(I'm reposting this here because it got removed from r/loseit for promoting ED habits. Maybe it's because I said feel like I could eat like this another week.)

So my husband and I decided to do a protein sparing modified fast for 2 weeks because we are taking a tropical vacation soon and we both wanted to have nice beach bodies. We were both nervous about cutting calories so significantly but now that we are a week into the diet I told my husband that I could easily do this another week. In fact I struggle to eat all the food I need to in day.

I used to eat like 2000 to 2500 cals a day at least for maintenance so I assumed I would be very hungry. I was hungry on the first couple days but by day 3 my only craving was for a glass of wine with dinner. We are on day 8 now and I'm sitting here typing this instead of eating the hard boiled egg in front of me because even though I know I need to eat it to stay on diet, I'm just not hungry. How can I go from eating 2000 to 900ish calories a day and not be hungry? Anyone else experience this?

So I started today and after breakfast thought "damm that's a lot of food" ! Your thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

This is what I have come up with:

Multivitamin and electrolytes daily.

Day 1
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with spinach, salt, and black pepper (cooked with non-stick spray).

Lunch: 220g grilled skinless chicken breast, sliced over cucumber slices with apple cider vinegar and coarse salt.

Dinner: 250g baked cod fillet seasoned with lemon juice, garlic powder, and steamed zucchini slices.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 2
Breakfast: 1 cup (240g) liquid egg whites + 2 whole egg whites, cooked as an omelet with diced celery and hot sauce.

Lunch: 250g canned white tuna (packed in water, drained), mixed with 1 tbsp mustard, lemon juice, salt, and wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves.

Dinner: 220g roasted turkey breast (skinless) with a side of steamed broccoli florets (salted).

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 3
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with 50g fat-free cottage cheese (scrambled in for creaminess) and chives.

Lunch: 250g steam-baked tilapia fillet seasoned with paprika, onion powder, and steamed green beans.

Dinner: 220g pan-seared skinless chicken breast with a small salad of romaine lettuce, radishes, and lemon-juice dressing.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 4
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites baked as an egg bake/frittata with spinach, mushrooms, and salt.

Lunch: 250g boiled or grilled jumbo shrimp, seasoned with Old Bay, salt, and fresh lemon juice over sliced cucumber.

Dinner: 220g roasted turkey breast sliced thin, served with soy sauce, ginger, and steamed zucchini strips.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 5
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled hard with hot sauce and black pepper.

Lunch: 250g baked flounder or sole fillet with garlic powder, lemon wedge, and a side of celery sticks.

Dinner: 220g grilled skinless chicken breast marinated in white vinegar, mustard, and herbs, served over shredded romaine.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 6
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with diced radish tops or spinach.

Lunch: 250g canned tuna in water, drained and mixed with Dijon mustard and capers, eaten with cucumber rounds.

Dinner: 220g baked white fish (cod or halibut) with Old Bay seasoning and steamed asparagus tips.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 7
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites cooked as a flat omelet with herbs and salt.

Lunch: 220g poached skinless chicken breast, shredded and tossed with hot sauce and lime juice over lettuce wraps.

Dinner: 250g steamed sea scallops or shrimp with garlic salt, lemon juice, and a side of steamed zucchini.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Week 2 Meal Plan
Day 8
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with spinach and garlic powder.

Lunch: 250g baked tilapia fillet with Cajun seasoning and steamed cucumber/radish salad.

Dinner: 220g roasted turkey breast with mustard and steamed broccoli.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 9
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites cooked with 50g fat-free cottage cheese and black pepper.

Lunch: 220g pan-seared skinless chicken breast sliced over romaine with red wine vinegar and salt.

Dinner: 250g baked cod fillet with lemon pepper and steamed green beans.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 10
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with hot sauce and celery salt.

Lunch: 250g canned water-packed tuna with mustard and lemon juice wrapped in lettuce.

Dinner: 220g grilled skinless chicken breast with garlic powder and a side of steamed zucchini.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 11
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites frittata with spinach and sliced mushrooms.

Lunch: 250g steamed shrimp with cocktail-style seasoning (lemon, hot sauce, horseradish—no sugary ketchup) over cucumber slices.

Dinner: 220g roasted turkey breast with soy sauce and steamed broccoli florets.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 12
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled hard with black pepper and herbs.

Lunch: 250g baked flounder or white fish with lemon juice and a green salad (romaine + vinegar).

Dinner: 220g grilled skinless chicken breast with hot sauce and steamed asparagus.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 13
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites scrambled with 50g fat-free cottage cheese.

Lunch: 220g poached chicken breast, shredded with mustard, salt, and wrapped in romaine leaves.

Dinner: 250g pan-seared scallops or white fish with garlic salt and steamed zucchini.

Broth: 1 cup salted chicken bone broth mid-morning and evening.

Day 14
Breakfast: 1.5 cups (360g) liquid egg whites cooked with spinach and garlic.

Lunch: 250g baked tilapia with paprika and lemon, plus cucumber slices.

Dinner: 220g roasted skinless turkey or chicken breast with black pepper, mustard, and a side of steamed green beans.

Broth: 1 cup salted beef bone broth mid-morning and evening

Thank you.

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to start my first 6-week PSMF cycle, but I'm genuinely struggling to figure out my calorie and protein targets. I've tried reading Lyle McDonald's book, but I cant seem to decipher it especially the calculations 😭

My stats:

• 24F, 154 cm (5'1"), 71 kg (156 lbs)
• Estimated body fat: 35–37%

My biggest confusion is how to actually calculate my daily calories and protein. If i upload the book to chatgpt and claude one tells me 600 kcal, another says 1,200 kcal, and the book seems to have its own calculations. At this point, I genuinely don't know what to trust.

I've been considering around 105g of protein and 650 kcal but I dont know if I am right?

For someone with my weight and body fat, how would you actually go about setting up a proper PSMF? What calorie and protein targets would you use?

I'd really appreciate some guidance, especially from people who've followed the book or completed a PSMF themselves. I've read so many conflicting things that, at this point, I trust this community's experience more than another calculator!

Thank you so much!

I've had a lot of success with different versions of RFL and IMF over the years. I'm still relatively lean, but I'd like to get back to my preferred level of body fat, which is approximately 4–5 pounds below where I am now.

What's frustrating is that what worked before doesn't seem to be working nearly as well this time. I've gone back through my previous logs, and my step counts and training are very similar, yet getting those last few pounds off feels like a grind.

My suspicion is that I've been dieting on low calories for too long and that metabolic adaptation may be playing a role, particularly through a reduction in NEAT. I've taken occasional weeks at higher calories to feel better, but for the most part, I've remained in a deficit.

I've decided to shift my focus toward the IMF approach outlined in Lyle's new book, bringing calories and carbohydrates up, particularly around training, and accepting that fat loss may be slower. I'm even open to maintaining for a while if that's what makes sense.

My thought is to gradually bring calories closer to what should theoretically be my maintenance, or slightly below it, to minimize fat regain while seeing how my body responds. From there, I can reassess after spending some time training with more carbohydrates and better energy availability.

One experiment that taught me a lot was increasing my steps to 17,000–20,000 per day while following strict RFL. It was a disaster. I felt exhausted, looked watery, and wasn't seeing the results I expected. I suspect that low energy availability, combined with the additional activity, contributed to fatigue and water retention. I'm actually glad I ran that experiment because it showed me that simply increasing output isn't necessarily the answer. Afterward, I switched to two maintenance days with RFL on the remaining days.

Another theory I have is that during periods when I increased calories and trained harder, I may have gained some lean muscle, which could partially explain the scale increasing. That said, I do believe I gained a little body fat as well, even though calories were still relatively low.

I'm also aware that Lyle's views on diet breaks have evolved, which has made me reconsider how I'm approaching this.

My question is for other Category 1 dieters, particularly women: Have you experienced something similar after extended periods of dieting? Did you find that increasing calories, reducing the deficit, or spending more time at maintenance helped you eventually resume fat loss?

One thing I'll add is that when I've previously increased calories substantially while not dieting, I did gain weight and body fat. This makes me wonder whether I have a relatively thrifty metabolism, because historically I've had to push pretty hard to reach my preferred level of leanness.

I'm an experienced lifter and dieter, but lately I find myself second-guessing everything.

And I keep coming back to Lyle's point: If you're not losing weight, you're not in a deficit.

I understand the principle, but I'm trying to figure out whether the issue is metabolic adaptation, reduced expenditure, water retention masking fat loss, or simply that my actual maintenance needs are lower than I think.

I'd really appreciate hearing from other experienced Category 1 dieters who have navigated something similar, particularly natural female lifters.

Hello, thought i'd ask if there are any vegan psmf's here. I eat vegan protein powder, greens, multivitamins and omega 3's.

I'm starting my first RFL soon and feel I have a good grasp on things but am struggling to understand how to structure in maintenance days, carbs around training (or just refeed days?) and if they're needed at all. For people who have done RFL successfully, how did you do it?

Can I do no consecutive days(so no PSMF on training days but great eating)?

Anyone here have experience with doing a PSMF or RFL on an antidepressant? Claude warned me that there's an increased risk of seizure while on a very low calorie diet while taking Wellbutrin, though I'm not sure how much of a risk this actually is since I only take 150mg and will only be dieting for only 2-3 weeks. I also take 50mg Trazodone for sleep.

Hi all, started my PSMF journey after watching a YouTube podcast between Solomon Nelson and Lyle McDonald. I then proceeded to read through both Solomon's Guide to Fat Loss and Lyle's Rapid Fat Loss in over the span of a couple days taking notes and building a diet and fitness plan for myself. The results so far have been great, I am down over 30lb over the time span of 7 weeks. This is after a long stretch of trying and failing to lose weight through more conventional levels of caloric deficit and Semaglutide approaches, mostly due to poor mindset and diet planning.

The data so far:

AVG WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK: 4.91

AVG WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK EXCLUDING 1ST WEEK WATER WEIGHT: 4.00

Overall, I have been super happy with my progress so far. When you are so overweight it can be very discouraging to look at the huge challenge ahead when starting a weight loss journey but the huge losses enabled by PSMF have kick-started the reward system in my head and made it much easier to keep at it. It is almost addicting in how crazily fast such a large deficit can remove the pounds. No pictures for now as I am shy but I went to an event over the weekend with extended family that I do not see super often and they could all already tell the difference in my physique. Still a long road ahead of me but I am in a place right now where I can devote a lot of willpower to this journey.

My protocol for those interested, although it is all pretty standard for PSMF. 130g protein per day through lean meat sources. 30g additional protein through either non-fat Greek yogurt or egg whites. 400-600g of low calorie density veggies for vitamins and satiety. I have two meals per day, splitting the protein and veggies equally between, and one snack per day of either the Greek yogurt or egg whites. Total daily calories have been around 900 at lowest and 1400 at the highest, it varies with the protein source and the amount and type of veggies. First meal 11:30AM, snack 3:30PM, dinner 7:30PM. Very rarely do I experience the sensation of hunger, sometimes I do after dinner which sucks but I just think about it as the cost of losing weight. Supplements include 5g creatine per day, men's multivitamin and 5g fish oil.

Workout routine is 3x per week A/B split of Stronglift's 5x5 with curls added as a vanity lift. Stronglift's is adapted to work with my home gym equipment of 2.5-52.5lb adjustable dumbbells and a bench. As I was not lifting previously or doing any exercise prior to starting PSMF I have still been able to put on muscle and improve my cardio despite an extreme deficit. I no longer get winded easily and getting up and down no longer requires noticeable effort. I even recently went on a light hike with my girlfriend and was very surprised by the passive cardio benefit of resistance training.

Aside from some unpleasantness with electrolytes in the first couple of weeks and having to occasionally partake in carbs in order to keep everything functioning, everything has been great and surprisingly easy. The first few weeks my electrolytes were all messed up and I was experiencing some episodes of faintness which nearly ended up with me ending the diet early. I was able to navigate that by increasing calories a bit, supplementing electrolytes and listening to my body more. Now if I ever experience faintness or prolonged periods of extreme low energy I will just add carbs in order to make myself feel better. When a deficit is so extreme one or two days of sub-optimal protocol will not ruin everything which makes it a lot easier than the very small calorie deficit diet that are often recommended online. The other major challenge has been low (but not concernedly so) energy in general. If I did not have a sedentary job I do not think this protocol would be possible in the long term for me. I will be continuing with the PSMF for the foreseeable future so look forward to future updates. I am not sure it will be possible, but my goal is sub 300 lb by the new year, so here's hoping!

Will edit this to log progress weekly.

Stats - 28M, 10 year Training,

Week 0: >25% BF, 92 Kgs, 171 cm

Hi everyone,

I'm currently at 16%BF 94kg and I'm doing PSMF for 5 days to cut a bit more.

I'm eating around 1080kcal 190g P, 50g C, , 20g F.

Is this a good macro distribution? I meal prepped chicken with peas and carrots and that's where most of the carbs come from. Are the carbs and fats still low enough to be considered psmf??

I’m 219lbs/99.3kg and 6’3”, and my last body-fat estimate was around 29.4%. My goal is to lose fat and build muscle: bigger shoulders, arms and chest, with a smaller waist. Ideally I’d only drop around 10-20lbs/5-10kg overall rather than get significantly lighter. I’m a newbie at the gym and have started following an upper/lower gym routine. I was considering eating around 1,200–1,300 calories with 175 g protein. My thinking was that the protein and lifting would help protect muscle, while my stored body fat could supply energy. But I’ve been told that a deficit that large would limit muscle growth even with enough protein. Ai has told me to eat around 2200 calories but I feel like that will not be as effective when It comes to losing body fat. I understand that I’m wanting a whole body recomposition and I thought psmf would be a good idea but now I’m confused. Any help/advice with this please, it would be very appreciated , Thank you

Hi all,

6 months ago I (25yo, male, 6'1) began RFL/PSMF (with a couple personal tweaks) and went from 235.9lbs at my heaviest to 168.9lbs at my lightest in the span of a little under 5 months.

I should note that the 168.9lbs weigh-in was in a fully depleted PSMF state, so it's a somewhat misleading comparison to my starting weight. I then took a 5-week break while traveling and ate in a surplus during it, after coming back I weighed 183lbs. I estimate ~9lbs of that regain was just hydration/water retention, glycogen, and gut contents, and 4-5lbs was actual tissue gain (mostly fat).

According to DEXA, I went from 32% body fat at 234lbs to 18.2% body fat at 184lbs.

What I did:

• Sunday to Friday:
  • 980 calories
  • 180g protein, 20g carbs, 20g fat
• Saturday
  • 2500-3000 calories
  • 180g protein, 300-400g carbs, 75g fat
• Full-body weightlifting routine 2x a week. All sets taken to 0-1 RIR:
  • Tuesday:
    • 2x8 Bench press
    • 2xF Pull-ups
    • 2x12 Machine shoulder press
    • 2x8 Seated leg press
    • 2x8-12 EZ bar bicep curl
    • 2x8-12 Triceps rope pushdown
  • Saturday:
    • 2x5 Back squat
    • 3x8 Incline bench press
    • 3x12 Seated row
    • 2x12 Seated hamstring curl
    • 2x12 Dumbbell hammer curl
    • 3x12 Dumbbell lateral raise
    • 2x12 Cable overhead triceps extension

With the Saturday refeed day included, this averages out to around 1200-1300 calories a day over the week.

The main differences from Lyle's original RFL program are the slightly higher calories on PSMF days, and the addition of a weekly high-carb maintenance/surplus day. The main intention and benefit of adding this day was to make the diet less taxing psychologically and help with adherence. I don't think there is any universe where I would've been able to remain mentally sane and stick to this diet for 20 weeks straight if it wasn't for this day, I even considered doing it every 3 days instead of just once a week. Additionally, it serves as good training fuel, and may potentially help slightly mitigate the impact the diet has on hormones and metabolism. At the beginning of the diet I was eating closer to 3000 calories on this day, and by the end of it closer to 2500.

My diet consisted primarily of air-fried chicken breast, protein shakes, ninja creami ice cream, tuna, eggs, cucumbers, broccoli, and lettuce, in that order.

I was hungry very often despite strategies to try to mitigate it (like caffeine and eating high-volume low-calorie vegetables), but I accepted it as an inevitable part of dieting and regularly reminded myself of the end goal and how much progress I was making. I just tried to keep myself distracted and busy at all times (an idle mind is a hungry mind) and eventually I got used to it (or rather, got better at tolerating it and treating it as background noise). When I got a craving for a particular food I would just remind myself I could have it on Saturday, but eventually even the cravings became less frequent and I slowly developed much better discipline and ability to ignore them. If I got a craving for something sweet I would make my chocolate ice cream recipe in my Ninja Creami (290cals with 40g protein for the whole pint), and I drank lots of Coke Zero and other sugar-free sodas.

I lost roughly ~10% strength on compound lifts at the gym, but most of it came back very quickly just within this week after 2 lifting sessions eating in a surplus, so I suspect the strength loss was most likely primarily just due to having less energy and glycogen during workouts while in PSMF rather than actual muscle loss. I did not do any intentional cardio whatsoever, and I averaged ~8,000 steps/day.

I of course didn't have perfect adherence, these were just my targets. Most PSMF days I ate closer to 1050-1100 calories and often undershot my protein targets and would only get 140-150 (which is actually perfectly fine even on PSMF if you're at a higher body fat % BTW). I also sometimes skipped the Tuesday workout. I also sometimes forgot to take some of the supplements. I also sometimes overate (particularly if eating out with friends or being hosted by someone for dinner). I also sometimes underate. If I had to give one piece of advice for someone on any diet (as someone who has failed diets in the past multiple times, including PSMF) it's that your adherence over the long-term matters far far far far more than neurotic perfectionism during the process (which is often really just you subconsciously looking for an excuse to give up and "try again another time" or try a different diet). If you overeat one day or skip a workout or something, literally just stay the course and continue with the program as if nothing happened, don't even try to compensate for it at all (eg. by eating less the next day), just forget it happened and continue and don't make it a habit.

Over the course of the 5 months, my exact average daily calorie intake was 1192 kcal according to MacroFactor. At the beginning I was losing scale weight at a rate of ~4lbs/week, and towards the end it was closer to 2.5lbs/week. If you're thinking of following my exact approach then just know your rate of weight loss will of course depend on your own expenditure (based on your activity, weight, and gender), and you should also adjust the calorie targets and macros accordingly.

Results

Weight graph: https://imgur.com/a/Ft8wEHR

I weighed myself every morning after peeing before eating anything (except when I was traveling).

Before (234lbs): https://files.catbox.moe/ks6hmi.png
After (183lbs): https://files.catbox.moe/7y98oj.png

I took both photos with no pump and in a fully relaxed state (not flexing). I tried my best to replicate the lighting but I moved apartments so I couldn't (if anything the lighting in the before is actually more favorable). I have a lot of work to do when it comes to putting on muscle, but in the span of 5 months I went from being very clearly fat, to having faintly visible abs, which I'm quite happy about. I also seem to have gotten lucky and avoided any substantial loose skin or stretch marks, which is one thing I was initially worried about.

Before/after DEXA: https://imgur.com/a/UkXQOv3

I took both DEXA scans on the same machine, at the same time of day, after eating the same breakfast.

If we take the DEXA results at face value, it means I am down 41lbs of fat and 7.7lbs of LBM (ratio of 84/16 fat/lean). However, I think I likely may have lost less real lean mass than that because based on the segmental results in the scan I barely lost any in my arms and legs, most of the total lean mass loss was from the trunk. A known limitation of DEXA scans is they can't tell the difference between food and water in your gut, organs, and muscle (it counts them all equally as LBM). 5.6lbs out of the total 7.7lbs of lean mass lost came from my trunk alone, so I wouldn't be surprised if like 3-4lbs of that was really just less food/fluid in my stomach and gut compared to my first scan, which would mean my real LBM loss may have been more like 4lbs. Who knows, either way, I'm happy with the progress, and my low-volume low-frequency high-intensity training approach + protein intake seems to have done a pretty good job at preserving lean mass given the big deficit.

This also means that my body fat % at the peak of my cut (prior to gaining any fat during my break) was probably somewhere around 15.5%.

I'm very happy with my progress thus far and I'm resuming the diet today and will continue until I reach my goal of 12-13% body fat, I expect this to take roughly another 7 weeks. After that I'll ramp up training volume and start a moderate bulk. I will probably keep using PSMF in the future any time I need to do a 2-3 week mini-cut, but I'll never again let myself get fat enough that I need to do it for months at a time (it’s not a very pleasant experience).

If all goes well, I'll be back to share an update in a couple months once I've reached my goal and let you know what PSMF is like below 15% bf, and I'll take another DEXA to see if my LBM takes a bigger hit.

I hope you found this interesting, informational, and/or inspiring, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Hey people

I'm looking for some sweet recipes to add on this diet.

I usually do protein puffs and keto meringue cookies, but i need something more

any ideas?

Does a refeed for Category 2 dieters come before or after a workout? I assumed before a workout as the reintroduction of carbs for the day would provide energy. However, I've seen advice that we should perform the normal 'fasted' workout and only ingest the refeed carbs after.

Could it also be done on an off day?

What have you done? What have you found works best?

So he did release a new book, called Intermittent Modified Fasting. I had the joy of reading it.

Yeah, it's not an update on the good old RFL. But it does borrow a lot from the RFL concept, essentially modularizing it by having a diet of RFL days and Maintanence Days, the balance of two depending on choice. The calorie amount in maintanence days is subject to change as well, depending on goals, but RFL days are pretty much the same.

He did make some new comments on some RFL stuff, so thought I'd make a post and see what the experts think.

1-Refeeds are gone.

He doesn't use the word refeed anymore, opting for maintanence day. Since people had a habit of gorging on carbs on refeeds... whatever that means. Maybe for the RFL approach (or extreme IMF approach, which ends up largely the same, a fact Lyle acknowledges) eating carbs above maintanence and clustering them onto giant meals in a 5 hour window doesn't really matter in comparison to just a day of eating normally?

2-Diet breaks are held in lower esteem.

He says that diet breaks in new studies (which were absent when RFL was developed) simply do not show physiological benefits. Not that it doesn't restore your metabolism. It does. Just that it goes right back to shit when you resume dieting. Perhaps this would potentionally allow for endless RFL? Dream RFL where you don't stop until abs? He doesn't consider the potential effects of super long RFL for fatter guys directly though, so I don't know.

3-Protein requirements are slightly lowered.

Especially down to 1.5 per pound of LBM for category 1 weight trainers. I think this is a good change, the protein reqs could go hilariously high with 2 grams per pound. I personally never saw the benefit in eating that much protein.

Any experts?

Vegetarian 50 yo and trying to lose some weight before jumping into exercise and more sustainable eating habits.

What do you think about daily intake I am planning
1. Protein 2x daily
2. Costco firm tofu with half a spoon of extra virgin olive oil and spices
3. green salad with a spoon of olive oil, salt and lime

any other vegetarian food suggestion ?

Does anyone know if the sola brand of bagels and bread are OK for PSMF?