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- Thread starter fitmedic
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diet
well this is whats going on...i have been on the NHE bodybuilder plan for 4 weeks now. im trying to lose bodyfat while gaining mass. according to the author, rob faigin, you can do this if you follow his plan. i have been religious about this, VERY STRICT eating habits. im not seeing anything yet other than getting smaller-exactly what i didnt wanna do. the jist of his program is days 1-7 less than 20g carbs day and all the pro and fat you can eat. youre trying to shift you body into running off fat instead of carbs. i felt like crap the first 3 days -as he said- but after that i felt great. after the first 7 days your body is in fat burning mode so you cycle carbs on a 3/4 rotation. on carb load days which for me are tues and sat you pig out with "good carbs" and low pro. the other days again, high pro and fat and less than 30g carbs. i tell ya though im not seeing the fat loss. only muscle loss. maybe a little fat too, im sure thats inevitable. but crap i AM SO FRUSTRATED. im wondering if i should switch to something with more carbs on a daily basis. kinda like the infamous spatts cutting/bulking cycle. i know JJ tried the NHE plan for a while and is not on it. other people on extique.com rave about their results with this plan but im wondering why im not getting results i want? any suuggestions or comments ??
well this is whats going on...i have been on the NHE bodybuilder plan for 4 weeks now. im trying to lose bodyfat while gaining mass. according to the author, rob faigin, you can do this if you follow his plan. i have been religious about this, VERY STRICT eating habits. im not seeing anything yet other than getting smaller-exactly what i didnt wanna do. the jist of his program is days 1-7 less than 20g carbs day and all the pro and fat you can eat. youre trying to shift you body into running off fat instead of carbs. i felt like crap the first 3 days -as he said- but after that i felt great. after the first 7 days your body is in fat burning mode so you cycle carbs on a 3/4 rotation. on carb load days which for me are tues and sat you pig out with "good carbs" and low pro. the other days again, high pro and fat and less than 30g carbs. i tell ya though im not seeing the fat loss. only muscle loss. maybe a little fat too, im sure thats inevitable. but crap i AM SO FRUSTRATED. im wondering if i should switch to something with more carbs on a daily basis. kinda like the infamous spatts cutting/bulking cycle. i know JJ tried the NHE plan for a while and is not on it. other people on extique.com rave about their results with this plan but im wondering why im not getting results i want? any suuggestions or comments ??
JJFigure
New member
When I dropped my kcals to start my cutting phase, I started losing weight - 1-2 lbs./week, but that weight loss definitely seemed to be primarily fat. I'm not taking bodyfat measurements - haven't gotten a new set of calipers yet - so I've been relying on measurements and the scale. My upper body measurements are holding strong, but my upper thigh measurement started dropping 1/4 inch/week.
I saw results in as little as 2 weeks, which told me I was on the right track. Have you been using skinfold or tape measurements to help you determine if you're losing fat vs. muscle? Are you losing strength?
I saw results in as little as 2 weeks, which told me I was on the right track. Have you been using skinfold or tape measurements to help you determine if you're losing fat vs. muscle? Are you losing strength?
JJFigure
New member
DiPasquale re-engineered the original Anabolic Diet and is now calling it the Metabolic Diet. I borrowed the original from my PL friend, but the original is no longer published. However, he basically uses the same format, same diet in his new "Metabolic" diet; he just seems to plug his supplements more in the new format. That was really the only difference I could find.
You always lose some amount of muscle when cutting - I think that's inevitable, whether your natural or not. But if my measurements are any indicator, I'm not losing very much muscle. For example, my arm measurement, before I started cutting, was 12 3/4 inches flexed. About 6 weeks into my last diet, I was down to 12 inches flexed, but I also lost fat off my triceps. 4 weeks into my second round of dieting - and 12 weeks total dieting, between the two comps - I'm still at 12 inches flexed. I have a ltitle stubborn fat left on my tris, so that measurement may decrease a little more before I'm done, but since I'm also getting stronger, I'm not that concerned right now. If my chest/arm measurements start to drop significantly, then I'll start worrying.
My body seems to like this type of diet, because I don't flatten out that much, even after 5 days of low carb. But other people feel like they really flatten out, which makes them think they're losing muscle. Like Spatt's said, that's gotta be water loss. IMO, you'd have to be starving yourself to lose significant amounts of muscle, especially if you're training heavy.
You always lose some amount of muscle when cutting - I think that's inevitable, whether your natural or not. But if my measurements are any indicator, I'm not losing very much muscle. For example, my arm measurement, before I started cutting, was 12 3/4 inches flexed. About 6 weeks into my last diet, I was down to 12 inches flexed, but I also lost fat off my triceps. 4 weeks into my second round of dieting - and 12 weeks total dieting, between the two comps - I'm still at 12 inches flexed. I have a ltitle stubborn fat left on my tris, so that measurement may decrease a little more before I'm done, but since I'm also getting stronger, I'm not that concerned right now. If my chest/arm measurements start to drop significantly, then I'll start worrying.
My body seems to like this type of diet, because I don't flatten out that much, even after 5 days of low carb. But other people feel like they really flatten out, which makes them think they're losing muscle. Like Spatt's said, that's gotta be water loss. IMO, you'd have to be starving yourself to lose significant amounts of muscle, especially if you're training heavy.
diet
well i never took measurements so im going on looks only. i look way smaller. i dont think im losing much strength- maybe a little. i have always been very thin skinned and vascular-i still am but just dont look as big.
as far as faigin goes, hell i dont know. i guess i thought his plan would be kind of a "magic bullet." as i said, i followed it to the "T". he claims to have read and researched over 10,000 articles to write this book. it is VERY informative but not user friendly at all. too scientific for me but it makes complete and total sense.
do you think his plan would work without an awful lot of cardio? i really have cut waaay down on that. maybe 1x week now. gonna start back to 3x week though. i was just afraid of losing what muscle i have left.
i havent done any fat testing because calipers would be the only thing i have access to-if i bought them- and i hear the results can be different every time so obviously not an accurate indicator.
im thinking of adding more carbs per day-maybe around 50 instead of 30. actually he suggsts no more than 30 buti bet i dont eat 15/ day. could that be the problem??? not enough carbs so that is prevent further fat loss. my fat intake is flax, nuts and all the other good fats. i m also taking r-ala but think im wating it because i rarely eat any carbs. i still feel good but this is toying with me mentally. its been about 4 weeks now and im ready to try something new.
woe is me
well i never took measurements so im going on looks only. i look way smaller. i dont think im losing much strength- maybe a little. i have always been very thin skinned and vascular-i still am but just dont look as big.
as far as faigin goes, hell i dont know. i guess i thought his plan would be kind of a "magic bullet." as i said, i followed it to the "T". he claims to have read and researched over 10,000 articles to write this book. it is VERY informative but not user friendly at all. too scientific for me but it makes complete and total sense.
do you think his plan would work without an awful lot of cardio? i really have cut waaay down on that. maybe 1x week now. gonna start back to 3x week though. i was just afraid of losing what muscle i have left.
i havent done any fat testing because calipers would be the only thing i have access to-if i bought them- and i hear the results can be different every time so obviously not an accurate indicator.
im thinking of adding more carbs per day-maybe around 50 instead of 30. actually he suggsts no more than 30 buti bet i dont eat 15/ day. could that be the problem??? not enough carbs so that is prevent further fat loss. my fat intake is flax, nuts and all the other good fats. i m also taking r-ala but think im wating it because i rarely eat any carbs. i still feel good but this is toying with me mentally. its been about 4 weeks now and im ready to try something new.
woe is me
JJFigure
New member
I know you're doing the bodybuilder plan - was your goal to put on muscle? That's primarily what the BB plan was meant for; muscle gain w/out gaining significant amounts of fat. But by muscle gain, I'm talking about increasing kcals (specifically fat kcals) - I was eating at least 2300 kcals and up to 2700 kcals/day when I was doing the BB portion of NHE.
If you're just trying to get leaner, you could probably do the general plan, which allows for up to 60 grams/carb a day and is more moderate in fat intake. I guess the bottom line is what exactly is your goal? Muscle gain or leanness? You can't really have both.
I mainly switched to the anabolic diet for this cutting cycle because it similates the final week of contest prep every week (if that makes sense). By carb loading two days in a row, I can get a better feel for how much water I retain each time and when I look my hardest. I can also play with my carb loads each week to see which types of carbs I have the best results with.
If you're just trying to get leaner, you could probably do the general plan, which allows for up to 60 grams/carb a day and is more moderate in fat intake. I guess the bottom line is what exactly is your goal? Muscle gain or leanness? You can't really have both.
I mainly switched to the anabolic diet for this cutting cycle because it similates the final week of contest prep every week (if that makes sense). By carb loading two days in a row, I can get a better feel for how much water I retain each time and when I look my hardest. I can also play with my carb loads each week to see which types of carbs I have the best results with.
LOL, leaner??? yeah i guess so. um, my goal..yes to get more muscle. according to faigin you CAN do both- leaner and more mass if you do what he says. i did but ain't seein' it.
jj, how long did it take you before you started seeing weight or muscle gain and how did you tell the difference?
jj, how long did it take you before you started seeing weight or muscle gain and how did you tell the difference?
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