Adding Lean Gains to My Simple Diet

A few weeks ago I posted My Simple Diet Guidelines. About a week ago I added intermittent fasting to the diet and I have been able to see faster results. I still follow a once a week weightlifting protocol, but I added a little walking everyday. I made these modifications to slowly move to Martin Berhkan's LeanGains Protocol. The supplements stay the same but I take them with my first meal of the day instead of breakfast like I used to.

Additions (Non-Workout Day):

• Eat my last meal of the day between 6:00PM  and 8:00PM.
• The next day take 10g of BCAA 15min before I go for a 30 to 60 minute walk at around 11:30AM.
• Eat my first meal of the day after my walk with about 50% of the calories calculated in My Simple Diet Guidelines.
• Have a snack in the middle of the afternoon if I have something available.
• And start over by eating my last meal of the day between 6:00PM  and 8:00PM.

Additions (Workout Day):

• Eat my last meal of the day between 6:00PM  and 8:00PM the day before the workout.
• The next day take 10g of BCAA 15min before I go for a 30 to 60 minute walk at around 11:30AM.
• Eat my first meal of the day after my walk with about 25% of the calories calculated in My Simple Diet Guidelines.
• Have a snack at around 3:00PM if I have something available. A very small snack.
• Take 10g of BCAA 20min before my workout.
• Take 10g of BCAA after my workout.
• Eat a large meal high in carbohydrates such as rice. Even tough I add more carbs on this day I still do not go over the total calories calculated in my guidelines.
• Take 10g of BCAA before going to sleep.
• And start over by eating my last meal of the day between 6:00PM  and 8:00PM.

I added 1 to 3 glasses of red wine and one low-fat ice-cream cone on Saturday and like Martin Berkhan says:

Gaining Muscle On A Low-Carb Diet

I was doing some research online about whether is possible to gain muscle while on a low-carb diet and I found this interesting post.

Why We Have An Obesity Epidemic

I made a shorter version of a presentation by Dr. Doug McGuff that explains what happens when we eat and exercise at a cellular level and why we get fat and cannot lose fat. The original video was over an hour long, this shorter version is 20 minutes.

Low-Carb Diet Supplements

I take a "few" daily supplements to complement my low-carb diet. The first two are the most important to me.

1. Fish oil (about 6 to 9 grams a day)
2. Multi-Vitamins (I take GNC's Mega-Men Sport)
3. At least one whey protein shake first thing in the morning with less than 3 carbs and more than 24g of protein. I am currently drinking Cyto Sport Whey Protein.
4. Calcium Citrate (2 grams in the morning and 2 grams before bed, because if you don;t get enough, your body will borrow it from your bones)
5. Potasium and Magnesium
6. Vitamin E
7. Vitamin D3 ( I take this one because I usually don't get any sun)
8. Glucosamine (before bed. It has eliminated the pain in my injured knee)
9. Alpha Lipoic Acid (after every meal if possible)
10. I take a whey protein shake and 10 grams of BCAA after my workout

My Simple Diet Guidelines

These simple rules have helped me lose a few pounds every now and then while not limiting my food choices too much.

Basic rules

1. Calculate your basal metabolic rate ( calculator ) + activity level 
2. Eat no more than 50 grams of net carbohydrates a day (net carbohydrate = carbohydrate - fiber)
3. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per body weight
4. Calculate the calories in the carbohydrates + protein and add the rest as fat to arrive at your basal metabolic rate + activity level. 
5. Never eat less than 1,200 calories a day.

Here is my example

1. My metabolic rate is 1,784 plus my activity level for sedentary 1,784 x 1.1 = 1,962. According to this I have to eat about 2,000 calories a day to maintain my current weight.
2. 50 grams of net carbohydrates equals 200 calories (there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate).
3. My protein requirement is 168 grams because I weight 168 lbs (there are 4 calories per gram of protein).
4. 200 calories from carbohydrates + 672 calories from protein + 1,125 calories from fat (there are 9 calories per gram of fat) = 1,997 calories

I obviously never make it dead on, but I rarely go over my net carbohydrates and rarely go below my minimum protein requirements. After a few weeks of starting with the basic rules I realize that my actual calorie intake to maintain my body weight are about 2,500 calories.

Here is a chart that shows my daily planned calories vs my actual calories broken down by macro-nutrients. Note how Even though I have tried really hard to eat 2,600 calories a day, it is very hard for me as I am barely hungry on this diet and I almost always end up eating slightly below 2,000 calories a day.