Step-by-step guide on weight loss and muscle gain

juzaam

Hello guys,
I wanted to share with you some golden points that I learned throughout years of weight loss and body building. After lots of reading and lots of mistakes also, I give you what is working for me and hope it makes a good foundation for your quest.

I will not go into the details of every choice I have made, so I can keep this an easy read. Feel free to ask your "whys", however

Objective: lose body fat, gain lean mass, train three days / week, make cardio an optional.

Essential stuff:
1) MyfitnessPal
2) Jason Blaha's Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 Novice Program
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout
3) Jefit app (http://www.jefit.com)
4) Whey powder (my choice is ON Gold Standard Milk Chocolate)
5) Scooby's calorie calculator http://scoobysworkshop.com/weight-loss-meal-planner/
6) A body fat measurement tool (I use an extremely cheap body scale with bf estimation from ebay. Calipers are the most accurate, but you don't need your true body fat, you just need to track down the progress).

Stuff I've used and it helps a lot
1) Casein powder (my choice is ON Casein Creamy Vanilla)
2) Intra-workout BCAA (my choice is MusclePharm AMINO-1)
3) Multivitamin for men with Zync (my choice is ADAM men from Now Foods)
4) Vibram five-fingers EL-X
5) Quest Nutrition protein bars (Choco Chip Dough is the best)
6) Going to the gym first thing in the morning


Stuff I've used but can't say for sure if it works
1) Krealkalyn (creatine)

Step 1 : Find out your body fat. If you want to look good naked you are aiming for 10-15% body fat. If you are above 15%, then you are aiming for a caloric restriction.

Step 2: Learn how to lift weights perfectly, particularly how to squat. Study Jason's novice program and get excellent form on every exercise. Do not modify it and be constant, do not skip gym. Increase weight by a very small amount every time you can.

Step 3: Go to the gym on Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thur-Sat. I prefer the second one because I go early in the morning and this way I can do it just on the Tue-Thur, whereas on Sat (day off at work) I can wake up a bit later. Do not go four times/week even if you feel like it. If you are training properly you really need every day of rest as it's planned.

Step 4: Plan your diet for the next six months, not next week. You want to start with your maintenance level for one week. Then you want to decrease 300 calories every 10 days, until you are around 1200-1400 calories. Then you calculate your NEW maintenance level (which will be lower since you will have lost weight) and you slowly increase to slightly below that. You take a week or two of break, then if you want to lose more you start again.

Step 5: Learn how much protein you need daily and keep it the same amount throughout the entire diet. For males it's 1g/pound/daily. Yes, even when you are at 1600 calories, you should try to eat the same proteins that you did when you were at 2500. This is the key to lose fat, not muscles.
Later in the diet you will find yourself relying more on protein powders and Quest bars to achieve this.
Customize MYFP to reflect your daily protein target.

Step 6: Cardio is optional. If you do it, do it for pleasure, when you have time and don't stress about it. You'll get lean anyways. But do not eat back any calories from your cardio estimations, because they are very inaccurate.

I hope this helps

SezxyStef

I really hope this is a joke....

Let's start with essential stuff...

-Whey powder...no is not essential
-calibers are not most accurate...dexa scan or bod pod is.
-Supplements etc are not needed if you are feeding yourself properly...which we get to when you mention eating 1200-1400 calories esp for a man...

10-15% BF...eh that's an arbitrary number for a man not a woman.

The program you use is arbitrary as well...

when to go to the gym is defined by the program you choose.

Planning your diet for the next 6months is virtually impossible unless you live in a bubble. Decreasing to 1200-1400 is not a good idea unless you are a woman...and 1200 if you are a tiny woman. Definately not for a man where the min suggested is 1800. And if you are on MFP it will set you a calorie goal when you join with the data you entered...and it will be approrpriate if you enter reasonable goals.

The amount of protien eh it's a choice I prefer 0.8g per LBM when losing weight while preserving my LBM.

and yes cardio is optional...but if you are doing Neat eat back your calories...if you are using the TDEE Method don't.

So basically out of your long post...

MFP is a good thing, eating enough protien, choose a program ...most of it is eh not necessary ie protien bars etc and some is absolute rubbish and you need to re-evaluate your thought process.

ETA: I see nothing for muscle gain either...so weight loss maybe as we know muscle gain comes from eating at a surplus of TDEE and lifting heavy and consistently.

juzaam

Hello there,
thanks for your contribution. However, politeness is more appreciated than judgment

I'll just answer a few points , to make it more clear :

- Of course this program is arbitrary, as the ideal body or the amount of body fat you want to live with. Let's not state the obvious
- Whey powder is a great help to hit your protein intake without introducing undesired calories
- There is no harm in eating 1200-1400 calories / day for one week, even if you are a huge male. Professional natural bodybuilders do that all the time.
- If you don't scale your diet over the weeks, you will stall because your liver knows better. You can't go from 2800 to 1800 at once and expect unlimited weight loss for months. This will not work, it's no secret.
- Dexa scans you can't have at home, they are mostly in hospitals. Its not the most comfortable way to track your progress, I wouldn't recommend them.
- I am not talking about any protein bars. Go find out why Quest nutrition bars are different please. They are not rubbish and can help your diet.

SezxyStef

- Of course this program is arbitrary, as the ideal body or the amount of body fat you want to live with. Let's not state the obvious
you have to otherwise people assume what you say is what you mean

- Whey powder is a great help to hit your protein intake without introducing undesired calories
it's not necessary tho I hit my protien mostly everyday without it and stay within calorie goal of 1600

- There is no harm in eating 1200-1400 calories / day for one week, even if you are a huge male. Professional natural bodybuilders do that all the time.
you aren't fueling your workouts eating that low esp as a man, I personally couldn't live on 1200 calories for a week...I would literally faint, and I am a woman

- If you don't scale your diet over the weeks, you will stall because your liver knows better. You can't go from 2800 to 1800 at once and expect unlimited weight loss for months. This will not work, it's no secret.
I have...and continue to lose every week, liver knows better????
- Dexa scans you can't have at home, they are mostly in hospitals. Its not the most comfortable way to track your progress, I wouldn't recommend them.
but they are the most accurate per your OP, calipers when used wrong are bad..when used correctly...not correcty typically

- I am not talking about any protein bars. Go find out why Quest nutrition bars are different please. They are not rubbish and can help your diet.
aren't needed if you are eating a well balanced diet and enough calories. I am not saying they are horrible just unncessary

SunofaBeach14

in for the lulz

psych101

in for the lulz

what he said

sloth3toes

Cranquistador

mmk

a_stronger_me13

Sarauk2sf

Some good suggestions mixed in with some pretty bad ones - Step 4 makes no sense to me at all - it is cack-handed logic (and male professional body builders do not do it all the time - and only go even close to that low when at the end of their prep).

cmriverside

usmcmp

I wrote a better one about fat loss.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Sarauk2sf

I wrote a better one about fat loss.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Yes you did!

usmcmp

Step 4: Plan your diet for the next six months, not next week. You want to start with your maintenance level for one week. Then you want to decrease 300 calories every 10 days, until you are around 1200-1400 calories. Then you calculate your NEW maintenance level (which will be lower since you will have lost weight) and you slowly increase to slightly below that. You take a week or two of break, then if you want to lose more you start again.

As a competitive bodybuilder (and a female) I don't even go that low. My absolute lowest leading up to competition is 1400, but only if I'm not doing any cardio.

ETA: I start with TDEE-20% (around 1900) and don't reduce my intake until I've stalled (and tried adding bi-weekly refeeds).

usmcmp

I wrote a better one about fat loss.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

Yes you did!

:flowerforyou:

kaotik26

:laugh: :laugh: Loving the replies to this. Thanks guys!

nutmegoreo

In

eric_sg61

Stopped reading at Jason Blaha

Hauntinglyfit

But why do you want me to be hungry all the time? Don't you know how *****y i get when i am hungry?
Have you no consideration for the people around me?