is no need to add pre-bed casein to this. Your last meal will be very high in protein and with the fiber from veggies will digest very slowly. If you do wish to add casein after dinner then I would make sure you account the extra calories you are consuming. Perhaps reduce the portion of your meat to compensate.
2. Training in the morning is completely fine. No need to change anything. If you want to be safe you can have 10 grams of BCAA before and one hour after training.
3. It really depends. If you are trying to lose weight rather quickly (more than 1 lbs per week) then you will have to keep cals low all days. 200-300 extra calories on training days is about as much of an increase that will work. In that case you can add an extra 50 grams of carbs to the final meal on lifting days (no more than 3x per week). If you are going for slow fat loss then you can probably stand to eat closer to maintenance on lifting days which would allow you to eat considerably more calories/carbs.
Would working out in the morning mean going into the workout in the fasted state from the night before?
Yes.
And would I have to take the big meal post-workout on those morning-workout-days? Or would I just take the 10gr BCAAS and take those meals within 8 hours and then fast my way till the next day? Sorry I’m asking all these questions, I just want to make sure I do this correctly.
Training using the Phase 3 workout plan from VI btw.
I’ve tried both. I have found that having the big meal as your last meal is a more effective strategy, leads to better fat loss and is more life style friendly.
Thanks a bunch, so what should I do instead of intervals for fat burning cardio? Or should I just stick with low intensity walking?
Low intensity walking! Anything like intervals is going to dehydrate you and cause more problems than benefits.
Hey Greg, (Awesome Article)
I’ve been fasting for Ramadan. And what we do is we eat at around 4:30 in the morning, so around 5 o clock we start to fast and we break it around 8 o clock. I’ve been eating greek yogurt w/ berries & almonds, and 2 boiled egg whites. Then when i break my fast, I eat some lean chicken and white rice. And during the day i do bodyweight exercises to maintain my muscle and I will also do intervals on the treadmill with low intensity walking afterwards for 4-5 times a week. Is this ok if i wanna lose fat?
Yes. Assuming you’re in a caloric deficit that will work. I wouldn’t do the intervals especially when you can’t drink water. Doesn’t seem very safe.
Hey Greg
I have managed to drop my body fat down to 8% using your advice. i now weigh 160 lbs at 5,11.
i would now like to gain around 10 lbs of muscle without gaining any body fat.
i was wondering how little volume can you get away with and still build muscle at reasonable pace. i know that doing a few sets of low reps in the 3-5 rep range will build density without size.
would it be possible to gain 0.5 lbs of muscle per week, doing 2 exercises per body part, for example. Chest : 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps of Incline press, then 3-4 sets 6-8 reps of flat bench press. and then repeating this twice a week. similarly i would do 2 exercises for all body parts doing 3-4 sets of 6-8. Or do you think the volume is too low?
thanks for all your help man
2-3 lbs of muscle gain per month is great for non beginners. 2 exercises per muscle group for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps is probably sufficient to trigger muscle growth. Just make sure that you are gradually increasing the resistance. In addition don’t work more than 2-3 muscle groups in a session. Any more then 3 muscle groups and the workout will drag on and intensity will suffer and you will hit a strength plateau rather quickly.
If you want to do full body sessions then consider doing only one exercise per muscle group.
Thanks Greg
just one other quick question, in regards to diet, do you think itd be effective if i was to be in a calorie surplus throughout the week monday- saturday and then have one 24 hour fast day on the sunday ( eat stop eat style) in order to cancel out any days iv over shot too much with the calories?
That can work. Another option would be to have 2 lower calorie days where you cut calories down to around 10 calories per pound of bodyweight. You can do this on saturday and sunday or sunday and monday. Make sure to track your weight weekly. First one or two weeks you may gain a few pounds. This is due to your body adjusting to the higher calories. After that try to gain around 0.5 lbs per week.
Nice article greg, just wondering whats your opinion on carb back loading?
I assume this is where you eat very little carbs up until your training session and then load up on carbs after your workout? From a fat loss standpoint I think this could easily lead to the overconsumption of calories/carbs. Therefore I would prefer to keep carbs high in just one meal (preferably the last meal). The earlier meals should consist of lean protein and a piece of fruit.
CBL is like if you train later in the day you can either IF while sipping coffee or only have meals with protein and fat (green veg and salad ok, no fruit) till you workout then after workout have a protein shake with simple sugars/a banana or 2 then later on that evening, about an hour after your post-workout meal, begin eating carbs and eat a fair bit it as well with protein. Its said that it will help grow muscle while not putting on fat. Whats your opinions? Have a check out online of it if i didn’t explain it well enough!!
I think that can be an effective strategy and it will help maximize glycogen stores through glycogen super compensation but it is definitely not magic or a loop hole. If you continue to eat more calories then you burn you will eventually start to gain fat regardless of meal timing and carb timing.
great article and fat loss program, thanks buddy. I’m going to do adonis workout and since i have little bulky legs from football and judo, do you recomment to skip the leg workout in the adonis workout or it’s fine since i need to cut and strength to it though
Up to you. I prefer to skip direct leg work altogether. I do think it’s important to give your legs some work. Jump rope, intervals and sprints are my favourite way to keep my legs fit and athletic.
what about marathon cardio to loss some muscle mass on my leg 2 times a week and weight lifting 4 sessions a week?!
and thanks for your response buddy !
I don’t think that is necessary. Once you get to a low body fat it is likely you won’t have problems with your legs being too bulky. Fat loss + no direct leg work is the key. Focus on eating at a caloric deficit.
Greg my issue is that I have been doing the eat stop eat diet once a week (last week i did it twice) but I cannot seem to get myself to eat all the calories I need in the breaking the fast. Even though I might break it at 6PM I can’t get more than 1200 or 1500 calories including protein shake. i tried the lean gains once a week but that small window eating thing in afternoon makes me sick because I don’t like stuffing myself. maybe I’ll get used to it, but I just find it too uncomfortable to stick a day’s worth of calories (maybe 1800) in a short time. Is this a big deal?
I really want to get six pack abs. I got a 4 pack. I don’t have the line at the belly button. It annoys me a lot because I am a lean guy. I don’t do much cardio because I am afraid of being too under calorie maintenance because Phase 1 of Visual Impact takes me an 1hour and 25 minutes to do so if I added HIIT it would be overkill right? But, I thought some form of calorie maintenance diet would help. But, is it necessary to re-feed after fasting to the point of 10 calories per pound?
Drew the point of 24 hour fasts are to reduce your calories. If you are trying to eat maintenance calories on those days then it completely defeats the purpose. Shoot for 5 calories per pound of bodyweight on eat stop eat days. Your goal is to lose fat so don’t force yourself to eat if you’re full. Don’t worry about eating very low calories. You will just lose weight faster. Eventually your body will adapt and you will be able to handle slightly more food in a condensed eating window.
Hey Greg,
Great article! I was just wondering if in addition to your first two small meals of yogurt, berries, and nuts, if you also ingest a protein shake. Is the protein content of the yogurt high enough that it is not necessary to also drink a protein shake? Also, how much yogurt per serving do you eat?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
Damon – go with either a protein shake or low fat greek yogurt. Low fat greek yogurt is actually very high in protein. Regular yogurt is fairly low in protein. Therefore I recommend choosing low fat greek yogurt or cottage cheese instead of regular yogurt. Make sure to get yogurt plain otherwise it will contain a bunch of extra carbs and sugar.
Hey Greg,
do you ever have dizziness while you fasting. It happens to me some times especially in work or gym. Could you explain why this happens?
That can happen in some people. If you feel dizzy consider eating a piece of fruit and continuing until your first meal. It may take your body time to adapt and after a couple weeks you should no longer experience dizziness.
Hi Greg,
I don’t know where to ask my question but since this post is food related it might be the appropriate one.
I’ve been training for 3-4 months doing 8-12 range with heavy weight and everybody keep saying they see a very big difference on me. The problem is even though I gain muscle for sure and I look very lean, I have gained only 4 or 5 lbs of muscle.
Do you think it might be because of what I eat (I try to eat lots of protein and I take protein shake) or it’s just my metabolism.
Thanks.
You’re doing great James. The reason people notice the difference is because you probably put on 4 or 5 lbs of pure muscle without an ounce of fat. That will definitely show. Don’t become obsessed over the scale. Focus on eating well and getting stronger and everything else will fall into place.
Hi Greg,
I’m already a pretty lean guy and weigh in right around 160 pounds. I’ve been hoping to “beef” up more and get more muscle, hoping to gain around another ten or so pounds worth of good muscle while keeping my body fat percentage low. I enjoy using your site a lot but I can’t tell if some of your older articles are out-dated with your newer ones–So I figured I’ll ask you for clarification.
I read your Christian Bale article for training to look like him in American Psycho which is pretty much the look I’m going for since he and I are roughly the same height and have the same build. In the article you said to keep carbs low, under 100 grams per day–but in this article you say that carbs don’t matter as long as calories are left low (the latter is easier for me to do than the former). Also you say to keep rep ranges low and heavy, but I know that in other articles you say that muscles respond best to both low rep ranges with heavy weight and high rep ranges with low weight. Lastly, in the article you speak of Strategic Cardio, which is something that I do (your Cardio/Ab routine is awesome!), but I’m also training to be able to participate in marathons, half-marathons and triathlons, so is there any way to fit that into these workouts also?
What my plan was is to follow the diet listed above, with low calories and fasting and moderate carbs while consuming at least one gram of protein for every pound of my goal bodyweight. I had also planned to include two 24 hour fasting days during the week, typically during days that I work (I’m a server so I would be getting in about ten hours worth of walking on a completely fasted state at least twice a week). For training I was going to do three days of strength training, with two days of heavy weights and low reps and then a third day of low weights and high reps. For cardio I was going to continue doing the high intensity training, followed by long distance running and swimming for the lower intensity cardio.
Thanks for all your help, I personally think that your an exercise genius!
–Derek
Calm down buddy! You got way too much going on in ur mind. Here is some advice:
Focus on one goal at a time. Deep down, what do you really want? Do you want to gain 10 lbs of muscle? Do you want to run a marathon? or do yo want to get more ripped?
If you try and do all 3 you’re going to be training ur ass off and running around in circles. If you want to build muscle then you need to eat at maintenance or slightly above. 14-16 calories per pound of bodyweight is a good starting point. One 24 hour fast is about all you could include without causing problems.
Stick to 3-4 strength/muscle building workouts per week. No more than 2 intense cardio sessions and nothing more! 45 minutes of walking on off days is fine but that’s it.
Great diet! Should I take BCAA after the fasted workout too?
Thank you!
If you are having your first meal within 2 hours after workout then you don’t need post workout BCAA. If you aren’t having your first meal until 3+ hours later then I recommend having 10 grams of BCAA 1 hour after your workout too.
I know the title labels this as a fat loss diet, but is it also primarily a weight loss diet? I thought it would be helpful if you could explain how a diet like this could be used to maintain or even gain weight while losing fat.
You can use this diet to build muscle or maintain your weight. You will just have to increase the size of your last meal. The best way to do this would be to increase carbs. If you do this you are looking at eating some pretty massive meals. May take a while to adapt to this.
Greg,
Awesome post. I’m starting that diet plan this week. Getting ready to start hypertrophy cycle of AI also. Just finished Strength Endurance, and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t gain much muscle. I’m keeping the faith though and hoping for good things from this next cycle. I was thinking about doing Visual Impact Cardio to accelerate fat loss. Would VI cardio be a good idea (since I’m shooting for increase in mass) or should I stick to 30-45 minutes of steady state?
Josh
If your goal is to gain muscle then visual impact cardio is not necessary. The cardio workouts are very intense and would definitely cut into muscle building.
Hi Greg,
Will smoking, while fasting, affect fat loss in any way?
I doubt it. But of course I would advise quitting smoking for health reasons.
What about Pre-Workout supplements on this diet? Would you recommend?
Caffeine is the best pre workout supplement. If you’re lifting fasted then 10g of BCAA is your best bet.
Thanks for replying. I do drink coffe on fasted state, the think is that I have a Jack3d and I was thinking about using it, what do you think?
You can use Jack3d before fasted strength workouts.
Greg,
I follow a very similar eating plan. Fast unitl around noon each day with a cup of coffee around 10am. Then protein shake with berries, a banana, and almond milk with a handful of almonds for lunch, then a giant man salad for dinner. Usually the hungriest I get is in between lunch and dinner, so occasionally I’ll add in a third small meal around 4 or 5pm. This is amazing for fat loss and is surprisingly easy to follow once you get used to it.
Alykhan
Hi Greg, another great post and excellent advice for Harry.
Are you moving away from the calorie cycling idea as you didn’t mention it this time? A few guys like Borge Fagerli (Blade) and Jason Ferruggia whose new diets are very similar to this, think it is unnecessary and possibly counter productive. They think the majority of carbs at night while staying in a moderate deficit is enough to keep leptin/ghrelin levels in order. Perhaps ‘above maintenance calorie days’ are something to add once into single digit BF levels?
If you’re goal is to lose 1-2 lbs of fat per week then calorie cycling makes things harder. It’s easier to eat at a moderate deficit continually then it is to alternate very low calories with higher calories. Calorie cycling can be used effectively for maintaining weight or losing weight slowly (less than 1 lbs per week). It can be an effective strategy when dieting slowly when at a very low body fat.
With that said I usually will eat over maintenance once per week. This is mostly for psychological reasons.
I think by following this diet you will have a bigger chance of gaining it back unless you keep in this fasting-state forever. You’re an exception because you’re ripped but for the average Joe this would not work out well on the longer term.
The fasting can be followed for life. I love fasting 16-18 hours everyday and have been doing this for a year. The only way someone will gain back the weight is if they go back to eating at a chronic calorie surplus.
Thanks Greg. While I was able to achieve 1200 calories, it did seem to go against everything else I’ve ever read. 1600-1800 is definitely more manageable since I’m already working out 4 days a week.
I’ll give the 18/6 fast a try and see how that goes paired with the Hollywood workout. Thanks!
Stay within 1600-1800 calories and measure your weight weekly. If you are losing between 1 and 2 pounds per week then don’t change anything. If you are losing less then 1 lbs per week then reduce calories by 10% and reevaluate. The other option would be to keep calories the same but increase exercise. Add an extra 2-2.5 hours of walking per week.
Hi Greg,
One more question about this diet. Regarding macronutrient ratios, do you have a general guideline on how to split up protein/carbs/fat on workout days versus non-workout days? I assume protein should stay about the same everyday? I realize carbs should be bigger on workout days and fat should be bigger on non-workout days, but not really sure what a good percentage for each to aim for. Thanks!
There is no one size fits all approach. Get the calories and protein dialled in first and foremost. Bring the carbs up to around 1 gram per pound of bodyweight on workout days. On rest days keep carbs around 100-120. Start there. Depending on the rate of fat loss and how you feel you can consider bumping up carbs. If you prefer to keep fat intake higher then you can consider reducing carbs to allow more fat.
I like to keep fat intake at a moderate level. 25-30% of total calories. Fat is very calorie dense so if you bring fat up over 30% it becomes quite easy to over consume calories. Conversely if you drop fat under 20-25% the diet won’t taste very good and you may get hungry very quickly. In addition low fat diets seem to have a negative impact on testosterone.
Hey greg love this post was wondering what your thoughts on eating one healthy meal a day ala warrior diet? And I was wondering if girls can do your shredding program I like the lay out of your program..thank you
Yes girls can do the shredding program for sure!
I prefer 2 meals per day. In the warrior diet Ori recommends having a couple light protein/fruit meals during the undereating phase. If eating only once per day works for you and allows you to follow a healthy, lower calorie diet then go for it.
Hi Greg,
Great post. Could of questions for you. I’m following the Eat Stop Eat plan along with Anything Goes Diet by John Barban. John uses a different method to determine daily caloric needs. His is a Resting Metabolic Rate and according to my height on his charts, mine is 1850 calories/day. He says to cut 500 cal/day to lose 1lb/week or 1,000 cal/day for 2lbs/week weight loss. He doesn’t really recommend more than a 700 cal/day deficit though. So this would put me in the 1200 cal/day range, which I’ve been doing and losing weight. Down 10lbs in a month so far.
However, according to what you’re saying, I should be eating around 1800 cal/day since my goal is to get to 180lbs. I’m 5’11 and currently 202. You also say to eat about 1gm of protein per pound of body weight, so that means I should be eating about 202gm of protein per day! I’m nowhere near that. That’s a lot and I don’t think I could reach that on 1200 cal/day.
So, do you recommend I stick with the 1200 cal/day and not get all that protein, or go to 1800 cal/day with the added protein?
Also, can you still do ESE with your version of IF or choose one or the other?
I was doing Visual Impact phase 3 but switched to your Hollywood style workout this week. VI is good of course, but it’s a timing issue for me. 1 hour to complete VI plus extra cardio versus 30 min to complete your workout and then some cardio.
For myself and many people I work with John Barban’s method seems to under estimate maintenance level calories. I find that 14 calories per pound of bodyweight to be a good predictor of maintenance level calories assuming you get 60 minutes of activity and are mostly inactive the rest of the day. If you are more active the rest of the day then 15-16 calories per pound of bodyweight may be a better indicator for you. If you are inactive the whole day you probably will burn around 12 calories per pound of bodyweight. To suggest that you should use your BMR to set maintenance level calories is to suggest that you sit down your entire day. This is rarely ever the case.
I would aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Probably around 140-160 grams of protein. And yes I would bring up the calories! 1200 calories is way too low for a fully grown man. You would be much better off keeping calories in the 1600-1800 range.
There is no need to add in ESE days if you are sticking with the diet. I only ever use 22-24 hour fasts after a day or two of severe overeating. But I rarely let my self binge eat.