Originally Posted by ScottyDoc
BD... my dieting style is a LiL more old school vs. what DW and Green do with Lean Gains with IF, but I will share it with you because I was just like you, looking for the right fit and this helped me find the right fit for me. All proper diets are the exact same in one way and that is the macros have to be correct and the overall calories have to be correct, the rest is land-yap in my opinion unless one is truly in the very last stages/wks of a real pre-contest, ready to hit the stage style prep. Basic macros are 50% protein, 25% carbs, 25% fat, now after you have done this for a while you will find what you are more/less sensitive to, for example... I do best with around 55% protein, 25% fat, & 20% carbs, that is my magic number for right now and even that can change as my physique changes, as I age and my metabolism changes, etc. So be flexible and be willing to change. Next, find out what your resting metabolism is excluding your working out or cardio, once you have that info, lets just for easy math sakes say it is 2,000 cals. Then you want to find out (accurate guestimate, always round down) how many calories you are burning per day via workout &/or cardio, some days you may do only one, other days both and adjust your calories accordingly to always be in a 500calorie deficit in order to get leaner and a 500calorie surplus to gain mass, so if you are trying to lose weight and it is a workout day and you typically burn 500 cals per workout, then you eat all 2,000 cals, if it is an off day, then eat 1,500 cals, if it is a day where you do cardio and workout and both consume 500 cals each, then you eat 2,500 cals that day, pretty simple, don't over complicate it, keep it simple, but precise and measure things, schedule things, prepare in advanced, will help keep you from cheating or straying from the diet, etc.
Pit-Fall...don't think about doing both (gaining mass and dropping fat), just concentrate on one or the other, trying to do both is advanced and you need to make sure you can accomplish both (individually) successfully before moving to the advanced stages of trying to do both at the same time, which is where supplements (PH's & fat-burners, etc.) are crucial!
Where my diet differs from DW & Greens is I do mine in 6 meals evenly spread out through out the day and they will get all their calories (perfect macros, same amount of calories) but in an 8hr window out of each 24hr day, the rest is exactly the same. The difference between our diets is more of a preference difference, not that one works better than the other. But, with that being said, if one is easier for you than the other, then it is your obvious choice, again keep it simple, don't over-complicate your diet any more than necessary. For me, the 6 small meals lowers my appetite, makes me never feel bloated, I feel lighter and faster and like eating often, so it is easier for me. DW & Green, they prefer eating larger portions within their 8hr window, maybe it works better for them due to their work-schedule and timing through out the day, whatever their reason, they have found what works best for them and I only advise you do the same.
In short, before I come across as too preachy, if the Cals are on target and the macros are on target it has to work, no differently than math... 2+2 will always = 4. Oh and one last thing... 99.9999999999999 infinity % of the time when someone says their diet is on target, but they just can't seem to lose fat, whether they realize it or not, there is a problem in their diet somewhere, somehow!
