Leangains IF apporach

Hi guys

So I have just read the 340 odd pages of Ori Hofmekler's Warrior diet and while he raised many interest points pertaining to the principle of IF, I feel that his version of the IF diet is more geared to the general population looking to look lean and trim and follow a generally healthy lifestyle. However, I feel that this approach is generally not suited for the fitness enthusiast/aspiring bodybuilder who is looking for serious and definitive changes to their physique which can surely only be brought about by counting calories and also timing nutrient intake.

In my research, I stumbled upon Martin Berkhan s Leangains IF approach which I felt was more tailored to the general dieting needs of a fitness enthusiast. while Berkham goes into some detail about the methodology of the diet, I found little information regarding what sample meals plans and what food groups can and cannot be consumed on the diet. In this regard, I was wondering if anyone followed the leangains approach, or a similarly constructed IF diet, and let me know which foods they consider taboo (I am referring to products such as dairy, fruit and wholegrain breads here) and whether they also incorporate some form of caloric cycling when adopting this approach.

Very interested to get some feedback on this issue.

Thanks in advance everyone!!!

For all intents and purposes, I have been using the LeanGains IF protocol for the past 1.5 months and have had some good success. Tried starting it in Nov but fell off the wagon during December break so started properly in Jan. Given my relatively short period on this approach, I am by no means an expert but I am happy to share whats been working for me.

I'd like to say upfront that I am a convert: I've lost a helluva lost of weight in a short period of time without losing much strength. Previously i struggled to stick to a diet but with this I don't feel like I'm too restricted.

What I really like about the approach is the fact that it fits in well with my lifestyle compared to the 6 meal a day approach. I'm not a big breakfast eater so fasting in the morning is no big deal. What I would advise is start with your eating beginning at 11am and then moving it up higher if you gym in the evenings and eat supper after that. Reason being is that initially it was tough fasting any later but now I am comfortable with a 1pm to 9pm window.

Depending on what you wanna do, there are 3 approaches to follow: Cut, Lean Bulk and Recomp. I started off on a cut but now that I am at my ideal weight (btwn 90 and 92kgs), I am currently making the transition to the Recomp approach.

Carb Cycling
With all approaches, you cycle your carbs and fats but keep protein fairly high (about 1.8g per kg but you can keep it higher if you prefer).

Low fats (25% of remaining calories after protein amount) and high carbs (75% of remaining calories) on workout. Try to get most of your carbs and calories post work out (but still get your carbs for your pre workout meal else you'll suffer at gym!). For example, if I train after work, my supper and shake I take prior to the end of my eating window is usually greater than 50% of my calorie needs.

On non workout days, its high fats (75% of remaining calories) and low carbs (25% of remaining calories). If the level of low carbs becomes too restrictive, increase it abit. Dont stress over it.

For a end of eating window shake, I like to have some casein protein, milk, oats and bananna blended up.

Calorie cycling
This is where the difference between Cut, Lean Bulk and Recomp comes in. For Cut, use 10% less than maintenance calories on workout days and -30% on non-workout days. For Lean Bulk, i think its 30% above maintenance on training days and 10% above maintenance on non training. For Recomp, +20% above maintenance on training days and -20% on non training days. For the purposes of determining a training day, I consider a non deload weight session to be a training day and cardio only/deload day a non-training day.

Hope this helps. For any more info, check on Martins website or check this out as well, found it useful:
rippedbody.jp/

Anyways, its 1pm so time to start eating!

Bruno wrote: For all intents and purposes, I have been using the LeanGains IF protocol for the past 1.5 months and have had some good success. Tried starting it in Nov but fell off the wagon during December break so started properly in Jan. Given my relatively short period on this approach, I am by no means an expert but I am happy to share whats been working for me.

I'd like to say upfront that I am a convert: I've lost a helluva lost of weight in a short period of time without losing much strength. Previously i struggled to stick to a diet but with this I don't feel like I'm too restricted.

What I really like about the approach is the fact that it fits in well with my lifestyle compared to the 6 meal a day approach. I'm not a big breakfast eater so fasting in the morning is no big deal. What I would advise is start with your eating beginning at 11am and then moving it up higher if you gym in the evenings and eat supper after that. Reason being is that initially it was tough fasting any later but now I am comfortable with a 1pm to 9pm window.

Depending on what you wanna do, there are 3 approaches to follow: Cut, Lean Bulk and Recomp. I started off on a cut but now that I am at my ideal weight (btwn 90 and 92kgs), I am currently making the transition to the Recomp approach.

Carb Cycling
With all approaches, you cycle your carbs and fats but keep protein fairly high (about 1.8g per kg but you can keep it higher if you prefer).

Low fats (25% of remaining calories after protein amount) and high carbs (75% of remaining calories) on workout. Try to get most of your carbs and calories post work out (but still get your carbs for your pre workout meal else you'll suffer at gym!). For example, if I train after work, my supper and shake I take prior to the end of my eating window is usually greater than 50% of my calorie needs.

On non workout days, its high fats (75% of remaining calories) and low carbs (25% of remaining calories). If the level of low carbs becomes too restrictive, increase it abit. Dont stress over it.

For a end of eating window shake, I like to have some casein protein, milk, oats and bananna blended up.

Calorie cycling
This is where the difference between Cut, Lean Bulk and Recomp comes in. For Cut, use 10% less than maintenance calories on workout days and -30% on non-workout days. For Lean Bulk, i think its 30% above maintenance on training days and 10% above maintenance on non training. For Recomp, +20% above maintenance on training days and -20% on non training days. For the purposes of determining a training day, I consider a non deload weight session to be a training day and cardio only/deload day a non-training day.

Hope this helps. For any more info, check on Martins website or check this out as well, found it useful:
rippedbody.jp/

Anyways, its 1pm so time to start eating!

Hey Bruno

Appreciate the time and effort you have put into your response. It is amazingly helpful. also, please accept some well deserved karma. would you mind posting your diet for a non-traing day vs training day?

thanks in advance bud

Hey welcome back GSP - hope you are keeping well.

I lost my initial weight using a simple IF principle of two meals within an 8 hour period (11am - 7pm) - this purely due to the fact that it suited my lifestyle. I tracked calories religiously and generally tried to keep macro's at 40/40/20. I did not opt for any special foods bar oats and whey as I wanted to eat what my wife cooked for supper. On days that what she made was high carb or meals lacking in protein, I ate less of that meal and supplemented with whey to get close to my macro's.

I agree, it's a bit of a slapgat approach, but I wasn't looking for a quick fix, but something I could replicated month in month out. I appeased my hunger pangs with copies quantities of coffee and low fat milk (accounted for in calorie tracking)

Logic says to me that a typical diet tailored to your macro's should deliver good results with IF.

If I was a competitive athlete or competing bodybuilder I would experiment with other protocols as typically found in the dieting stickies as those are tried and tested methods.

Footnote:
I tried using IF during my beginners bulking cycle and battled to consume my caloric requirements in only two meals so will opt for a 6 meal a day approach for bulking.

Thanks and no problem!

Training Day (target about 2,800 calories)

1pm: Meal 1: 60g Oats + 100g yoghurt + Egg Protein shake in Milk
2:30 pm: Meal 2: 1 tin tuna or half a tub cottage cheese + 8 brown crackers
4pm: Meal 3: 200gram Chicken breasts + 200gram Veg (stirfry or brocolli/cabbage)
5:30-7pm train then Whey powder in water afterwards.
7:30pm: Supper: Varies but basic is the same: High Protein + Carbs. Yesterday was 300g lamb chops + 1 sweet potatoe + 1 cup brown rice
9pm: 1 scoop raw casein powder, 1 cup milk, 60g oats, 1 bananna all blended + 1 tblspoon omega 3:6:9 oil

Non training days (target just under 2000 calories)
1pm: Meal 1: All bran flakes + milk
2:30pm: Meal 2: 1 tin tuna + 2 cracker bread/toast
4:pm: Meal 3: Half tub cottage cheese + 2 cracker bread/toast
7pm: Supper: High Protein, low carb - Some form fatty meat/chicken/fish + some Broccolli or Cabbage
9pm: 1 scoop raw casein powder, 1 cup milk, 1 bananna all blended + 1 tablespoon omega 3:6:9 oil

Sometimes I get my fat/carb mix wrong but I don't stress too much about it. Also sometime I struggle to get all that food post workout and I end up having my last meal at 9:30/10pm...again I don't stress about it. LeanGains is supposed to be able to fit your lifestyle in order for it to be sustainable and effective.

FatBoy wrote: Hey welcome back GSP - hope you are keeping well.

I lost my initial weight using a simple IF principle of two meals within an 8 hour period (11am - 7pm) - this purely due to the fact that it suited my lifestyle. I tracked calories religiously and generally tried to keep macro's at 40/40/20. I did not opt for any special foods bar oats and whey as I wanted to eat what my wife cooked for supper. On days that what she made was high carb or meals lacking in protein, I ate less of that meal and supplemented with whey to get close to my macro's.

I agree, it's a bit of a slapgat approach, but I wasn't looking for a quick fix, but something I could replicated month in month out. I appeased my hunger pangs with copies quantities of coffee and low fat milk (accounted for in calorie tracking)

Logic says to me that a typical diet tailored to your macro's should deliver good results with IF.

If I was a competitive athlete or competing bodybuilder I would experiment with other protocols as typically found in the dieting stickies as those are tried and tested methods.

Footnote:
I tried using IF during my beginners bulking cycle and battled to consume my caloric requirements in only two meals so will opt for a 6 meal a day approach for bulking.

Fatboy, I 100% agree with you about getting all that calories in during a bulk: I struggle to get all my post workout calories into 1.5hours. Not sure if I'll be able to handle a lean bulk (if I ever do it) in a 8hour window...will probably end up stretching it to 10hours.

Black Coffee, Green tea and plenty of water in the morning is what i use for me to stretch to 1pm. Keeping busy also helps ALOT!

With respect to eating what the wife made for supper, that was pretty easy for me: got her to do LeanGains with me :lol:

FatBoy wrote: Hey welcome back GSP - hope you are keeping well.

I lost my initial weight using a simple IF principle of two meals within an 8 hour period (11am - 7pm) - this purely due to the fact that it suited my lifestyle. I tracked calories religiously and generally tried to keep macro's at 40/40/20. I did not opt for any special foods bar oats and whey as I wanted to eat what my wife cooked for supper. On days that what she made was high carb or meals lacking in protein, I ate less of that meal and supplemented with whey to get close to my macro's.

I agree, it's a bit of a slapgat approach, but I wasn't looking for a quick fix, but something I could replicated month in month out. I appeased my hunger pangs with copies quantities of coffee and low fat milk (accounted for in calorie tracking)

Logic says to me that a typical diet tailored to your macro's should deliver good results with IF.

If I was a competitive athlete or competing bodybuilder I would experiment with other protocols as typically found in the dieting stickies as those are tried and tested methods.

Footnote:
I tried using IF during my beginners bulking cycle and battled to consume my caloric requirements in only two meals so will opt for a 6 meal a day approach for bulking.

Hey fatboy Been good mate, although a combination of my herniated spinal disk, lots of traveling, minimal training and the backed of the festive season has somewhat wiped away much of the results I got off my carb cycling diet. Nonetheless, I am down to 78kg which is the lowest I've been in nine years. However, a lot of muscle was sacrificed along the way as well. Very keen on getiting onto the IF diet to practicality if the system. However, I have questions regarding per and post workout nutrition and the use of whey protein, in addition to the inclusion of fruit and dairy to the diet. Nonetheless, I am amped to get started, so I am contemplating putting a log together to track my progress.

Hey GSP, what's your progress so far, how are you finding IF?

I recently read Eat-Stop-Eat (nice explanation of the benefits of IF) and started IF yesterday doing on the Lean Gains approach (out of curiosity, I have had good success with CKD and regular calorie deficient diets previously).

So far it's been surprisingly easy - just lots of liquids.