More specifics on Poliquin/Serrano diet?

I’m trying to get some more specifics concerning the Poliquin, and apparently very similar Serrano, diet. I thought about buying “Manly Weight Loss” though all I’ve heard from reviews is that it is a Sportpharma advertisement and nothing is in it that isn’t already available on the net. Unfortunately I can’t find many specifics on the actual diet plan. From what I gather it’s about 60% protein, 30% fat and 10% carbs, the carbs coming from green beans? What is so magical about green beans btw? Also I see no mention of calories which supposedly poliquin doesn’t specify. I’ve gathered that you multiply your bodyweight x 1.5 for your protein intake. I weigh 210 so thats 315 grams or 1260 calories. So if I want that to be 60% of total calories then half of that would be 30% which is the ratio of fats I want. So that’s 630 calories of fat, or 70 grams. Then thats about 52 grams of carbs left to make 208(close enough to 210) calories. In total about 2100 calories which is near what I’m eating right now with an iso-caloric diet. So far as I can tell you follow this strictly and on every 5th day you can have a “free” carb meal. Then when you get to 8%bf or lower you can have a free day every 5th day. What constitutes the free meal? Any specific limit to amount and types of carbs? And should it be on a workout day and be the post workout meal?

So is what I’ve listed above basically correct? Also any specific times and ratios for certain meals? The carbs spread out between meals or only in the post workout meal? I know CP preaches about fish oil caps and flax oil as well so it’s obvious where he wants his fat to come from.

Also I've found a few places, including this site, that talks about the GBC training and I have a few questions about it as well. Since it's a full body workout is it safe to do it 2 days in a row using the 5 day split? Or should it be an every other day(MWF) workout? With no aerobics it seems that 3 days a week would not be enough but 2 days in a row of full body workouts doesn't sound either.

At any rate can someone fill in the blanks or point me in the right direction for the diet specifics? I’ve scoured the net, including searches on this forum, and that’s all that I’ve come up with. Sorry about all the questions but I’m trying to put it all together from various sources.

Poliquin recommends a 40/30/30 diet in his “Manly Weight Loss Book.” There’s a little more to explain though. He recommends eating 20% below maintanence. To prevent a decrease in your body temperture, he recommends cycling your calorie intake, specifically crunching down every third day. So if you normally require 2000 calories a day to cut down, you would eat 2000 on Monday, 2000 on Tuesday, then something like 1600 on Wednesday, then 2400 on Thursday (notice you make up the calories), then 2000 on Friday where you start the cycle again. Keep in mind, this book came out about two years ago and since then he’s come out w/ different approaches. In an interview published in the Peakhealth site (in which Dr. Serrano serves as a board member), he recommends an Atkins type diet for the first few weeks and then a Zone-type diet (40/30/30) the remaining weeks. Anyways, that’s just yet another approach. Anyways, after saying all that, don’t try to overresearch this (I got kind of dizzy reading your post). There’s no special diet that must go w/ GBC. I’ve used GBC in my cutting periods all the time and I’ve used all sorts. You can also use the T-Dawg diet, the Anabolic Diet, or the Fat Fast. Any diet that retains your protein or in which the supplements retains your lbm will do fine.

I can definitely help you with this one. I’ve done plenty of reading on Poliquins and Serrano’s diet recommendations, as well as attended Poliquins Seminar for fat loss. First off, referencewise check out Peakhealth, theres a 2 part interview with Poliquin where he gives the basics of the diet. Also check out the new June Muscular Development, the Poliquin Q&A has diet info for fat loss. This diet is for “Apples”, people who cant lose fat easily and store most fat in their stomach and chest area. The diet starts 25 days low carbs, except for up to 50g worth from Green beans and broccoli (see, nothing special about green beans). Protein only from lean sources, buffalo, ostrich, lean beef, chicken, etc. Protein at 2g per lb. of LEAN bodyweight. Says he never counts calories, but to keep track and write grams of protein to meet daily requirements. 2 salads a day (yuck, skipping that part) with lemon juice to lower to GI by 22%. Post-workout 50-60g whey with 30-40g L-Glutamine. Each meal have good fats, olive, CLA, pumpkinseed, flax. And 15 fish oil capsules a day. (btw, dale alexander’s are best, I’m using Sams version which is also good) NO OTHER CARBS. After 25 days, have one cheat day, all day, anything goes. Said it may help burn even more fat. Then 4 days low carb, 1 day high carb MEAL. Meal is the evening meal, can be anything and once its done, NO MORE CARBS. I’m starting this diet tomorrow to try to get ripped, so keep us updated, best of luck. BTW, Serrano’s recommendations vary for each person, this is more Poliquins diet. Poliquin will say GBC is all thats needed. He said GBC training 4x a week, not 3. MT,RF and doing the whole body will not overtrain you. Someone asked why and he just said it wont. Serrano is also a fan of NO low intensity cardio, but likes Interval training like sprints, etc. for fat loss. Oh, and Poliquin said at the seminar fat sometimes can go as high as 40-50% of calories. But i’m keeping mine lower. Also check out Beverly International which has a very similar approach although I doubt their supps are necessary to reach your goal. Good luck

As much as I like Poliquin’s stuff, I take his diet advice with a grain of salt. Sure, his athletes get great results but they’re obviously genetically superior and many probably use steroids. Makes me wonder about how well his stuff works for an average, natural person. No dis against CP, but something to think about.

i am interested in this diet also. would using a product like androsol be out of line with the diet. and could i use the ian king limping and series for the workouts.