Most people have tried a specific diet to try to lose weight and tone up, but often end up struggling to stay on the plan, or end up losing lots of weight very quickly, but put it all back on quickly. In this article, we go through some of the best diets for people trying to work out, including the keto diet, if it fits your macros (IIFYM) and the vertical diet. If you’re looking for a plan that will help you lose weight quickly, we also recommend checking out the 3-week diet.
The Vertical Diet
This has become very popular in the last six months and has been popularized by top-level strong men Brian Shaw and Hafthor Bjornsson. The diet was created by Stan Efferding and was designed for people wanting to maximize their performance in the gym. It has also been called the ‘steak and rice’ diet by some, as these are the main foods in the diet. Stan has carefully selected foods that top-level athletes need to perform at their best, and all the micronutrients are covered as a baseline. Then, the rest of the diet is made up of foods that are easily digested, so that the person can eat 4000-8000+ calories every day, as they need to increase their body weight and performance without getting any digestive issues. This primarily comes from rice, which can be eaten in large quantities without causing digestive issues, and then steak or bison for the fats and protein due to their large quantities of micronutrients. The top two of the World’s Strongest Man competitors currently use this diet and perform very well.
Keto Diet
The keto diet, short for the ketogenic diet, uses a very different approach to most food plans. The diet is primarily made up of high-fat food, followed by moderate amounts of protein, and then very few carbs. When the body has no carbs as its primary energy source, it starts to use fat instead. The idea here is that if your body is burning fat as its main fuel source, then it will be easier to burn fat from the body. There have also been some great health benefits associated with the diet, and it’s often prescribed to those with epilepsy.
IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros)
This is an eating protocol that uses macronutrients as the main focus, and then foods can be chosen as people wish to hit their targets. Macronutrients are made up of carbs, fats, and protein, with each gram of each having a set number of calories – 1 g carb is made up of 4 calories, 1 g protein is of the same, and then 1 g fat is of 9 calories. You can then work backward to make up the macros you need to eat each day to fit into your calories. If you’re trying to lose weight, for example, you’ll take your daily calories and subtract 200, leaving you in a calorie deficit. The great thing about this diet is that as long as you stay within your macros, you can eat anything. If you want to have a chocolate bar, for example, this can be fit in, as long as you don’t go over your calories at the end of the day.