| Rating the fat loss diets
This rating is for EFFECTIVENESS for fastest fat loss for MOST lifters. Please note I said MOST lifters. Some people do better on different approaches. As an extreme example Jay Cutler has traditionally leaned out on amounts of carbs that would get most people fat as hell. So while you can certainly say that a high carb approach to dieting works best for Jay Cutler, it may not have much relevance for YOU.
1. Full keto diet. This means do carbs for at least 5-6 days in a row then either 1-2 days carb-ups or for some approaches 1-2 meals carb-ups.
2. Timed carb diet. This is done by eating no carbs until POST-WORKOUT then having your post-workout carbs. On non-training days no carbs are eaten. 1-2 days of carbs are done—usually on the weekends. This makes the diet socially friendly.
3. ½ day timed carb diet. Carbs are only eaten for part of the day. This can be either in the morning and cutting them off at noon. Or eating them PWO and for dinner at night. This diet is easy to do for most people as you only have to go ½ of the day without your beloved carbs.
4. Carb cycling is varying the days and amounts of carbs and overall calories. It is effective, can be used to gain mass while losing bodyfat, and is reasonably easy to do from a mental standpoint. The downside is it can be fairly complex to setup and follow.
5. Iso-Caloric diet. This is a diet with a 40/30/30, or 33/33/33 protein/carb/fat split. This diet works well to lean people out to about 12% or so as insulin levels are blunted. It is also very easy to do.
6. Low fat, low calorie high carb diet. This diet will result in decent scale weight decreases. For the average person the problem is for every pound lost ½ will be muscle mass. Thus the lifter may end up losing 20 lbs and will still be too fat and will usually look worse because the fat to muscle ratio went down.
There are other approaches to fat loss diets out there. But these are the ones I use, and are very common.
Notes about this rating. These diets are listed in the order or effectiveness and also in my experience with a LOT of trainees, the order of difficulty to do. Most people simply lack the discipline to do a full keto. If that is the case they should do a timed carb. If that is too difficult they should do a ½ day carb diet. If you are knowledgeable enough to cycle carbs, this can be a great approach. If that doesn’t work, do an iso-caloric diet. I simply do not recommend a low fat high carb diet to the average person as the muscle loss is too significant. But…….some people actually do hold onto muscle well doing them so I will never say they can’t work. Just that the odds are against it.
Your mileage may vary.
Iron Addict |