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SLINGSHOT BODY FAT LOSS DIET PLAN
Important Note: This diet is to be used in conjunction with the Slingshot Cutting Routine!
The Slingshot Cutting Diet entails 2 phases- phase-1 (4-8 weeks of carb cycling) phase 2 (4-8 weeks of ketosis). Begin your Slingshot Cutting diet with 4-8 weeks of carb cycling and then progress to 4-8 weeks of ketosis. This produces a Slingshot Effect and prevents the body from adapting!!! During the first phase of the diet when carbs are being consumed it's recommended to do shorter burst of higher intensity cardio in conjunction with weight training to burn off excess glygocen. Obviously, this more intense form of cardio would not be employed on leg or back training days. Five-six days per week max on moderately/high intensity cardio! It burns more total carb calories than lower intensity aerobic work such as one daily 60 minute sessions at a much easier workload which uses primarily fatty acids for fuel. During the last 6-8 week of the dieting phase (where no carbs are consumed so you can stay in ketosis) you would switch over to low/moderate intensity cardio with more frequent and longer cardio sessions. Upwards of 7 days per week and twice a day if needed but once a day will suffice for most. High intensity cardio uses carbs for energy and when in ketosis higher intensity cardio burns muscle (gluconeosis). Lower intensity cardio burns fatty acids and stored body fat for fuel. Cardio should be performed at a low intensity (around 120-130 bpm heart rate or 70% max heart rate). This will ensure that you use fat as a fuel source because as your heart rate goes up, carbs become the desired fuel for your body. In addition, weight training volume may have to be reduced during this period where ketones are being used as a fuel source as opposed to glycogen. When the body is in ketosis the nervous system gets fatigued more easily and the muscles don’t want to fire.
Note: Over time the body grows accustomed to diets (keto and carb cycling) and various forms of cardio (low and high intensity). Therefore, it's best to alternate carb cycling and high intensity cardio with a ketogenic diet and lower intensity cardio. Clenbuterol is a much better and safer fat burner than ephedrine so my advice to you is use clen instead of ephedrine. However, if you do want to use ephedrine, a good plan is to use ephedrine or stimulant based fat burners only when carbs are in the diet since it wil raise cortisol levels and then change over to clenbuterol when in ketosis. On a long term diet one can alternate back and forth betwen each protocol every 4-8 weeks if desired or use the clen straight through with t-3. Using clen straight through is superior!
Going into ketosis is a great diet plan for maintaining muscle during the second part of a dieting phase because insulin levels must be at a minimum to obtain the shredded look. With carb cycling the body can look for glucose in a severe caloric/carb deficit! When no glucose is available, the body has to create it's own. The only way the body can create glucose is by converting amino acids-hence the breaking down of your muscle tissue! With the keto diet your body looks for fatty acids in a severe caloric deficit. When no fatty acids are available through diet, the body has to create them. The only way the body can create fatty acids is by converting stored adipose tissue for fuel. This means stipping off some body fat for energy needs when eating enough protein to spare muscle. However, you can also lose muscle while in ketosis so the biggest advantage of hittting ketosis is to stabilize blood sugar levels and keep up your strength to train while burning off maximum body fat during the finale of the diet phase -hence more muscle retained.
As a baseline you can eat 60% protein and 40 fats. Those with a faster metaboolic rate may need more than 40% of their diet composed of fats! The faster the metabolism the more calories from fats will be required to prevent muscle loss. No one needs more than 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight in ketosis. In additon, I would not go below 150 carbs per day or so during the first part of the dieting phase (carb cycling) due to blood sugar crashes. There's no value in carb cycling if youre bodyis fighting to go into ketosis all day long. It will turn you against dieting down in short order! Let your body hit lipolysis at night when you are a sleep during the carb cyling phase. This occurs by cutting off carbs later in the day and not going over board earlier. The whole purpose of entering a state of ketosis is to stabilize blood sugar levels once you reach the point of needing to strip off any remaining bodyfat left from the carb cycling phase. Once the brain begins using ketones (produced from fats) for fuel instead of glycogen (produced from carbs) you will feel better and stop craving carbs. This means no more severe blood sugar crashes! Those who lose muscle on a keto diet do so because they do not take in enough dietary fats and/or calories to support their basal metabolic rate. You must keep dietary fats high enough to prevent muscle loss and also keep protein high enough so muscle loss will not occur when fat intake gets low. Once you hit ketosis the carb cravings will diminish. You will then crave fats because that will be your new fuel source. Do not mistake going flat as msucle loss because once carbs are re-introduced the muscle swell up fast-bascially changing you into a different looking person over night!
Phase 1 of Slingshot diet-"Carb/Calorie Cycling":
A recent report showed that taking carbs down to 100 per day burned away almost as much bodyfat as being in a state of ketosis but most experience blood sugar crashes with such low levels of carbs because the body will be fighting to entering ketosis. Carb cycling is the superior way to "lose bodyfat" during the beginning of a diet phase. Keeping carbs/calories in check 5 days per week is the best way for all somatotypes to either add some lean muscle and lose ugly bodyfat. Eating less carbs/calories 5 days per week helps you lose unwanted body fat but you’ll need to increase carbs/calories twice a week to encourage your body to burn more body fat for fuel. I realize some of you are unaware that increasing caloric and carb intake twice a week will actually help prevent the build-up of adipose tissue, but it does! The body responds in a positive manner when 2 non-consecutive carb/calories up days are included each week. It does so by driving up anabolic hormones and increasing thyroid hormone output-hence speeding up the metabolism and increasing lean muscle mass. When carbs and calories are constantly kept low, your body adapts and the metabolism slows down. Insulin is needed for muscle repair and it prevent catabolism. Keeping carbs under control for too long will sabotage muscle gains and your body’s fat burning potential since muscle burns calories. ( A great approoach is to use a 3 low-1 high-2 low-1 high carb/calorie rotation). Monday-low, Tuesday-low, Wednesday-high (carbs clean on the first carb/calorie up day (day 3), Thursday-low, Friday-low, Saturday-high (cheat day), Sunday-low. Add in some junk food carbs like pizza on the second carb up day (day 6 Saturday). I recommend increasing calories through carbs by around 500 (150 carb grams) on the first carb up day, (for i.e. Wednesday) and increasing both carbs and fats to total around 2000 calories (300 carb grams and 30-100 fat grams) during the second carb/ calorie up (cheat day), (for i.e. Saturdays). (Keep in mind that a carb up day and a cheat day are not one in the same)! Factor in how much cheating you should allow on cheat days and stay within your limits. At the end of the low carb days, your energy levels will drop, but the high carb days will rejuvenate your energy levels and get you ready to train for a few more days before becoming depleted once again. By adding in the additional fats during the cheat meal it helps pull glycogen into the muscles! You can have Pizza, Mexican food, hamburger/fries etc on cheat days. The extra sugar and calories is going to boost your metabolism, make you sharper in regards to your diet the rest of the week and give you something to look forward to-“big-time”. You have to be disciplined but you need one day each week to look forward to where you can ease the cravings for junk food. By night-time your muscles will be absolutely full and vascular from all the extra glycogen stored in the muscles. Focus on making the first calorie/carb up day a clean eating day full of complex carbs and have some junk food like pizza for a couple of meals during the second calorie/carb up day (considered a cheat day). A good plan is to have one calorie/carb up day the day after training legs because that’s when you’ll find your self the hungriest. IMO it's the absolute best day for the cheat meal! The upper back muscles and legs are very demanding train, so I always need a carb up day the following day. By using this approach you will kill two birds with one stone. If you are no longer losing fat, simply increase cardio and/or decrease daily calories by 300-500. Make these caloric decreases every 7-14 days if need be until your fat loss goals are met. Aim to subtract calories or add as needed till you achieve your desired 1-2 pound fat loss per week. No cheat meals are allowed 6 weeks prior to a peaking date, only a second weekly carb up meal.
Phase 2 of Slingshot Diet-"Ketosis":
Ketosis: You will need to enter into a state of ketosis by consuming around 40 grams of carbs or less per day, 6 days per week, is the last phase. I would advise not staying in ketosis past 8 weeks in length because it's too hard on the body. On your 1 weekly carb up day around 200-600 grams (dependant upon metabolism). A good approach is 1-2 carb up meals once a week replenish glycogen levels. Have those meals later in the day to prevent going overboard! A good long term plan for those of you doing several competitions each year is to follow the Slingshot carb cycling diet phase- (5- low)- (2 high) then go into ketois only as needed when the show approaches. On every sunday or saturday each week (only 1 designated carb up day a week) you get to carb up during the last 1-2 meals with ketosis. Waiting til the end of the day to carb up will keep you from craving carbs all day long and not going over baord will allow you to be back into a state of ketosis the following morning. 200-600 carbs on the carb up day will suffice. Do not stop the once a week carb up meal if you have trouble losing fat. Instead switch over to taking in less fats, adding more cardio and/or alternating protein and fat meals with Protein and veggie meals on an every other day basis as needed if more body fat needs to be eliminated. No one needs more than 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight when in ketosis. If you begin to lose muscle increase fat intake! If your metabolism is fast or you feel very fatiqued you can add 1-2 carb meals (200-600 carbs) a couple of days before the second carb up day. For example, if your big cheat meal is on sunday you could have a cheat meal late evening and/or night on wednesday. I would not exceed 2 meals per cheat day because it can delay getting back into ketosis by the next morning.
It's been my experience that separating carbs and fats for the most part is the best route to take when trying to lose bodyfat. Why? Because combining saturated fats from protein sources like eggs and meat with a lot of carbs (especially Hi GI carbs will cause an insulin response to the utmost)! This prolonged insulin response is called hyperinsulinemia. It can be great for building muscle but not so good when you are trying to rid the body of stubborn bodyfat. Consuming a lot of dietary fats in the presence of a lot of carbs (an insulin producing food) increases the chance of fat being stored as body fat. Why? Well since insulin is a storage hormone it pushes the dietary fat into fat cells. You want to eat lean protein with insulin producing carbs so the amino acids from the protein will be pushed into muscle cells and build lean muscle! Consuming a moderate combination of carbs and fat in one meal makes it harder for the body to break them down. Healthy fats and low GI carbs are different and can be combined if needed but separating fats and carbs should be your goal. It's important to realize that when trying to gain as much size-strength as humanly possible during the off-season, you'll want to eat both carbs and fats in the same meals along with your protein but you do not have to mix up either in large quantities. Doing so produces a synergistic muscle building effect that tends to trump what the separation of carbs and fats can provide. It's always best to take in less carbs and more fats later in the day with protein when trying to keep bodyfat under control. Carb sources, like protein and fat sources can be changed daily as long as you stay within the required ratios. Carb cut-offs later in the day are very important for fat loss. Weight-training triggers the release of both anabolic and fat burning hormones, but it's while you sleep that the most bodyfat is burned by being in a fasted state. Remember, you're body needs to be in a state of lipolysis (the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells) which happens when glycogen levels become depleted. If you load up on late-nights carbs you won't hit lipolysis whilst asleep nor will your body release as much Growth Hormone. Also, if you sleep only 5 to 6 hours a night as opposed to 7-8 hours, it leaves you with too much ghrelin (a hormone that increases appetite) and too little leptin (a hormone that decreases appetite and can decrease metabolic rate).
Protein: Protein levels should be kept high in order to build or keep the body from eating muscle tissue during exercise or times of being in a calorie deficit. Everyone, regardless of their body type, needs about a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to maintain and/or gain lean muscle mass. Protein is used in gluconeogensis during exercise and fasting when carbs are low. Some of the energy your body uses will come from protein sources during periods were carbs are kept low (for i.e.; later in the day and while you sleep). I recommend that everyone keep protein at 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight during a long term cutting phase. Those with a slower metabolism will need less (for i.e. only 1 gram per pound of body weight). Too much protein can also make you fat due to producing a calorie surplus. What happens is glycogen levels spill over and the extra calories are stored as bodyfat. With my metabolism (endo-****) 2 grams of protein would make me fat and 1 gram would be a bit low. So, I take 1.25 and multiply it by my body weight. Then I divide that by 5 or 6 meals, depending on how many meals I am getting in for that day. When eating 6 meals per day I take in about 50 grams of protein during each meal. Eat your protein first because you’ll get fuller faster which will keep you from eating as many carbs and fats. This is good for bodyfat control! Tuna, chicken, salmon, turkey, egg whites and London broil are all good staples. Steer clear of the fattier deli meat that contains nitrates. Fatty red meat is not the best choice to make because it contains about 8 grams per serving and a serving is only about 4 ounces. In those 4 ounces you will only get roughly 25 grams of protein and a whopping 10 grams of saturated fat (not good)! This means you might need another serving of fatty ground beef to get your protein needs for that meal. However, the same 4 ounces of fish, turkey or chicken has about the same protein but only around 2 gram of fat or less. Therefore, you can eat more food while taking in fewer calories! Whey protein used twice a day as a meal-replacer works very well when combined with fruit earlier in the day and essential oils at night because it will bloat you and keep you satisfied. Smaller meals consumed throughout the day decreases bodyfat levels over-time. Every time you eat (especially protein) your body burns calories when it breaks down the food during digestion. This is why your body heats up every time you eat. The time spent in a heated state will burn more calories than when you are skipping meals. Protein will make you gain weight when added to what you are already eating but will make you lose bodyfat when it replaces some carb and/or fat calories! Why? Because for every 100 calories of carbs or fats consumed, only about 5 calories will be burned off through digestion. But for every 100 calories of protein you take in around 25 calories will be burned through the digestion process. This is why it’s so important to trade a lot of carbohydrate calories for protein calories when trying to lose fat. When whey protein is used, always add a small amount of essential fats such as smart balance peanut butter, almonds or mixed nuts to slow down the digestion rate and keep you full. Fruit can be added to whey protein post workout or during the earlier part of the day. Eating frequent meals prevents hunger pangs. Drink around 1 gallon of water per day to keep the body hydrated and the to boost the metabolism and try to stay away from wheat, gluten and dairy products to get absolutey ripped. I have never put a lot of emphasis on meticuously counting each and every calorie consumed, rather I concentrate on eating, with proper food combinations so that the food is broken down properly and absorbed. Never let yourself go hungry. When you are hungry it means that your body is using muscle tissue for energy, as opposed to bodyfat!
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are not bad for you in moderation, but when trying to lose body fat, you're body needs to be in a state of lipolysis (the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells) which happens when glycogen levels become depleted. High Glycemic carbs should be kept to a minimum on low carb/calorie days and consumed in moderation during the cheat day. The brain and nervous system needs roughly 50 grams of carbs coming from glucose to maintain daily functions. Carbs should never be eaten without adequate amounts of protein. Doing so really spikes insulin levels and cause an increase in bodyfat! It’s very important to combine a fibrous carb (green vegetable) or (fruit) with each meal to provide energy needed to train and carry out daily functions, but not load your glycogen stores to the point where you don't hit lipolysis until much later on. Focus on diet just as much as or more so than training when trying to get shredded! Do not make the mistake of reducing calories too much when trying to shed bodyfat. If you normally take in 2500 cals per day you should only reduce calories to 2000-2200 per week until you start losing weight at about 1-2 lbs per week. If you lose more during the first week, don’t worry because it will be a lot of water. Going lower can eat away muscle tissue. Just as you have to periodize your training, the nutrition plan must also be periodized. Staying on a low calorie/low carb diet for too long will not just lead to fat loss, but a lot of muscle loss as well. A mistake most people make when trying to lose body fat is sticking with the same exact calorie-carb reduced meal plan seven days a week. This will not work well because the body has a finely tuned system that protects itself from starvation mode. When the body feels threatened it begins to store bodyfat after only a few short weeks as opposed to releasing it. By including two- weekly calorie/carb up days, you can trick the human body by giving it a calorie surplus–hence negating the slowing down of the metabolism that comes from calorie depletion. Protein should not need to be reduced during the first carb up day but it can be reduced some during the cheat day because the body can readily use fats and carbs for fuel when in a calorie surplus. All carbs, whether they are of fruit, rice, bread, potatoes, ice cream, milk or pure sugar, eventually turn to glucose and they will all elevate insulin levels. It’s the slower burning carbs with a lower glycemic index like fruit and steel oats that you want to consume because they provide more energy for training and can help keep bodyfat levels a bit lower because the initial insulin spike is less. Let me be clear, all carb sources will count towards your daily carb intake regardless of their Glycemic Index. This includes all fruits! Mixing foods found on the lower end of the glycemic index scale with foods found on the higher end of the glycemic scale will reduce the glycemic index of the high glycemic index carbs when eaten in the same meal. In addition, eating low glycemic carbs has a carry-over-effect to the next meal. For instance, eating steel cut oats would lower the glycemic level of a white potato if a potato was eaten in the meal following the oats. Relying on fibrous carbs helps improve ones conditioning. Everyone should think of high-fiber foods as a diet aid. Strive to consume 30 grams or more of fiber per day. Slowing down carb absorption also helps keep your energy up longer during the day when dieting. If you take in 30 grams of carbs that are absorbed quickly, you're going to process them quickly, and then you're going to feel tired, hungry and depleted. When you take in the same amount of carbs with a high amount of fiber, they'll stay in your system longer, and you'll have a lot more energy. The fiber also slows down the digestion of protein. The longer that it takes your body to process the protein, the more efficiently it will use each gram! During a cutting phase you’ll do better sticking to foods such as green vegetables/salads with extra virgin olive oil and lean protein sources later in the day and fruit, cereal and/or oatmeal along with lean protein sources during the morning. Carbohydrates and protein, break down slowly throughout the day as well as burns bodyfat. Remember the Krebs cycle! Your last 3 meals should be composed of proteins and fibrous carbohydrates, such as green vegetables. Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day! Keep food volume up (especially lean protein sources). Consume 5-6 meals per day) to keep hunger pangs at bay, speed up the metabolism and to prevent muscle loss or weakness. Trade carbohydrate calories for protein calories gram for gram on the five lower carb days and you will lose weight! Replace an equal amount of carbohydrate calories with extra virgin olive oil for dinner and you will lose weight. Stay around 100-150 grams of carbs on low carb days as a baseline (you may need more if you start losing muscle or begain to experience low blood sugar. All carbs whether they are fruit or whatever turn to sugar and spike insulin (a fat storage hormone). So it’s very important to read the label or do some research on the internet to find out how many carbs are in each food you consume. You’ll also need to read the labels on each food consumed so you can see how many macronutrients of protein, carbs and fat you are ingesting. Focus on slow burning carbs as opposed to fast burning carbs. Adding in some slow burning carbs with fast burning carbs helps lower the glycemic index of the fast burning carbs. Keep this in mind if you decide to take in some High glycemic index carbs, mix them with a low gi carb source. If you are involved in a lot of outside activities (for i.e.; long distance cycling) you can bump carbs up to 150-200 on low carb days you cycle.
Fats: Fats are very important in a cutting diet. Fats can be used as an energy source when we become carb depleted or at rest by undergoing beta oxidation. Dietary fats spare the burning of glycogen, and this aids in pulling more carbs/water into the muscle. This means you don’t need as many carbs to prevent the deflated muscle syndrome! *****-3 fatty acids increase insulin sensitivity in the muscle cells. The receptors for insulin are both fat cells and muscle cells. The benefits gained by ingesting EFA’S is that the insulin receptor sites of the muscle cells will become more sensitive than the insulin receptors on the fat cells. An increase in sensitivity of the muscle cells will push more amino acids from protein sources into the muscle cells and away from the fat cells! They are good for hormonal levels, and they taste great. I personally have had great success with combining moderate amounts of fats with high protein meals eaten later in the day. My typical sources are salmon, ***** 3 eggs, almonds, smart balance peanut butter, extra virgin olive oil and macadamia nut oil. I try and get around 100 grams of fat during my last 3 meals of the day. You’ll need to replace an equal amount of carbohydrate calories with essential fats up to 3 times daily for fat loss. Those with a slow metabolism that are taking in only 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight will need to eat fewer fats to lose weight. My suggestion is to not go below 50 grams of fat daily because doing so can cause permanent joint problem from a lack of lubrication when pumping iron and going too low will slow down the fat burning process! Adipose tissue is certainly affected by both insulin levels (produced from carbs) and ASP (produced from fats) because higher quantities of either force the body to become less efficient at eliminating either. Insulin is not the only regulator of fat storage. Adipose tissue is also composed of fats by a hormone called Acylation Stimulating Protein. This hormone doesn't need insulin to make you fatter because it's released from fat cells directly in response to blood chylomicrons (fats produced in the intestinal lumen following the absorption of digested fat) which are responsible for storing triglycerides in adipose cells. Guess what hormone can increases the number of ASP in the body? If you guessed insulin you are correct! So, by controlling carb intake you indirectly reduce ASP levels-hence less bodyfat will be stored when dietary fats are consumed. By watching the kinds of fats you eat, along with the amounts, you can help control how many calories get stored as bodyfat. Basically, ASP works for dietary fat storage like insulin works for carbohydrate storage. Understand here that how well the body deals with insulin and ASP cannot always be equated to an individual’s metabolism because thin ectomorphic who have a hard time gaining muscle can also be considered clinically obese (for i.e. some marathon runners). This is due to their having a poor lean muscle mass to bodyfat ratio.
There are a lot of people with a condition known as “insulin resistance”. Once you develop high levels of bodyfat your body will no longer respond to insulin as it should. What happens next is it only takes a small amount of carbohydrates to really shoot those insulin levels through the roof-hence bodyfat will be stored at a fast rate of speed. When too much insulin is produced, you will be left with too little sugar in the blood stream and some will get stored in the fat cells. This puts you in a viscous cycle where the fatter you get the easier it is to keep putting on the wrong kind of weight (bodyfat). This makes it very hard to lose bodyfat. But don’t panic! Once you lose the fat, gain the muscle mass, and establish outstanding insulin sensitivity, you will be able to control your bodyfat levels. This is great news because once you get lean you’ll probably be able to eat roughly 150-300 grams of carbs on the low carb days as opposed to 100-150 grams or so for maintenance and be able to consume a few more carbs later in the day. Also, you may be able to increase your carb up/calorie up days to 3 per week as opposed to only 2. Why? Because once you get lean, the metabolism speeds up! Losing weight is fairly easy, but stripping straight body fat off while maintaining or gaining lean body mass is tricky. Men in general have an easier time losing bodyfat because they carry more muscle mass. The more muscle mass you can acquire through the proper weight training regimen along with a high protein diet-the faster your resting metabolic rate will be just sitting around doing nothing (even while you sleep)! This is why a properly designed weight training program and diet is more important for improving body composition than cardio. Here I will outline a few things that have worked well for me and thousands of my clients. You can go to (fit day) on-line for a free journal. It calculates both calories and macronutrients for everything you consume!
Final Note: You may find that exclusively following the "Slingshot Carb Cycling Diet" or the "Slingshot Ketosis Diet" works better than the other one. If you fall into that category then by all means follow the diet that works best for you!
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