2) Building upperbody muscle. Imagine pulling up a shirt while holding down the bottom; the end result would be a tighter shirt.

I chose #2. 6-8 weeks of rest post-op is enough to scare me away. Although #2 is based on experience only, I’ve been training for years now and have witnessed great results.

Suleiman,
I could not agree more with what you said. However, my sodium intake is never low. Since I’m a very active athlete, I stick to 2-4g of sodium per day and I wouldn’t advise anyone to go over 2g like me, since I suffer from electrolyte imbalance problems.

My sushi example above was in reference to total carbohydrate consumption; yes, individuals do bloat and spill over after a high carb meal if not proportioned carefully.

In reference to percentage diets, I am also not a fan of percentages. I go by feel; I know how fats, proteins and carbohydrates feel like in my body, but this is how I started.

The point is beginners cannot shoot a sniper rifle if they haven’t used a handgun yet. The percentages above serve as a foundation to a larger picture. Once people experiment with the examples above, they’ll know what my next posts will mean.
Lastly, the equations above take into consideration activity levels and goals.

Reno H.,
Always a pleasure to have you contribute ;) and thanks for your overly kind words buddy.
The excess skin that I have isn’t that alarming, I feel it but you definitely can’t see it. Personally, I’d rather spend the money I have for surgery to further progress my health and physique since I love doing it anyway.
Is it risk-free? I haven’t dug into surgery yet and hopefully never will.

cajie,
Personally, I’ve never read an article that I completely agreed with. I took what needed to be taken and left the rest. That’s what I think people should do; they should learn to customize their own needs.

Realist,
You’re not doing anything wrong. A decrease in energy levels when on a low-carb diet is a good sign; you’re going into ketosis where you’re body starts to utilize another energy source: STORED FAT.

Our bodies prefer carbohydrates as a source of energy. When you take them out of the equation, you go into a state of ketosis, thus decreasing your energy levels significantly. This decrease should last a maximum of 2 weeks then return to normal. If not, it means you’re not providing your body sufficient calories from other marcros (proteins and fats) to function normally.

Taqi,
Proteins and fats build and repair the muscle, while carbs fuel the process of muscle building. You can’t be pushing heavy muscle-building weights at the gym if you’re not fueled right; and carbs provide that fuel.

People often make the mistake of taking in too much carbs, which in turn spill-over into stored fat, making people assume that 5kg gain is pure muscle, while in reality only half of it is muscle and the rest is fat.

I’m trying to preach the 20% rule in order to gain as much “lean” muscle as possible with minimal fat-gain.

Anyway.

Fahad,

The reason you bloat after sushi is likely to be due to the high sodium content. This effect will be more pronounced if you were previously on a relatively low sodium diet.

I am glad you think that science is king, so here is an experiment for you to try. Restrict the amount of sodium for 2 or 3 days and then eat a lot of high salt foods. See what happens.

Personally I am not a fan of percentage based systems for setting up a diet, but they can work. I prefer absolute amounts. For example set protein intake based on LBM and activity levels. Fat and carb intake can be set depending on the individual. Total energy intake will depend on the goal.

All the best,

I was wondering if there is any way of losing that excess skin?. because I am dieting and I also have the problem of huge love handles.(also is getting rid of the handles depend primarily upon dieting or excercise)

Thanks

I don’t want to sound too cocky, but I never go above 10% body fat :P.
In my humble opinion, any experienced athlete should not carry more than 12% body fat. Some choose to pile up on weight to gain muscle mass, then shed it 10-12 weeks before summer time.

Personally, fat gain is no excuse; no matter what your goals are, bulking up for the sake of weight-gain is another excuse to binge on McDonald’s all day long.

What I meant in the above example is that our athlete needs to lose that 3-5% body fat, whilst gaining muscle mass. So, if you noticed I’ve chosen the lower end of the calorie intake (200 calorie increase as opposed to 500).

The take home message here: If you’re carrying more than 15% bodyfat and wish to gain muscle mass, concentrate more on recomposition (trading fat into muscle) rather than extreme weight-gain. After you’ve reached your desired bodyfat range, feel free to increase calories appropriately.

“An experienced 23 year-old, 90kg, 180cm athlete with 15%”

does it matter if that male was experienced ? or was it indirectly referencing to yourself ?