V-Diet and IF Transition

[Nathan Stanley]

I'm currently on day 18 of the V-diet and I'm down from 231 to 217 this AM. FYI, I've felt just fine for the entire diet w/ the exception of some nasty gas that got much better when I dialed down the flax meal a bit. I've been following the Starting Strength beginners program and have no problem w/ putting up relatively heavy weights.

I'm interested in transitioning to an IF plan (probably a fast 5 approach) and was hoping to get some advice on both transitioning out of the V-Diet (slowly increasing calories over the period of a couple of weeks) to easing into an IF approach...or do I need one. Since I've already been on a liquid fast, I'm guessing that the transition will be easier than if I had been on a traditional eating plan. Anyhow, any thoughts are appreciated.

[Mark Joseph Limbaga]

I was wondering if they could come out with a poor man's v-diet since outside the US, protein powders are quite expensive

[Mike ODonnell]

like any fast....come off easy....or your digestive sytem will NOT be happy. Merge into fruits and vegetables.....raw.....then another day reintroduce solid protein (low fat) and not a ton...maybe only one meal.....baby steps back into solid foods....should be fine in a couple days.....

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Nathan Stanley

I'm currently on day 18 of the V-diet and I'm down from 231 to 217 this AM. FYI, I've felt just fine for the entire diet w/ the exception of some nasty gas that got much better when I dialed down the flax meal a bit. I've been following the Starting Strength beginners program and have no problem w/ putting up relatively heavy weights.

I'm interested in transitioning to an IF plan (probably a fast 5 approach) and was hoping to get some advice on both transitioning out of the V-Diet (slowly increasing calories over the period of a couple of weeks) to easing into an IF approach...or do I need one. Since I've already been on a liquid fast, I'm guessing that the transition will be easier than if I had been on a traditional eating plan. Anyhow, any thoughts are appreciated.

I've actaully done this..

it's pretty easy and you will continue to drop pounds. here's what i basically did, it worked pretty well.

transition off of all shakes and onto to one meal in the evening, keep that meal really clean/paleo. No fruit, no grains, just meat and salad. keep track of your daily caories (kcal) and subtract that from your shakes, if dinner is 450 kcal, then drop your shakes by the equivelant of 450 kcal in the day, do not add more than liek 200 kcla over your v-diet amounts. if you were dieting at 1700, then shakes plus dinner shoudl be 1900 per diem for this week. .. do that for a week.

week two. boot up the kcal at dinner, still clean; no fruit, no beer, no bread etc. stay with same number of shakes. daily numbers go up by maybe 200 kcal again. compensate by droppign firts shake of day....

week three, don't break your fast until after noon, shoot for 3pm, then two shakes, then dinner, at this point, you're a llttle less strict on the number of kcal, but still strictly clean, meat and veggies, maybe nuts.

week four..drop shakes altogether, get all your kcal in a feeding window of 4 hours or less, make sure you're not adding more than 500 kcal over your daily amount on teh v-diet, something like 2200-2500 kcal. trust me, if you eat 2000 kcal in one sitting, you won't be hungry...

[Nathan Stanley]

Dave, thanks for the reply. What do you use as a resource regarding the caloric content of food (other than packaging)?

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Nathan Stanley

Dave, thanks for the reply. What do you use as a resource regarding the caloric content of food (other than packaging)?

pick up one of those cheapo (south beach?)calorie books at the grocert store or use the interwebs...just make sure to get one that includes the calories of uncooked meat, you'll probably be cooking it but a lot of calorie books cite prepared meat....stuff like meatloaf

also, makes sure it covers nuts, you'll be eating those too. I didn't bother counting raw veggies like lettuce and brocolli...waste of time. Just eat an amount that is about the size of your head without spice or dressing and you'll be fine.

[Nathan Stanley]

Okay, let me give some examples:
Currently I am eating about 1660 kcals on non-lifting days and around 1800 kcals on lifting days. Nothing but 5 shakes of 2 scoops of protein w/ 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal, one shake w/ a tablespoon of natural penut butter and one scoop of protein, and fish oil.

Week one after the V-diet is over, I drop the two shakes I was having for dinner and before bed (~300 kcals and 90 grams of protein) and add a solid food paleo dinner. Week One totals for calories would not exceed 1860/2000 calories on rest/lifting days.

Week Two I add some more food to dinner and drop the first shake of the day altogether adding no more than 200 kcals meaning about 2000/2200 on rest/lifting days.

Week Three: Cut out the the second shake of the day (110 kcals, 30 grams protein) and break fast after noon (for me right before I go to practice at 3:00). Eat a clean paleo type dinner and be less strict in total calories.

Week four: Cut out the shakes and eat all calories between 6 and 10 pm shooting for no more than 500 calories over my V-diet totals (between 2100 and 2300).

Does that sound right?

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Nathan Stanley

Okay, let me give some examples:
Currently I am eating about 1660 kcals on non-lifting days and around 1800 kcals on lifting days. Nothing but 5 shakes of 2 scoops of protein w/ 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal, one shake w/ a tablespoon of natural penut butter and one scoop of protein, and fish oil.

Week one after the V-diet is over, I drop the two shakes I was having for dinner and before bed (~300 kcals and 90 grams of protein) and add a solid food paleo dinner. Week One totals for calories would not exceed 1860/2000 calories on rest/lifting days.

Week Two I add some more food to dinner and drop the first shake of the day altogether adding no more than 200 kcals meaning about 2000/2200 on rest/lifting days.

Week Three: Cut out the the second shake of the day (110 kcals, 30 grams protein) and break fast after noon (for me right before I go to practice at 3:00). Eat a clean paleo type dinner and be less strict in total calories.

Week four: Cut out the shakes and eat all calories between 6 and 10 pm shooting for no more than 500 calories over my V-diet totals (between 2100 and 2300).

Does that sound right?

That's about how I did it.. Frankly, I didn't work at it too hard by the second week and was still dropping weight.


stay with clean food, very low carb at first and you'll do fine. it's hard to overeat clean unless you're pounding a sack of almonds at a sitting.