Renegade Diet

[Michael Dries]

So I stumbled upon Nate Miyaki (via Robb Wolf's podcast last week), a physique coach and general fitness guy.

Interesting approach, typical renegade/paleo focus but following a more okinawan diet (paleo + white rice and sweet potato/potatoes).

I've dropped my protein from 175 to 150 (currently weigh 165).
Set my fat to about 75g
Brought my carbs up to about 350g on training days and about 250 on rest days.
Total calories on Training days ~2700, rest days ~2400.

Very interestingly I've leaned out significantly over the last few days. I definitely under-ate last week as it was a deload, but still. wow.

My day breaks out like this.
"Breakfast" at about 12-1pm. About 700 calories
6-8oz of ground beef. Big *** salad. Lots of guac, lots of veggies.

I workout about 4:30-5:30pm for about an hour.
Pre workout I have 1/2 a scoop of whey isolate.
Post workout I have 1 scoop of whey isolate with 30g of dextrose (I'm using this up until it's gone then I might switch to bananas).

Then dinner is:
10oz of london broil or another lean(ish) protein (fish, chicken breast with skin).
2 uncooked cups (about 6cups cooked) of jasmine rice.

We'll see how this goes for the next month or two. I think, if anything I have to start upping the calories in the Fall as I'm switching from 5/3/1 BBB to 3/5/1 to try and develop pure strength and size. I may need to up the calories soon anyway to keep up with the training volume and recovery intervals I've settled on for the BBB assistance work. I'll report back with more details.

But overall since I've started doing the Renegade style protocol, I've basically held my same body weight, gotten stronger, and dropped about 4mm on my body fat caliper test.

[Paulo Santos]

Originally Posted by Michael Dries

So I stumbled upon Nate Miyaki (via Robb Wolf's podcast last week), a physique coach and general fitness guy.

Interesting approach, typical renegade/paleo focus but following a more okinawan diet (paleo + white rice and sweet potato/potatoes).

I've dropped my protein from 175 to 150 (currently weigh 165).
Set my fat to about 75g
Brought my carbs up to about 350g on training days and about 250 on rest days.
Total calories on Training days ~2700, rest days ~2400.

Very interestingly I've leaned out significantly over the last few days. I definitely under-ate last week as it was a deload, but still. wow.

My day breaks out like this.
"Breakfast" at about 12-1pm. About 700 calories
6-8oz of ground beef. Big *** salad. Lots of guac, lots of veggies.

I workout about 4:30-5:30pm for about an hour.
Pre workout I have 1/2 a scoop of whey isolate.
Post workout I have 1 scoop of whey isolate with 30g of dextrose (I'm using this up until it's gone then I might switch to bananas).

Then dinner is:
10oz of london broil or another lean(ish) protein (fish, chicken breast with skin).
2 uncooked cups (about 6cups cooked) of jasmine rice.

We'll see how this goes for the next month or two. I think, if anything I have to start upping the calories in the Fall as I'm switching from 5/3/1 BBB to 3/5/1 to try and develop pure strength and size. I may need to up the calories soon anyway to keep up with the training volume and recovery intervals I've settled on for the BBB assistance work. I'll report back with more details.

But overall since I've started doing the Renegade style protocol, I've basically held my same body weight, gotten stronger, and dropped about 4mm on my body fat caliper test.

Rice is definitely my favorite carb as it gives the most carbs per cup that I've found. I've added running 4x per week and I'm still feeling great. Feels like in the last few weeks, my upper body has grown a lot.

[Jayme Gruber]

If I'm usually closer to 14 hours than 16 hours, is it that big of a deal? Like, will those extra 2 hours make a big difference?

I usually don't get home til around 8PM so eating at 8:30PM is about the earliest I can do. By 10:30 everyday I start to get hungry. I'm usually fine waiting til around noon, but days when I do morning cardio (today) I'm starving right about now.

[Rob Darden]

Originally Posted by Jayme Gruber

If I'm usually closer to 14 hours than 16 hours, is it that big of a deal? Like, will those extra 2 hours make a big difference?

I usually don't get home til around 8PM so eating at 8:30PM is about the earliest I can do. By 10:30 everyday I start to get hungry. I'm usually fine waiting til around noon, but days when I do morning cardio (today) I'm starving right about now.

Nope, don't stress it. You can't be perfect all the time.

[Paulo Santos]

Originally Posted by Rob Darden

Nope, don't stress it. You can't be perfect all the time.

+100000.

[Tim Hampton]

I'm about 3 weeks into this right now. First couple of days were rough mentally, as breakfast has always been a must & a favorite. However, I adjusted quickly and do find my energy and concentration at work are improved.

Right now I have lunch around 1PM & snack/pre-workout/bcaa before my afternoon workout (around 5PM). Pigging out for dinner is a blast. The biggest challenge is picking food combinations to make the macros fit, but I get close which i figure is a win.

That being said, I have a couple questions about how to proceed.

First, about me: 5'8" / 166lbs / 13-16% BF (based on the picture approach)
My goals: 9-11% BF without restricting mass gain.

My dilemma: I am an over-analytical engineer who spins on the variables and numbers. For example, this is how my brain works: "should I use Fat Loss, Maintain, or Muscle Gain? What does Ferruggia consider a training day vs rest day? Should I scale training day calories if it was a lighter workout?" and on and on. I admit, this is ridiculous & I'm working on it.

I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the above, but also here is yesterday's menu (very typical) for critique. Currently, I am using Fat Loss (11-15%) 166current/170ideal - I intentionally set the ideal lower than long-term ideal to better gauge my response.

Since this was a training day: 2240/170p/85c/135f. My first thoughts are 1) should have eaten the chicken skin and 2) should have cut the agave.

Thanks in advance.

[Paulo Santos]

Originally Posted by Tim Hampton

I'm about 3 weeks into this right now. First couple of days were rough mentally, as breakfast has always been a must & a favorite. However, I adjusted quickly and do find my energy and concentration at work are improved.

Right now I have lunch around 1PM & snack/pre-workout/bcaa before my afternoon workout (around 5PM). Pigging out for dinner is a blast. The biggest challenge is picking food combinations to make the macros fit, but I get close which i figure is a win.

That being said, I have a couple questions about how to proceed.

First, about me: 5'8" / 166lbs / 13-16% BF (based on the picture approach)
My goals: 9-11% BF without restricting mass gain.

My dilemma: I am an over-analytical engineer who spins on the variables and numbers. For example, this is how my brain works: "should I use Fat Loss, Maintain, or Muscle Gain? What does Ferruggia consider a training day vs rest day? Should I scale training day calories if it was a lighter workout?" and on and on. I admit, this is ridiculous & I'm working on it.

I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the above, but also here is yesterday's menu (very typical) for critique. Currently, I am using Fat Loss (11-15%) 166current/170ideal - I intentionally set the ideal lower than long-term ideal to better gauge my response.

Since this was a training day: 2240/170p/85c/135f. My first thoughts are 1) should have eaten the chicken skin and 2) should have cut the agave.

Thanks in advance.

I would definitely follow the Maintenance Plan. You don't need to lose weight, just fat. I would treat the Heavy days as Training days and the Light/Rest Days as Rest days. I would limit my "Training Days" to 4 per week, so if you have 5 Heavy Training Days, make one of those days a Rest Day.

[Dare Vodusek]

It also might be good to add some BCAA into the diet, to preserve any possible muscle breakdown if calorie deficit happens?

[Tim Hampton]

Originally Posted by Paulo Santos

I would definitely follow the Maintenance Plan. You don't need to lose weight, just fat. I would treat the Heavy days as Training days and the Light/Rest Days as Rest days. I would limit my "Training Days" to 4 per week, so if you have 5 Heavy Training Days, make one of those days a Rest Day.

Thanks, that does simplify it to a degree - having a 3 & 4 day split based on workload. When counting macros, more than doubling daily carbs seems like a huge difference. I guess I am having trouble translating Renegade's intent to CrossFit programming.

For example, I am assuming a Heavy Day would include heavy strength, high weight wod, or a gasser (20-30min+). Light day might be more of a sprint/body weight wod?

Originally Posted by Dare Vodusek

It also might be good to add some BCAA into the diet, to preserve any possible muscle breakdown if calorie deficit happens?

Currently, I take BCAA about 15 minutes before & immediately after training.

[Paulo Santos]

Originally Posted by Tim Hampton

For example, I am assuming a Heavy Day would include heavy strength, high weight wod, or a gasser (20-30min+). Light day might be more of a sprint/body weight wod?

That is correct.