Ok so im starting up the lean gains fasting diet and this is how i have it planned out. Keep in mind im in university so my timing seems odd.
Wake up at 830
Eat first Meal at Lunch (5 scrambled eggs + 1 cup of brocolli + protein shake + BCAAS + creatin)
Workout at 5 (More BCAAS before this + creatine )
Post workout 645-7pm ( cup of brown rice, 1 cup of veggies, and protein shake with 1tbs of olive oil)
Last meal at 10pm (cottage cheese/greek yogurt concoction i make with cinnamo and all natural PB)
My question is, am i eating enough and am i eating at the right times to initiate the fasting?
Remember it is 16 hours fast and 8 hours of overeating. So as long as you start and finish eating around the same time everyday then thats great. Your timing is not odd. Most people eat from 12/1pm until 8/9pm.
Your first meal looks fine - high protein (eggs and shake). But the BCAA are not necessary, you get this from your food.
How much do you weigh? What is your BF%? What are your goals? - this will determine if you are eating enough or not. Generally speaking you need abou 1.4 to 1.6 multiplied by your weight in lbs to maintain weight. So if you looking to gain weight then use 1.7 multiplied by you LBS to get a calorie starting point. If you looking to lose weight, then use 1.3. And adjust according to how your body responses.
So, your eating timing looks fine (just limit eating window to 8 hours)
Calories depend on goals. If you’ve never counted calories before, it’s not hard - do it for a few weeks and then you will instinctively know roughly what to eat to reach your calorie needs.
Remember you want to get the majority of your calories around and post gym. And you want high protein %. Your protein intake looks low (but I dont know what ur goals are). On training days have more carbs, on non training days substitute most of your carbs for good fats. This helps to trigger better fat loss
Good luck! Leangains, rocks! I’ve lost 7kgs of fat, and gained 4kgs of muscle in the past 2 months. Down to 12% BF, and with great muscle gain. It’s not for everyone, but give it a go!
I weigh 192 lbs and i wanna get leaner while maintaining muscle, and lunch would usually be at 12pm or 1pm. Would it hurt to consume a protein shake when i wake up, and a protein shake at every meal, before workout and after workout? I workout every second day too.
Dont have a protein shake in the morning! You must consume NO calories during the fasting perios: no sugar, no snacks, no milk… Just water and black coffee and sugar free gum.
Yes, add in as many protein shakes as you can OR increase your solid food protein sources. I personally have 4/5 protein shakes a day. I add in 3/4 raw eggs to my end of day protein shake. But I also eat piles of chicken, fish and steak!!
A high protein diet is a must for leangains! If you cant afford all the meat or find it a hard to cook so much, then, yes, have loads of protein shakes! No need to add in olive oil with those shakes unless u need the extra calories
Secondly, if you want to be spoon fed information I’ll save this thread becoming 15 pages long and tell you this:
Set yourself a protein goal, say ~1.5g / lb BW (190x1.5 = 285g protein). This is how much protein you should strive to eat everyday. You will not be able to eat this much protein from the two-shakes in your sample diet. Nor will you experience the results you could experience if you actually ate more whole food.
Okay, now do this:
8:30am: Wake-Up and don’t eat anything (that includes protein shakes, BCAAs, etc. i.e. THEY HAVE KCAL & THEREFORE COUNT AS EATING)
13:00-14:00pm: Breakast - 50-70g of protein (personally, I like meat) & 1-2 servings veg.
16:00-17:00pm: Train
17:00-22:00pm: This is where you structure your PW meal. You can eat as frequently as you want here but your goal would be to consume at least another 200g or so of protein (personally, I’m biased towards lean meat because it tastes awesome) and lots of veggies.
You will get all the protein and fat you need if you consume plenty of meat and perhaps a quality fish oil. Remainder of kcal go towards carbohydrates but you will have to experiment with how much are suitable for you.
On days you don’t train, reduce your carbohydrate intake and maybe increase your fats by eating more red meat.
Track your Calories and macronutrients and experiment. Experimentation is the only way to find what works for you.
t.bruce’s advice is spot on. Personally I add in a protein shake and bowl of oats before gym, and the same post gym, then followed by a protein heavy meal with veggies. But on non training days I drop the oats and have very few carbs at all.
Try work your way through ALL the articles on the leangains website - you will get a lot of extra info there
1pm - 5 eggs, protein shake, BCAA, piece of fruit
4pm - Protein shake, cup of oats
5pm - workout
630pm - chicken breast, cup of rice, veg, protein shake
9pm - 2tbs of natrual PB + cottage cheese.
Fast begins.
that looks good, though the BCAAs are redundant if you’re eating protein sources at the same time. Save your BCAAS for when you weight train fasted. On another note, the originator of this program discourages using protein powder advocates only ‘chewing your food’, since protein powder is an easy way to get calories in and may prove counterproductive to losing weight. But if it turns out not to be an issue for you, then it’s nothing to worry about.
Just keep a record of starting weight and BF%, and what you are eating. Then you have a basis from which to make adjustment (increasing or decreasing calories, or upping protein etc).
And dont waste the BCAA with food. If you decide to train in the morning once in a while - have 10 grams before gym and 10 grams after… and then wait until lunch time. But adding them in with first meal is just a waste.
