The Atkins Diet is one of the most popular diets. 1 out of 11 North-Americans were on the Atkins diet back in 2003-2004. People reported losing 20lbs of weight during the first 2 weeks on Dr. Robert Atkins’ low carb diet.

But is the Atkins Diet effective for fat loss? In this post you’ll get an overview of the Atkins Diet and how it compares with other fat loss diets.

How The Atkins Diet Works. The Atkins Diet is a low carb diet. Legumes, fruits and starches are out until later in the diet. This forces your body to use fat for energy instead of sugar. The Atkins Diet has 4 phases:

• Induction Phase. You limit your daily carb intake to 20g. These should come from veggies. The induction phase lasts 2 weeks.
• Ongoing Weight Loss Phase. You up your carb intake by 5g/day each week. This phase lasts until you’re within 10lbs of your goal weight.
• Pre-Maintenance. You increase your carb intake by 10g/day each week. Goal is to find how much carbs you can eat without gaining weight.
• Lifestyle Maintenance. Whole foods and moderate carb intake. You can go back to previous phases if you gain weight.

What’s Wrong with Atkins? The Atkins Diet has you focus on losing weight, rather than losing fat. Wrong approach as I explained in Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss. More stuff that’s wrong with the Atkins Diet:

• Little Fat Loss. Carbs bind to water. Dropping your carb intake causes weight loss: water loss. Track your body fat using a fat caliper and you’ll see your weight loss isn’t pure fat loss on the Atkins Diet.
• Not for Lifters. Muscles use carbs for energy. Without carbs, you’ll lack energy during high intensity activities like weight lifting. The Atkins Diet can only work if you’re sedentary.
• Muscle Loss. Atkins doesn’t mix with strength training. Without strength training, your metabolic rate will go down, you’ll lose muscle and you’ll have a harder time sticking to your diet.
• Yo-Yo Diet. After the big weight loss — which is mainly water loss — the first 2 weeks on the Atkins Diet, progress gets slower. Often a plateau follows, which can make you quit and regain everything you lost.

8 Nutrition Rules vs. Atkins Diet. The 8 Nutrition Rules is also a low carb/high protein diet. But unlike the Atkins Diet it has you cycle between lower & higher carb intakes so you lose fat while your muscles get carbs for energy.

• Carbs Post Workout. Limiting starchy carbs to post workout increases fat loss while giving your muscles energy for strength training.
• Simple. You don’t need to count macros with the 8 Nutrition Rules and there aren’t 4 phases. You just eat whole foods and limit carbs.

Note that the Anabolic Diet is also different than the Atkins Diet. On the Anabolic Diet you avoid carbs for 2 weeks too, but then you load carbs 2 days per week. Your body uses these carbs for weight lifting on weekdays.

The right way to go low-carb is to cycle your carb intake. You need carbs for strength training. And you need strength training so you lose fat not muscle. Always focus on fat loss so you know what your weight loss is.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

You’ve got StrongLifts.com’s 10 nutrition rules for building muscle, losing fat and getting stronger. But how do you stick to these 10 nutrition rules? How do you build the habit of eating healthy?

By preparing and eating healthy foods over & over again. The more you prepare and eat healthy foods, the more you build a healthy eating lifestyle. Here are 7 ways to build the habit of eating healthy.

1. Know Why. Will power doesn’t work. You’re driven by desires. Why do you want to build the habit of eating healthy?

• Increased Performance. Most of you will feel sick at the gym if you eat junk food all day. Healthy foods make Squats easier.
• Better Looks. The first step to losing your beer belly is getting stronger and eating whole, unprocessed food.
• More Health. Bad cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. If your doctor warned you, it’s time to do something about it.

Write why you want this on a piece of paper. Put it somewhere you can see it daily. On your computer or nightstand for example. Look at it several times per day so you don’t forget about it 1 week later.

2. Plan. “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. List what you’ll eat during the next 7 or 14 days. Go to the grocery and buy what’s on your list only. Don’t buy junk food, you don’t want temptations at home.

3. Prepare. Lack of time is 1 reason we like junk food. Nobody has time to cook 3x/day. Cook your food in bulk. Even if you work from home. This way you only need to warm-up your meals when it’s time to eat.

• Morning. Wake up 30 mins earlier so you can prepare all your meals while making breakfast.
• Evening. If you have trouble waking up early, cook your meals for the next day when coming back from work or while preparing dinner.

4. Make it Tasty. Your taste will need some weeks to adapt if you ate junk food up till now. Learn to cook. Check for recipes online. Worst case put your mind over matter. Eat your healthy foods, you know why you need them.

5. Simplify. No time for advanced recipes on weekdays. You have a business, career, family, social life, … Keep it simple. Eat raw veggies and canned foods. Make double rations. Keep leftovers for the next day.

6. Take Food with You. This way you won’t have to rely on junk food because you didn’t eat anything for more than 3 hours. Eat before you leave. Take food to work and school. Grab a bag of peanuts to go to the movies.

7. Aim for 90% Perfection. Example: Monday to Saturday whole foods, Sunday junk food. The junk food should be fun, but only for the duration of the meal. As long as you get back to your healthy lifestyle the meal after, you’ll be ok.

Got tips to build the habit of eating healthy? Share them in the comments.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

You wake up. Kick off the day with a coffee. Then don’t eat until lunch time. For some of you this will sound familiar. Which is a shame because breakfast remains the king of meals.

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. – Adelle Davis

Why Do You Need Breakfast? Skipping breakfast is one reason you’re skinny. You need calories from the first hour. Other benefits:

• Maintain Muscle. You’re in a catabolic state when sleeping. Eating breakfast stops muscle breakdown.
• Avoid Hunger. You’ll be less hungry the rest of the day. Also helpful if you need to lose fat and/or weight.
• Increase Health. The food you buy at the cafeteria at work/school or in McDonald’s is processed, which is usually unhealthy.
• Save Money. Preparing breakfast is cheaper than buying breakfast on the road to work/school.

This post will help you build the habit of eating breakfast.

1. Make it Tasty. It’s easier to build the habit of eating breakfast if you eat foods you like. Check out these 7 breakfast recipes that build muscle. Go low carb if eating breakfast makes you sleepy: eggs & veggies.

2. Start Small. If you can force yourself to eat breakfast, do it. However slow progress works better to build habits. Start with a small breakfast, like 2 eggs instead of 6. Increase the meal size every 2 weeks.

3. Eat Less Before Bed. Big meals before bed time will mess with your sleep and make you less hungry on waking up. Avoid snacking in the middle of the night & eat light prior bed time. Example if you go to bed at 11pm:

• 7pm. Meat, veggies & brown rice.
• 10pm. Cottage cheese, berries, flax seeds & fish oil.
• 11pm. Sleep.
• 7am. Scrambled eggs.

4. Plan. Have the foods ready you need for breakfast. Rearrange your life so you don’t skip breakfast. Cut preparation time in the morning.

• Groceries. Buy what you need for 7 or 14 days breakfast. Don’t end up skipping breakfast because your fridge is empty.
• Wake up Earlier. 15mins earlier so you have time to eat breakfast & avoid morning stress. Go to bed earlier so you wake up on time.
• Prepare. Breakfast, stuff for work/school, clothes, etc. Prepare as much as possible the night before so you can sleep longer.

5. Persist. The best way to build the habit of eating breakfast, is to do it daily. Decide you want to build this habit. Whatever happens you’ll eat breakfast. Stick to your decision. Plan everything so you don’t miss breakfast.

Nausea happen. Drink water, take a shower, come back & try again. Still not hungry: eat it on the road to work/school. Eating healthy & going to sleep on time will take care of persistent nausea’s.

Bonus: The Lazy Man Muscle Building Breakfast. Prepare a protein shake the night before if you have problems waking up early. Keep it in the fridge & drink on waking up. Ingredients:

• Whey
• Water
• Milk
• Instant Oats

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

I often get questions about which supplements I think are best to build muscle, lose fat & get stronger. Examples:

• “Would you write something about CLA?”
• “What do you think of Maximuscle Cyclone?”
• “Can you make an article about Creatine?”

The answer is generally “no” or “I don’t know”. I can’t tell you if “Cyclone” works, because I don’t know that product & it doesn’t interest me to know. I count on my training, nutrition & perseverance to do the job. Not supplements.

However I do use supplements. For the simple reason that some make your life easier. So I decided to make an article about which supplements you really need for strength training & why. Here it is.

Whey. Although whey is a very common supplement, some people don’t know what whey is good for. Here are three benefits of whey:

• Builds Muscle. You need at least 1g/lbs protein to build muscle. One scoop whey is about 25g of protein. If you struggle to get your 1g/lbs daily protein, 1 or 2 scoops daily will help.
• Easy. One scoop in your shaker, mix it with milk or water, drink. Nothing easier when you’re short on time.
• Cheap Protein. 75$ for a 10lbs tub that will last 5 months if you take one scoop daily. Whey is the cheapest protein.

I buy Optimum Nutrition whey. Whatever the brand you choose, buy whey only. No mass gainers with added sugars. If you need a mass gainer, make it yourself by adding oats & olive oil. Check this post workout shake for example.

Fish Oil. Omega 3 fats have been a hot supplements for several years now. Tons of food come with the label “contains omega 3″. Benefits of omega 3 consumption include:

• Reduced Inflammation. Less acne, tendinitis, etc.
• Decreased Body Fat. Fish oil helps burning fat.
• Less Soreness. Reduced soreness from strength training.
• Lowers Cholesterol. Prevents heart disease, cancer, depression.

You should eat fatty fish several times a week to get your required amounts of omega 3. Time consuming & expensive.

Fish oil is easy. Caps or liquid form. I prefer liquid form with lemon flavor to avoid the fishy after-taste. Watch the EPA/DHA content. Some brands have low amounts of EPA/DHA. I use Pfo Pure Fish Oil. 1 tsp. contains:

• Fish Oil: 4360mg
• Omega-3 EPA: 715mg
• Omega-3 DHA: 470mg

How much fish oil do you need? The bottle says 1 tsp. a day. Charles Poliquin says 30-45g daily. Andrew Gaeddaert recommends 30g fish oil daily to heal skin disorders. Dr. Di Pasquale, author Anabolic Diet, says 2000mg EPA daily. Start with 1 tsp. a day & experiment from there.

Multivitamins. Eat a healthy varied diet to get your vitamins. Veggies and/or fruits with every meal. Meats, fish & eggs. Some benefits of multivitamins:

• Better Sleep. Zinc helps getting quality sleep.
• Less Illness. Vitamin C fortifies your immune system.
• Faster Recovery. Calcium & iron help recovery from strength training.

Eating a healthy & varied diet is not always easy. Multivitamins will help you avoid vitamin deficiencies. I used Beverly International Ultra-4 in the past. Many recommend AST Multi Pro 32x.

Some say high dosis of multivitamins & anti-oxidants cause cancer. Read these articles & draw your conclusions.

• High dosis of anti-oxidants can cause cancer. Study by JAMA.
• Multivitamin prostate warning. BBC News May 16th 2007.
• Do Anti-oxidants cause cancer or prevent it? From The Pump Handle.
• Nutritional crime of the Century. By TC on T-nation.

Creatine. I never used creatine. But many of you have or will in the future. Some say creatine doesn’t work. Other say it does. Mark Rippetoe writes in Practical Programming creatine works. I believe it works too. Benefits:

• Better Recovery between sets & workouts.
• More Strength & performance.

Buy Creatine Monohydrate in powder form. Don’t buy liquid creatine, you’ll waste money. Creatine is not stable for long periods in liquid form.

More Supplements? You can take the supplements you want, you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t train hard & eat right in the first place. Supplements are supplements to your training, nutrition & most of all attitude.

Experiment with supplements if you want to. But don’t forget the placebo effect.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

It’s Saturday. Many of you will go out tonight & have a drink. One reader contacted me with a related question:

“I’m 5′6″ at 196lbs. My goal is to get down to 165lbs while building muscle. I don’t have a systematic nutritional/strength training regimen yet. But I’m doing my best to turn everything around.

I just turned 21 and doing my best to avoid calories. I know alcohol is full of empty calories, but it’s tough avoiding my friends phone calls when everyone’s going out.

I’m sure the answer is to cut out alcohol all together, but is there a smarter alternative that you’re aware of? Guinness has been my drink of choice lately, and there are only 125 calories in 16oz.

Obviously strength training is my priority over drinking. I’ll stop alcohol if I have to. But I’d still appreciate your thoughts. I feel like the fat kid when everyone’s drinking beer and I order a diet coke.”

Benefits of Alcohol. Next time you drink: ask yourself why.

• You drink because you’re thirsty: water works.
• It makes you more confident: you have a problem.
• You drink because your friends do: you have a problem.

You don’t need to fill the expectations of others. So what if they see you as “the fat kid drinking diet coke”. It’s your life. Maybe they like their man boobs & beer belly. You obviously don’t. Do what gets you closer to your goals.

The Problem With Alcohol. Some drawbacks of alcohol consumption.

• Beer contains estrogen – female hormones.
• Estrogen causes man boobs & beer belly.
• Slows fat loss.
• Contains empty calories.
• Affects quality of sleep.
• Dehydrates. Causing hangovers.
• Bad for your liver.

What I do. I rarely drink on weekdays. Week-ends I have my share of drinks. I never drink to get drunk. I drink because I like the taste. Especially wine when dining out. I don’t drink beer. Only wine & sugar alcohols.

Sometimes I go out & won’t drink during the whole night. Sometimes I’ll drink water when dining out. Drinking alcohol is not a habit neither a necessity.

My friends know I drink a lot of water & respect my choices. People who don’t know me are often surprised when I tell them water will do. “You’re ill?” “We have plenty of other drinks you know”

Like I wrote above: it’s my life. I do what I want. The idea of drinking alcohol because others do is a lack of individualism to me.

My Advice. Drink alcohol once or twice a week & have fun. Get back into your healthy habits the day after. Plenty of water & food. Watch out if it alcohol becomes a daily habit. Focus on your goals & health.

Day Afters. Drink plenty of water before sleeping & on getting up. Alcohol dehydrates, causing hangovers. Force yourself to drink & eat.

I sometimes train the day after. As long as they didn’t have to drag you home the night before you can do it. Drink, eat & get your mind over it. Not the best condition to train in, but certainly builds character.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

• High consumption of carbs; or
• High consumption of fats

Never mix carbs & fats. It leads to obesity, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. Junk food is a perfect example of high carb/high fat nutrition.

What’s High Carb & What’s High Fat? Example: you weigh 80kg. Your daily needs are:

• 3200 calories (18x bodyweight in lbs)
• 350g proteins (2g per bodyweight in lbs)

350g Protein is 1400kcal or 45%. You have 55% calories left & two options:

• High carb: 40% carbs – 15% fat
• High fat: 55% fat – 0% carbs

High Carb. Society is turned towards high carb/low fat consumption. Although in recent years zero carb products have become available. Probably due to the popularity of the Atkins Diet. If you’re going high carb, cut your fat intake. Follow the 40% – 15% rule.

• Carbs: go whole grain, oats, rice, potatoes, pasta, …
• Fats: balance omega 3/6/9 intake & avoid trans-fats (junk food).

One tip that works well is eating carbs after your strength training workout. Consume proteins, fats & veggies the rest of the day.

High Fat. Some people, like me, don’t feel well on high carb diet. If you feel sleepy & sluggish from eating carbs, you know what I’m talking about. Try a high fat/high protein approach:

• The Ultimate Diet
• The Anabolic Diet

High carb or high fat? Experiment. Best way to know.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.