What To Eat While Trying To Get Leaner/Stronger? page

[trekfan]

Hey folks, I have another question for all the wise people here. I'm close to hitting my mark of 165 pounds and I'm going to be trying to get leaner/stronger after that through strength training. What I'm really hoping to accomplish is to get rid of the lump of useless flesh around my midsection, IE the Belly Fat. It just sits there and it's probably more loose skin than fat, but either way I want it gone.

I was wondering what changes in my diet need to be made while getting leaner/stronger and trying to get rid of that lump of useless flesh. It's been suggested to me that I take out dairy and starchy vegetables, or switch to super nutrient laden stuff like soups and broth, or maybe fast more often. I'm not sure what to do.

I started out in late July at 266 and now I'm 166 (soon to be 165) with 22% BF. I want to lean out some so I imagine that number needs to get to 14-17% optimally I suppose.

So, with all that said, I put the question to you good people; what changes in my diet need to be made to help optimize leaning out and getting rid of that useless lump of flesh on my midsection?

As always, any and all comments are welcome. Thanks in advance.

[primal pete]

The bottom line is that you will need to continue establishing a calorie deficit to lean out. There's no way around it - simple thermodynamics. Fasting is a great option because it naturally helps with calorie restriction, and has potential healthy benefits in it's own right, though this area of research is still pretty new. You should check out leangains.com, as the protocal outlined there is geared exactly towards your stated goals: fat loss while maintaining strength, or muscle gain with out fat gain using intermittent fasting.

The other bottom line is that getting much stronger while leaning out below 15% body fat is very, very difficult. I would recommend you focus on either fat loss or muscle gain one at a time. start counting calories and go for a daily deficit no larger than 500 kcal - anymore then that and increasing strength would be impossible. Keep focusing on heavy, compound lifts like squats and bench. Estimating your daily calorie expenditure is pretty easy with all the tools out there online.

People here might give me a lot of flak on this one, but I also recommend eating pretty carb heavy on lift days - you want to give your muscles all the precious glycogen replenishment they can get while you are eating at a calorie defecit. Check out the various posts on carb refeeds. Obviously if you have issues with diabetes or blood sugar, this might not be the best choice, though there are plenty of low GI carb sources out there such as squash and sweet potato. Eat higher fat on off days as it is more satiating. Don't skimp on protein either, get at least 1g per lb of body weight.

There's no magical food item or exercise gimmick that will magically transform you into Brad Pitt from fight club overnight... it just takes time and patience. It sounds like a lot of your gut may be loose skin left over from significant weight loss. I know nothing about that but there's plenty of posts on that topic on this forum.

[touchdowntodd]

leangains ....

[trekfan]

The bottom line is that you will need to continue establishing a calorie deficit to lean out. There's no way around it - simple thermodynamics. Fasting is a great option because it naturally helps with calorie restriction, and has potential healthy benefits in it's own right, though this area of research is still pretty new. You should check out leangains.com, as the protocal outlined there is geared exactly towards your stated goals: fat loss while maintaining strength, or muscle gain with out fat gain using intermittent fasting.

The other bottom line is that getting much stronger while leaning out below 15% body fat is very, very difficult. I would recommend you focus on either fat loss or muscle gain one at a time. start counting calories and go for a daily deficit no larger than 500 kcal - anymore then that and increasing strength would be impossible. Keep focusing on heavy, compound lifts like squats and bench. Estimating your daily calorie expenditure is pretty easy with all the tools out there online.

People here might give me a lot of flak on this one, but I also recommend eating pretty carb heavy on lift days - you want to give your muscles all the precious glycogen replenishment they can get while you are eating at a calorie defecit. Check out the various posts on carb refeeds. Obviously if you have issues with diabetes or blood sugar, this might not be the best choice, though there are plenty of low GI carb sources out there such as squash and sweet potato. Eat higher fat on off days as it is more satiating. Don't skimp on protein either, get at least 1g per lb of body weight.

There's no magical food item or exercise gimmick that will magically transform you into Brad Pitt from fight club overnight... it just takes time and patience. It sounds like a lot of your gut may be loose skin left over from significant weight loss. I know nothing about that but there's plenty of posts on that topic on this forum.

Thanks for the info, man. I've been scouring leangains for the last few hours and I'm just wondering if I can do it. The guy on there recommends a lot of supplements and stuff that I can't really afford at the moment. It seems that his methodology works (as shown by the various client testimonials) but it also costs some cash, which I don't have to spare.

You think I can roll with leangains without investing in the supplements?

[mike_h]

I thought Marty from leangains did not require a lot of supplement use for his program. I know he has a page dedicated to them, in response to questions, and it's quite a long list, but my impression was that it was more for people who were interested in them.

From memory BCAAs were his only 'requirement'. They were for the purpose of keeping you as close to a fasted state as possible for the workout. You shouldn't feel you need a cupboard full of supplements to try leangains.