Gain Muscle and Lose Fat – Super Method #1

Really excellent post, Joel. I definitely agree with putting more calories right around the workout period – seems to really improve nutrient partitioning towards the muscle cells. Seeing lots of people get fantastic results with this method…..

Looking forward to reading more!
Shannon

Man! There’s no way I could even eat HALF that, and lose fat while building muscle. It would all turn to fat on my hips. Maybe someone else wants to try this meal plan strategy?

Do tell more….

Wow Joel I don’t know about that – way too much food right there? And the DBC burger patty – might be too much unhealthy fat, food stabilisers and fillers involved. I don’t see anything wrong with burgers, but as the poster above said its better to prepare your own and know what’s going in. And eating until 10pm is probably not the best idea even with HIIT training, that’s just going to set one back even with some heavy training I reckon but that’s just IMHO.

Hey Joel, how will this diet look like on rest days? Do you take in the same amount of carbs and distribute them evenly throughout the day or limit the carbs on non-training days? Thanks.

So, how does this all fit in with the diet plan?
How does this affect leptin levels, and should this be done with every work-out, or only with the ones done on higher GI/GL days?
What’s the science behind the two meals 45 minutes apart?
Thanks for the info.

3 packages of vegetables a day? I hope you have an industrial strength toilet…

A couple thoughts come to mind wrt your example meal plan: 1) in the evening there it seems like you need to eat very frequently, there being what looks like two dinners, which seems like it could be impractical for some. 2) the two dinners both include pasta but it’s my understanding that carbs that close to bedtime can inhibit hGh production during sleep thus inhibiting muscle growth. Is that not true?

Thanks for the post, very interesting stuff. I like the idea of concentrating daily carb intake around the workout. Looking forward to reading more!

Now were talking! So on non-workout days, just up the protein and veggies, then lower the carbs? I like the strategy because it really boosts your body so you can workout hard then also recover. It is pretty much how I eat on workout days, just less calories.

Like most people Reading this some issues over choice foods. Then there’s the timescale and interval between meals. My main concern is supplementation way over the top and unneccessary. No thermic value whole foods would be a better option, for me anyway.

Very interesting post, Joel. Some cool ideas at work here. Can’t wait to learn more.

Wowsers, that’s a lot of food! I find for myself, even with extremely heavy lifting hard working workouts, that I’m not very hungry straight afterwards. I know it’s good to feed your muscles after a workout, but usually I don’t feel like eating until a couple of hours later. And then I’m super hungry. If I’m not eating immediately after a workout, does this mean I miss my crazy carb window of muscle growth opportunity?

I’d like to see an example for an early morning workout. I assume it would involve a quick liquid protein/carb beverage before and after with some crazy carb loading afterwards. Maybe a bunch of whole wheat toast and a lot of fruit with egg white and vegetable omelet?

I what you’ve suggested in the above post, but I work out in the morning, so how does that change things? Do I just move the pre- and post-workout feeds to the morning, and adjust everything else for the rest of the day?

love the concept – but how would one go about starting to design something similar for themselves ??? I mean if that suits you how do you work out what calories you should be using and then work it into a plan like this

Joel…yer the man
it was a shame we didn’t get to talk more at fasttrack

Hi :), this meal plan is just insane, nobody with a life has time to eat as many times a day. And I’d rather eat a burger once every six months, WITH a bun. That’s just ridiculous.

Interesting concept, timing wise for the intakes. Just read some contradictory article over at ‘conditioningresearch.blogspot” that basically says it doesn’t matter when you consume, as long as you do consume. All interesting stuff.

J,

Interesting template. Look forward to the next layout.

DJ

would this concept apply at all to someone who is attempting to gain lean muscle mass, but not bulk up?

Wow, this is great! please post more!

This is great, but me too, I can’t eat half this…

Zoikes! I don’t think I could cope with that… even by reducing the quantities!! Two mega meals within 45 mins of each other…? That would be hard.

Questions:
1. Aren’t nuts supposed to be eaten raw? I thought roasting them changed their oils into “bad” ones?
2. And for the non-US residents – how big is “package” of frozen veggies?

Thanks! Look forward to the next idea!

I assume this is for high GI days if we’re working the cheat your way thin program? Rather too many calories for a small built woman, but the principle is rather interesting.

How would you structure the meal plan if you train first thing in the morning.

This is great would like to know more

sounds like id need shares in a Protein manufacturer in order to afford that daily ritual.

ABCM!

Nice, let’s keep this going

This plan is really ridiculous!!!
With such a program one has to only monitor what he eats.

I’m curious, I was under the impression that the Carbs gave our body energy, and Protein helped build and repair the muscles. I would of thought that the carbs would be more vital before the workout then after (so you dont fade while training).

Not that I have any problem with eating carbs after the workout – and I would think this is a good time eat them if you are wanting the energy/calories to be burned off quicker, compared to eating them when you are not exercising. But I would of thought a diet for someone wanting to build muscle would be focusing on a large portion of protein after exercise.

The part of Joel’s post I would love some great clarification with is, he says that you should start your Carb process 3 hrs BEFORE your exercise (which makes sense to me), and that you should be eating 95% of your Carbs in this phase, but then goes on to list the ‘eating guide’ which pre-exercise really only has one protein/carb shake as the first Carb intake and then the bulk of the carbs are ingested AFTER the exercise. Am I reading this wrong?

Carlie,
Joel wrote that the carbs should be eaten 3 hours within the beginning of your workout, which means 3 hours after you start.

Thanks for the info!

Gr8 stuff Joel, as the you would be making the most of the window period after the workout and before

Joel,

Didn’t think it could be done but I’d like to try it out and see the results. It seems like a nice strategy but this can only be proven when actually trying it out and getting results.

Thanks for the post and the good ideas!

Walter

This diet is unbalanced and unnecessary, it contains far too much protein (although the quantities are not documented) it is also not very praticle for most to follow, the amount of carbs in the evening are way too high even after working out!

The whole days eating appears to be a mish mash of the high fat diets (CKD) like the anabolic or atkins diets but then it goes all carb based at exactly the wrong time (evening), the amount of carbs taken so late will prevent the body from releasing maximum amounts of Growth Hormone during sleep , this is not ideal .

This study has even gone as far as proving that high carbs post workout ar not needed for muscle growth.

Carbs
(1) Study shows inclusion of carbohydrate in post-workout shake does not increase protein synthesis.

The following study took place in the Netherlands, the subjects being healthy young men. What was great about this study was that it was truly scientific in that it split the men into 3 groups, each ingesting different combinations of protein & carbohydrates. Therefore the only variable was the level of carbohydrate.
Each group performed resistance training for 60 minutes and was given either protein or a combination of protein and carbohydrate each hour for 6 hours after training. The amount of protein for all the groups was 0.3g per kg of bodyweight. The protein and carbs varied as follows:

Group 1 – Just Protein, no carbs
Group 2 – Protein with 0.15 g per kg of body weight of carbohydrate
Group 3 – Protein with 0.6 g per kg of body weight of carbohydrate
Protein synthesis rates were then measured for 6 hours after training. The results?

The intake of protein after training increases protein synthesis
The addition of carbohydrate (whether in small or large amounts) to this protein did not further increase protein synthesis at all.

study: Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Sep;293:E833-E842

There is no need to eat this way it is not a life style and will not be an option for most to follow due to excessiveness .

If you keep things simple like 5 or 6 well balanced meals per day around 40%carbs (mostly low GI) 30% protein ( lean meats dairy etc ) and 30% fats (all, appart from trans) this will provide a simple well balanced approach that anyone can stick to permanently it is also low GI and will not provoke insulin spikes at any time keeping energy levels balanced and body fat in check

The same ratios can then be adjusted up and down in calories at pre planned times (zig zagging or calorie cycling ) to give both fat loss and muscle growth ,
It’s easy to implement, allows for almost all foods with no excessive elimination of any group at any time.

This is the method I have used for around 4.5 years now with no body fat problems or muscle growth problems (now 6ft 1inch 221lbs v lean).

Any nutrition programme has to be praticle to live with other wise it is just as you say a DIET, meaning temporary and not a permanent choice so not giving permanent results.

Man, that is alot of food, but i know that it takes alot at the right time for muscle gain. I will tryo to work something like this in, because right now I either eat too many calories or not enough. And I trend it out too much too. I am excited about this. Anabolic Burst Cycling is something I have heard of. I hope you have a fresh take on it.

Is there any method where you dont need such a strict diet ???

Hi Joel

Appreciate the diet. I must day thats a lot of food there. Another thought, considering the fact thats you might have subscribers like me, who are not from the US, like me, it would get rather difficult to get those foods. Would you recommend some alternatives to some of the foods stated there. Also, currently I am following your diet and I am in the 4th week, so am I suppose to just switch from the earlier diet to what you’re saying now? Also, am assuming, this diet is for the workout days and not the non-workout days.

Anyway, thanks so much for the insight.

Interesting, indeed. But the sample menu is loaded with supplements and rather ‘lean’ on whole foods. There’s got to be a way to replace all those shakes and protein bars with nutritious whole foods. Joel, you mentioned earlier that meal replacements are for convenience only, so please could you give us some ideas how to replace them with whole food alternatives, for those of us who don’t mind spending the extra time in the kitchen? I would imagine that cottage cheese and/or yougurt with fresh fruit would give the correct carbs to protein balance required after workout, therefore eliminating the need for a shake?

Also, I am surprised to see that there is practically no lunch in the plan, only some snacking and the heavy meals late in the day. I realize that it is due to the fact that the workout is late in the afternoon and the concept necessitated the food intake around that. But I thought that regardless what time of the day one exercises, it is generally better to eat more in the morning and taper it off towards the evening. Goes back to your earlier post on mirroring one’s metabolism. How would one implement this strategy if working out upon waking up in the morning? Thanks, Joel!

wow! amazing!

That’s all well and good but what if you workout at 7 or 8 in the morning? This seems like a lot of thinking about food and doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of the whole CYWT lifestyle?

He did say don’t follow “that” particular plan. That’s what Joel does and I’m sure he can consume all those calories, actually he probably has to. Think Michael Phelps and his 1400+ calories when he’s swimming non stop. He said adapt it to your needs. Jeesh.@Misschiff -

sounds interesting! please tell me more

Just make your usual dinner, eat half, put the other half away for later. Not a big deal there.@Liese -

man this is intresting…but wouldn’t eating two (whole food meals) with in 45 minutes cause some kind of problem to the digestion process? as u would stuff food over undigested in your stomach!

i meant food over undigested food

haha, If i eat all that I prob wouldn’t loose any fat for like 2 weeks haha!

great content though!? Looking forward to the next post :)

Like everyone else has said, “That’s a lot of food!”

Please continue with some good information on this topic. This is really interesting stuff for my husband. He is probably a what you can call “skinny fat hard-gainer”: skinny all over with lean muscles that are not bulky enough and no visible six-pack abs with a slightly too pointing stomach. He exercises regularly and has been following some tips from fitness/abs pros. There are results: the stomach has gotten flatter, but meanwhile he has also got even skinnier all over (perhaps lost both bodyfat and muscle), which was not desired. He surely could use some good strategies to gain muscle and lose belly fat (at least not to put the belly fat he just lost back on) at the same time.

How do we incorporate this in the cheat to lose diet plan?

Thanks Joel. Being scientifically minded I always thought this method could be a good way to build and loose fat. Never actually tried it though. But will be using it with your diet as always do a protein shake and eat dinner about 45mins – 1 hour after working out. It just makes sense.