(Before reading this, I highly recommend reading my article on bulking, cutting, and maintaining on a high fat, high protein diet first. It explains the reasoning behind a lot of what I write here.)
Losing weight with a high fat, high protein diet is relatively easy, but takes lots of determination and will power. If you really want to lose weight fast, you can’t giggle about “accidentally” pigging out on a box of Honey Nut Cheerios or a few donuts. If you show self restraint and follow a basic diet very, very low in carbs, you can shed the majority of your unwanted fat in about a month or less.
An Anabolic Diet-style diet, high in fat and protein but VERY low in carbs, is, in my opinion, the absolute best way to lose weight, and surprisingly this is also the opinion of much of the fitness industry.
Avoid any and all carbs you can and you will lose weight even faster. This means no fruit, no “low-carb” wraps (that secretly are full of carbs), no nothing like that. Just meats, veggies, and fats.
Some diets recommend “re-feed” days, where you eat junk in moderation. For your sanity, I think this is a good idea, but I don’t think it’s entirely necessary for your body to have an ENTIRE day dedicated to eating bad foods. I usually just have one day every week and a half or two weeks where I eat some fruits and maybe have one “cheat” meal, and that’s it. I’d rather get my weight loss over with ASAP than delay it with a big, gluttonous “cheat” day.
To calculate calories for a weight loss diet, I usually start by multiplying my body weight by 15 and slowly move my calories down from there if I’m not seeing results within the first week or two. I’ll go as low as my body weight multiplied by 12, but I like to start with a higher amount of calories first. This is because, if you choose your foods intelligently and do your regular workouts along with daily uphill walks for 20 to 30 minutes, then you’ll have no problem losing fat with a little extra food.
If you want the fat to almost melt off in front of you, combine this style of diet with heavy uphill walking every day. You can perform it any time — in the morning, after a workout, or on its own any time during the day. I personally prefer after workouts or sometime in the afternoon if I don’t have a workout that day.
Finally, the diet is usually more protein than fat — I aim for about 60% protein, 40% fat.
And On To The Sample Diet
Here’s a sample diet that I would follow if I wanted to lose some weight right now. Take note of the size of the breakfast — it’s almost the same size as my breakfast in weight gain and maintenance diets. Breakfast, to me, is absolutely the most important meal of the day, and my body can handle eating up to 33% of my daily calories during breakfast every day. Try it out — the energy and feeling I get from eating giant breakfasts is amazing.
Meal 1
Six eggs scrambled
Three tablespoons heavy raw cream
Chopped up veggies
Salt and pepper to tasteMeal 2
Giant salad — as many vegetables as I can handle eating at once, with spinach instead of lettuce
Two hard boiled eggs
Small amount bleu cheese dressing
Quarter pound chicken breastMeal 3
Quarter pound Chicken breast
Hummus
Tomato sauce made from whole tomatoes
12g fish oilThroughout workout, I drink BCAAs. If BCAAs are not available, I just drink water.
Post-workout
Two eggs, raw
Two tablespoons heavy cream
Half scoop protein powder to taste
Handful of spinach
Frozen broccoli
(All ground together in a shake)Meal 4
Same as meal 2Meal 5
Half cup full fat cottage cheese
One tablespoon peanut butter
19 responses so far ↓
1 BigNat // Jun 30, 2009 at 3:13 am
Great info keep em coming…
What are your thoughts on 1 carb meal every 4 days or just once a week?
2 Clay // Jun 30, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Either one is fine. I think I’m a fan most of eating some carbs once a week, just because it’s more structured and fits in with “real life” a bit better, plus my body reacts better with less carb days. My results eating carbs every 4 days were almost the same as eating them once a week — it’s really a matter of personal preference and how your body reacts, in my mind. Every 4 days also allows you to eat more carbs, but just make sure you don’t pig out (eat a normally-sized meal that has carbs) and choose your carbs wisely. I don’t agree with the Anabolic Diet’s recommendation of pizza and cookies and beer — stick with grains like quinoa, fruits, and other healthier whole sources.
3 BigNat // Jul 2, 2009 at 4:37 am
Yeah thanks my problem is shitloading my progress is good but it could have been great with cleaner shorter loads I believe
4 Antonio Wright // Jul 12, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Why are you using chicken breast? I thought the eating red meat was the key here.
5 Clay // Jul 13, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Well, mostly chicken breast tastes better in a salad to me.
I also like to give my body a break from certain types of foods. So for that reason, I’ll take a couple weeks away from eggs, a couple weeks away from red meat, a couple weeks away from raw cream… I find my body doesn’t build up any tolerances and responds better to weight gain/weight loss if I do this.
The diet I outlined here had me taking a break from the red meat.
6 Matt // Jul 17, 2009 at 5:40 am
Hi Clay,
I’ve just started this diet and have lost a steady 1% body fat per week so far (3 weeks on the diet, 3% body fast lost). I still have a long way to go but it’s a good start (dropped from 28% down to 25% body fat).
I’m resistance training 3x a week combined with uphill walking every day. Do you think this is about as much as I can hope for at this stage or should I be looking for bigger fat losses so far? Any suggestions are welcomed.
At this rate it’ll take about 3-4 months to get where I want to be.
-Matt
7 Clay // Jul 17, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Matt, that’s awesome! That fat loss rate actually sounds pretty good. In my experience, fat loss happens in spurts — meaning, although you’re dropping 1% body fat a week now, you very well could suddenly drop 2% or more the next week. I would say you’re right on track in your weight loss — in fact, as you lose more fat, you’ll find exercise even easier and you’ll be working yourself harder and the fat will come off even more.
Keep us posted on your results.
8 Matt // Jul 18, 2009 at 3:59 am
Thanks, Clay. What are your feelings on HIIT on a low carb diet? I’ve read vastly differing opinions on if they are good idea or not.
I do tend to re-carb 1-2 days at the weekend (I tend to go insane otherwise) so I’m thinking maybe I could throw in some HIIT workouts on these days?
9 Clay // Jul 18, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Matt, I definitely think HIIT is a good match with this kind of diet. I think long, hard walks are the absolute best fat loss method, but I throw in occasional HIIT workouts if I’m strapped for time or want to do something a little different. Your weekend plan sounds like a good one — do something intense and you’ll be taking good advantage of the carb-ups. I generally stick with maybe 70m to 100m sprints with little rest inbetween.
10 wave twister // Jul 22, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Meal 6 has cottage cheese and PB…do you blend that together or are you just eating it straight up? I can’t stand cottage cheese no matter how hard I try to love it, haha.
11 Clay // Jul 23, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I mix the two of them together in a bowl with a spoon. I hated cottage cheese before, too, but god I love it so much when it’s mixed in with peanut butter. Throw in a tiny bit of good chocolate protein powder (just for flavoring, I don’t use a ton for the protein, don’t like how my body feels with it) and you have one of my favorite quick treats. I think what grosses most people out about cottage cheese is the texture, but try it with some peanut butter and/or a touch of chocolate protein powder — force through the texture — and I can almost guarantee you’ll fall in love with it.
12 nathaniel ruffino // Jul 24, 2009 at 4:41 am
is a cup of cottage cheese ok instead of a half
13 Clay // Jul 24, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Of course! You’ll need to play around and see what your body likes.
You don’t even need to eat cottage cheese. You could eat a piece of meat with similar protein levels, or three or four eggs.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with these foods to see what works best for you!
14 Jimmy // Jul 27, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hey Clay,
I am 16 years old and have been on the “Anabolic Diet” for 13 weeks now. I have been messing around with short muscle gaining, cutting, and maintenance phases just to see how my body reacts. And I lift hard 5 days a week. I am, as of this morning, 8.7% body fat at 150 pounds. I can’t decide whether to do your 8 week gaining phase or continue to cut body fat so i don’t gain as much fat during the 8 weeks. You said that if you can’t see your abs clearly then you don’t start to gain. Well i can see mine but not a clearly as i would like. So any suggestions or comments you have please let me know.
Thanks
-Jim
15 Tim // Sep 27, 2009 at 8:56 am
Can you substitute the whole whipping cream for something else?
16 Tim // Sep 27, 2009 at 8:58 am
also is this your cutting diet?and quarter pound of chicken how many ounces?
17 SMTEEPEE // Nov 29, 2009 at 7:24 am
Hey, great blog, I’ve been following your version of the anabolic diet and have shifted some fat! I’d like to know what you substitute for eggs? They are a key component of this diet.
Cheers
18 Kal-El // Mar 7, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Hi clay thank you so much for taking your time to answer my questions, i am just starting my third week and i am still so confuse about the diet. let me tell you where i am coming from and where i am standing at: I am 37, 6 feet tall, work out 4 times a week. I am not 100% of my BF i have visited few web sites and they all tell you where to pick the skin in order to measure some said vertical 2 cms beside the umbilical; other horizontal 2 inches above your waist, i was do it the later for some time and i saw mt BF was low yet i could not see my abs that well, so when i started with the diet i was weight: 92.8 kls; waist 88 cms “BF” 13.3% (i was assuming the measurement was above the waist).
A week into the diet 89.5 kgs; waist 87 cms; “BF” 11.5% (same mistake as before). Day 11th into the diet weight 89.5; waist 85.5 cms, now i started measuring beside the umbilical 15% BF. this was diet meal 1- 5 whole eggs 1 tsp granola oil ; 2meal- salad, 60 gr tuna, 50 gr sunflower seed, 1 tsp granola oil; 3 meal- 200grs of coli-flower or cabbage, 150 grs ground beef; 4- meal same as second, 5 meal, same vegetables the third and 150 grs chicken breast, in all my meals i put 1 tsp of granola oil,. this is 2500 kcls i just could not afford more than this. Finally weekend came in this is what i eat: 100 grms of oat meal with milk, some cookies, lots of milk, fruit salad, sesame seed bar candy (100 gr) 100 gr of past with yellow cheese, 100 grs of corn flour tortilla, and lot of milk. and some chocolate. my numbers after the weekend waist 87 cms, weight 91.5 kls, BF 15% Now my questions: did i fail by gaining back kilos? was i suppose to gain some back? my BF why it did not drop? am i doing anything wrong? there is this calculation i found that doesnt use calippers and according to it i am 15 % BF too, they use: weight, age, gender, waist in inches, so after doing both messuraments they both agree i am 15% BF, my goal is 9% 10& BF. Am i heading the right direction or am i failing on something? your help is so much apreacite it.
Kal-el
19 Kal-El // Mar 7, 2010 at 2:12 pm
P.S Clay my e-mail is kalel.is.superman@gmail when i submitted my questions i typed the wrong e-mail. thanks
Kal-El
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