Bodybuilding Forums

Hi all,

First post here but I have been browsing for a while now. Great site, with lots of great info.

Anyway, my typical daily diet is 2 boiled eggs for breakfast with a glass of semi-skimmed milk. Mid morning I will have maybe an apple or some blueberries/strawberries and natural yoghurt. Lunch is either chicken/tuna/salmon/egg salad with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and cottage cheese, followed by strawberries/blueberries and natural yoghurt. Afternoon snack either some nuts or an apple. Tea is meat, with very little potatoe (if any) then same desert (fruit and yoghurt). Then I workout later on, followed by a couple of eggs, ham, lettuce, cott cheese, tomatoes, cucumber followed by fruit and yoghurt. I drink several litres of water daily, plus I have maybe 6 cups of tea, each with .5 of a sugar in.

I went down from about 11st 5lbs to about 10st 13 lbs, but I am not seeing too much diff in stomach fat. I am 5'9", and slim build. Waist is about 34inches and it should be about 32 I reckon. Rough bodt fat % is 18%.

Am I eating too much fruit?? Would the tspa maybe get my fat reduced. A little fed up now. I am slim, with a little bit of podge round the waist, which I can't stand. I am concerned that the TSPA won't be suited to my lifestyle. I dont like being hungry and I wont goto a gym. I have a bench and weights at home, but I dont have the time to got a gym.

Any ideas please? I follow the THT4 as best as I can with my home gym. My strength is increasing but this fat around my stomach is not shifting and I want to try TSPA, but would like some info/guidance please

Cheers guys

Nick

Stomach fat on a man is like the last place you will lose it since its the first place it goes on when you put fat on, that's why its so hard to get rid of it you have to get your body fat to about 10% to see abs. First thing you need to do is figure out that your maintenance calories are and then eat at least 600 below. You also need to track your macrosnutrient's, Carbs, Protein and Fat to ensure your getting the proper ratio's. You eat alot of friut which probably is not helping you lose fat. It all depends on how much etc. I personally eat very little if any fruit when trying to drop body fat.

The other part of the equation is working out and it seems your not that committed. You can't be wishy washy on your diet or your training or your just not going to see the results your looking for.

hi Vanguard,

Thanks for your reply. Fruit is something I love. I have recently (about 6 weeks ago) given up chocolate and diet coke. I was eating chocolate every night until I physically couldnt eat anymore, and drinking 2 or 3 cans of coke each night. I have a really bad sweet tooth, so fruit is something that removes my cravings. On the low carb food list, strawberries and blueberies appear, so I thought it was ok to eat them. I know apples are not low in carbs, so I do try and limit them (apart from the weekend, where I may have 2 each day).

I know what you mean re: fat around the stomach going last as it is the first place fat gets stored in us blokes. I am assuming then that the fat is going, just in areas where I didn;t realise I had fat. I seem to fat around the stomach area plus my chest isn't as defined as it used to be.

I thought also, on the MANS carb diet, that we were to limit the carbs, and not get a proper ratio of carbs, proteins and fats. So I have been trying to keep my diet mostly carbs and good fat, with a little carbs thown in ie. in fruit and a little fruit n veg.

So maybe then, even though blueberries/strawberries are low in carbs, could it be there sugar/GI value which is plateuing me?? If so, then I can reduce the fruit intake and eat natural yoghurt when I get the bad cravings.

Also, I am committed. I train 5 days a week. I just cant get to the gym because of familly committments. Whereas with my home gym, I can train each evening without fail. The only exercise that I cant do (but I really want to) is the Pec Dec.

Thanks again for your help. Really appreciate it

I have just read some more articles here at musclehack, and I was getting mixed up with the diets. I now now that MANS is to build muscle (which it appears to be doing for me) and the TSPA is the cutting which will reduce my fat%. I will buy the TSPA ebook, get down to my ideal fat% THEN resume the MANS diet. I thought that I could gain muscle AND lose body fat at exactly the same time. I am new to all this, hence the mistake.

Cheers

You can use MANS to cut and build muscle. The key part is this.

This plan requires that you eat a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet for 5 and a half days. Then for 36 hours you carb-up.

When he says low carbs he means this....

Since we’re concerned with building muscle, we need to find the lowest amount of carbs you need in a day to not only feel good but hammer out muscle-building workouts that continually improve, week-on-week.

I recommend you start out at 30 grams per day and adjust from there. Don’t make any changes to this for at least a week because you need to make the metabolic switch to burning fat for fuel first. Once this is completed you will be able to tell from your workout performances whether or not you need some more carbs (if so increase in 5 gram per day increments).

I personally average at around 27 grams of carbohydrate per day for 5 and a half days. Some days I take in 35 grams but on others just 20 grams. Going higher or lower is fine, just check your weekly averages. This low amount of carbohydrate is enough to power me through some amazing workouts; I’ve got bags of energy and feel great

What To Eat On Your Low-Carb Days

For menu ideas please see this thread at the MuscleHack bodybuilding forum. Examples include:

Taco Salad
Low Carb Tortillas with meat and any low-carb sauce (mayo, ranch, blue cheese)
Chicken Goujons / Breaded Chicken
Chicken Curry
Beef Kebabs
Homemade Protein Bar
Sugar-free Jell-O with Squirty Cream on top
Hot Cocoa made with cream

I don't see any fruit listed. You can use MANS to cut you just have to be more select with what you are eating on your carb up period. I personally just started the total Six Pack Abs diet ..day three now. Its a bit more structured and goes into more detail around nutrition etc so it might be good for you to get it although as I said MANS can definately be used to cut.

cheers Vanguard. On the first page of the MANS thread section in Diets, rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries are classed as low carb fruits. Maybe I have been going overboard with them though.

I didnt realise it was high protein, high fat and ow carbs for 5.5 days though. I have been doing this for 7 days a week for the last 4 or 5 weeks. So I can carb up for 1.5 days then. I am assuming though that you shouldn't go overboard during the carb up?

Cheers again for the info. Maybe I also need to keep track the exact amounts I am eating rather than guestimating. I have virtually cut out high carb foods such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta, but maybe have a tuna sandwich on a Saturday of a little bit of potatoes with sheperds pie/roast dinner.

I just thought that I had reached a plateau, but maybe I am eating too many carbs. I am definitely improving in strength, just not seeing the stomach go down as quickly as I wanted. I can maybe pinch an inch, so not too bad. I just dont want to be able to pinch any fat!! I know these things take time, so will try the TSPA. I have a feeking though that maybe I am losing fat AND gaining muscle, hence the consistent weight slightly inder 11st. Like you said, fat on the stomach is the last place to come off due to it being the first place to gain. I think patience for me is key.
Cheers