The Velocity Diet, Part II
Results, Modifications and Options
by Chris Shugart
My Body is my Laboratory
For over a decade I've been involved in the science of physique augmentation. The past 13 years have been a series of experiments on myself: What happens if I train like this? What happens if I eat like that? What happens if I take this drug or that supplement?
I admit it. I suffer from the disease of B.A.A.D.: Bodybuilding Attention Deficient Disorder. I have no desire to stick to one method of training or one physique style. Goateed powerlifter type? Been there. Shaven bodybuilder type? Done that. Strong fat guy? Fast skinny guy? Check and check.
Well, 28 days ago I got the itch to try something new. After gaining a little too much winter fat, I decided to see how fast I could rip it off without sacrificing muscle. And while I was at it, why not do something I haven't done in a while: achieve a state of ridiculous leanness.
I took the idea of a "fat fast" and turned it into what I called The Velocity Diet. Here's what happened.
28 Days Later
For a month I consumed almost nothing but low-carb protein shakes, healthy fats and fiber supplements. Once a week I ate a solid, healthy meal. I lifted weights three times per week using a full-body workout. I did no traditional "cardio," but I did go for fast, daily walks. My main supplements were Maximum Strength HOT-ROX, Low-Carb Grow!, and Surge.
The results? In only 28 days I dropped 16 pounds and over two inches off my waist! I lost no visible muscle and even added strength in a couple of exercises. My abs are more visible than they ever have been, but because I retained my muscle mass, I'm not skinny looking; rather, I look hard and athletic. Last weekend, I had to buy several pair of new pants. In other words, the crazy diet was a huge success!
Lessons Learned
One reason I did this diet was to test out a few ideas. Here are a few things I learned:
1) It's possible to lose a lot of fat rapidly while retaining strength and muscle. It takes the right kind of nutrition, the right kind of training, and the right kind of supplements. But it is doable. And it can be done without prohormones, ephedrine or steroids.
2) It's possible to take care of proper post-workout nutrition (basically a high carb drink) and still drop fat rapidly. Some people skip the post-training drink during fat loss diets in fear of it slowing down results. If anything, it improves results because it's anti-catabolic and allows for productive workouts even while in a dieted state.
3) It's possible to consume low calories and low carbs without suffering too much.
4) If the average recreational bodybuilder would lose some fat, he'd actually look bigger. Although I'm 16 pounds lighter, the brand new V-taper makes my upper body look larger. And who wants "big" arms if they're shapeless and flabby? Because the fat is gone, my arms look more muscular because the muscles are visible and defined.
5) It's possible for a diet to modify behavior. After a month on the Velocity Diet, I've killed some bad habits, like snacking too much when bored or going overboard on the weekend cheat meal. I have no desire to snack unnecessarily now and a "cheat" meal to me is grilled chicken and veggies.
Triple Your Fat Loss!
The main reason the diet was a success is speed. You see, there are some "rules" to how fast a person can lose fat without losing muscle. Basically, the fatter a person is, the faster he or she can drop fat.
According to Dr. John Berardi, a very fat person can lose four pounds a week without risking muscle loss. A leaner person who just needs to drop a little fat shouldn't expect fat loss to occur that rapidly. A better expectation would be about a pound of fat loss per week. This is the category I fell into. I wasn't fat, but I needed to drop some winter flubber.
With a normal diet, I should've lost around four pounds in 28 days. Instead I lost 16 pounds! Let's take off a few pounds for the natural fluid losses that accompany any low carb diet. Let's say I lost only 13 pounds of fat and retained all previous muscle mass. Fine, then with the Velocity Diet I still tripled the normal rate of fat loss!
Is this an extreme diet? Yes. But the results are extreme too: triple the typical rate of body fat reduction!
Changes and Modifications
The diet worked great and I don't recommend many changes now that I've gone through the whole thing. But here are a few:
• I probably overbought fat and fiber supplements. The fish oil capsules and milled flax seeds provided plenty of healthy fats. I never used the flax seed oil. The milled flax also provided adequate fiber. With the addition of a few chewable fiber tablets, I was able to get at least 20 grams of fiber per day while keeping carbs within the planned ranges.
• In Part I, I outlined the basic plan: protein shakes all week, post-workout drink after training, one solid meal per week consisting of oatmeal and berries. I thought oatmeal and berries would be ideal. Oatmeal is one of the healthiest carb choices out there, berries provide tons of healthy nutrients, and both contain a lot of fiber, something usually lacking in a low carb diet. I've modified this recommendation.
Oatmeal and berries for a weekly solid meal is still a wise choice, but the milled flax seeds and other fiber supplements I suggested take care of fiber needs. I didn’t need the big shot of fiber like I thought I would
Plus, I found that eating yet another meal at home was socially restricting. I don't mind being a social leper to drop fat quickly, but scheduling one healthy restaurant meal per week was convenient. So instead of only oatmeal and berries at home, I had three restaurant meals during this diet. They weren't cheat meals, but they were a nice treat anyway. Here's what my weekly solid meals looked like:
Week One: Lean steak, plain sweet potato, steamed veggies
Week Two: Oatmeal and blueberries with scoop of protein powder
Week Three: Turkey burger, salad, steamed broccoli
Week Four: Huge spinach salad with double order of grilled chicken
The three restaurant meals were healthy, but higher in calories than a normal protein shake. To make up for this, I simply drank one or two less shakes on this solid-meal day. The solid meals were tasty and healthy, they steeled my will power for the rest of the week, and they allowed me to have a "date" with my wife on Saturdays.
Coming Off and Maintaining
One of the drawbacks of an extreme low carb diet is gaining fat back quickly when it's over. Two things:
• Remember that "water weight" lost in the first few days of the diet is going to come back once you reintroduce some additional carbs. Don't panic. This is expected.
In fact, this is a good thing. Often during a low carb diet the dieter notices a loss of "pump" in the gym. This wasn't bad during the Velocity Diet because I sipped Surge during the workout. Still, there were no skin popping pumps. These will come back quickly once additional carbohydrates are reintroduced. Also, sometimes a person's face looks a little "drawn" when low-carbing. When the water weight is gained back, however, features will fill back in.
In short, expect to put on a few pounds of fluids after the Velocity Diet. This is expected and positive.
• With most low carb diets, fat is gained back because the dieter made several mistakes. Calories were too low, muscle was lost (and hence metabolism inhibited), no weight training was performed, no muscle-retaining supplements were used, etc. I'm confident that if a person follows the Velocity Diet to the letter, he or she won't gain back the fat unless they simply return to their bad dietary habits.
So, how do you come off the diet and make sure you stay in your newly ripped condition? Mainly, don't binge and don't make a rapid transition into a "bulking" diet.
1) The first two weeks after the diet, begin adding back in solid meals. My plan is to consume a mixture of healthy solid meals and shakes. If you're eating at least five meals a day (and you should be), then make 2-3 of those solid and 2-3 liquid. Ease back into normal, healthy eating.
2) During this two week period, add 200-300 calories to your daily caloric totals. No cheat meals. Yes, this still looks like a "diet" but it's a smart transition that'll allow you to maintain the fat loss.
3) When coming off a low carb diet, cardio helps increase insulin sensitivity and improve carbohydrate tolerance. Instead of daily walks, perform three 30-minute cardio sessions a week. I plan to do these on non-weight training days.
4) During the diet you consumed fish oil capsules. Keep doing it. Take in at least six grams of DHA and EPA per day. You probably won't need the fiber supplements anymore if you're making wise solid meal choices, but a serving or two of milled flax seeds is always part of a healthy diet for me.
5) You have a lot of options when it comes to other supplements. Since calories are still relatively low in the two week transition period, you may want to keep taking HOT-ROX. You could also add in something like Methoxy-7 or even the new Carbolin-19 (when Biotest releases it), which is my plan. I'll still be using Surge post-training too, but that's a year 'round staple for me.
6) After a two week "bridge," you'll again want to add in some calories and carbs. Shakes and MRPs are still convenient as protein intake should still be at least a gram per pound of bodyweight, but most meals should be coming from solid foods.
There are too many individual variables and personal goals to write a long term plan here, but the transition period outlined should get you on your way.
My plan is to evaluate weekly (scale weight, measurements, what I see in the mirror, etc.) and adjust accordingly. I plan to remain this lean at least through summer. I'll treat myself to pizza every once in a while, but I'll be keeping the diet "tight" 98% of the time. Of course, I'll still be hitting the weights and trying to add muscle and strength, but I won't be going on a "bulking diet" anytime soon.
If I see myself starting to gain fat back, I'm going to intervene immediately. I may do a one or two-week Velocity Diet before any trips to the beach or water parks.
The Solid-Meal-Per-Day Option
The most frequently asked question I'm getting is, "Can I eat one solid meal a day and still lose fat quickly?" Those asking have a variety of motives. Some say they'll just stick to the diet better with a solid meal option; others want a solid meal because they want to eat dinner with their families. And of course a few think the diet is just plain nuts, but they believe it'll be okay with a single solid meal a day.
Yes, a single solid meal Velocity Diet can work, just be aware of the drawbacks:
• The Velocity Diet is appealing because of its simplicity. Once you figure our your daily calories, you just drink shakes all day. No food log, no reading labels, no choices to make. If you add a solid meal in every day, you'll have to count the calories and adjust your shake intake. This will take a little extra time and require you to keep a food log.
• The Velocity Diet is strict, but that very severity makes it successful. Again, there are no choices to make. You either do it or you don't. Many dieters thrive under stringent rules. Adding a solid meal lessens this strictness. Some people may not be able to handle the freedom of a solid meal. Their discipline could wane and the single healthy meal could turn into an all-you-can-eat buffet.
But if you think the positives outweigh the negatives, then here are my recommendations for the single solid meal option:
1) You've figured out your calorie ranges by using the formula in Part I. Let's say your non-training day limit is 1500 calories. You'll need to figure out how many total meals you're going to consume per day.
Now, two scoops of Low-Carb Grow! plus a serving of milled flax seeds is 310 calories. Drink three of those per day and that totals 930 calories. But you'll also be consuming some fish oil capsules on this day, probably around 200 calories' worth. So that's 1130 total, leaving you 370 calories to go for your solid meal.
Eat more or less than that for your solid meal and you'll have to adjust everything else. And if that solid meal contains a lot of fiber or healthy fats, then maybe you won't need all those fish and flax supplements, meaning you'll again have to recalculate your shakes and their content. (See, gets tricky, huh?)
2) The solid meal can be had any time of the day, whatever fits your needs and schedule. However, breakfast is the ideal time because a larger, solid breakfast makes many people more satiated throughout the day and lessens the desire to overeat at night.
I'd also be a little wary of making the last meal of the day your solid meal. After drinking shakes all day, even satiating ones, the temptation to overdo this solid meal could be great. It could be psychologically helpful to know your last meal of the day is a pre-planned shake, no choice about it.
3) Here are some solid meal ideas:
Vegetable omelet
Grilled chicken breast and small salad
Grilled salmon and small serving of broccoli
Small fajita made with lean steak and low carb tortilla
Tuna in lettuce wraps with a couple of strawberries
In short, eat some protein and keep the carbs fibrous and under control. The daily solid meal option can be a success if you keep your caloric intake within the range provided and keep the carbs under 100 grams per day. It'll take a little more thought and work compared to the one-solid-meal-per-week option, but you can still lose fat rapidly. Many are already trying it and hopefully they'll keep us updated on the forum.
The Future
I've never been this shredded in my life. But that doesn't mean the B.A.A.D. won't kick in and give me the desire to try a new mass diet in the future. But the Velocity Diet can even have a role in bulking phases.
You see, it's always more effective to lose any excess body fat before you get on a bulking diet. A person who's already too fat can gain up to four pounds of fat for every one pound of muscle gained on a mass phase! In the past I've abandoned bulking plans because the fat just came on too quickly. This left me in a state of diet purgatory: stuck between wanting to gain massive amounts of muscle and freaking out when the fat accumulated at a scary rate.
I just wasn't lean enough to bulk! I am now. Lean individuals gain less fat and more muscle when overfeeding when compared to their fatter counterparts. Next winter if I decide to do a mass diet, I'll be gaining mostly muscle this time around thanks to the Velocity Diet. If you've had trouble adding fat-free mass before, maybe this is your solution too.
I'd wish you luck, but luck has nothing to do with it. Prepare, follow the plan, modify smartly if needed, and get ready to experience leanness that you once thought was impossible!
Original article available at
T-Nation
Supplements available at
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