Lyle,
Hi, I got the impression that you don’t care for Bill Phillips, I’ve entered their contest this year, I needed some kind of challenge to get myself going again. I’ve been a couch potato for 10yrs. This helped. My question if you can answer it is about BODYOPUS diet. I’ve lost 50lbs so far on Atkins and high protein diets since Mar. Just started lifting in May (BF%35 in may now at 22%).Is it possible to get down to 10-12% by Sept. About 8 weeks. I weigh 240 now would like to be around 215-220 with 10%bf possible? 189lb Lean body mass now. I’m trying the BO diet now just not losing weight, lost 4%BF in 2 weeks. Do I need more aerobics (45-60min 5 days a wk)?
A: Actually I think the concept of the Bill Phillips contest is excellent, invariably people do better when they have specific goals. I just see it as a blatant excuse to sell a lot of overpriced supplements, especially since he’s requiring that you *only* use EAS supplements. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there….
Twenty lbs. in 8 weeks (2.5 lbs. per week) would be pushing it, and you’d almost be certain to lose some muscle mass. The problem you’re going to have right now is that you’ve been dieting so long, your body is going to be resistant to losing any more bodyfat.
You didn’t mention calorie levels but, as I’ve said many times before, it seems that the combo of too much cardio and too few calories tends to hurt, not help fat loss. So if you’ve reduced calories below 12 cal/lb., you should try raising them to that level. Alternately, reduce cardio to 40′ four times per week. Frequently that is enough to get fat loss going again. You didn’t mention any other specifics but some people don’t do well with 2 day carb-ups on BO. You may find that cutting back to a 1-1.5 day carb-up (from Friday evening to Saturday bedtime) is sufficient to maintain training intensity and allow for better fat loss. I know that when I did 2 day carb-ups, I tended to regain some of the fat I had lost during the previous week. A 30 hour carb-up works much better for me.
About the author
Lyle McDonald+ is the author of the Ketogenic Diet as well as the Rapid Fat Loss Handbook and the Guide to Flexible Dieting. He has been interested in all aspects of human performance physiology since becoming involved in competitive sports as a teenager. Pursuing a degree in Physiological Sciences from UCLA, he has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to studying human physiology and the science, art and practice of human performance, muscle gain, fat loss and body recomposition.