Diets are a joke (longterm)

[osu122975]

This has been my experience.

The truth is you just need to control your calorie intake, longterm - PERIOD!

Stay away from the stuff you know is bad for you most of the time. I would generally indulge once a week - whatever I crave for no longer than a 45 min meal. I still lose 1-2lbs / week. My indulgence is generally cheeseburgers and fries.

There is no diet secret. Lean protein, complex carbs, veggies, fruit and healthy fats. Just eat smart, control your calorie intake and train hard.

I guess I'm just so sick of following this and that and reading about people following this or that. It's too much like a second job. Unless you have some specific goal in mind - 1 lb / wk is all ya need and you can still eat good.

A little rant on my part. Everyone seems to be trying to sell something these days and it amazes me the momentum some things gain. I can understand if you're trying to make weight for something - but longterm, people get discouraged when they've spent thousands of dollars on programs that never teach them to eat right in the first place or train to lose that weight. Then they wonder why they've gained even more weight back.

[dbunch]

I have to with you here “Diet” is not something you do to lose, or gain weight as the case may be. Diet by definition is how you get you nutrition/calories.

Any radical changes to your diet to gain or lose weight may be very successful short term but are almost ultimately destined to fail because they are unsustainable.

[osu122975]

The fact is - you need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. Everyone knows you need protein in order to keep or build muscle on a diet.

Most people eat WAY too much protein. You really only need .8g per kg of body weight to maintain and 1.2-2.0g per kg of body weight if you're trying to build. Most people think of grams per lb rather than per kg of bodyweight.

It also doesn't matter when you eat (although I would spare at least 1 hr before bed of no eating). This whole peri-workout nutrition thing is pointless. Just eat when you want and stop letting your lifestyle be dictated by 6-7 meals per day and peri-workout nutrition.

The fact is, life happens. You can't always be near your food. Who really wants to prep food constantly and have little tuperware containers and such? It's a second friggin' job and it sucks.

Unless you are thinking of becoming a national or pro bodybuilder and you base your life around you and forsake everything else - don't let people tell you that you need to do your nutrition a particular way.

Eat whole foods as much as possible and treat yourself to a meal you crave once or twice a week (depending on your goals). This will train you to eat properly for your life rather than food controlling your life.

[lockout]

osu122975,
I agree with you 100%. I could go on and on about this one.

But to keep a long story short, I've eventually come to the conclusion that it simply doesn't matter.

Especially if fat loss is the primary goal, the rest shouldn't matter at all. If you train hard you will have as much muscle as your body can hold. And if you eat less calories on average you will lose fat. Period.

Now when it comes to performance, I don't think it is a big deal either. If you're cutting, your performance might suffer temporarily until you real your goal weight and go back to maintenance.

And if you're at maintenance you shouldn't have trouble with energy. I would say just make sure you keep carbs in the diet. And make sure you get a meal within a reasonable amount of time before your workout or powerlifting meet.

And of course, that is assuming the situation where performance for competition was actually a concern. That's about as complicated as you'll ever need it to be. Everything else is dogma.

Now for anyone who actually believes me, and wants a source of inspiration, I have a treat for you:
www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Saxon/DPP/dpp01.htm

Check out that book by Arthur Saxon, who used to be the strongest man in the world about a century ago, and read up on "The Saxon Definition of Strength" on pages 17-19, and take note of his comments. Read that chapter over and over and over again if you like.

If that makes any sense to you, stop making excuses. If you want to diet to lose some weight, go ahead. But don't let that be an excuse for you not to be as strong as you can. TRY!!!

Save all the excuses for the losers.