Ketogenic Diet Bodybuilding Cutting

Diet 911: Ketosis For Dummies

Dear M&F, I’m trying to see my six-pack. I’m following a ketogenic diet, but my weight loss seems to have slowed down. Can you help me speed things up? —Wayne F., KS Ketogenic diets (around 50 grams of carbs per day) are extremely effective for getting lean because you reset the body’s enzymatic machinery to use fat as its primary fuel source in the absence of carbs. I see three problems with your diet that are certainly causing your fat-loss plateau—too much protein, not enough good fat, and residual carbohydrates. Play Video Play Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Remaining Time -0:00 This is a modal window. Foreground --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Opaque Background --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Default Monospace Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Sans-Serif Casual Script Small Caps Defaults Done To break your plateau, pump up the fat in your diet to about 50% of your total daily calories and reduce the protein to 30%–40%. The rest of your calories will come from vegetables. Traditionally, bodybuilders opt to get their protein from tuna and lean meats such as chicken breast. However, on a diet like this, you should switch to darker meats and oily fish. Eating salmon, chicken thighs, lamb, and lean beef allows you to get your protein and fat in one source. The last issue is your consumption of “residual” carbohydrates—the carbs you’re not even aware you’re eating, like those in nuts and meal-replacement shakes. It’s OK t Continue reading >>

The Ultimate Cutting Diet – Devised By Pro Natural Bodybuilder Layne Norton

Pre-Contest Dieting: Obviously the most pertinent issue regarding pre-contest preparation is the diet aspect of preparation. It is not enough to just clean up what you eat, it must be far more drastic than that. When you see the winner of a bodybuilding competition onstage, rest assured they tracked their calories, carbs, proteins, fats, and never missed meals. If you want to do well in a bodybuilding competition, you should expect to do nothing less. Before I begin talking about a proper pre-contest diet, we need to examine exactly how long a person should diet for a contest. The first thing that should be done is an “assessment” of your body. Look yourself over and be honest about your faults, strengths, and about how long you think it will take for you to get into stage shape. Importance Of Slow Dieting Keep in mind that if you think you have around 25 lbs of fat to lose, you are not going to be able to lose it all in 10 weeks and keep all of your lean body mass. Aim to diet as slowly as possible. The severity of your calorie deficit will, to a large extent, determine how much muscle you retain/lose. Short periods of high severity dieting (more than 1000 kcals per day below maintenance level) are not too muscle wasting, but prolonging them for more than a few days will certainly cause one to lose a good deal of muscle. As a general rule of thumb, losing 1 lb of bodyweight per week will allow one to retain most of their muscle mass. One can probably lose up to 1.5 lbs per week and retain most, if not all of their muscle mass (provided their training and nutrition are optimized). Dieting Too Fast? If one tries to push their body to lose more than 2 lbs per week for any length of time, then they will begin to experience quite a bit of muscle loss. It is for this rea Continue reading >>

How I Did It: Phil Stevens

Source: M&F: You were pretty overweight before the cut, what happened? Phil: Following a devastating accident as a kid, I was left with two major obstacles: a prognosis that I was never going to walk again and a 310-pound body. But with the right nutrition and training, I’ve shed 95 pounds of fat, added a ton of muscle, and recently deadlifted 725 pounds in competition. M&F: Alright Phil, how’d you do it? P: The main thing I never ever ate sugar. I tended to eat the fattier meats and fish. A good bit of salmon I would grill lots of pork ribs, steaks that were less then lean like ribeye or porterhouse. The leaner meats I would cook with fat be it butter or olive oil. … I think what people tend to have a hard time to wrap their minds around is the higher fat intake when you drop the carbs. I find that they should choose the meats and sauces high in fat low in carbs or none. … Key Change: No sugar, less than 20 grams of carbs a day, and all the meat you can eat. Continue reading >>

Menno Henselmans Speaks On Ketogenic Diet And Bodybuilding At The Keto Summit

For those of you who don’t know, the Keto Summit was an event that just past last month rounding up the industry experts on the ketogenic diet. photo credit It’s like the TED Talks of the low carb high fat industry. Menno Henselmans, the extra shredded bodybuilder from Bayesianbodybuilding.com graced his presence spittin’ tons of knowledge bombs. Anyways, the talk isn’t available anymore so luckily I took some notes. And i’m sharing it with you guys because I love you. I’m like the guy who takes extremely concise notes in college and decides to share it with the class. While the class sits back and waits for Mr. “Note-Taker” to finish doing what he’s gotta do. Well class is over and here are my beautiful notes so you know what Menno Henselman’s point of view is on the ketogenic diet and bodybuilding. Henselmans starts off saying that the ketogenic diet is HIGHLY underrated from a bodybuilding point of view. The traditional bodybuilding regimen followed a super high carb super high protein and virtually no fat diet. The complete opposite of the ketogenic diet. Sounds like hell. He then goes on to drop more knowledge nukes explaining the benefits and science behind keto and bodybuilding: The keto diet is very appetite suppressing, to Menno, this is one of the biggest benefits because it becomes easy to drop fat (by eating less than your body burns). It does NOT adversely affect strength training performance. Your body uses glycogen when lifting weights, this is already inside your muscles. It’s not about what you ate immediately before your workout, it’s about what you ALREADY HAD inside your body. Even high levels of bodybuilding only burns about 40% of glycogen in the muscle. Pretty much what he’s trying to say is the keto lifestyle can be supe Continue reading >>

The Truth Behind The World's Most Cutting-edge, Fat-burning Performance Meal Plan: The Keto Diet

Timothy Noakes, M.D., is an emeritus professor in the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at the University of Cape Town. While his name may not ring a bell here in the U.S., he’s a full-blown celebrity in his native South Africa and one of the most accomplished exercise physiologists on the planet. You can’t walk by a restaurant in Cape Town that doesn’t offer a “Noakes option”—say, an avocado stuffed with breakfast sausage and eggs, or a double cheeseburger with lettuce sans bun—and evidence of his teachings seems to be everywhere, mostly in the form of the nation’s best-known athletes, including ageless golfing legend Gary Player and eight-time Ironman World Champion Paula Newby-Fraser. In fact, Noakes’ celebrity these days is such that he’s even been pulled into South African presidential politics: To echo the country’s papers of record, “Is President Jacob Zuma’s and his wife’s dramatic weight loss a result of the Noakes Diet?” No one is sure about the president, but his wife, definitely: She’s lost 66 pounds following the Noakes plan. To high-performing athletes, Noakes preaches that the bedrock tenet of endurance athletic nutrition—that winning performance is best fueled by eating lots of carbohydrates—is simply wrong. Instead, he believes athletes can alter their bodies so that their metabolism burns fat as a primary fuel source, a physiological process known as ketosis, either from stored body fat or from the foods they eat every day. For non-athletes and anyone trying to lose weight or keep it off, Noakes’ advice is that eating a high-fat diet, with few if any refined carbs and as little sugar as possible, will switch on the same fat-burning system and keep your body lean and your weight stable without making Continue reading >>

About Bodybuilding & Fat Loss Coach, Tom Venuto

The Author Practices What He Preaches And Shows How He Uses His Own Fat Burning Diet System For Bodybuilding And Competition Diets... After reading my letter on the home page, many people are intrigued about the "natural bodybuilder's diet." At first they wonder if it will work for them if they are NOT bodybuilders. Of course, I explained on the home page that this nutrition program was created BY a bodybuilder, not just FOR bodybuilders. With that out of the way, usually one of the next questions my readers send me is, "What exactly do you eat Tom, to get so lean? I have never before, except in one of my little-known bodybuilding blogs, published my OWN actual pre-competition bodybuilding diet, but I thought I would finally go ahead and share my meals and menu plans so you get a better idea of what my fat burning nutrition system is all about. Keep in mind, that all nutrition programs must be customized for the individual. I teach this customization process in my Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program. Calories, protein, carbs, fats, macronutrient ratios and food choices, must all be individualized. What you will read below is a sample of some of my personal bodybuilding diet menu plans that I actually used to prepare for competition. My goal is to prove to you that I practice what I preach and to let you see an actual sample of bodybuilding diet menu plans. My very best to you, Tom Venuto, Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder Continue reading >>

The Best Cutting Diet: How Old School Bodybuilders Got Abs

5 star reviews! Get THT Training Totally Free below or buy on Amazon 3 X MUSCLE GAINS | SIZE GAINS IN 2 WKS | 100% FREE There was a Golden Era of bodybuilding. The guys had big, symmetrical bodies with small waists (the coveted V Taper, not the “gorilla guts” we see today). Have you ever wondered how they got that way? What did they eat to get so cut and get those tiny waists? Well, it’s actually the kind of cutting diet that I’ve been preaching for years! First, here’s former bodybuilder Ric Drasin, training partner of Arnold Schwarzenegger, explaining exactly how they ate. I’ll give you more details below the video… He describes it as a high fat, high protein, low carb diet. He says, they ate a lot of: Cheese Omelette (with cottage cheese) Burger patty and scrambled eggs Whey Protein Chicken breast or tuna with cottage cheese Tuna salad And they ate none, or very little: Rice Pasta Bread Potato This more or less echos my own cutting strategy (see here for details). Now, we do need a carb-up period. Back in the day it seems that they basically had a junk food day on Sunday. While this will work to re-fill depleted glycogen levels in our muscles and give our metabolism a kick in the butt, it can and will also add some fat back on. I recommend a more controlled carb-up of lower fat, high-carb, moderate protein meals 1 day per week (and within a specific caloric target). It is actually possible to calculate the amount of glycogen we store in our body, and so I include an exact mathematical formula inside Total Six Pack Abs that will tell you – to the gram – how many grams of carbohydrate to eat over a 24-hr period to fully replenish glyocogen levels but crucially….NOT spill over into excess i.e. fat storage. Now, it seems like these guys in the 70’s Continue reading >>

Ketodiet Buddy Easy Way To Calculate Your Macros On A Ketogenic Diet

Net Carbs Protein Fat 25 grams 92 grams 171 grams 100 kcal 366 kcal 1534 kcal 5 % 18 % 77 % Net Carbs Protein Fat 25 grams 92 grams 144 grams 100 kcal 366 kcal 1294 kcal 6 % 21 % 73 % Net Carbs Protein Fat 25 grams 92 grams 117 grams 100 kcal 366 kcal 1054 kcal 7 % 24 % 69 % Net Carbs Protein Fat 25 grams 92 grams 91 grams 100 kcal 366 kcal 814 kcal 8 % 29 % 63 % We have open-sourced KetoDiet Buddy, you can now find it on Github. What is the Ketogenic Diet? Ketogenic diets are high in fat, adequate in protein and low in carbohydrates. Generally, the macronutrient ratio varies within the following ranges: 60-75% of calories from fat (or even more), 15-30% of calories from protein, and 5-10% of calories from carbs. The exact amount of fat and protein is a matter of individual body responses and activity levels. However, most people on ketogenic diets don't consume over 5% of calories from carbohydrates. In most cases, you won’t need to count calories on a ketogenic diet. However, if you find it hard to lose weight or you are relatively fit and trying to lose a small amount of fat, you may also have to count calories. If you just started following a low-carb diet, don't forget to read my free Guide to Keto & Paleo Diet which includes a print-friendly PDF version! You will find all the information you need, including the keto food list and tips on how to follow the diet to achieve your goals. Maintenance Level Maintenance Level, also known as Total Energy Expenditure, is a level at which you maintain a stable bodyweight. According to Lyle McDonald: Maintenance Level = BMR + TEA + TEF where: BMR is the Basal Metabolic Rate, TEA is the Thermal Effect of Activity and TEF is the Thermal Effect of Feeding Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of energy expended daily at rest. BMR Continue reading >>

The Keto Diet Plan For Cutting And Fat Loss

Muscle Coach Diet Plans At Muscle Coach we recognise that one size does not fit all. Therefore we have formulated multiple variations of each diet depending on your weight and preference with meal frequency. Typically people will get better results with higher meal frequency. However you can still get good results even if you are restricted to just three food meals each day as long as you supplement properly. Remember when trying to lose fat it is critical to understand your caloric requirements. There are more variables that determine required calorie intake than simply your weight. Often it is better to choose a diet program based on your goal weight rather than your current weight. Click on the link to the diet plan that best suits your weight and the number of meals you want to eat each day! Save a copy of your PDF diet plan and share it with your friends! Overview of Keto The Keto diet also known as the Atkins diet is the high protein, high fat and low carb approach to fat loss. The diet was developed by Dr. Atkins in the early 70's after becoming convinced of the negative effects of excessive carbohydrates on weight gain. Contrary to what you may have heard Atkins did not die from his own diet or from a heart attack, he died from a head injury. While a radical and controversial diet at the time it has since gained an ample supply of scientific, testimonial and anecdotal support for its effectiveness in fat loss. Though the Keto diet still flies in the face of mainstream conventional philosophy on diet that advocates relatively high carbs and low fats, most people involved in fitness have come to know better. What is the Keto Diet? The Keto diet is structured around 65% fats, 30% protein and 5% carbs for calories. For most people this will typically mean having les Continue reading >>

Does A Keto Diet, Or Cutting Carbs, Impact Negatively On Strength With Bodybuilding?

NO. Here's the research on strength and Keto There are only a few disadvantages of keto such as the keto flu (where you’ll feel tired the first few weeks), suppress thyroid, and sometimes get constipation. That’s all I experienced, but here is a study that shows no decrease in strength=> Ketogenic diet does not affect strength performance in elite artistic gymnasts There is one clever way to make keto even more powerful and I use it all the time. It’s called Cyclical Keto. This is where you cheat once a week to purposely throw yourself out of ketosis. This will reset leptin and thyroid levels so fat loss can continue in the right direction. Continue reading >>

A Unique New Twist On The Old Low Carb Diet: How Bodybuilders And Fitness Models Do It

Are Carbs Evil Fat-Storing Monsters? Many people believe carbs not only make you fat, they believe carbs are unhealthy as well. I don't agree. On the other hand, I like reducing carbs for maximizing fat loss. Contradiction? Not so. I simply use carb reductions in a unique and different way than the average weight loss dieter does and I approach it with a different mindset. Many bodybuilders, fitness models and physique athletes use low carb diets, and they are the leanest athletes in the world. The Best Fat Loss Diet Of All? I'll even go as far as saying that, although there are many diets and macro levels that can work, provided you consistently maintain a calorie deficit, restricting carb calories is probably the most effective approach of them all... if it's done intelligently. I'm always surprised when I get an email or see a comment from someone who thinks I'm against low carb diets. Why do some people think I'm anti-low carb? I don't know. Maybe it's because I've spoken out against the old school low carb thinking, where some devotees still believe carbs are inherently fattening, "bad" (even "evil") foods and that carbs and insulin drive fat gain, independent of excess calories. Maybe it's because they've seen my muscle-building (aka "bulking") meal plans, which have a very large amount of carbs - usually at least half my total calories from carbs. Or maybe it's because they see my fat loss meal plans and they notice I still eat 175 to 200 grams of carbs per day (the woman's equivalent might be 120-130 grams or so). I consider that "low carb," but most old-school low carbers wouldn't dream of eating "that many" carbs even on the long-term maintenance phase. Well, How Do You Define "Low Carb" Then... How Low is Low? There are so many different types of reduced carb Continue reading >>

Five Compelling Reasons Bodybuilders Really Should Commit To A Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic diet is a proven way to build muscle and lose fat in an efficient and sustainable way, helping you to create a body to be truly proud of in double-quick time. Bodybuilding comes with diet suggestions aplenty. Chances are if you've been worrying about your mass for any real length of time you've already been given dozens of diets to consider, supplements to take and lectures from everyone you know talking about how someone in their life swears by a secret food doctors don't want you to know about. In reality, the building blocks to cultivating muscle are simpler than we think and adhering to that simplicity through a keto diet can fit into almost any bodybuilding routine. For starters, knowing the basics of what makes bodybuilding work will get you further than jumping onto the first diet you see. Eating and training work in tandem, primarily through your intake of protein weighed versus your calorie needs for the day. Paired with proper stimulus to your body to prompt muscle growth - along with hydration and other factors - you'll come out on top no matter how you eat. Cutting out carbs along the way is just an extra step towards keeping your calorie goals clean. Is keto right for you? Chances are you could get serious results from its core principles. #1. Keto Is Protein-Positive Calling it a protein-centric diet might be an understatement compared to the average adult's protein intake throughout the week, but that only works to your advantage. Bodybuilding requires a solid intake of protein. There aren't any ‘ifs’ ands or ‘buts’ about it considering how essential protein is as the building block from which your muscular frame is derived. By focusing on a diet that works protein into your eating cycle you can skip calorie-loaded or downright unpleas Continue reading >>

Ten Bodybuilding Practices That Can Help Anyone Get Shredded

Physique training is more popular than ever. At the same time, misconceptions about how to get maximally lean and fit are widespread. These myths are such a problem that “broscience” is a popular term in the training world to identify the many pseudoscience-based nutrition practices that have taken on a life of their own. A recent review solves this, providing evidence-based recommendations for getting lean, strong, and cut without compromising your health or well being. This article will highlight the most worthwhile points, while calling your attention to pitfalls that can cause more metabolic trouble than they are worth. #1: Adjust for “Starvation Mode” Competitive bodybuilders traditionally follow 2 to 4 month diets in which calories are decreased and energy expenditure is increased to become as lean as possible. Although fat loss is generally the top priority, muscle maintenance is a primary concern. A 500-calorie daily deficit theoretically results in fat loss of one pound per week if the weight loss comes entirely from body fat. However, this mathematical model does not accurately represent the complexity of metabolic function when dieting. The body adapts metabolically and down regulates the amount of energy that is burned daily by as much as 504 calories a day, according to research studies of the overweight. A study of non-overweight men who cut calories by 50 percent for 24 weeks to lose a quarter of their body mass had a 40 percent reduction in energy expenditure. Of that 40 percent reduction, 25 percent was due to weight loss, while 15 percent was due to metabolic adaptation. Take Away: The calorie intake at which one begins a diet will likely need to be reduced over time as body mass decreases and metabolic adaptation occurs. #2: Use A Longer, Slow Continue reading >>

Evidence-based Recommendations For Natural Bodybuilding Contest Preparation: Nutrition And Supplementation

Go to: The popularity of natural bodybuilding is increasing; however, evidence-based recommendations for it are lacking. This paper reviewed the scientific literature relevant to competition preparation on nutrition and supplementation, resulting in the following recommendations. Caloric intake should be set at a level that results in bodyweight losses of approximately 0.5 to 1%/wk to maximize muscle retention. Within this caloric intake, most but not all bodybuilders will respond best to consuming 2.3-3.1 g/kg of lean body mass per day of protein, 15-30% of calories from fat, and the reminder of calories from carbohydrate. Eating three to six meals per day with a meal containing 0.4-0.5 g/kg bodyweight of protein prior and subsequent to resistance training likely maximizes any theoretical benefits of nutrient timing and frequency. However, alterations in nutrient timing and frequency appear to have little effect on fat loss or lean mass retention. Among popular supplements, creatine monohydrate, caffeine and beta-alanine appear to have beneficial effects relevant to contest preparation, however others do not or warrant further study. The practice of dehydration and electrolyte manipulation in the final days and hours prior to competition can be dangerous, and may not improve appearance. Increasing carbohydrate intake at the end of preparation has a theoretical rationale to improve appearance, however it is understudied. Thus, if carbohydrate loading is pursued it should be practiced prior to competition and its benefit assessed individually. Finally, competitors should be aware of the increased risk of developing eating and body image disorders in aesthetic sport and therefore should have access to the appropriate mental health professionals. Keywords: Hypertrophy, Cal Continue reading >>

2 Ways To Lose Fat, Only 1 Way To Get Ripped

It's that time of year, when even the most anti-cosmetic guy thinks a little bit less about his lifting totals and a little bit more about how he looks in his spandex lifting suit. If that just made you throw up in your mouth, or made you want to punch me in the face, you don't have to keep reading. Then again, maybe maintaining your functional lean muscle mass and strength while dropping some non-functional fat will allow you to perform better in a lower weight class, thus giving you a competitive advantage. At the very least, it could help you improve your health profile, prolong your career – and maybe even your life – if that type of insignificant stuff matters to you? Unless of course, you're still just a teenager at heart that thinks immortality awaits everyone. We're all fighting an uphill battle in Y2K America. Every human being shares a common problem, and current statistics prove only a very small percentage are able to overcome it. Fat Loss Nemesis Your biggest enemy in the war against body fat may be the one that you're not even aware of – it is you, or more accurately, your internal instincts. Make no mistake about it – human beings are preprogrammed to overeat. There was no portion control for most of our existence. When you had access to food, you ate it, and stocked energy reserves to prepare for times when you didn't have access to it. Going crazy at an all-you-can-eat buffet is not weakness or a cheap way to bulk up. It's simply a survival instinct. That may be cool during the off-season, but it's a liability when trying to cut the fat. In an environment where resources are limited, and food is real and scarce, this natural tendency to overeat leads to survival. In an environment with unlimited access to highly refined, fake foods, it leads to Continue reading >>