So I'm still kicking around this diet change, and the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking about the
Tank999 version of the Vince Gironda steak and eggs diet. Two meals a day with 250 grams of ground beef and 5 eggs cooked in 1 tablespoon of butter puts me at 2,254 kcal. 158gr Fat, 152gr Protein and 6gr Carbs. Every 7th day is a carb re-feed.
I see two problems with this; First and foremost, I AM NOT VINCE GIRONDA. Second, I'm not sure that I can do the low carb thing.
Any thoughts on this?
Both good questions. Shakes would be an easy way, but then my calories would jump some as well.
Hoping the king of weight loss and dieting
HIT4ME stops in
Looks like a keto setup... if his protein was higher, he'd get thrown out of ketosis due to glyconeogenisis...
Keto is great for cutting up and maintaining LBM whilst in a caloric deficit, but I think it's damn near impossible to put on any LBM while doing a ketogenic diet....
Also, if you're on gear, why would you not want to take advantage of the most anabolic hormone in the human body (insulin), when you're going to be getting better nutrient partitioning from the gear?
IMO carb cycling seems to be a better option when running gear: having days of high, moderate, and low carbs...
Ok, so - being the "king" is actually a lot of pressure. The stress is getting to me, and I really couldn't handle it - so I decided to let some smarter people respond first - so they can't disagree with me later - I will just nod and say - YES! WHAT THEY SAID!
Now, the amazing part of what I do is that I'm about to write this incredible, rambling, non-linear and astoundingly long winded response to your question when I really know very little. So here goes.
I've been playing with the low carb thing. It's mentally challenging, but has some REAL benefits. Namely, I have found that increasing my fats has a paradoxical effect. If I am shooting for 2,200 calories and eat a lot of fats, I'm actually feeling full at that intake. If I drop the fats, I wind up hitting the 2200 and then cheating a little. I've noticed that on high fats, I can go to the store and walk past things that are complete weaknesses for me (like a peanut butter dessert of any kind) and where I would normally want it so badly I'd buy it and eat the entire thing I really don't even want it or I can buy it and eat it like a normal person and just a have a little.
On the other hand - doing a straight fast was actually easier than watching carbs. On a fast where you are eating 800 calories, if you screw up a little and eat 1200 - you still achieve your goal. On a low carb diet, if you screw up and have some extra carbs you knock yourself out of ketosis and mentally, this can be a challenge for me. It can leave you feeling like you're starting all over the next day just because you had one mix up. It isn't REALLY like that but mentally it can be a drag.
Another upside of low-carb - you can play with a lot of normally bad for you foods and modify them to be high-fat, high protein and low carb. Cheesecake comes to mind.
Your plan, to me, sounds simple and sound. You may find that just having a plan makes it easier to follow. If you spend your day preparing to eat your next meal that is planned precisely, it changes your mindset from spending the day wondering what and when your next meal is (in this case it becomes ANYTHING and NOW). Don't sell yourself short on the low carb thing - you may not get it right away. I've been trying off and on for about 5 weeks now...and I'm just starting to feel like I may be able to do this. I know you can do it too.
Now, having said all that - aren't you bulking? I think you're being a bit too cautious - which I actually agree with to an extent. I feel like everyone on AM thinks that bulking requires some ginormous surplus and dieting should only be done at 500 cal/day deficits. To be honest, the way I see it - you have a surplus already built in - stored fat. Sure, you don't have much of a surplus in your case, but you still have SOME. This can supplement your calorie pool if your diet falls short, and I honestly think we all like to believe that our body can't use bodyfat for calories while bulking but this notion is pretty ridiculous I think.
Your approach to be within 100-300 calories of TDEE is very sound for bulking, IMO. You will put on a little fat like this...you are in a surplus. But you will also ensure your body has what you need for growth and your hormonal signaling will be saying, "We've got plenty - just build the muscle and store some fat".
At the end of the day, I think this is what people need to learn:
1. Successful diets have two factors that determine everything the outcome - Calories and Protein.
2. Different strategies will change the process of getting to those outcomes. As I said above - higher fats will increase satiety and higher carbs will improve intense exercise slightly (although this may be overrated once you adapt?)
3. Have a plan that you can stick to, measure, and adjust. If you don't have plan, when you don't get the result you want you don't know why. If you are sticking to a plan and don't get the result, you can tweak it. Just have a plan and commit to it.