Thanks

I eat around 1700-2000 cals a day now and have still been losing quite a bit of weight with weight training and interval sprinting afterwards. I always did weight training before but my cardio was infrequent at best. Since I piled on the festive weight I started at the gym again back in mid Jan and am already much trimmer than I was before. Am gunning for the sleek look as well and can already see more definition on my abs, but still reckon I'm atleast 6 months away from having something to really brag about.

One thing I'm not sure if you've spoken about is the types of calories you eat. My calorie count was only ever slightly more, but would allow myself thinks like Diet Sodas, and a cheat day each week where I ate whatever I wanted. Everyone is different, but easily found that 1000 calories of say chick peas, chicken, broccoli etc is far better than a pizza which is 1000 calories. I can't say the healthier option gave me more energy or anything like that, but I've cut out junk food completely till I get to my target and the results are already a lot more obvious.

I'd advise forbidding cheat meals or days until you get to your target too.

"In addition to promoting fatty acid metabolism, GH shuts down the uptake of glucose into muscle tissue and stops the conversion of amino acids into glucose (Rabinowitz, Klassen, and Zieler, 1965). The fact that GH shuts down not just carbohydrate metabolism but also protein metabolism is critically important. It means that when one enters the fasted state, your muscle and organs are protected against being consumed to fuel your body (Nørrelund et al., 2006). This clearly illustrates the greatest failing of the high-carbohydrate, calorie-restricted "semi-starvation" diet that Taubes pans: if you maintain high insulin levels but insufficient calories, there's little to protect the protein in your muscles and vital organs from being consumed while your fat tissue goes untouched."

http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/2009/03/

Thanks,
Zlaja

I found your site recently and I am seriously impressed. I've been in this field for about 16 years so I thought I knew a lot but I've learned a huge amount from you. Thank you.

Question please:

From comparing the articles you wrote in 2008 and those you wrote in 2009, it seems that in 2008 you thought that for fat loss low insulin (what you eat) was king and low cal (how much) was in second place.

However, in 2009 it seems that you now think low cal is king and low insulin is in second place.

Am I correct? Does this reflect a change in your thinking?

I would fascinated to hear your thoughts on this and what changed your mind (assuming I am correctly interpreting what you wrote).

Cheers

Vortex

Intermittant Fasting has been discussed at length here and other places and causes the body to lose weight by utilizing the fat as energy source. Also there are alot less bowel movements. His theory is some what like a prolonged controlled fast ie sharp cut back on calories below BMR.

Interesting stuff

That kettlebell workout is brutal. I only have done it a few times, but will get back to kettlebells sometime after the new year. I'm doing Adam Steer's Bodyweight Blueprint right now, which lasts about 90 days.

JC,

There are some exceptions to the rule…for sure. I would say John is spot on for most people however. His recording was focused more on rapid weight loss. I am betting he would give slightly different suggestions if it was to gain muscle.

Aditya,

Great points. I like to balance things like pizza and beer with veggies and organic foods. Completely agree with your point about being able to stay lean and still enjoy these types of foods.

Sensei,

If you are just working out 2 days is the gym, you would probably do well to stick with a basic whole body workout. If you were going 3-4 times, then I would recommend a split routine.

JBT,

She simply has to cut her calories and add in some intense exercise. The crazy 8 routine 3 times per week under a strong calorie deficit, will do the trick for sure.

Wazzup,

It certainly depends on a few factors. I'm 6'3" and 185 and can do fine with 1600-1800'ish. If I average much more than 2000 calories per day, I tend to lose sharpness in my abs. I also like the way eating less makes me feel…more energy and less feeling lethargic. It doesn't feel like an extreme diet or anything.

Denmark,

If you are really worried about not eating enough to gain mass, you can do much shorter mass gaining cycles and eat a little more during that time. Maybe 6 weeks of muscle gain, then spend the next 6 weeks tightening up in case you gained 4-5 pounds of fat. The main thing is to not bulk up a ton and have to drop 10-20 pounds.

kyle,

I tried to word that part carefully, because muscle mass does help…"It will help long term, but you shouldn't consider it in your short term fat loss equation." So I was saying to not really consider it into the equation for short term fat loss. As you age and over the years muscle mass does help in keeping people lean. It is still exaggerated to a certain extent but does help.

Tim,

It does depend on a few factors, but off the top of my head…1,200-1,600 per day to lose weight…1,700-2,000 to maintain. Note: This is for if you want to be ripped most of the time. You could get away with eating quite a bit more if that doesn't matter.

JKO,

I worded that part carefully, because muscle mass does help in the long term strategy in staying lean…it just shouldn't be considered into the equation when it comes to short term weight loss.

Cindy,

Whenever you burn calories when exercising it is a mix of carbs and body fat. It is so impossibly hard to predict total calories burned from a workout and the ratio of fat to carbs, etc. What I recommend is to go into your workouts in a fasted state and put in some intense effort for 30-60 minutes…then don't eat until 1-2 hours after your workout is done. You will burn calories in your workout, calories after your workout, and boost your natural fat burning hormone…HGH.

Jason G,

Good points. Like you said…a lot of guys who eat a ton are the bulkier guys who overestimate how much of their mass is muscle. Many of those guys are carrying around 20-30 extra pounds of fat. Also…the weight gain doesn't happen overnight. Someone can eat 3,000 calories a day and the weight gain is slow and not noticeable until 9-12 months in…but then that person has 10-15 pounds they need to lose. Also true that most of the readers are my site aren't trying to gain muscle.

Sue,

Exactly…it helps but isn't the magic formula to getting lean that so many personal trainers make it out to be.

Jason,

You won't need to worry about losing your sharpness. Here is what will happen…as you drop weight you may temporarily look a little less sharp. Once you reach your new weight, hold that weight while re-introducing low volume resistance training. Gain strength without gaining weight and that sharpness will come back. Shortly after doing this you will most likely be sharper than ever.

leon,

Google Friend Connect is still in Beta release. At some point Google plans on making this bigger than Facebook. For now there isn't a ton you can do. Google has extremely aggressive plans on taking over the entire internet with Google Wave, a new Operating System that will replace Windows, etc. At some point Google Friend Connect is suppose to be extremely functional.

ali,

600 calories is pretty darn aggressive…I wouldn't recommend doing it for more than 2-3 weeks max. So after looking at your picture…you aren't too far out from getting really lean. You don't have any visible fat bulges, but not sharp yet. I would recommend eating more than what you are eating, while still keeping a deficit. Your BF% looks around 12-13%. Give yourself 2 months to get to 8-10% then if you have a special event I would tweak it hard for 2-3 weeks and go low-cal like you are doing now. Good job on your progress so far. I can tell you have the discipline to get as lean as you would like to get.

Aditya,

Once you are in maintenance mode you can get away with eating a decent amount of higher calorie meals. What typically happens for me when maintaining is a week or two of loose eating followed by a week or two of being a bit more strict. The whole ESE thing gives you a lot of wiggle room anyway, but if I find I have 2 weeks where I ate out a lot…I will then just tighten up a bit the following weeks. The trick of maintenance is to never let yourself get too far away from your lean state.

Rusty

Although I get down to 800 calories on non fast days 2/3 weeks before any event trying to be as paleo as I can get. On fast days its always an 800 calorie dinner. I am having a tough time getting down to 6% from my present 9% but I think that shouldnt be much of a problem if I stick to this routine, upping the fasts to 3 days from 2 a week.

By the way, Rusty, since you are on maintenance, how much junk do you indulge in, in a week? Do you think having a 1000-1500 calorie junk dish once a week would be detrimental to maintenance guys? Like, for example, a guy who is on a 3 day fasted ESE eats a 2000 calorie junk dish(pure unadulterated awesome junk I mean ) one day of the week, what would be the problem? Provided he doesnt cross 800 calories at the fast ending diet during the 3 fasts and also provided he doesnt cross 2000 calories on non fast days through the week? Ok I admit I want to try that