Best Diet you've ever tried?

[AdelV]

Hey

I'm Just curious to see what everyone's favorite diet is?

I'm not sure if you can call it a diet, because fasting or keto could be used for bulking as well.

Looking to see what plan has benefited people whether bulking or dieting.

I kind of lean towards these two, because they personally seem like the easiest to track and stick too.

Probably not long-term, and more concerned about my weightlifting. However, a work colleague of mine in his 50s did keto for 3 weeks and dropped over 20 lbs! Pretty insane!

I'm sure many people on here have tried various programs or diets, I'm interested to see if one comes out on top even though I understand it's a personal preference and what best you can stick too.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Rad83]

Probably not long-term, and more concerned about my weightlifting.

The food fuels the weightlifting, training etc.

During times of not eating as well for one reason or another….I always notice a major upward swing in performance, physique etc. when I get it back together.

 

[Rad83]

I understand it's a personal preference and what best you can stick too.

You really already nailed it here, bro!

But to add on, it’s 99% effortless to stick to it, when I have a good 2-3 meals worth of food in a big bowl in the fridge, and portion off a serving when it’s time to eat.

I do like it fresh, so I typically only cook for a day or 2.

 

[TheMrMuscle]

Ive found best sucess with basing my diet of Stan Efferdings Vertical Diet. Its great for both performance, gut health and just overall health.

 

[Resolve10]

Ya really just depends on what someone can stick to. If you look at a lot of successful diets they may seem to vary but there will be certain things that they have in common and overlap between different ones. Also depends on things like length of use, balance of health, performance and physique oriented changes, etc.

I personally prefer high carb with moderate protein regardless of gaining or losing weight as a goal. My training is pretty performance based though.

 

[BCseacow83]

I have found the perfect absolute fool proof system that will work for litterally everyone that applies it:

If you don't like what you see with this:

And you don't like the number you see on this:

You lower the numbers you see on this:

 

[Dustin07]

I increase carbs substantially when bulking or strength cycle, and cut them back when cutting.
Generally, fat stays consistent. I will work to increase protein on a bulk or strength cycle though.

on my next cut I'll probably experiment with higher than usual protein to offset my carb cutting since my baseline is about 500-700+ calories higher than it used to be.

 

[MrKleen73]

I have tried just about every diet and had success with all of them as long as I followed them. Bottom line caloric deficit is the key to losing weight, and caloric surplus is the key to gaining weight. Other than that you really hit the nail on the head with "It is personal preference, and choose the one you can stick to."

That being said, I do the best with an on and off diet. Something I can be completely restrictive, or relatively relaxed depending on the time period. So I found for weight loss I prefer fasting. I have no issues restricting heavily for short periods and while avoiding things I don't cause myself new cravings. So this style of eating fits my lifestyle and preferences very well. It allows me more freedom to have calorically dense options with Intermittent Fasting and still make excellent progress. So although it is not a diet per se' it is how i structure my diets.

I have been low carb, keto, and high carb and find now that high carb and lower fat is my preference on my build days. The carbs bring on the anabolism, so I want as many as I can get in with my other macro requirements.

 

[KvanH]

Enough quality protein and healthy fats and plenty of carbs from good sources. That's it for me.

When cutting, I mainly start decreasing carb intake, but if carbs start to get too low for athletic performance and general well being, then I start to cut out some fats.

 

[SweetLou321]

When I did bulk, I found the best success starting with a maintenance intake that is established based on bodyweight stability over 2 weeks. Then I would add 200 cals and monitor for weight changes over a month, if the scale is moving up slowly then I would leave it alone and anytime I saw a plateau over a month I would 100-200 more cals and repeat. I would do this for usually 6 months to 1.5 years at a time. Then I would cut and repeat. Usually this was with 4-5 meals spaced out over the whole day with 20-40 g protein per meal and a total of 1.6-2.2 g of protein per kg total BW. I also focused more on carbs over fats, but would be flexible with these to allow more food variety and enjoyment, to eat out more with family and friends ect.

To cut and maintain, I find an IF approach easiest for me to stick to. I usually just do not eat the first 3-5 hours after waking, but will wait longer if not hungry, and aim for 3 meals with 20-40 g protein with a total of around 1.6-2.2 g of protein per kg total BW spaced out over the feeding window. Usually eat before and after training. Follow hunger cues much more at this time. Focus on lean protein, fruits, and vegetables mostly. I still make progress with this approach with training performance and find adherence to be quite high. I do this year round now as I have no desire to bulk much anymore.

 

[Smont]

The Carb cycling approach is how get in my best visual shape, when I'm dieting for fat loss I eliminate a lot of stuff and eat super basic. Meat, fruit, vegetables and Greek yogurt, on medium days i would add some rice and on my high day I'd usually throw in something like a burger and fries or a steak and fries ect. But the diet is like 90% meat, Greek yogurt and high water content fruits and vegetables.

For strength training my best results are eating like it's all medium carb days and I throw in junk food once I'm over 3500ish calories.

I purposely won't even try "diets" anymore if they have been coined something like keto or carnivore or vegan, Mediterranean ect. I've never been one to eliminate a food or food group unless it's directly causing me gut problems or something