This is my second time doing the V-Diet. I did the diet back in October '06 and I ended up losing ~25lbs. However, this time around has been very ineffective. I’m not really sure what the deal is. I’m currently on Day 10 and I haven’t lost any weight at all.
It seems like the diet has been really easy so far. Have I just become accustomed to the diet? I’ve been doing a lot of mild cardio.
Currently I’m hitting 6 shakes a day (2xMD each), 20 fish oil caps on non-workout days, and on workout days I replace a drink with surge after the workout. I’ve also been having a tbsp of peanut butter every day for the fat content.
As far as a workout I’ve been hitting the “Art of Waterbury” workout set and I’ve really enjoyed it.
I’ll keep sticking it out. So far just a little discouraging.
Stats:
Height: 6’3"
Weight: 225lbs
Body Fat: ~16-18%
Any insights would be appreciated.
I think it could be one of two things.
First of all you say your doing a “ton of light cardio”.
Chris Shugart specifically states not to do much more than approximately 3 miles of fasted walking each morning.
If you’re burning too many cals from your cardio then you’ll be on way too big a calorie defecit so the diet won’t work as well as you’re effectively starving yourself.
Secondly it could be that your making lean muscle gains on the workout your doing.
Are you measuring fat loss and measurements rather than relying purely on scale weight?
Personally I think it could be the former of the 2 suggestions.
If you want the diet to work as it should, simply stick to Shug’s guidelines.
There’s a reason he writes articles on here and not us, he knows what he’s doing and why he’s doing it.
PS - Drink a ton of water as well, that could help.
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Define “a lot of mild cardio” - which is not recommended, BTW. A walk a day is all you need; this is a “no cardio” diet.
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Why peanut butter AND 20 fish oil caps? The PB rec was only for those using Flameout and needing to make up fat/calories. Looks like a couple of hundred excess cals right there.
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What are your calorie numbers? Did you change the numbers based on your new weight or did you use your old V-Diet calorie numbers?
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What other supplements are you using? Did you include HOT-ROX as suggested? Milled flax?
Since you lost 25 pounds with the diet already, I would not expect another 25 this go-around, but yes, you should be losing some. Answer those Q’s and maybe we can figure it out.
- For the cardio I have been two fasted walks a day. The first being in the morning after HOT-ROX and no drink. This one is a 30 minute fast paced walk, or a 30 minute slow bike, or 30 minutes on a low setting on the elliptical.
I do my second after the HOT-ROX in the afternoon right before having another drink. This is the same as the morning however sometimes I do 30 minutes sometimes I do an hour.
So its probably an overstatement to say that I do a “ton” of cardio. Just feels like it because I never do cardio.
2-3) So here is my calorie numbers I calculated. (New as of this diet)
Min: 1587
Max: 1904
Non-Workout Days:
12 Scoops Protein
2x4 HOT-ROX
20 Fish Oil Caps
10 Servings Benefiber
Totals:
1598 Calories
252g Protein
36g Carbs
Workout Days:
10 Scoops Protein
1 Serving of Surge (3 scoops)
2x4 HOT-ROX
10 Servings Benefiber
2 tbsp Peanut Butter
Totals:
1720 Calories
243g Protein
83g Carbs
The reason I have been playing with the Peanut butter more is because I’m hitting the lower end of the Calorie ranges and I want to play it safe by not going too low.
- I have been using HOT-ROX. I have not been using the flax seed. I have been using benefiber in terms of fiber. However, I only used Flax for a week last time, so I’m not sure if thats the problem?
I know it would be naive of me to think I can lose another 25. However, I was hoping to lose about 15. I think that this diet has been awesome for me in the past and maybe I’m just being to critical but I do feel like its helping me out a bit this time as well.
Thanks for all your feedback. Let me know if I should change up anything.
Assuming you weight ~230-50 pounds based on protein intake.
Why <50 g fat per day? Lorena Bobbit can’t fit you in for an appointment? At first glance I’d up those… Replacing Peanut Butter with Flax Seed Oil or Flameout…
Also, what are your weightlifting workouts looking like? Personally, I think these are one of the most critical components. The cardio is supposed to be light, when you get to the gym you need to hit the iron like there’s no tomorrow and put everything you’ve got into it.
[quote]bitenose wrote:
Assuming you weight ~230-50 pounds based on protein intake.
Why <50 g fat per day? Lorena Bobbit can’t fit you in for an appointment? At first glance I’d up those… Replacing Peanut Butter with Flax Seed Oil or Flameout…
Also, what are your weightlifting workouts looking like? Personally, I think these are one of the most critical components. The cardio is supposed to be light, when you get to the gym you need to hit the iron like there’s no tomorrow and put everything you’ve got into it.[/quote]
Well if I replace the peanut buttter with flax then I still don’t have a lot of fat. So I’m still at somewhat of a loss. Am I doing too much cardio?
As far as the workout I have been hitting the weights pretty hard and giving it the best I can. I work out 3-4 times a week after my afternoon cardio.
If you have any other suggestions let me know.
Were you on a restricted carb diet before you went on the v-diet? If this is the case, then you don’t have any glycogen/water to lose and all your weight loss will be fat, so your first week losses should be minimal.
Give it another week, work your butt off, and report back to us.
Also, if the rest of your life is really hectic and stressful, try to find a way to balance that out and reduce the stress.