Everyone says breakfast is the most important meal. Even the 8 nutrition rules recommend you to eat breakfast. But what if your instinct tells you to skip this meal. Should you force yourself to eat breakfast anyway?

Let’s see what the benefits of having breakfast are. Especially if your goal is fat loss or weight gain. This post will give you 5 reasons why you should build the habit of eating breakfast starting today.

1. Lose Fat. Eating breakfast won’t speed up your metabolism. Research shows fasting does not decrease your metabolism, neither do frequent meals increase it. But having breakfast does help fat loss by improving your diet.

• Less Binging. An unhealthy breakfast ruins your day: you’ll keep eating junk food thinking “tomorrow I eat healthy”. But a healthy breakfast sets the trend: you’ll want to continue eating healthy foods the whole day.
• More Healthy Food. The food you buy on your way to work usually isn’t healthy — although its label says so. By making breakfast yourself, you get control over the ingredients and thus over your results.

2. Gain Weight. To gain weight you must eat more. Hardgainers usually need at least 5000kcal/day to see weight gain. Eating breakfast is crucial to reach these amounts so you lose your skinny look forever.

• More Hunger. Breakfast usually makes you hungrier during the day. This makes weight gain easier since skinny guys often struggle to eat a lot.
• Less Bloating. The more meals you eat, the smaller these must be to reach your caloric needs. Meaning less nausea’s, less bloating, …

3. Build Healthy Eating Habits. As explained in point 1, starting your day with a healthy breakfast sets the trend: you won’t ruin the rest of your day with junk food if you begin it with a healthy meal.

Breakfast doesn’t benefit your health directly. Studies that claim otherwise are correlational. But breakfast is crucial to build healthy eating habits – like eating whole foods 90% of the time – which will eventually improve your health.

4. Save Money. Preparing breakfast is cheaper than buying foods on your way to work or school, foods that are often also unhealthy.

• Short-term. Healthy, whole, unprocessed food isn’t more expensive. If it is: you’re not doing it right. Read 20 ways to eat healthy on a budget.
• Long-term. Poor diet causes excess body fat and eventually heart diseases which is the top cause of death in developed countries.

5. Avoid Stress. What you do the 1st hour after you wake up sets the trend for your whole day. You’ll avoid stress by waking up earlier and eat breakfast.

• No Skipped Meals. No more stress because you couldn’t find something healthy to eat for breakfast in the grocery store on your way to work.
• No Rushing. No more stress because you woke up late again, didn’t had time to eat breakfast and now have to rush to make it in time for work.

So how do you build the habit of eating breakfast? Topic of a future article. To automatically get free updates, click here.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

I used to wake up, drink coffee and eat nothing until noon. I had nausea’s from having breakfast so I skipped it until I was about 14.

But this changed when I began going to school by bike. I always got sick cycling on an empty stomach: cold sweat broke out by the time I arrived at school and I threw up my coffee several times.

I thought skipping breakfast was the cause because everybody told me I should eat breakfast, it’s healthier. So I started to eat like an animal on waking up. And indeed: I no longer got sick when I went by bike to school.

15 years later, I’ve trained on an empty stomach many times without problems. I no longer get sick from training in a fasted state, although I train at higher intensities than I did at age 14. What happened?

I now believe my bad eating habits and being out of shape as a teenager were the causes. Because it turns out eating on waking up is not healthier. Here are 7 reasons why you should not have breakfast.

1. Breakfast Doesn’t Increase Your Metabolism. Studies show that fasting or less frequent meals don’t decrease your metabolism. And eating every 3 hours, including breakfast, doesn’t increase your metabolism neither.

People promoting Intermittent Fasting like Brad Pilon from Eat Stop Eat & Martin Berkhan from Leangains have shown the opposite is true: your metabolic rate increases slightly when you fast.

2. Breakfast Doesn’t Stop Muscle Breakdown. Starvation mode is a myth: you won’t lose muscle if you don’t eat every 3 hours — like when sleeping — and as long as you do regular exercise.

Your muscles also don’t need protein every 3 hours. Getting protein around your training seems to be more important than your total protein intake. Read Brad Pilon’s How Much Protein for solid research on topic.

3. Breakfast Doesn’t Manage Blood Sugar Well. The common advice is to have breakfast to raise your blood sugar and control your insulin levels. Insulin is key for muscle growth but is also responsible for fat storage.

Fasting reduces your insulin levels and increases insulin sensitivity dramatically more than eating small frequent meals do. People with diabetes have reported they managed their blood sugar better using Intermittent Fasting.

4. Breakfast Increases Hunger. Many people — including me — feel hungrier during the day after eating breakfast. This could be a benefit or a drawback, depending on whether you want to gain weight or lose fat.

• Great for Weight Gain. If you’re a skinny guy who struggles to eat a lot, eating breakfast will make it easier to reach your caloric needs.
• Not So Great for Fat Loss. Especially since more frequent meals don’t increase your metabolism. You’ll have to control your food choice, like starchy carb intake, to avoid fat gains. Follow the 8 nutrition rules.

5. Breakfast Is Not Healthier. People who don’t eat breakfast are usually the ones who don’t exercise and who grab a donut on their way to work, eat junk food at noon and a big dinner in front of the TV.

Breakfast doesn’t benefit your health directly, but helps building healthy eating habits. Studies claiming that breakfast is healthy are correlational.

• Breakfast does not manage blood sugar well.
• Breakfast does not increase your metabolism.
• Breakfast does not prevent muscle breakdown.
• Breakfast makes you hungrier the rest of the day.

6. Breakfast Impairs Concentration. Studies show fasting for 48 hours doesn’t impact cognitive tests negatively. You don’t need breakfast for mental alertness.

A lot of people, especially students, skip breakfast because they know they’ll be more productive, concentrated and motivated during the rest of the day as a result. I’ve experienced the same thing.

7. Breakfast Is Unnatural. Our ancestors probably didn’t eat large breakfasts: they’d have to hunt it first (unless we’re talking left-overs). Hunter-gather meal patterns with large dinners and little during the day seem more natural.

This could be why many people’s instinct is to skip breakfast. Some say cereal companies pushed the idea that breakfast is healthy for their own benefits.

No More Breakfast? Am I saying you should stop eating breakfast? Not if you struggle to eat whole foods 90% of the time. In this case you should learn to eat breakfast as it will help you build healthy eating habits.

But once you’ve been eating healthy 90% of the time for at least 1 year and depending on what your goal is, you could experiment with approaches like Intermittent Fasting. See how that works out for you.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

No time to eat? Make time, your body needs food. No time to cook 6x/day? Me neither. That’s why you must batch cook 1x/day. But practical things aside, let’s see if your body benefits from eating every 3 hours.

Why You Don’t Need to Eat Every 3 Hours. Popular myth: your metabolism — how many calories you burn at rest — is higher if you eat more frequent meals. That’s how eating every 3 hours would increase fat loss.

Research shows that eating every 3 hours doesn’t increase your metabolism. And less frequent meals or fasting doesn’t decrease your metabolism neither. Forum member Leanstrong posted the studies. Thank him for the info.

Why You Need to Eat Every 3 hours. Eating every day at the same time will make you hungry each day at the same time. More benefits:

• Fat Loss. You’ll get hungry if you go without food for more than 3 hours. And this can make you overeat at the next meal, preventing fat loss.
• Weight Gain. Try eating 6000kcal/day in 3 meals. Gaining weight is a lot easier if you spread your calories in 6-7 meals per day.
• Less Hunger. Smaller meals decrease your stomach size over time. Your stomach will feel full sooner. You’ll also stabilize blood sugar & insulin.
• More Energy. Eating 3 large meals of 1000kcal will make you sleepy & lethargic. Smaller meals: more energy, better focus, no set stomach.
• Less Cheating. You know you’ll have a healthy meal within 3 hours. Psychologically this makes it easier to keep your diet healthy.

Tips to Make Your Life Easier. Lack of time will prevent you to eat more than 3-4 meals/day. Here are some tips to make things work:

• Prepare Food in Advance. Cook your food for your day while making breakfast or dinner. This takes 1h and saves you stress the rest of the day. You’ll also save money compared to buying food outside.
• Take Food with You. Get plastic boxes and take everything with you to work/school. If you spend a lot of time in your car: buy a fridge.
• Free Time to Eat. Too busy at work? Take breaks. You’ll focus better if you take one every 2 hours. Read the Power of Full Engagement.
• Stop Caring. About what people do or say about your diet. This is your life and you have your goals. Make it happen.

What About Intermittent Fasting? On these diets you alternate fasting with eating. The length of the fast & feed depends on the diet. Examples:

• Alternate Day Fasting: 36h fast, 12h feed.
• Eat Stop Eat: 24h fast 1-2x/week.
• Fast-5: 19h fast, 5h feed.
• Leangains: 16h fast, 8h feed.
• Warrior Diet: 20h fast, 4h feed.

I’m doing Eat Stop Eat since 10 weeks now and highly enjoy it. Read my review here and the discussion here. The Warrior Diet and Leangains also work if you lift weights. Read this & this discussion in the forum.

Realize, however, that fasting is a different game. Eat every 3 hours or fast intermittently. There’s no middle way.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Why You Need to Drink Water. You can go several weeks without food, but you can’t go more than a few days without drinking water. Water is the most critical nutrient for life. Your body is 60% water and needs it for:

• Hydration. Strength training causes water loss through sweating. You’ll prevent dehydration by drinking enough water.
• Recovery. Your muscles needs water to recover from strength training. If you don’t drink enough water, you’ll limit your muscle gains.
• Digestion. You need 25g fiber per day for optimal digestion. But since fiber binds to water, it’s useless if you don’t drink enough water.
• Satiation. An empty stomach will make you think you’re hungry. Drinking water will fill your stomach and make you feel less hungry.
• And More. Water regulates your body’s temperature, prevents kidney stones, improves skin health, lubricates joints, …

How Much Water Do You Need Daily? If you drink enough and have healthy kidneys/bladder, your urine should be color- and odorless. Darker urine is only acceptable the first time you urinate after waking up.

Don’t wait until you’re thirsty. Pay attention to the color of your urine when you urinate. The rule of thumb to get it color- and odorless is:

• 1liter per 1000kcal you expend = your daily water requirement

So if you expend 5000kcal per day, you need to drink 5 liters water per day. To find out how much calories you expend, check out the cunningham equation. It will give an accurate view on your caloric needs.

What About Water Intoxication? Over-consumption of water can disturb the balance of electrolytes in your body. This can cause fatal disturbance of your brain functions. 3 tips to avoid water intoxication:

• Eat Healthy. Check the 8 nutrition rules. Applying these rules will ensure you replenish your electrolytes
• Use Your Head. Don’t do crazy things like drinking 10 liters water in 30 minutes. Don’t participate to drinking contest.
• Avoid Sports Drink. Over consumption can lead to water intoxication since they’re often too low in electrolytes. And they’re full of sugars.

What About Peeing? Drinking more water will make you go to the toilet more at first. However your bladder will adapt. After a few weeks you’ll have to go less. But probably a bit more than before.

Consider it a good thing. Spending too much time in the same position causes problems in the long-term. Drinking water is the best way to force you to get away from your desk from time to time: to go to the toilet.

How to Build The Habit of Drinking More Water. By drinking more water, more often. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Some tips:

• Start Early. Have 1 cup of water ready on your nightstand. Drink it first thing on waking up. Persist if it’s hard: you’ll get used to it.
• Drink 2 Cups with Each Meal. 2 cups at lunch, 2 at dinner, 2 with your snacks. Eat first, drink later. Otherwise you’ll struggle with your food.
• Sip Water During Your Workout. Take a bottle of water to the gym and sip water during your workout. Sipping will prevent a set stomach.

Bonus Tips. If you don’t like the taste of water: drink it more & more often. Your taste will adapt. Extra tips to deal with boredom:

• Get a Brita Filter. And filter your tap water yourself. It’s cheaper than bottled water and the brita filter improves the taste of tap water.
• Drink Tea. Green tea is a strong anti-oxidant and natural diuretic. Drink tea from time to time instead of plain water.
• Squeezed Lemon. Squeezed lemon in water. Improves the taste and lemons help maintaining the acid/alkaline balance in your body.

Note that veggies, fruits, coffee, milk all contain water so they help getting your daily water requirements.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Example of Healthy Nutrition. Whole, unprocessed foods. These foods come as close as possible to their natural state and are not (or little) processed. 90% of your food intake should consist of whole foods. Examples:

• Meat, Poultry & Fish. Ground round, chicken breast, tuna, mackerel, …
• Dairy. Whole eggs, cottage cheese, plain fat free yogurt, milk, …
• Whole Grains. Oats, rice, quinoa, pasta, …
• Healthy Fats. Olive oil, mixed nuts, fish oil, real butter, …
• Fresh Fruits & Veggies. Spinach, broccoli, bananas, apples, oranges, …
• Frozen/Canned Fruits & Veggies. But only if additive-free. Examples: pineapple cans without added sugars, pre-cut frozen broccoli, …

Example of Unhealthy Nutrition. Processed foods. These are altered from their natural state for safety & convenience. Their labels usually have a huge list of ingredients. And they’re filled with salts, sugars, trans-fats, … Examples:

• Packaged Snacks. Chips, cakes, cookies, crackers, sugar coated nuts, …
• Processed Meats. Hot dogs, bologna, sausages, lunch meats, …
• Calorie Beverages. Sodas, fruit juices, sugar alcohol, …
• Pre-made Meals. Frozen meals, cans of ravioli, pizzas, …
• Deep Fried Foods. French fries, fish sticks, fried seafood, …
• Junk Food. Ice cream, Mc Donalds, kebab, …
• And More. Bagels, margarine, sugary breakfast cereals, …

Why Healthy Nutrition is Important. The easiest way to be sure you’re getting healthy nutrition: prepare your food yourself. This gives you total control over ingredients and thus results. Benefits of healthy nutrition:

• Fat Loss. Processed foods contain trans-fats & sugars which prevent fat loss. You need to eat whole foods 90% of the time to lose fat.
• Spare Muscle. Eating alkaline whole foods like spinach maintains the acid-base balance in your body and prevents muscle & bone loss.
• More Energy. Eat crap and you’ll feel like crap: set stomach, bloated, tired, lethargic, … Whole foods will make you feel better.
• Joint & Skin Health. Increasing your intake of fish oil decreases the onset of joint & skin inflammations. Think less tendinitis, less acne, …
• Overall Health. Whole foods don’t have all the sugars, trans-fats, salts & chemicals. Whole foods are also richer in vitamins, minerals and fiber. Which means lower risks of cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes.

You can get away with junk food 10% of the time. Maybe even more. But it’s a slippery slope: easy to get back to your old, bad habits. Read this thread.

Why Healthy Nutrition Is NOT Important. If you want to build muscle and get stronger, quantity of food is important. Not quality. As long as you eat enough food and don’t care about gaining fat, you’ll build muscle.

That’s 1 reason why powerlifters & Olympic weight lifers in heavy classes often have higher body fats. Excess calories matters most for strength & weight gain. Although junk food will make you fat, there’s muscle underneath.

Here are 2 examples of how powerifters or strongmen will look like if they clean up their diet.

• Dave Tate. Powerlifter. 935lbs Squat, 610lbs Bench Press, 740lbs Deadlift. Known for high junk food diet. Check his before/after pics.
• Dave Gulledge. Strongman. 800lbs Squat, 700lbs Bench Press, 735lbs Deadlift. Check his before/after pics.

Realize that while healthy nutrition isn’t important to build muscle and strength, unhealthy nutrition has its implication on your health & mood. In the long-term you’re better off eating healthy. And it doesn’t need to be expensive.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Q&A 1.

Nice one Mehdi thanks, after reading your article I decided to pull the trigger on this one.

Some interesting stuff, great idea, few concerns though. Mainly being the overall amount of calories that is recommended seems to be extremely low, due to the formula he is using to calculate your daily needs. That leads on to my concern about the start up phase which seems to just mean many days in a row of very low calorie intakes.

Wouldn’t the start up phase at the least course the body to crash?

-jj23

The 1st week on Cheat Your Way Thin starts with a huge caloric spike. So your carb stores will be full enough to get you through that week. Training can be a hard though, much like the first 12 days on the Anabolic Diet.

The 2nd week carbs are reintroduced so no more problems there.

Note that the Deluxe Upgrade of Cheat Your Way Thin has a more accurate calorie calculator.

Q&A 2.

I’m interested in this one too. Mainly though, I’m interested in the science behind it.

I wonder how this is different from a junk day that we usually seem to take in this forum.

Do you know if the basic version is enough? Or the advanced version is a must have..?

-zizzy80

Cheat Your Way Thin has all the science. It explains how junk food helps fat loss and problems you encounter when restricting calories for extended times.

The difference with what most people do is that with Cheat Your Way Thin you have to be strict 6 days a week. Then only do you deserve the junk food. The 90% rule remains. But you get all your junk meals on 1 day.

Eating junk food the other days will mess things up. You must be stricter.

I feel this works better. You’ll tend to stick better to your diet on weekdays since you’re busy with work and everything. Bigger temptations in weekend with social stuff & general laziness to cook.

The Deluxe Upgrade of Cheat Your Way Thin is worth it if you don’t want to do the thinking yourself recipe-wise. You’ll get 130 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and shakes. And also 84 days of meal plans.

Q&A 3.

Oh right so I’m guessing the cheat day you do right before you start sees you through the week then.

What about the amount of calories though it seems so small compared to any other diet/calculator I’ve come across before?

Sorry for the questions, I just don’t wanna end up losing any of my hard gained muscle even for the sake of a big fat loss!

-jj23

Yes the cheat day gets you through the week, that’s the point.

The cheat day spikes your calorie intake. If you look at how many calories you get at the end of the week or month, you’ll see that you won’t eat less than before on average when doing Cheat Your Way Thin.

And don’t worry too much about the first 3 weeks. Those are just to get you ready.

Q&A 4.

Can u give me examples of meals on a daily basis with meals including cheat meals.. like for example if i wana eat in and out?

-Richard

On Cheat Your Way Thin you alternate between:

• Low Carb Days. Protein, fats, veggies, no carbs. Example: eggs, spinach, mushrooms.
• Low GI/GL Days. Protein, fats, veggies, low gi/gl carbs. Example: chicken, brown rice, orange.
• High GI/GL Days. Protein, fats, veggies, high gi/gl carbs. Example: oats, blueberries.
• Cheat Days. Junk food. Pizzas, burgers, ice cream, pancakes, … whatever you can think of.

The Cheat Your Way Thin guide has a full list of foods to choose from depending on the day. If you don’t want to do the thinking yourself, the Deluxe Upgrade has 84 days of example meal plans and 130 recipes.

Special Offer for StrongLifts.com Readers. You can get Cheat Your Way Thin at less than half the price until Friday June 26th 2009 12AM EST. It will teach you exactly how to accelerate your fat loss by eating junk food.

Click here to go to Joel’s site.

If you go to CheatYourWayThin.com, you’ll pay the normal price like everyone else is doing now. So make sure you use this link:

Click here to go to Joel’s site.

Cheat Your Way Thin comes with a 60 day risk free money back guarantee. If you don’t like it, contact Joel and you’ll get your full money back. I’m confident, however, that you’ll like the information in his system.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

The Anabolic Diet does this by manipulating your muscle building hormones. Key is eating the right combination of foods at the right time. Not easy, but works if done properly. Here’s the definite Anabolic Diet guide.

Benefits of The Anabolic Diet. The Anabolic Diet is a high protein, high fat diet which involves carbs cycling. Some things you can expect:

• Fat Loss. You force your body to use fat for energy by avoiding carbs for 5 days. Your body stores less fat because you eat lots of fats. You’ll get rid of stubborn fat like love handles. 10% body fat year through is easy.
• Muscle Gains. Key to the Anabolic Diet is fatty read meat. This is rich in cholesterol and saturated fats which increase your testosterone levels. Testosterone is the muscle building hormone.
• Improved Health. Lower cholesterol & tryglyceride levels, less plaque build up, controlled insulin levels, less food allergies, less acne, … Do a blood test before starting the Anabolic Diet and compare months later.
• More Energy. Controlling your carb intake will make you wake up full of energy. You’ll never have blood sugar crashes or heaviness after eating again. Also less irritability & less mood swings.
• No Hunger. Fat satiates and makes you feel full longer. You’ll never feel hungry on the Anabolic Diet. You’ll have to remind yourself to eat even though you’ll be eating more than before.

How The Anabolic Diet Works. The Anabolic Diet works whatever your gender or age. And like any diet, it works best coupled with strength training. Here’s how your week looks like when you eat the Anabolic Diet way:

• Weekdays. Proteins, fats & veggies. Eat fatty red meat, fatty fish, whole eggs, full fat cheese, olive oil, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, …
• Weekends. Eat lots of carbs. Pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, oats, fruit, … Lower your protein & fat intake.

How to Get Started on The Anabolic Diet. Use FitDay to track your daily caloric and macronutrients intake. Anabolic Diet rules:

• Determine Caloric Needs. Rule of thumb is your BW x 18kcal, but the Cunningham Equation is more accurate. Read this post.
• 12 Days No Carbs. Eat proteins & fats only for 12 days. This forces your body to use fat for energy. After these 12 days, eat carbs for 2 days on. Then alternate 5 days no carbs and 2 days carbs.
• No Carbs Days. 40% protein, 60% fat, 25g carbs max. The carbs should come from foods like veggies, eggs, meat, … No oats or rice or milk.
• Carbs Days. 15% protein, 25% fat, 60% carbs. So 60% of your calories should come from carbs. These will fill your carb stores.

It takes about 4 weeks to adapt to the Anabolic Diet. Expect stomach issues, moodiness, tiredness, … Don’t give up. All of this will go away if you stick with the Anabolic Diet. Read first week experiences on the Anabolic Diet.

Example Meal Plan: No Carbs Days. Usually Monday to Friday. Eat protein & fat only, avoid carbs. For inspiration, read the Anabolic Diet food list.

• Breakfast. Whole eggs, bacon, spinach.
• Snack. Italian or french cheese.
• Lunch. Ground round, broccoli, olive oil.
• Snack. Italian or Spanish ham.
  
• Post Workout. Whey, olive oil.
  
• Dinner. Mackerel, salad, olive oil, cheese cubes.
  
• Pre Bed. French cheese, ground flax seeds, fish oil.
  

Example Meal Plan: Carbs Days. Usually Saturday & Sunday. Best is to avoid training on these days since the high carb intake tends to cause tiredness.

• Breakfast. Oats, raisins, milk.
• Snack. Lots of fruit.
• Lunch. Chicken breast, quinoa, spinach.
• Snack. Lots of fruit.
  
• Dinner. Whole grain pasta, tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese.
  
• Pre Bed. Cottage cheese, berries, ground flax seeds, fish oil.

Drawbacks of The Anabolic Diet. Your grocery bill will be higher at first and the weekends can turn into junk fests. More drawbacks of the Anabolic Diet:

• Hard for Weight Gain. The Anabolic Diet is high in fats which satiate & make you full longer. This makes gaining weight on the Anabolic Diet harder, but not impossible. GOMAD is better for weight gain.
• Complicate. You have to count calories, you’re cycling between carbs & no carbs days, food choice is tricky with all the hidden carbs, … A diet based on the 8 nutrition rules is simpler.
• No Good For Sports. Sports like rugby and MMA don’t mix well with low carb diets like the Anabolic Diet: they rely too much on carbs for energy. One solution is to use mid-week carb ups. But it’s not ideal.

Should You Do The Anabolic Diet? If you eat carbs on the days where you eat lots of saturated fat and fatty proteins, you risk obesity and diabetes. Stick to the Anabolic Diet rules or you’ll get adverse effects.

If you’ve never stuck with a diet, follow the 8 nutrition rules for 12 months. Then you’ll be ready for advanced stuff like the Anabolic Diet. If you still need it, since you’ll lose fat by following the 8 nutrition rules.

More on The Anabolic Diet. More articles on StrongLifts.com related to the Anabolic Diet. Read them all before you get started.

• 10 Anabolic Diet Mistakes You Must Avoid
• 7 Things You’ll Experience The First Weeks on The Anabolic Diet
• The Ultimate Anabolic Diet Food List: 101 Foods You Can Eat
• 21 Anabolic Diet Recipes for Breakfast, Snack, Lunch & Dinner
• Post Workout Nutrition on The Anabolic Diet: Spiking Insulin?
• How to Gain and Lose Weight on The Anabolic Diet
• Hacking the Anabolic Diet: Midweek & 24 Hour Carb Loading

Official Anabolic Diet Books.

• The Anabolic Solution for Powerlifters.
• The Anabolic Solution for Bodybuilders.
• The Metabolic Diet. Contains all the research.
• Free Abridged Versions. 80 pages of free content.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

The Simple Way. Use the next formula to calculate how many calories you need to eat per day to maintain your body-weight.

• Your body-weight in pounds x 18kcal = your daily caloric needs

So if you’re 200lbs, you’ll need 200×18 = 3600kcal/day to maintain your weight. Eat less/more to lose/gain weight. Extremes on both sides can lead to fat gains instead of muscle gains and muscle loss instead of fat loss.

The Cunningham Equation. The above formula isn’t accurate if you’re very light or big. And it doesn’t take into account activity levels, food choice and body fat. The Cunningham Equation works better since it uses:

• Lean Body Mass. Increasing your muscle mass increases the amount of calories you burn at rest and thus also your caloric needs.
• Food Choice. Protein has the highest thermic effect: your body burns more calories digesting proteins than carbs or fat.
• Activity Levels. You may weigh the same as your friend, but your caloric needs will be higher if you have a physical job and he has a desk job,

Forum member lovestolift has posted a guide to the Cunningham Equation and Rossi has posted a spreadsheet that calculates your daily caloric needs using the Cunningham Equation. Check these out and thank them.

Why Calories Aren’t The Key. There’s a lot of stress on controlling your calorie intake and portion size, but not enough on food choice. Calories aren’t made equal. Each macro has its qualities.

• Proteins. Satiate & makes you full longer. Help build & maintain muscle. Improve fat loss: your body burns more calories digesting proteins.
• Carbs. Promote fat gains: your body stores carbs as fat if your energy stores are full. And they make you hungry again faster.
• Fats. Satiate & make you full longer. Improve fat loss since your body stops holding fat when you eat healthy fats.
• Veggies. Fill your stomach but often contain “negative calories”: your body burns more calories digesting them than you get eating them.

That’s why a diet rich in proteins, healthy fats & veggies but lower in carbs will make you feel full longer and less hungry while improving fat loss and muscle gains. Check the 8 nutrition rules for an example of this kind of diet.

For fat loss or maintenance, counting calories is a waste of time. If you eat the right foods, you’ll never have to count calories. Just eat your stomach full every 3 hours with the right foods and you’ll get the results you’re after.

I do, however, recommend counting calories if you want to gain weight. Skinny people often think they eat a lot but don’t. Use Fitday to build awareness and keep track of a consistent caloric intake.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

But everyone tells you you’re crazy eating so many eggs. They tell you eggs are unhealthy because they’re full of cholesterol. You’ll clock your arteries and die if you continue. Sounds familiar? Truth or myth? Let’s see.

Why People Say Eating Lots of Eggs is Unhealthy. Eggs contain high amounts of cholesterol. 1 large egg has about 200mg cholesterol and 5g of fat. Almost half of that fat is saturated fat.

The logic is that since eggs are high in cholesterol, a high egg consumption will increase your blood cholesterol. So by cutting eggs from your diet, your blood cholesterol will decrease. This, however, isn’t how your body works.

Facts on Cholesterol. You can find studies showing that high cholesterol levels will make you live longer and more immune to infections & diseases than low cholesterol levels. More facts:

• Your Body Makes Cholesterol. Your liver makes 3-6x more cholesterol than you can get eating eggs and other animal products.
• Cholesterol is Vital To Your Body. You need it for the production of steroid hormones like Testosterone and to build & repair cells.
• Dietary Cholesterol Isn’t Bound to Blood Cholesterol. There’s no relation to cholesterol & saturated fat intake to higher cholesterol levels.

Benefits of Eating The Egg Yolk. Eating the yolk makes your life easier since you don’t have to separate it from the egg white each time. Eating the yolk is also healthier for 3 reasons:

• More Vitamins. The yolk is full of vitamins A, D, E. Vitamin D is especially important since most people lack vitamin D.
• Twice The Protein. Eating whole eggs doubles the protein intake you’d get eating egg whites only: the yolk contains half the protein.
• Increased Testosterone Levels. Saturated fat and cholesterol increase testosterone production. Both are heavily present in the egg yolk.

How to Protect Yourself Against Heart Diseases. This is the real concern people have regarding cholesterol. Some things you can do.

• Lose Fat. People with high cholesterol usually have excess body fat. Read the article on fat loss and apply.
• Exercise. This will make you lose fat and improve your health. Check StrongLifts 5×5 if you don’t know where to start.
• Eat Healthy. No more junk food, sodas, artificial trans-fats and refined sugars. Apply the 8 nutrition rules.
• Get Antioxidants. Like berries and green tea. These keep your LDL particles acting normal, preventing blockage in arteries.
• Relax. Stress can negatively influence your cholesterol levels. Relax, take breaks, exercise, think positive, …
• Avoid Drugs. Cholesterol lowering drugs are harmful to your liver in the long-term and useless if you don’t eat healthier, exercise and lose fat.

If you tried the above and your cholesterol levels haven’t improved, then maybe you’re part of the minority of the population who’s genetically predisposed.

Weston Price vs. China Study. If you paid attention, you’ll have noticed that the nutritional advice on StrongLifts.com is inline with Weston Price’s studies. Which is: omnivore diet with lots of veggies & quality animal products.

The China Study, however, claims correlation between consumption of animal products & diseases of affluence like cancer or heart diseases. They’ll advice you vegetarianism or even veganism.

I’ve chosen my camp. Choose yours. Educate yourself, make your own decision on what you’ll believe & apply and experiment.

More Reading. Here are some books & articles on cholesterol, saturated fat and coronary heart disease that I recommend you to check out.

• The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony De Celpo.
• Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
• Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravsnkov
• The Benefits of High Cholesterol by Uffe Ravnskov.
• Cholesterol: Friend or Foe? by Natasha Campbell-McBride

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

This is normal. Avoiding carbs for 12 days forces your body to use fat for energy. The more carbs you were eating before and the heavier you are, the harder the transition from using carbs to fat for energy will be.

You’ll feel better by the time your first carb loading comes. 3-4 weeks into the Anabolic Diet, you’ll be fully adapted and feel better. In the meanwhile, here 7 things you’ll experience your first weeks on the Anabolic Diet.

1. Carb Cravings. The more carbs you were eating before starting the Anabolic Diet, the stronger you’ll crave for carbs. Tips:

• Don’t Eat Carbs. Carb cravings are a self-fulfilling prophecy: don’t eat carbs and the cravings will stop. Make the decision & stick to it. Fill your stomach with other foods and flavor your meals so you enjoy them.
• Count Days Off. Count the days off until your carb loading days (should be weekends). And when those days come, eat all the carbs you craved for. You’ll be happy it’s back to no carbs on Monday.

2. Diarrhea. Fat softens your stool. Your bowels must adapt to the change of diet. Diarrhea is common the first week on the Anabolic Diet. Drink enough water to prevent dehydration & eat green veggies.

3. Constipation. Most people don’t eat enough veggies. So they get their fiber from carbs. Since you’re not eating carbs for 5 days on the Anabolic Diet, you must get your fiber from elsewhere. Tips:

• Green Veggies. Dark, leafy vegetables are high in fiber. Eat spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, …
• Ground Flax Seeds. 1 or 2 tablespoons per day will provide you with enough fiber. Grind them for optimal absorption.
• Drink Water. Fiber binds to water. Drink 1 cup water on waking up, 2 cups with each meal and sip water while you train.

4. Weight Loss. Carbs hold water. Avoiding carbs for days will drain water out of your muscles. 5-10lbs weight loss the 1st week is common. Realize the bulk of this weight loss is water, not muscle or fat.

You’ll look skinny & flat in the mirror. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get the opposite effect after the carb loading days. And after 3-4 weeks on the Anabolic Diet this yo-yo effect will be less pronounced.

5. Irritability. Avoiding carbs for 12 days stops the production of serotonin, a chemical which elevates your mood. Expect irritability the first weeks.

6. Hunger. Fat satiates and makes you feel full longer. So you shouldn’t be hungry on the Anabolic Diet. 2 tips if you are:

• Get Your Calories. If you want to lose weight: wait until you’re 4 weeks in to the Anabolic Diet. Use the Cunningham Equation to determine your calorie needs. Read this post.
• Eat Veggies & Drink Water. An empty stomach will make you think that you’re hungry all the time. Make sure you eat veggies with all meals and drink enough water.

7. Low Energy. Avoiding carbs forces your body to use fat for energy. This can make you feel as if having the flu: sleepy, tired, weak, lethargic, … Eat enough food and consider dropping the intensity of your workouts (deload).

Persist. All of the above won’t last more than 1-2 weeks. You’ll feel much better after the first carb loading. And then you’ll be rolling on the Anabolic Diet. Count 3-4 weeks to be fully adapted to the Anabolic Diet.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.