This is a support page for those who have purchased The Diet Adjustments Manual (formerly called The Last Shred).
To see a full list of the revisions I have made over the years see the Update Log.
If you have any questions on the content of the book, please feel free to ask me in the comments below.
Please keep questions on topic, write clearly, concisely, and don't post diet calculations.
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I follow and alredy have all your content. But I didnt find this information:
After a massing phase, I need to be in a maitenece phase before a 3 weeks mini-cutting?
Thanks!
Hi Haider,
You’ll see the reasons for coming to maintenance for a short period in the transitions chapter and you can base your decision on that. But I don’t recommend “mini-cuts” — they achieve little and interrupt the bulk.
Hey andy, I recently bought your newest book. I have loved it so far, I haven’t finished reading it but the amount of knowledge I’ve got from it now it’s amazing.
i only wanted to ask you something, If I enjoy cardio a lot, sports like CrossFit and I’d like to lose fat a little bit faster; Do you think it would be recommendable for me to do CrossFit at the same time that I do resistance training at the gym?
I’m in a Calorie déficit right now, and i am not sure if joining a crossfit class would slow my performance in the gym, (make my sessions less efficient) What would you recommend me?
Hi Valeria, glad you enjoyed the book and thank you for the question.
No, I absolutely do not recommend it.
Recovery balance is critical. If we train too little, we risk muscle loss when dieting; train too much and you risk burnout and injury. If you add in CrossFit classes, you’re adding in fairly random, untargeted training inputs, which are an additional recovery burden. It’s absolutely the worst possible option if you’re looking to increase your activity levels to burn more calories.
We train to deliver the appropriate stimulus for the circumstances — muscle maintenance when cutting, muscle growth when bulking.
We use dietary control as the primary means to address calorie balance — creating a deficit for a fat loss phase (cutting) or a surplus for a gaining phase (bulking).
As you have read, in some circumstances you might add in a limited amount of cardio (see page 168–170) when you can’t bear to eat any less. But the intensity should be low-to-moderate so that you recover fine and can perform well in your strength training.
This is of course assuming that you want to do things in a logical, systematic method as I outline in the book.
Could you add in CrossFit classes and get away with it? Maybe. Is it something I would recommend to clients? Hell no.
Training is training. Diet is diet. Keep the two separate.
Well, I bought your new edition of the adjustment diet book, and I have some questions.
I was fat when I was a kid, since then i am a personal trainer and training 4-5 times a week.
every time what happen to me is this:
I cut my weight to 71, start a bulk phase, going up to 78 and then try to get down again to 74kg but i still have some extra fat in this weight. That way, I just go up and down with any real change (except frustrating)
I am looking at your progress with Dave and Cameron and ask myself how it can be that after the bulking phase they look like this and dont need a cutting phase again? What am I missing?
thank you!
Hi Roy, thank you for getting the book.
Most people gain more fat than Dave did. Note that Cameron didn’t really bulk, it was more of a recomp and he took a year over it. These things aside, here are some potential reasons:
1. The training stimulus wasn’t adequate,
2. You gained weight too fast,
3. You didn’t sleep enough or were stressed, so training response was hampered,
4. You cut too quickly.
5. You ended your cut too soon, and you ended your bulk too soon before any real muscle was gained because of it.
Most of these things are covered in the opening chapter, Why People Fail.
Andy, you’re a legend, will you go out with me?
Sorry mate, quarantine.
Have you recommendations for people who are injured, so not able to train at maximum exertion? Should you stay at maintenance, or follow the cutting and bulking cycle with sub optimal training.
Hi Andrew, it depends on the degree to which you can still train. If you can work around the injury, for the most part, you don’t necessarily have to change things.
Hi Andy,
First of all – excellent book.
One question after reading it: generally you recommend two weeks of maintenance between cut/bulk or one-two weeks of diet break when going deep in a cut phase – is this for time efficiency purpose? (supposing you’re not yet satisfied with your phisique).
In other words, do you ever suggest longer maintenance phases? (At any point, during cut, after getting lean enough, after bulking).
Thank you!
Hi Stefan, thank you! Glad to read you liked it.
Yes, for the reasons covered at the start of the maintenance chapter.
Just wanted to say thank you so much. I refer to the Last Shred regularly and can’t wait to print and get into this new version
Thank you, Jo. Honored! Just be aware that there are quite a few links in the book, so when you see some text underlined in your printed version, that’s a link you can click in the PDF.
Andy,
It looks like you keep client protein intake the same regardless of bulk or cut, and increased carbs and fat only during a bulk.
Is this your recommendation?
Al
Hi Al,
Protein needs are a little higher when cutting. So, when you switch from a bulk to a cut, you might want to bump the protein a little; but when you switch from a cut to a bulk, there isn’t any need.
Andy
Do you not consider body fat percentage as an indicator as well? I know it is very difficult to measure it with any sense of accuracy, but it would show the trend, no? Or are you using visual cues?
Your advise is to stop cutting (or start bulking) only once you hit 12-13% BF (less than 15%).
Thanks again,
Constantin
Hi Constantin,
Not an indicator of progress, it’s only useful when considering when to finish a cut and then bulk.
Personally, I don’t think about in terms of numbers at all, I take a look and decide what I think might be right at the time and advise the client accordingly. I just give numerical guidelines for body fat percentage as saying “sorry I go by what is in my head” isn’t helpful. Same with calculating macros (and why I created the macro calculator for readers). I don’t recall the last time I actually needed to bust out my calculator. I’ve done this so many times with so many people that the numbers just come into my head.
Hi Andy,
As a skinny fat person, how do I get rid of the excess fat I have in my lower part of my body (legs and butt)?
Hi Matt,
We can’t control where fat is lost we can only control whether we are in a calorie deficit. So, the fastest way to do it is to diet. If you have noticeable fat there, you’re probably not 11-12%. Continue trying to recomp. When that doesn’t work, choose to cut or bulk.
Hello Andy,
In either a future edition, or on the site, I would like to see results from men over 40 who have struggled before with nutrition and training. Not knowing exactly what to change to make a big progress.
I am 52 and at the moment I think I am still struggling.
Hi Andreas, I have good news, but it requires a bit of an explanation:
Around 1 in 6 clients are in their 50s, 2 in 6 are in their 40s.
Age isn’t the limiting factor at this point. When you get into your late 50s and 60s, it will gradually become more and more difficult, but it’s not a sudden stop. So, be mindful of any mobility limitations and old injuries you need to work around, and be mindful of recovery, but don’t get sold on the idea that the theory of this is any different for you. (Advice For Older Strength Trainees)
Whatever you are struggling with, it isn’t age-related, and the book will teach you how to find and troubleshoot it.
What I would like to see is a system that allow to build a meal (or an entire meal plan) out of the programmed macros. This is the thing that I find the most difficult when dieting. I know that you have an article about that on your website, but maybe the book can include an extended version of it.
Hi Nicolò,
I plan to work on something like that next. A kind of cookbook. For now, here’s my guide to making meals out of macros.
(I realize your name is Italian, but do you happen to speak Spanish? If so, my friend has a cookbook and I am thinking of doing the English version of that with him.)
Hi Andy, I’d be interested in knowing how competitive sports practice affects diet and training when cutting (i.e macros partitioning on days of weight training, on days of sport training, etc.)
Hi Adrian,
It’s outside the scope of the book, but basically, you have to estimate the calorie burn from that activity (see the cardio section in the ‘How To Make Mid-diet Adjustments When Cutting’ chapter), add it to the client’s diet, then monitor their fatigue and recovery so that they aren’t overwhelmed with their training demands, reducing things if and when appropriate.
Hi Andy,
One thing I have been thinking about, is strategies if you get sick, like a more severe cold or the flu.
Not seriously ill of course, I mean the usual stuff we get from time to time.
Should you shift your macro to more carbs? Allow yourself to go up to maintenance?
I do get severe carb cravings when I’m coming down with a cold.
I’m sure you have encountered this with your clients, maybe some tips here.
Regards,
Kenneth
Hi Kenneth, thank you for the question. Yes, you can increase calorie intake when you are sick (if you are well enough to track). Follow the first set of steps in the ‘Transitioning To Maintenance’ chapter.
I’d be interested in reading more about refeeds. I’ve heard that one day refeeds don’t do much besides the psychological effect / lowering cortisol, which can stimulate the “whoosh” but won’t do much for leptin or other metabolic adaptations.
How do I pick the right refeed schedule (for example – if you choose two day refeeds, should you lower your calories on deficit days, so that the total weekly deficit stays the same, or should you accept a slightly slower rate of fat loss, and just lower other days a bit or not at all)? It would be nice to know if there are any adjustments that you recommend to refeeds themselves.
Hi Adam, thank you for the question.
Diet breaks can be a useful tool, which you’ll see covered in the book.
Refeeds are part of nutrient timing considerations and are covered in my Nutrition Setup Guide (the specific chapter is on the site here). Unfortunately, though a lot has been made of refeeds, there isn’t much more to it than what I have written there.
Hi. I would like to see recommended fat ratios. As in the recommended distribution of mono, poly, and saturated fats.
Hi Rob, thank you for the question.
I wouldn’t want to step outside of my bounds here into that of a blood lipid specialist/doctor, so I haven’t included it in the book. From what I understand, a good guideline is to keep the saturated fat intake to less than half of your total fat intake, and don’t have an excessive fat intake when at maintenance or a calorie surplus (above 35% plus, let’s say). I can’t speak further than that though.
Hi Andy, page 28 of the pdf, there’s a link that’s misspelled (leading to a 404). The pdf should link to https://rippedbody.com/hoW-to-build-training-programs/ but it’s spelled wrong in the pdf.
Hi Jon, fixed. Thank you for pointing that out! You can use the link on this page in the FAQ section to download an updated version if you wish.
Hey Andy, I didnt receive the link to your 3rd edition manual, I checked my spam and there was nothing there from you either. I tried getting a link by having the code sent via email but it didnt recognize my email address, can you help me with this? Email is [email protected]
Thank you! Jess Vega
Hi Jess, I can’t find your address, nor your name when searching. I found one person with the family name “Vega” and 14 people with first names beginning with “Jess,” but the email addresses are not similar.
Is there another name or email address you purchased with?
What is the reason for transitioning to maintenance after a bulk, but before a cut? Is there a significant reason why not to just go straight to a cut?
Hi Taylor,
The only real reason is for the sudden calorie reduction to be less of a shock to the system. There is no necessity if you don’t wish to.