Leangains and Eating Primal page 3

[Constantine4]

... it can screw your cortisol and thyroid/adrenals, sleep, recovery etc.

Can you explain this? Hadn't heard anything pertaining to those issues before......

Also, I know when Martin does consulting, he offers a plan for losing fat. Does anyone know how that plan differs?

[bwhit]

Chris Kessler was saying that fasting is a stressor that will increase cortisol. He didn't recommend fasting unless your metabolism was running smoothly. Similar to what Mark says about not IFing until your diet is really locked in. It doesn't seem right for everyone, in my opinion. A lot of people can't handle more stress and cortisol. Martin also says in that pdf that you should be relatively fit before (12% bf or less) before you try it.

[MalPaz]

Chris Kessler was saying that fasting is a stressor that will increase cortisol. He didn't recommend fasting unless your metabolism was running smoothly. Similar to what Mark says about not IFing until your diet is really locked in. It doesn't seem right for everyone, in my opinion. A lot of people can't handle more stress and cortisol. Martin also says in that pdf that you should be relatively fit before (12% bf or less) before you try it.

+1

[NDF]

leangains works for GAINING....it is really effective at that. you GAIN muscle mass and with the right diet & routine lose body fat. however, it has its drawbacks...it still come down to calories/amounts/hormones... it can screw your cortisol and thyroid/adrenals, sleep, recovery etc.

a word to the wise, i put on 25lbs of lean mass with leangains and minimal fat gain...but regardless people looking to do this should know leangains is for GAINING

While I agree with most of this, the leangains approach is also used by Martin's client's for fat loss. It does work awesomely for lean gaining, but it also works well for fat loss and muscle retention.

[ozbuckley]

hey guys,
this leangains/primal way sounds great. the thing is with me Im on an anti-candida diet... so LOW CARB 24/7. Sometimes even NO CARB. No sugar. no fruit. no grains (obviously). etc etc.
Could I gain success from the leangains protocol or would it be a waste of time even trying? My diet would be ok for non-workout days but what about workout days where higher amounts of carbs are recommended?

Im already quite lean as I am a CLASSIC ECTOMORPH. Tall and thin.
My diet everyday needs to consist of High Protein and Fats so I achieve the necessary amount of colories I need.

Any thoughts/ideas?

Thanks, Oz.

[rockstareddy]

Im doing same as you ozbuckley, leangins fasting style with primal low carb, Im a hard gainer, and believe that it will work eventually just take longer to gain. Despite what some say about gaining easily on leangains i never gained fast even when I was on the proper high carb, so Im just gonna live like this and let it happen slowly and healthily. besides higher carb days are relavtive to how sensitive you body is to carbs and insulin secretion, so a low carb day for someone may be high carb for you.

I would however like to get down to less that 10% bf so I atleast have great deffintion! Althoguh Im a skinny guy my bf is about 11-12 right now, and despite being almost zero carb for 22hours per day every day I cant seem to get the deffinition I want! My only solution is that because of my working hours my workouts are not purely fasted which would be optimal. i have to do Martins less optimal plan where you train in the evenin.

If anyone can help get me down to 6% would apprecaite it!

[yodiewan]

@ozbuckley: From my personal experience, I've made better gains with higher-carb/lower-fat post-workout meals as Martin Berkhan suggests. However, I think the benefits of fasted training and eating most of your calories post-workout will still help with body recomposition. I've started thinking that all these tweaks are like stacking the odds (of losing fat/gaining muscle) in your favor and you can choose which ones fit your goals/lifestyle.

[grokina]

In the last week I started pushing my 'breakfast' to later and later. So it's been between 11 and 12:30, with a dinner
the night before ending by 7 or 8. I'm enjoying the lack of urgency to eat in the mornings and how manageable my hunger has been.
I also seem to feel better allowing myself to "get so hungry that a boiled egg tastes amazing" as someone else mentioned in another
thread. That is how I know I'm truly hungry and not just tired or eating out of habit. Also, this way I'm getting much more protein
and veggies than I would otherwise, because 'breakfast' and dinner end up being composed of these. So far so good. Now I just need
to increase my lifting regimen.

[RezH]

I've been doing 16/8 for 4 weeks now and it seems to be working for fat loss. Have dropped 6 lbs, and can finally see the outline of the bottom abs. I do wonder though if I'm adding any muscle. I do eat higher carb postworkout, but never crazy (120g or so). Can anyone suggest some tweaks? I generally average 2400 calories for a 157 lb male, higher cals on three weekly LHT days (reverse pyramid training).

[yodiewan]

Can anyone suggest some tweaks?

Honestly, what worked best for me was adding more carbs and cutting the fat in my post workout meal. I sometimes eat 2-3 large sweet potatoes and a decent amount of lean meat. I save the extra fat for my later meals. I'm not sure if this approach is best for optimal health, but it certainly helped me gain some muscle with no fat gain, maybe even some fat loss.