ExRx.net

During the month of February, I decided to try the velocity diet that I stumbled across while reading t-nation. It's basically just a liquid protein diet, despite the fancy name. I have to say I am very happy with the results. I went from 200 to 190 pounds in a month without losing muscle. The weight I lifted stayed the same as did my lean body mass (160 pounds).

The reason I did this was because my goal is to get down to 8-10% body fat. I've been overweight for the past 10 years and have needed the psychological boost of knowing I can shed the excess fat. Last summer and fall, I went from 215 down to 200 but plateaued for a few months. So I tried this diet to kick start my fat loss once again.

My diet consisted of five low carb protein shakes each day with two tablespoons of ground flax seed in each shake. I used a scoop and a half of chocolate casein powder and a half scoop of chocolate whey powder in water. I also took 2 or 3 fish oil pills with each shake. For pre and post workout, I had some protein and carbs, usually whey powder in apple juice. My workouts were of the full-body variety.

I realize losing weight this quickly is not advisable, but I desperately needed to break some bad eating habits that I developed as well as drop unwanted fat. That's also why I limited myself to a month before easing back into a regular diet. I wasn't as strict as I could have been, but all my solid food choices were geared toward following the same low carb, high protein pattern and were made with the total calorie count in mind.

I was getting about 1500-1800 calories per day while my body probably required 2500-3000, depending on my activity level for that day. So at 3500 calories per pound, the numbers do track well.

Since I got off this diet a month ago, I've lost an additional 5 pounds because I broke some bad eating habits. I'm targeting another 10 pounds to get myself to 175, but I'm going to do that gradually and not with the liquid protein diet.

I'll admit that I'm vain. I want to look good this summer without a shirt on (for the first time in a decade). And if I had to choose between being 175 with 8% body fat and being 200 with 15% bodyfat, I'd forego the extra 10 pounds of muscle and lose the fat. (Not that my lean body mass has ever been 170 pounds, it's just an example.)

I know that's what works best for me psychologically, though it may not be what works best for everyone. Once I get my body fat down to where I'm comfortable with it, I'll put my emphasis on adding muscle. But for now I'm very happy with my progress and feel better about myself than I have in a very long time. :)

Do you suffer from exhaustion in the mid-morning time frame?

When do feel "tired" without having yet worked out?

Just curious about the sustainment of energy from protein, as it didnt work so well for me so I had to have complex carbs throughout the day in order to have energy. Also, weird question, are there any drastic changes in your bowel movements?

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Don't forget to swim! You'll thank me later in life...

I don't recall suffering from exhaustion at all. Though my frame of reference may be skewed because my wife was eight months pregnant at the time, so with taking care of two other small kids and her, plus working a lot of overtime, I know I wasn't getting much more than 5-6 hours of sleep a night to begin with!

I do remember feeling more tired during my workouts than I usually did, so they weren't as productive as usual. But since I wanted to cut fat I was doing circuit training with light weights anyway. Had I been more diligent and not skipped a workout here or there, I'm sure I could have dropped more weight. But dropping some weight is still progress in my book, and I'm still holding steady at the weight I reached when I posted this. I may try it again in another week or two to try and drop another 10 pounds to reach my target. I haven't been as strict with my diet and workouts, but with a new baby in the house, my time has become even more limited!

I didn't notice any problems with my BMs. But I was also taking a serving of ground flax seed with each shake specifically to avoid any changes in my BMs. Prior to this I had been eating a fairly well-blanaced, if not calorically-rich, diet, so with all the complex carbs I had been ingesting I was pretty regular. I just needed to break through a barrier to lose some fat.

Overall it was a good experience. I remember feeling hungry occasionally and wanting to binge. But the binges were few and far between. It was a lot easier to stick to it than I thought it would be.