Bodybuilding Forums

Hello everyone i've been contemplating on cutting for the longest time ........i've always been on the impression that u need a high carb diet with 1g of protein per pound and fat somewhere along 20%, but this diet seems very intriguing and promising
i want to lose the most fat possible while keeping all my muscle

i currently weigh about 183 pounds im 5'8 and my body fat i think is 15%

this comes out to 194 grams of protein........145 grams of fat since thats standard and 30-60g of carbs and around 30-50 coming from fiber if not mistaken...a total of 2202 to 2322 calories......now im a little skeptical about this because i've never lost weight before..........can anyone help me on this.....im also going to be weight training and i feel like this amount of calories is too little

has anybody lost fat doing the tspa diet...any advice....or any other diet in this site........currently tspa is the only one im familiar with

also i purchased the package and u need a password to get into the tspa members area.....how can i acquire this password...when i bought the package a password was never given to me...can someone help me out with this

grimdatta88 wrote:Hello everyone i've been contemplating on cutting for the longest time ........i've always been on the impression that u need a high carb diet with 1g of protein per pound and fat somewhere along 20%, but this diet seems very intriguing and promising

I was on Atkins for two years several years ago, and have been low-carbing again since September 1, 2008. Rest assured, you don't "need" any carbohydrates at all. There are essential proteins, and there are essential fatty acids, but there's no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. You can look at my blood work and medical exam results for an example of a still-fat, but perfectly healthy thirty-five-year-old who's been on low-carb for half a year. I was really unhealthy before going low-carb. I feel much better now.

I believe carbs are good for you in moderation Mostly veggies.

A great reference for someone who is accustomed to believing that low-fat is the way to live is Michael Taubes' landmark column, What if it's all been a big fat lie?. He has a much longer work released recently called "Good Calories, Bad Calories", but that's a thick reference book that is kind of tough to get through Suffice to say, millions of people eating low-carb, staying healthy, and living long is sufficient proof that the "lipid hypothesis" -- better known as "low fat is good for you" -- is not accurate.

i want to lose the most fat possible while keeping all my muscle.

Congratulations! Glad you found it. Low-carb diets have been repeatedly demonstrated to be the most muscle-sparing of the common diets. In fact, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, noted bodybuilder and medical doctor, documented the tremendous anabolic effects of a low-carb cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) in several of his books, and they have worked for bodybuilders for many years. Dr. Di Pasquale's work is, IMHO, a substantial basis of Mark's "Total Six-Pack Abs" and "Total Anabolism". Mark's writing is much more about "how-to", rather than "why-to".

i currently weigh about 183 pounds im 5'8 and my body fat i think is 15%

You think, or you know? One of my favorite phrases when it comes to fat reduction and muscle gain is "MEMAR: Measure, Experiment, Measure, Adjust, Repeat". It's important to get accurate measurements, continue to take them periodically, and adjust your diet and exercise plan to accommodate the changes in your body composition. If you aren't sure of your body composition, how can you measure the changes that don't clearly show in the mirror?

Realistically, you could diet just based on appearance alone, but having a bunch of numbers helps with motivation when the visible changes slow. Grab a tape measure and measure your waist at its largest point, and your neck just below your adam's apple. Plug those numbers into the free body fat calculator at http://musclehack.com/ , and get yourself a real number for body fat.

im also going to be weight training and i feel like this amount of calories is too little

A cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) -- like MANS (from Total Anabolism, Mark McManus' free e-book) or TSPA -- has a unique benefit in the world of bodybuilding: you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time. You can skew the numbers to favor one or the other by adjusting the length and cleanliness of your carb-ups. That said, because it's a hybrid approach, most people tend to lose fat slower than they would on an all-cutting diet, and gain muscle slower than they would on an all-bulking diet. You're also calling upon the fat reserves of your own body to provide energy.

My suggestion is always that you just dive in. Right now. Commit and start. Continue to take measurements. If your fat loss isn't proceeding at 1-2 pounds per week, decrease or increase your dietary fat consumption to compensate.

Give the diet at least 4-6 weeks so you can see results. This will also be long enough for you to determine if low-carb living suits your body. There is a "bell curve" of normal responses to diet; I picture this with low-carb on the left, and low-fat on the right. Where your body works best will lie somewhere along that continuum. Many people respond well to either method of fat loss. Some only do well on low-carb, while others only do well on low-fat. Find your balance.

has anybody lost fat doing the tspa diet...any advice....or any other diet in this site........currently tspa is the only one im familiar with

I did a twelve-week challenge starting in December 2008 on TSPA. I gained six pounds of muscle while losing twenty-one pounds of fat; because of a few inconsistencies in my body fat testing methodology, though, I prefer to say I lost "around twenty pounds of fat while putting on muscle". I was obese. My results certainly won't be typical for someone starting below 20% body fat. You can read the detailed play-by-play of my time on that twelve-week challenge here:
personal-development/december-2008-twelve-week-challenge-t293.html

I'm currently still on TSPA after a couple of weeks off, and I'm losing around 1 lb per week of fat. On my first month, I have put on somewhere between 0 and 2 pounds of muscle; I certainly haven't lost lean mass according to my calipers, electronic hand-held gizmo, or neck/waist measurements!

also i purchased the package and u need a password to get into the tspa members area.....how can i acquire this password...when i bought the package a password was never given to me...can someone help me out with this

Contact Mark McManus via Private Message:
member/Mark%20McManus/

Regards,
Matt B.

Hypocrite alert: I'm still around 22% body fat and 210-215lbs. When I started in September 2008, I was well north of 30% body fat and over 250 lbs. Decide for yourself if you want to take advice from a former fat guy or not.

wow thank you for your help....gladly appreciate it

Good luck.