Lean Gains, is this right?

[JayRock]

ok, so i've decided to give Lean Gains a try finally after bit@#ing and moaning about what I should do, bulk or cut, CKD or anabolic diet, yada yada. I don't hate how I look now, and I freaking hate keto after doing it so many times. But, I've been searching and reading over at the Lean Gains site, but I still have some unanswered questions:
1. Ok, so it's basically if I wake up around 6-7am, which I do, I fast for about the first eight hours, only breaking the fasts for BCAA's or even a scoop of whey before workouts on workout days, right? Non workout days I just follow normal protocol of fasting for the first half of the day, followed up by a more low carb, high fat approach on non workout days. Is all of that right?
2. Can gains be made on this diet? I know it's hard to tell bc it's more for recomp, but i'm just about to start taking Ostarine and wanted to know if they would be any benefit.
3. How does this diet measure up to keto? The things I liked about keto were that it was effective at getting me to around 11-13% everytime, but never any lower, and that it always took away babyfat from my face, but made the rest of my body sickly flat and small looking, not to mention to crappy energy. Do most people find LG as effective if not more? Do most find it easier because you don't have to keep worrying about remaining in "ketosis" for the diet to work?

[colange2]

I would check out the huge lean gains thread right here on the nutrition forum...its up to like 64 pages now and I'm sure some of your questions have been discussed in there already.

[JoshDP]

1. Ok, so it's basically if I wake up around 6-7am, which I do, I fast for about the first eight hours, only breaking the fasts for BCAA's or even a scoop of whey before workouts on workout days, right? Non workout days I just follow normal protocol of fasting for the first half of the day, followed up by a more low carb, high fat approach on non workout days. Is all of that right?

Well, depends. According to LeanGains, you fast for 16 hours, and eat for 8 hours. If you wake up at 6am, and eat your first meal 8 hours later (2pm), you had to have been fasting since 10pm the night before (for a total fasting time of 16 hours). If you are working out within the 16 hour fasting time, BCAA's or a scoop of whey are highly recommended before hand. If there is still a significant amount of time left in your fast before your first meal (like 1 hour+), more BCAA's are recommended.
Non workout days, same deal with the 16/8 fasting and eating protocol. Difference is instead of high protein, high carbs and lower fat intake... you will still keep your protein high, your fat high and your carbs low. (I personally still keep my healthy fat intake somewhat high on training days.)

2. . Can gains be made on this diet? I know it's hard to tell bc it's more for recomp, but i'm just about to start taking Ostarine and wanted to know if they would be any benefit.

Yes, gains can be made.

. How does this diet measure up to keto? The things I liked about keto were that it was effective at getting me to around 11-13% everytime, but never any lower, and that it always took away babyfat from my face, but made the rest of my body sickly flat and small looking, not to mention to crappy energy. Do most people find LG as effective if not more? Do most find it easier because you don't have to keep worrying about remaining in "ketosis" for the diet to work?

I've had better results, aesthetic-wise, with LeanGains. My strength has suffered a bit, but I wasn't eating enough at first. Dropped weight too fast. Fixed it up and it's steadily getting back up there.