What To Eat On Protein Fasting Days For Gaining Muscle & Losing Fat

A little while ago I did an article about “Protein Fasting”… Which you basically eat NO protein for one day, to gain MORE muscle and even lose fat in the process.

It became super popular and viral, which is great and I’m very thankful I was able to help so many people. However, it led to a lot of questions.

Today I’m going to cover one of the most asked questions, which was:

What do I eat exactly on that one, no-protein day?

The short summary, just so you’re not totally lost today or as a reminder for those that DID read the original article

Is that you eat no protein at all for one day, for example on a Sunday. Then the rest of the week you eat protein, where you’ll increase the total amounts every 2 days. Thus, Mon/Tues — then Wed/Thurs and finally, Fri/Sat.

And this is because you don’t want your body to adapt and this will increase protein synthesis, improve hormones and allow you to build more muscle and lose fat at the same time.

What Should I Eat?

So, let’s get started on what you should eat on this “protein-fasting” day since you’ll be eating almost no protein.

And this all depends on your goal and genetics.

And I’ll give you 3 options – whether you want to:

  1. Gain more muscle
  2. Lose fat
  3. Or lose weight, super fast.

Simple Numbers

Just to make this easier for you to understand, I’m going to give you some simple numbers and you can adapt these to your own personal situation and goals.

Let’s say you weigh 200 lbs (about 90 kgs) and you’re eating 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is 200 grams daily and thus, about 800 calories (200 grams x 4 calories = 800 calories)

On this “protein-fasting” day, I’ll use Sunday as the example, you’re NOT going to eat anything that’s primarily high in protein. This means no animal proteins (eggs, meats, fish, poultry, dairy, protein powders, etc.)

 

This leaves you:

  • Carbohydrates: The best-being vegetables, fruits, white rice, yams/sweet potatoes and small amounts of oats. I’d stay away from quinoa and legumes since they’re high in protein for a carb source.
  • Fats: The best being coconut, fish oils, avocados, macadamia, extra virgin olive oil, olives, and walnuts. I’d stay away from all vegetable oils.

avocado walnuts

GAIN MUSCLE

If your goal is to gain muscle because maybe you’re “bulking” or you’re “skinny” and want to gain more weight, then my suggestion is to simply add in MORE carbs on this one day, based on what I recommended earlier.

musclesYou’ll want to then replace the 800 calories of protein, with 800 calories of carbs and fats, but primarily carbs. So we can do 75%/25% and so, that would be 600 calories of carbs (150 grams) and 200 from fat (22 grams)

LOSE FAT

However, if you’re trying to mainly lose fat, then I would do the opposite. From the 800 calories that you are not eating from the protein, I’d do 75% from healthy fats, which is 600 calories (67 grams). And 25% from healthy carbs, which is 200 calories (50 grams).

LoseWeightThis is what I do actually and then on Monday when I “refeed”, BOTH my “protein sensitivity” and “carb sensitivity” has improved and I’ll eat more of those.

LOSE WEIGHT FAST

Finally, if you’re the primary goal is to lose weight fast, then you can just eliminate the 800 calories of protein and eat NOTHING extra that one day and thus, it’s a big calorie deficit, which when done once weekly, can result in at least 1 lb of fat loss every month.

LoseWeightFastAnd the best part is that this is just for ONE day a week. And since you won’t be making any other sacrifices towards your carbs and fats…. it won’t feel like a regular “deprivation” diet.

Summary

So, in summary — No protein for one day, and then on this “protein fasting” day, you can either

  • eat a lot more carbs,
  • or fats,
  • or just nothing extra and create a big calorie deficit for just ONE day, resulting in fast fat loss