Body Recomp with Super High Protein Diet

ahilton1992

Hello all!

I'm seeing a ton of success the past 6 weeks with a super high protein/low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone else has seen a lot of success with this method?

I feel like I don't see a lot of diet/nutrition posts regarding training and eating specifically for Body Recomp.

I'm consuming between 1700-1900 cals per day. 275-300g protein/60-80g carbs/40-60g fat.

I'm 5'11 and have dropped from 205 LBS to 190 LBS in a about 7 weeks, all while getting stronger.

cathipa

Isn't recomp about maintaining and not losing weight while building muscle mass? Also that much protein is really unnecessary and expensive.

kimny72

ahilton1992 wrote: »

Hello all!

I'm seeing a ton of success the past 6 weeks with a super high protein/low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone else has seen a lot of success with this method?

I feel like I don't see a lot of diet/nutrition posts regarding training and eating specifically for Body Recomp.

I'm consuming between 1700-1900 cals per day. 275-300g protein/60-80g carbs/40-60g fat.

I'm 5'11 and have dropped from 205 LBS to 190 LBS in a about 7 weeks, all while getting stronger.

You'll find more posts about recomp in the Maintaining Weight board.

That's very low cal for a guy just looking to recomp, are you using a food scale? I'm a small female, and I'm eating 1800 cals to maintain my weight. If you're losing 2 lbs per week while not very overweight, I'd think you are probably sacrificing muscle, not building it.

You don't need to eat a specific way to recomp, just get adequate protein and calories and commit to a progressive strength program.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

jasondjulian

cathipa wrote: »

Isn't recomp about maintaining and not losing weight while building muscle mass? Also that much protein is really unnecessary and expensive.

Pretty much, sort of. Recomp is about replacing body fat with muscle mass. It's typically doable for those new to training or with little muscle mass to start with. OP looks to have quite a bit of muscle mass, so the fact that he is able to recomposition at all is quite impressive.

But yes, that much protein is likely excessive- OP can see same gains with less protein. 1.5g/lb of body weight is a lot. That's going to put stress on the kidneys and just end up getting peed out anyhow.

ahilton1992

@cathipa you make a valid point about body recomp not really being about loosing weight. A lot of that weight was just some blubber from a prolonged vacation in Mexico. 192-198 is my more typical weight. Maybe I should have used body recomp/cutting in the title.

What the biggest surprise for me has been the fact that I've been able to gain strength (all my lifts are up) while on a diet of only 1700-1900 cals per day. With calories that low, and carbs under 80g per day.. I do think around 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight is necessary.. I could probably get away with 1.25g of protein per pound of body weight, but I think it of it as insurance against muscle loss while I get my summer body ready.

@kimmy72 I do use a digital food scale. As far as sacrificing muscle I go by the mirror and the amount of weight I can put up in the gym. Strength is up a fair amount on all lifts. I think with the appropriate nutrient timing all this is possible.

ahilton1992

Great points! In my adult life I've always fluctuated between 190ish-205 LBS, so getting down to 190 for me is just stripping away all the Taco Bell and Vodka, it's far from a serious cut for me. Which is why I think of it as a recomp - but technically I suppose I would be wrong.

TavistockToad

ahilton1992 wrote: »

Hello all!

I'm seeing a ton of success the past 6 weeks with a super high protein/low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone else has seen a lot of success with this method?

I feel like I don't see a lot of diet/nutrition posts regarding training and eating specifically for Body Recomp.

I'm consuming between 1700-1900 cals per day. 275-300g protein/60-80g carbs/40-60g fat.

I'm 5'11 and have dropped from 205 LBS to 190 LBS in a about 7 weeks, all while getting stronger.

That's not recomp.

ahilton1992

Yes, I already acknowledged that technically it is not. Still making gains though!

jjpptt2

Yes, most people can/will continue to make progress with their lifts while losing weight. That's not all that uncommon, assuming they are on a decent lifting program/routine.

ahilton1992

@jjpptt2 it seems like so few people realize that

psuLemon

ahilton1992 wrote: »

Yes, I already acknowledged that technically it is not. Still making gains though!

Depending on how new you are to lifting, it's still possible you are still seeing improvements to your CNS.

But yea, you are following a typical "bro" diet or bodybuilding cutting diet. It's not too uncommon and if it's working, keep with it.

ahilton1992

@psuLemon I've been lifting for about 3ish years.. without paying much attention to what I eat though up until about 6 months ago.

I think you make a good point about "if it's working, keep with it". I think a lot of folks forget how different each person's body can be in/what it responds to.

psuLemon

ahilton1992 wrote: »

@psuLemon I've been lifting for about 3ish years.. without paying much attention to what I eat though up until about 6 months ago.

I think you make a good point about "if it's working, keep with it". I think a lot of folks forget how different each person's body can be in/what it responds to.

The bigger question is, what does you lifting program consist of?

ahilton1992

@psuLemon Legs, Back, Chest, and Shoulders all 1x per week. Arms 2x per week (1 day on their own, then Tri's with Chest, and Back with Bi's). Cardio 4x per week for 20-40 minutes.

An example -
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest/Tri's
Wednesday: Back/Bi's
Thursday: OFF
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Shoulders + whatever body part I feel is lagging
Sunday: OFF

And then I just shoot to get 4 cardio sessions per week.
Always make sure to get my deadlifts, squats, and bench press in. Like to lift in the 6-8 rep range. Shoulders I'll typically go a little higher in reps on. Some chest days I'll go really heavy.

My biggest struggle since I began weight lifting has been consistency, so I try to switch up rep range, rest time, sets, exercises, etcc... fairly often to keep from getting bored.

psuLemon

ahilton1992 wrote: »

@psuLemon Legs, Back, Chest, and Shoulders all 1x per week. Arms 2x per week (1 day on their own, then Tri's with Chest, and Back with Bi's). Cardio 4x per week for 20-40 minutes.

An example -
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest/Tri's
Wednesday: Back/Bi's
Thursday: OFF
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Shoulders + whatever body part I feel is lagging
Sunday: OFF

And then I just shoot to get 4 cardio sessions per week.
Always make sure to get my deadlifts, squats, and bench press in. Like to lift in the 6-8 rep range. Shoulders I'll typically go a little higher in reps on. Some chest days I'll go really heavy.

My biggest struggle since I began weight lifting has been consistency, so I try to switch up rep range, rest time, sets, exercises, etcc... fairly often to keep from getting bored.

This is what I would change the most. Unless you are using steroids, bro-splits are largely suboptimal for muscle hypertrophy or strength. You also leave a lot of strength on the table as you are only hitting muscle groups once a week. Ideally, you should hit muscle groups 2 or 3x a week, at least.

So if you want to make better gains, get on a structure routine where you are hitting muscle more than once per week, like one of the programs found here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Bro-splits are ok just to sustain the current muscle you have though. I actually use them for my deload week just for a mental refresher.

ahilton1992

That's great advice! I'll work on that.

The biggest issue for me, although I've never had any injuries, is just recovery time - Which is slow for my age. I'm fully aware. The only supplement I take is Whey protein. I probably need to add a supplement or two to help with recovery, as well as a a solid multi-vitamin - so I can increase each body part to 2x per week

sgt1372

I have successfully maintained and recomped for 18 months on only 1800 down to 1650 net cals/day eating an average of 0.8-1.2g protein/#BW/day.

BW dropped from 160 @ 16.7% BF down to 156 % 8.3 % (as measured by hydro) . That's a change in LBM/BF from 133.3/26.7 to 143.1/12.9, which includes an increase of 9.8# in LBM and a drop in BF of 13.8# and a net "recomp" of LBM/BF of about 10# over that time period.

I initially lifted heavy 3x's w/minimal cardio but am not only lifting lighter 2x's/wk and doing much more cardio. The reason for the change was a change in goals from increased strength/weight loss to strength/weight maintenance.

I use the additional cardio to be able to eat more. While my net cals are currently about 1650/day, I burn about 550 and actuslly eat about 2200 cal/day but am still able to maintwin my weight at 157 +/-3 doing it this way w/o feeling hungry or becoming nutritionally defcient if I only ate 1650 cals/day w/o additional exercise.

This method also allows me to consume more protein (which I have considered important to my weight loss, maintenance and recomp efforts) than I would be able to do otherwise. Even so, I sometimes have a hard time just eating 1g protein/#BW/day.

I am hesitant to say that any amount of protein is too much because I think that most recommendations are too low to begin with.

While 275-300g/protein/day (or about 1.4-1.6g/#BW/day is probably unnecessary to achieve recomp, I don't think this this amount is unreasonably high or necessarily "dangerous" to one's health.

I have occasionally eaten more than 1.5g protein/#BW in a day (but on average generally have not eaten more than 1.2g protein/#BW/day in any month, which some people think is too high) w/o any health problems, even at my advanced age at 67.