Refined Physique Transformation
A while ago I wrote a series of articles detailing my transformation from fat to fit. While this series helped put my name on the map as a body transformation coach, it also left me with a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. Simply put, I can't stand to read that piece anymore!
While the results from my transformation were good, I know that I took a sub-optimal route to get there. From what I know now, all the variables involved — the training program, nutritional approach, and supplements regimen — could be much improved. There's also the fact that when I look at the pictures from that series, I'm somewhat sad. I'm in such better shape right now that it feels awkward to look back at what I thought was ''good shape.''
Over the past few years I've been able to reach much lower body fat levels (as low as 3 to 4%) while adding a significant amount of muscle mass. And, except for one foray into the world of "bulking," I never exceeded 9-10% body fat over the past three years, more often than not staying at 8% or less.
I've also helped numerous physique competitors get into great shape, so I feel I'm much better equipped now to design an optimal mutation program. While I won't go into a week-by-week plan, here's how I'd do it all over again.
Nutrition is undoubtedly the most important aspect of body transformation. If you eat like crap, even if you're training hard, you won't reach your physique goals. Sadly, there's no magical program when trying to get super lean; we're all somewhat different so not all types of diet are ideal for everybody.
However, there's one thing that we can hold almost as a universal truth of body transformation: the fatter you are, the fewer carbs you should take in. This goes both for the quantity and frequency of the carb ingestion.
The leaner you are, the more carbs you can ingest on a day-to-day basis and the more frequent carb-ups you should use. Fatter individuals will need to stay away from carbs as much as possible until they get their body fat to a more acceptable level.
Although I can't give exact numbers that'll be perfect for everybody, the following can give you a good starting point when planning carb intake. (Remember that these numbers are for those who want to lose fat, not bulk up.)
For Men
Above 20% body fat: no more than 30g of carbs per day
15-20% body fat: 0.25g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
12-15% body fat: 0.35g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
10-12% body fat: 0.45g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
Less than 10% body fat: 0.55g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
For women
Above 25% body fat: no more than 30g of carbs per day
20-25% body fat: 0.25g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
17-20% body fat: 0.35g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
14-17% body fat: 0.45g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
Less than 14% body fat: 0.55g of carbs per pound of body weight per day
The leanness factor is also applied to the frequency and magnitude of your carb-up (higher carb days):
For men
Above 20% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 14 days
15-20% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 10 days
12-15% body fat: carb-up at around 1.0g of carbs per pound every 7 days
10-12% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 7 days
Less than 10% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 4-5 days
For women
Above 25% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 14 days
20-25% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 10 days
17-20% body fat: carb-up at around 1.0g of carbs per pound every 7 days
14-17% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 7 days
Less than 14% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 4-5 days
The type of food you're allowed on those carb-up/refeed days changes too based on how fat you are:
For men
Above 20% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs (yams, non-green veggies, fruits, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, grits, etc.)
15-20% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs
12-15% body fat: carb-up mostly with clean carbs. One or two ''cheat'' items is acceptable but avoid eating foods that are both high in fat and sugar.
10-12% body fat: Carb-up can include a bit more cheat food, but still stay away from fat/sugar combo foods.
Less than 10% body fat: the refeed can be more lenient. While results will be better with cleaner food, when you get down below 10% it's okay to include some dirtier meals (pizza, burgers, pastries, etc.) in your refeed day.
For women
Above 25% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs (yams, non-green veggies, fruits, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, grits, etc.)
20-25% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs
17-20% body fat: carb-up mostly with clean carbs, one or two ''cheat'' items is acceptable but avoid eating foods that are both high in fat and sugar.
14-17% body fat: Carb-up can include a bit more cheat food, but stay away from fat/sugar combo foods.
Less than 14% body fat: Carb-up can include a little more cheat food, but still stay away from fat/sugar combo foods.
As you can see, for quick body composition changes I do recommend using a low-carb approach. Carb-cycling is a very effective way of eating. When properly planned it'll allow you to gain muscle while minimizing fat gain. But when it comes to rapid drops in body fat, a carb cycling approach isn't ideal unless you're below 10% body fat.
Fish Oil
One mistake I made when I underwent my original transformation was that I didn't include enough fish oil. I now firmly believe that mega-dosing fish oil is one of the best strategies you can use to impart drastic body comp changes to your physique.
When in a rapid fat loss phase, most of my clients will ingest at least 15g of fish oil, sometimes up to 30-40g. I personally use 30g per day. I like to use one or two servings of Flameout per day and I make up the rest with a good blend of fish oil.
I do split the intake of fish oil throughout the day, normally at 3 to 5g per meal over five or six meals a day. (I don't take it post-workout.)
Protein Intake
In my original transformation, my protein intake was too high and my fats were too low. This led to some muscle loss and lack of energy. A lot of people don't limit themselves to a low-carb diet; they also ingest very little fat.
They reason that if they drop the carbs, their body will be forced to use fat for fuel, which is true. They go wrong by taking their reasoning one step further and assuming that if they cut out fat from their diets too, then they'll burn much more fat because the body will have to scavenge its own fatty acid reserve.
It will, to some extent. But the thing is that if one energy source is disproportionately high compared to the other ones, the body will adapt to use this fuel source as its main one. So if your protein intake is way higher than the other nutrients, your body will become good at using protein for fuel. Since protein is an inefficient fuel source, the body will be quick to breakdown muscle tissue to produce the energy required: you'll be burning down the walls to heat the house!
So remember, when using a low-carb approach, fat intake should be high enough for your body to avoid turning into a protein-burning machine. During a proper low-carb diet, your fat intake should be pretty close to your protein intake. Remember that 1 gram of fat has 9 calories while 1 gram of protein has 4. So 110g of fat is equal to 250g of protein. A 50/50 ratio (plus trace carbs) is a good place to start.
As your body becomes ''fat adapted'' (good at using fat for fuel — this requires 10-14 days) it's possible to gradually reduce the proportion of fat in the diet. But I'd avoid going down lower than 30-35% and personally I stick to 40-50%. So if your caloric intake is set at 2750kcals/day (a good place to start for a 200-210 pound individual) it means that you should ingest around 320g of protein, 150g of fat, and anywhere from 0 to 30g of carbs (or a bit higher depending on your body fat levels).
When dieting down using a low carb approach, ingesting 1.4 to 1.6g of protein is plenty if your intake of good fats is adequate. Natural trainees do have a limited capacity to build muscle from the ingested protein, so anything more than that will simply be turned into glucose (via gluconeogenesis) and your body will then become good at using protein for fuel. This will both slow down fat loss and facilitate muscle loss.
Every time you consume a caloric deficit you'll have to bump up calories to prevent muscle loss, but too much protein might very well be as bad as too little protein in that case!
Green Veggies
In my initial transformation I included the carbs from green veggies in my dietary allowance. For that reason I actually stayed away from them. I preferred to have more leeway with my carbs than to have 20g of carbs from greens.
Well, after talking to some experts and reading more on the subject, I've stopped counting the carbs from green veggies. Most of them are fiber and aren't absorbed by the body. So now I try to eat as many green veggies as possible. I emphasize broccoli, cucumbers, celery, and lettuce.
First, it helps keep me full, which is very good for appetite control. It also helps slow down the absorption of nutrients which keeps the body anti-catabolic due to the steady flow of nutrients entering the bloodstream.
Fiber will also clean the digestive tract. This will have a positive effect on nutrient absorption (more of the protein you eat will actually be absorbed). So the bottom line is that you shouldn't hold back on the greens for fear of overshooting your carbohydrate allowance.
The Berardi Compliance Form
During my original transformation, I often made the mistake of compensating one slight cheat with excessive restriction. For example, on the occasions that I fell off the dieting wagon and indulged in a ''bad'' food, I'd make the double mistake of skipping a meal to make up for the cheat. The thing is, a missed meal is just as bad as a cheat meal when talking about body composition.
Missed meals can negatively impact your insulin sensitivity and lead to fat storage, muscle loss, lack of energy, and hunger pangs (which can lead to binging). Simply put, never make up for a mistake with a second one. Cheating is bound to happen (hopefully very infrequently) and if it happens, you must resume your scheduled diet as soon as possible.
I'm now using Dr. Berardi's diet compliance form: I have seven meals a day so that's 49 meals a week. I shoot for a 90% compliance to the diet so I can basically ''afford" five dietary mistakes per week. A missed meal is a mistake; so is eating a non-diet meal.
Normally, I try to put all five ''mistakes'' on the same day (my cheat day, which is normally on Saturday) but sometimes — either when I'm below 8% or in a mass gaining phase — I'll have one or two cheat meals on Thursday and two to three on Saturday. But the point is that you should shoot for 90% compliance to the planned diet, and don't forget that missing a meal is a mistake too.
Another aspect of compliance is that when an unplanned binge/cheat happens you should go back to your planned diet ASAP. A lot of people use such unplanned binges to go off of their diets for a few days. What often happens is that someone might cheat on a Wednesday, reason that his whole week is messed up, and will decide to ''get back into it on Monday.''
So they set themselves mentally to eat like crap for four or five days before getting back on the wagon. This makes no sense. It's like blowing a tire by accident and then decide you ''might as well blow the other three since I'll be going to the garage on Monday.''
Bottom line: unplanned cheating shouldn't be an excuse for getting off of your plan.
Or even do the cycle with some T3 thrown in for the fat loss during cycle 
