Lean Bodies by Cliff Sheats

R

Rhonda

Cathlete
I was reading this in the clean eating thread but would like to get some feedback. I went to the website and it looks like an interesting program. Just wondering if others are doing it, have done it, what results did you get. Is it a fairly easy program to stick with?

Thanks
Rhonda
 
Hi Rhonda:

I agree - after seeing that thread I've been wondering about it, too, and checked out the website.

Anybody want to help us out here??? Inquiring minds. :)

Marcia. :)
 
I was intrigued also and took a look around his website. Add me to the list of inquiring minds!

Please, do tell! :)
 
Let's bump this up again and see if there is anybody out there, who had tried it and would like to share their experience with us. Please :7

I requested his book at my library and can't wait to pick it up, so I can check it out. :)

In worst case scenario, I have to try it and let you all know ;-)

Have a great day everybody
Kristine :)
 
I got this book out of my library yesterday. You can also read some of the feedback/reviews of it on Amazon.com. It is an interesting read. Lots of chemistry! I am going to try it ...but not today! I need to do some figuring out of what I am going to eat, it looks a little complicated (but not prohibitive to the motivated individual), and the ratios are important.

You eat 5 small meals a day. The ratio is 65 percent complex carb, 25 percent protein and 10 percent fat. Pasta and bread are not allowed (they are not complex)...only whole grains. Oatmeal, yams, etc. After the first 7 weeks you can go into maintenance mode and you may have whole grain bread, and also have planned cheats.

It looks like it is going to take commitment but I am going to try it because the low calorie diets are not working so great for me anymore. I did WW to lose the last of my babyfat but now I really still want to lower my bodyfat but not necessarily weigh less and need to add muscle and how am I supposed to do that on a strictly low calorie diet? I do NOT want to be the skinny but jiggly gal and that is where I am headed with my current plan.

The testimonials in the book are very encouraging. There are a lot of recipes.

I would describe the method of eating in this book as EXTREMELY clean, and low in bad fats (you don't eat the egg yolks, for example or red meat at all while in the first 7 weeks).

Jen
 
Wow, after that I don't know if I can do it. We eat red meat 3-4 times a week. I usually have a whole egg and one egg white scrambled in the mornings.

Jen - are there any examples of menus? Just curious as to what you eat during the first seven weeks.

Thanks
Rhonda
 
I wonder if this is a plan you can stay on forever or if its like Atkins where you have to go off of it eventually? After reading this I'm not so sure I'd like to try it. I don't care for diets that restrict anything, like carbs or proteins. It sounds really complicated. I just bid on the book on Ebay too! Oh well!
Debbie in OH
 
After skimming the book, I am no expert but....

You could probably still eat red meat if it was very lean. Don't know what is?! But the way I figure it is...if nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes! Ya know? It doesn't restrict carbs...it restricts processed carbs. It doesn't restrict lean protein so much as fatty protein. Just to clarify my earlier post.

Here is a week one sample menu...this is where you would start, you need to ramp up calories from there (100 cal per day increase every week for women) or start higher if your activity/weight shows you need to.... and he shows you this in the subsequent weeks. It doesn't show so much about preparation so I am not sure how these foods are prepared (or I haven't read that yet)

THIS IS JUST A SAMPLE AND SUBSTITUTIONS CAN BE MADE

Breakfast or Meal 1
Corn Grits (I think you could sub Oatmeal)
3 large scrambled egg whites/salsa
1/2 t MCT oil (this is an essential fatty acid ..I think...he recommends, it is optional)

Meal 2
Carb protein drink or carb/protein combination of foods still reading that part

Meal 3 Lunch
3oz chicken breast
brown rice 2/3 C cooked
2 C broccoli
1/2 C peas

Meal 4
4oz nonfat yogurt
4 rice cakes or similar to meal 2

Dinner
3 oz fish,
8 oz potato,
2 c green leafy veggie ...Kale
salad (he doesn't mention dressing but I assume very low fat or healthy fat dressing if such a thing exists)

This is just an example...this is week one, 1500 calories. It goes up from there, the next week. You might need to start higher if you have a high RMR or high activity level. As long as the proteins are lean and the carbs are complex (whole foods, whole grain variety, NOT processed) and it is in the ration 65 carb 25 protein 10 fat within the event of that particular meal, it is valid.

Hope this makes sense.

It appears to be very restrictive on bad fat and processed food. I guess it just depends on how willing someone might be to make the necessary changes and weigh it against what they would gain physique wise in the long run.

Curious as to what someone who has done this has to say....

gotta run
Jen
 
Hi everyone,

I have both this book and the cookbook (I posted this under the clean eating thread). Regarding the foods, this book is really geared towards the body builder (not the professional body builder though) and those who want to get rid of that body fat. His recipes are extremely tasty.

For the proteins, he advocates lean proteins such as chicken, turkey, and fish. He uses a ton of oatmeal and oat flour for his complex carb type of "breads."

MCT oil, and other supplements suggested in the book, are all available from Parrillo Performance (see http://www.parrillo.com). The MCT oil is called CapTri and is used to sustain energy levels when one is trying to gain lean mass. I use it in my smoothies and drizzle it in my salads and veggies (similar to what you do with flax seed oil).

However, I haven't tried his plan as I have been doing the Fat Flush Plan. I do want to give his plan a try as it looks good.

Lorrayne
 
Hi Jen, Rhonda & Everyone Else! This is very much the way I eat. If you look in the Eating Healthy threads you'll see the 5 small meals I eat. I found it too hard to eat low carb 5 days in a row, hence I've placed a high carb day on Wed. & Sat. The high carbs being: brown rice/yams/pasta/bread/white potatoes. I eliminate all of these on the low carb days. I usually spend about 1 hr. on Sunday preparing my tilapia fish, mixed veggies, brown rice & yam. Its really not difficult to do at all once you get in the habit of it. Please try it you'll see just how quickly the #s come off. I've never been leaner. I have nice muscle definition. I'm 5'2", 114#s & I wear a size 0 in pants. Good luck! Kathy:D

BTW: I eat once a week 6 oz. of flank steak. The lean steaks are flank & London broil.
 
This program sounds just like the "Body for Life" eating plan. It may be a bit more restrictive at first, but the basics are the same--frequent small meals, quality protein with each meal, "good" carbs...

I lost about 20lbs using this type of eating plan. It does take some planning at first, but once it becomes a habit, it is easy to maintain.
 
It is similar to Body for Life. However, Bill Phillips allows the red meats and much more dairy than Cliff Sheats.
 
I am very intrigued by all of this. I am thankful the above posters added their comments. It seems crazy that eating that often can make you drop weight that well....but it seems to work! This also seems to jive with Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat Feed the Muscle that I read about earlier in the year. I plan to try it....
 
It is odd that eating 5 to 6 small meals per day works. But it does. In fact, I've seen this published by numerous authors.

I have found, though, that as long as you eat clean (whole foods and nothing "white") you will lose weight and body fat. When I was eating this way, I lost 25 pounds and dropped from a size 8 to a size 0. I didn't follow anything when I lost this weight other than cutting back on my portions and removing the white foods (pasta, bread, sugar) from my diet. I lost the majority of this weight when I was not working out. I slimmed down even more (from size 4 to size 0) when I incorporated exercise back into my weekly routine.

Hope this helps.

Lorrayne
 
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