Body Transformation Contest '11 - Diet and Training by James Monk (a.k.a. 'James')

[James]

Cardio (brisk walking) has it's place, however, I would personally only add it into a dieting regime after fat loss from weight training alone has stalled... bear in mind, diet is the MAIN proponent that governs whether fat loss will occur or not though. The leaner you are the better you will deal with carbs but the WORSE will more intense cardio (resulting in lessened results and muscle wastage), the more fat you carry the more effective more moderate intensity cardio is, but the WORSE you deal with carbs.

The above said, if you want to get sub 10% bodyfat, carbs WILL need to be manipulated around bouts of intensity activity (such as weight lifting).

[chill9]

Cheers James. I think I'll start with the diet and weights then see if the cardio is necessary. I am around 14% I think. I want to get down to around 10%.

[chill9]

Hey James, I have started on the IF. It's going well, I haven't bothered measuring bodyfat or weight because I personally think it's better to go by how you feel and look in the mirror, but I have definitely noticed a difference. The whole diet isn't as hard as I thought although sometimes I am struggling to eat everything. Cheers for your help! Conor

[camisa]

Quote

I was able to reduce my %BF from 17.9 to 14.5 in the last 3 months

just an update: %BF end of July: 11.8% weight: 68kg

So overall: 17.9 BF to 11.8 in 5 months; not bad I think

still on IF by the way

still, ABS are hard to pop out :P

[rash797]

They should put this in every magazine/website/infomercial. Brilliant article. Must have read it ten times by now!

[k.jacko]

James,
excellent article. It does fly in the face of a lot of 'tried and tested' methods i guess, but i'm all for giving it a go as the evidence seems quite compelling.
Can i ask what your credentials are/background is, or is it that to acheive your goals you [simply] had to become an expert (so to speak) in what you were doing? Which is pretty much what bodybuilders need to be to achieve results i suppose.

Looking at your rest day meal 1, i'd find it hard to get that lot down my neck, and believe me buddy, my stomach is a fair size bigger than yours

As told protein fills you up, but it fills me up as i'm eating it, so i'd struggle to neck it all.
I'm pre-empting of course, it may be that i can polish it off without issue, but if not, any suggestions?

Thanks for your continued contribution mate.

[James]

Quote

James,
excellent article. It does fly in the face of a lot of 'tried and tested' methods i guess, but i'm all for giving it a go as the evidence seems quite compelling.
Can i ask what your credentials are/background is, or is it that to acheive your goals you [simply] had to become an expert (so to speak) in what you were doing? Which is pretty much what bodybuilders need to be to achieve results i suppose.

Looking at your rest day meal 1, i'd find it hard to get that lot down my neck, and believe me buddy, my stomach is a fair size bigger than yours

As told protein fills you up, but it fills me up as i'm eating it, so i'd struggle to neck it all.
I'm pre-empting of course, it may be that i can polish it off without issue, but if not, any suggestions?

Thanks for your continued contribution mate.

Thank you for the kind words. A lot of tried and tested methods are trying to push a supplement or product, or telling you to 'eat breakfast' so the grain companies still make their HUGE profits (although that story is for another day!). I obviously use MyProtein products, but am not paid to write articles or answer feedback, so will be the first to say, if your diet is 100% solid, supplements are not needed for optimal progress, whatsoever.

I am a REPs level 3 personal trainer with advanced certifications in strength training and nutrition, but to be perfectly honest with you, what I teach/instruct has very little in common or values that came from my qualificational background in health and fitness. The majority of what I know and put into practice has been through years of guinea-pigging on myself plus keeping up with scientific research studies here on the forums and from the mainstay medicial publications online, sites such as PubMed et al.

My advice is, find a level that you can stick at - consistency greatly outweighs all manner of 'fancy fasting' or nutrition timing in regards to performance and body composistion... these things are merely the final 5-10% that can be applied for those looking to take results to an even greater level, or at greater speed.

[Lee Charles]

You really know your stuff! Good work and congratulations on your transformation James.

[James]

Thanks once again. FYI here is an image of my final conditioning that I reached using the methods in my article, during early August 2011:-



Since the above photos I've trained and eaten using similar protocols with a view of adding lean mass, hoping to upload some new shots soon; these will be browsable on my training log page, which is linked to in my signature, below.

[rash797]

James, if for some reason, someone has to train two days in a row, say, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, then should any adjustments be made to the calories or macro nutrients consumed on a fat loss IF diet? Cheers.