Getting leaner made simple - The new and improved shake diet

Ok so I've had a few requests to talk about the shake diet I use from time to time to lose bodyfat.

I've talked about it before but we can cover it again.  I had plans on implementing it following the meet, however I am going to hold off for a bit and just eat "healthy" and "normally" until I feel the need to make a change.

The shake diet is pretty simple.  You use 3-4 meal replacements a day, and eat 2 meals.

I advise meal replacements because there are still some carbs in them, and I like the make up of MRP's better for a shake heavy diet than just pure protein shakes.

When I ran the shake diet in the past, I would eat breakfast and dinner usually.  So my day of eating usually looked like this...

Non-Training Day

Breakfast - 3 whole eggs with turkey and cheese

Lunch - MRP

Snack - MRP

Pre-Training - Creatine loading formula (this has carbs in it in the form of simple sugars)

Post-workout - Dinner - Usually lean meat with fruits and veggies.

2 hours after dinner - MRP

This worked well for me, and I have used it several times.  However I believe there are some ways to improve the shake diet quite a bit.

I don't do carb cycling because it's too damn complex IMO.  I am not a bodybuilder, however I do have periods where I desire to lean up quite a bit and get into the 8-10% bodyfat range and look/feel better.

However I do believe that carb cycling has a lot of merit.  I believe this because low carb sucks donkey nuts and you lose a lot of strength and feel like total shit when you cut carbs too low for too long.

You can use a carb cycling approach with the shake diet very easily.

On workout days make the following adjustments -

Breakfast - 5-6 egg whites with turkey and lowfat cheese (so drop the yolks)
Add 1 cup of oatmeal with cinnamon

Pre-workout - Have 2 slices of rye bread with organic jelly and 1 cup of cottage cheese with pineapple or strawberries

Post-Workout - Have MRP in 2 cups of skim milk

Eat a light dinner two hours later.  4-6 ounces of chicken and a salad for example.  

This bumps up carbs and drops some fat, which should give you some energy for lifting days.  The rye bread with cottage cheese is going to be a permanent staple in my diet from now on.  I rarely had bad workouts due to energy when doing this.  

On non lifting days, you won't have any pre-workout meal and you'll add the whole eggs back in at breakfast, and drop the oatmeal.  So non lifting days would look just like the earlier version but without pre-workout creatine drink.

As far as picking MRP's, I usually go with Met-Rx.  I like the taste and I can usually find it cheap somewhere.  I would go with Labrada but generally it's more expensive.  I do like the taste and make up of the Labrada because it has more fiber, but if you're getting enough veggies in at dinner along with the oatmeal and rye bread on lifting days, you'll be fine.

This is NOT complicated.  Don't make it complicated by wondering "can I do this" "can I do that".  Just follow the plan and enjoy the rewards.

Length (and I'm not talking about your manhood) -

I generally run this for 6 weeks.  I do not cheat during this time.  There are no cheat days.  It's only 6 weeks so don't be a bitch about it.  It's 168 shakes.  One thing you can do is just buy 4, 40 pack boxes plus an 18 box one and lay 168 out in a big box.  When you go through the last one, you're done.  You won't eat anything that isn't on the menu for the entire 6 weeks.  So if it's not listed above, you can't eat it for the 6 weeks.

Benefits and Drawbacks -

This really all depends on you.  I can eat the same thing for months on end and feel fine.  So 6 weeks for me is nothing.  Some people get tired of a diet with the same foods after a week.  If you are the latter, this might be hard for you to do.

Also, 168 MRP's will cost a couple of dollars, but you probably spend that much on sex toys and porn and darth vader outfits over the course of the year so just cut one of those out, and get the MRP's.

The benefits are easy.  The plan is simple, and simple to follow.  There is variety with the lean meat at the dinner meal, and of course, you don't have to have breakfast and dinner as the food meals, you can swap those out for whatever you like (like breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner).  Again, don't make this overly complicated.  It's not.

Also counting calories is incredibly easy with it because you only have to worry about the two meals a day.  Takes the guess workout out of everything.

If you decide to run it, take some pics and let me know.  It works very well for shedding bodyfat and is simple and productive.

That's all folks.