Adam's Diet...

[mqgeek]

A workout day came out to something like this: 3453 cals - 177/191/280 (f/c/p)

A nonworkout day would come out to basically the same cals minus some carbs because I wouldn't have a PWO drink.

Seeing how I was eating around 2300 cals to now eating around 3500 cals, I can see why I put on some weight... I lift MWF basically following Johnka's routine (http://people.smu.edu/jowillia/curre...e/training.htm) with a few tweaks and minus the abs/cardio portion.

[Adam Campbell]

Yeah, that's a LOT of calories. I'd call it a bulking diet [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'd say you can follow the principles of the diet (you'll be able to eat more calories this way than you could if you boost carbs up), but start counting calories again to keep yourself honest since the autoregulation concept is definitely not working for you.

[Torque]

MQ, I think one key to the diet is taking advantage of the unrestricted amount of veggies. Man, I have been eating a ton! My fridge is jammed packed with them now, and so am I [img]smile.gif[/img]

Really. I'm so full from the veggies, I can't over eat with the other items. To give you an idea of an average day, here's my veggie/fruit intake yesterday.

7am 2 stewed tomatoes
10am 1 small bunch of grapes
1pm

[Torque]

Whoops! How'd that happen!

1pm 48oz spinach, 1 cucumber, 1/2 red pepper
4pm 1 small apple
7pm 24oz mixed salad greens, 1/2 red pepper, 3 cups of broccoli

Hope this helps.

[mqgeek]

What is the main mechanism for fat loss with this diet? Lower calories? Cutting carbs? A combination of things? Everyone seems to be able to drop bodyfat easily but I can't seem to get much lower than 11%!

I've tried cutting calories, cutting carbs, increasing cardio, cardio on an empty stomach, cutting out dairy, cutting out wheat... I don't know what else to try? Any suggestions?

[cloudy_forecast]

I say just be patient mqgeek. Stick with the diet for awhile and see how it goes. Personally, I don't expect to drop several pounds in just a few days. And if I do, I wouldn't doubt that some is water loss.

[mqgeek]

Thought a pound of fat a week was the norm?

I'd say I'm somewhat patient, been trying to lower my bodyfat to single digits for a while now... As you can tell though, it's wearing on me.

I'll go and drop the cals again and see what happens but I was just there and I wasn't moving, hence the switch to Adam's diet.

[Adam Campbell]

What is the main mechanism for fat loss with this diet? Lower calories? Cutting carbs? A combination of things? Everyone seems to be able to drop bodyfat easily but I can't seem to get much lower than 11%!

Mechanisms: Lower insulin levels, lower calories. But if you're eating 3500 calories a day, it doesn't matter how low your insulin levels are.

How much do you weigh? If you're fairly light already at 11% body fat, you may want to start trying to pack on muscle. It's really hard for lots of guys to get below 10% and your workout is going to play big role in that as well.

[mqgeek]

How much do you weigh? If you're fairly light already at 11% body fat, you may want to start trying to pack on muscle. It's really hard for lots of guys to get below 10% and your workout is going to play big role in that as well.

Right now I weigh around 158 lbs @ 12-13% bodyfat... I do want to put on muscle but whenever I venture that route, I tend to put on equal amounts of fat. Then when I go to cut, I tend to shed equal amounts of muscle, bringing me back to the point I started!

I figured if I got my bodyfat as low as possible, when I bulk, it will allow me to add more muscle than fat, kicking me out of the vicious cycle.

[cloudy_forecast]

It sounds like you may be eating too much when you bulk. You may want to slightly cut down on your calories when your bulking. And then slowly increasing them if needed.

[mqgeek]

Alright, I'll be a bit more patient and give this diet 4-6 weeks at about 2000 calories and if it's going good I'll stick with it until I get to single digits... If it's not working for one reason or another, I'll go into a bulking phase. Sound like a legitimate plan?

[cloudy_forecast]

sounds reasonable. Best of luck.

[raymond3]

I have a couple of questions:

1. I workout at 7pm at night and usually eat dinner around 8-8:15pm, I normally eat chicken/lean pork, and salad/spinach (no carbs). I was thinking of eating my one time carbs at lunch (rice). Would I need to eat the one time carbs at night instead because I just worked out? Or can I eat them at lunch, and keep the salad and chicken for dinner, and if not will eating the carbs at 8pm (even though its one time) hinder the fat loss because of the time of day?

2. What would be a good snack to eat before bed? I dont like cottage cheese, what would be a good substitute (ie cheese, or nuts, or both)

3. I am currently eating between 2100 and 2400 calories a day, eating 6-7 times a day, should my calorie range be right around the same numbers and should I be eating the same amt of times a day?

Im 5'11" about 195 and between 12-14% bodyfat, looking to cut/lose fat. Thanks in advance.

[raymond3]

Sorry I forgot one, when you eat a serving of say peanuts or almonds, how much is considered a serving, in other words what would be too much or too little? And would you want to eat nuts at the same time as the meat and veggies, or should they be kept by themselves as a snack?

[raymond3]

Ok this is my last question, promise, I use Muscle milk, usually before bed and in the morning. If I have to limit my milk to once a day (I use 1%) should I have that in the morning with the muscle milk and some peanut butter, or just the milk with muscle milk by itself as breakfast, and then have something different at night before bed.

[cloudy_forecast]

Raymond, how do you buy your nuts? Sometimes the serving sizes are layed out in the back of the nutritional facts. Sometimes a serving size goes by 1/4 of a cup. I also know from using fitday that 22 almonds equals one serving size. It varies from nut to nut, but usually a serving size of any kind of nut is roughly around 160-200 cal, with 16 grams of fat.

Also, since you don't like CC I would just make sure to have a decent sized protein meal a few hours prior to bed, and before bed include a tablespoon of PB, or half of a serving to one full serving of nuts. I think the most important thing is you have something in your stomach.

[raymond3]

Thanks cloudy, I posted my diet on here, if you can tell me what you think.

[mqgeek]

How are refeeds/overfeeds/carb-ups viewed with this diet?

[Willie T]

I have 3 general questions and was hoping Adam or someone else could help me out (if Adam is on vacation).

1. I did a search for “banana” on “Diet, Nutrition and Supplementation” but did not find if it was an acceptable fruit or not. Are any fruits acceptable as long as they are limited to 2 servings a day?

2.Free day: Does anyone follow Adam’s Diet plan but take a free day/cheat day? If so, do you still have a low percentage of body fat?

3. Cardio day: I have an intense cardio 3 days a week (on the days that I don’t lift) and would like to know if and how the plan should be changed.

Thanks in advance,

Willie T

[Torque]

I'll give you my best impersonation of someone who really knows [img]smile.gif[/img]

1. Bananas are not ideal. The fruits listed have a high level of fiber, which I understand helps in thwarting your insuline response. I would stick to those listed.

2. You should know that nothing in life is free, and that includes cheat days. I will admit that I have one cheat meal a week. But to make it as effective as possible, I make it my one carb meal and try lower my calorie intake during the day and increase my veggie intake as much as possible.

I'm not sure what you mean with the body fat comment, but results will certainly be less if you cheat.

BTW: there are a ton of low carb products out there that you can have if you need fix. (ie chocolate)

3. Cardio (intense) is great for losing bodyfat. Don't stop. I'm not sure what others think about this but I am not having a PWO after cardio since I'm cutting. (If you are, you may want to consider eliminate the carbs from your PWO or at least limiting them.)

I hope this helps.