Anyone read or do the "Burn the fat, Feed the Muscle" plan?

I_am_the_Cosmos

A colleague of mine who's into working out recommended it to me, and it's a pretty interesting read. While he looks great and follows it, I was wondering if anyone on here has used it.

If you have, was it successful? And was it hard preparing 5 to 6 meals a day?

Catsinsocks

I read the book and I LOVED IT. I think there's some really good solid info in there to get people started. I didn't follow the meal timing or the fitness program, but I did follow the suggested calorie and macro suggestions, and that really helped me. I started eating much, much more lean protein and realized I feel much more satisfied at the same calorie level that way. It helped me lose 30lbs last year

Geocitiesuser

It has long been heralded as a shining example of good diet books. I don't follow it per se but there is an amazing amount of solid and sane info in there. Particularly his writing on cardio imo. I hate cardio.... But he's right. I need it.

I_am_the_Cosmos

Thanks guys. I'm going to try it out and I agree 100 percent on the cardio. I hate it as well, but it's pretty essential. I'm also someone who hates eating at work, so this is going to take some effort.

lemurcat12

I read it back when I first started in 2014, and I don't like everything -- I think it went into body types in a way I think is not accurate and I'd forgotten about the meal plan stuff, since I ignore that -- but I found it really inspiring and on the whole I liked the approach. I was a cardio bunny whenever I was active before, so the weights stuff was especially good for me, and the concept of how body builders approach weight control/gaining/losing really helped me understand it was possible, in my control, in a way I found helpful.

lemurcat12

Oh, I should add that I love fitness podcasts and there are some good ones (old episodes of Fitcast, for example) with Tom Venuto that I enjoyed. Worth searching for if you are a podcast person.

trigden1991

Personally I think there is a lot of crap in there but also a few tit bits of good information.

vismal

trigden1991 wrote: »

Personally I think there is a lot of crap in there but also a few tit bits of good information.

This!

TR0berts

trigden1991 wrote: »

Personally I think there is a lot of crap in there but also a few tit bits of good information.

Cosigned

AnvilHead

trigden1991 wrote: »

Personally I think there is a lot of crap in there but also a few tit bits of good information.

Cosigned as well. I bought BFFM and have read it several times. Personally, I think his stuff falls somewhere between "totally evidence-based" and "totally crap".

Venuto admits that he mixes science with anecdotal evidence/broscience - bodybuilders have had success while doing a lot of things that research has shown are not necessary/essential. His rationale is that whether science shows it or not, many people have done it and it works. His quote is something along the lines of "Success leaves clues".

There are admittedly some things in broscience which, while not necessary, aren't going to hurt anything either. Six meals a day? Sure, as long as you're meeting your calorie goals, it will work - but it's not essential, maybe not even optimal. Protein within an hour after training? Certainly isn't going to hurt anything, but there's been research showing that the "anabolic window" isn't everything it's cracked up to be. And so on.

In other words, sometimes you can succeed in spite of what you do rather than because of what you do. You didn't succeed because you lifted at a specific time of the day using one specific training routine, religiously ate six meals per day and slammed exactly 42g of protein exactly 17 minutes after you finished your workout - you succeeded because you trained intelligently and consistently, and ate at a calorie level appropriate for your goals with adequate nutrition and macronutrient intake. Which could have been accomplished just as well any other number of ways.

cgrout78

I did the plan for a while, not eating 6 meals a day, but I followed the exercise plan in the book. I liked it, but it just got to be too long for me to spend in the gym. I prefer to be in and out within an hour and some of the workouts were around 90 minutes (if you do warm up sets and recommended rest periods) which was ok on the weekends, but not during the week.

Agreed with the some good information and some to take with a grain of salt.

I_am_the_Cosmos

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try more along the lines of 5 meals, and either way keep the caloric intake reasonable.

My co-worker who follow it religiously is in great shape, so I'll give it a try. I was always more of a one meal/two meal a day guy, and generally I don't like eating at work. But...that hasn't really helped me get in good enough shape, so I'm willing to give this a shot.

trigden1991

I_am_the_Cosmos wrote: »

My co-worker who follow it religiously is in great shape, so I'll give it a try. I was always more of a one meal/two meal a day guy, and generally I don't like eating at work. But...that hasn't really helped me get in good enough shape, so I'm willing to give this a shot.

Unfortunately there are many people with great genetics (and/or drugs) that have some extremely warped views on nutrition and health. Just because they have a good physique doesn't mean you should do what they do.

AnvilHead

I_am_the_Cosmos wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try more along the lines of 5 meals, and either way keep the caloric intake reasonable.

My co-worker who follow it religiously is in great shape, so I'll give it a try. I was always more of a one meal/two meal a day guy, and generally I don't like eating at work. But...that hasn't really helped me get in good enough shape, so I'm willing to give this a shot.

Meal frequency is irrelevant to weight/fat loss. It can have an effect upon satiety/adherence and workout performance, but as far as weight/fat loss it all comes down to calories. I'd suspect that his results have a lot more to do with his workouts than they do with eating 5-6 meals a day. You may want to quiz him about his workout routine instead of his eating habits.

cqbkaju

I personally recommend "Thinner Leaner Stronger" (women) or "Bigger Leaner Stronger" (men) over "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle", but it is better than many books out there that I have seen.

Correlation does not imply causation. Tom Venuto seems to "forget" that in BTFFTM occasionally.

Nothing is perfect. Mike Matthews pushes his supplement line a bit too hard, in my opinion.
But he also puts a lot of info from his books on the web for free.

YMMV

AnvilHead

Personally, owning and having read both of them, I'd spend the money on Eric Helms' Muscle and Strength Pyramids rather than BFFM. It has two volumes, one devoted to nutrition and one devoted to training, and both of them are evidence-based and up to date with the most recent research.

cqbkaju

AnvilHead wrote: »

Personally, owning and having read both of them, I'd spend the money on Eric Helms' Muscle and Strength Pyramids rather than BFFM. It has two volumes, one devoted to nutrition and one devoted to training, and both of them are evidence-based and up to date with the most recent research.

Thanks for the tip. I haven't read those. I'll keep an eye out for them to go on sale.