No.1 Mistake People Make On The MANS Diet

by Mark McManus on April 15, 2008

red meat I’ve received some amazing success stories by email from people who have adopted the MANS diet.

There is one question that keeps popping up though,

“Am I eating enough?”

If you have to ask, you probably aren’t. I understand it’s hard shifting from a dependence on carbohydrates and an avoidance of fat to embracing a high-fat/low-carb diet.

When you think ‘snack’ – crackers, chips and candy bars come to mind when cheese cubes, home-made protein bars and beef jerky should be the automatic response. It just takes a little getting used to, that’s all.

Personally I think it’s easy. Make sure you have the following in your diet:

Butter
Cheese
Heavy cream / double cream
Eggs
Mayonnaise
Ranch Dressing
Olive Oil Dressing
Red Meat
Fish
Walnuts
Almonds
Peanut Butter (All Other Nut Butters)
Flax Seed

Remember, there’s always the ‘monster whey protein shake‘ to bump up the calories in one go.

I also have a video of a guy making a nice low-carb, home-made protein bar here (scroll to the bottom of that article).

Stay Motivated!

Mark McManus

{ 20 comments }

1 manny April 16, 2008 at 8:00 am: yes, very true.

something else people need to watch their cholesterol a bit more with MANS.

just don’t spend the entire day eating eggs and beef jerky.

the home made protein bar and veggies does sound good
2 Mark McManus April 16, 2008 at 6:39 pm: I don’t watch cholesterol. Here’s a study that showed higher increases in muscle size with higher levels of cholesterol.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109173717.htm
There’s also 2 books (of the same name) on the issue of cholesterol – ‘The Great Cholesterol Con’.
If you are concerned about it then monitor your cholesterol intake, it’ll put your mind at ease.
As for me, I’m going to continue with the copious amounts of eggs
Mark
3 manny April 16, 2008 at 6:56 pm: ok, thanks Mark for the article. Sounds much more logical to me now, as fat in the veins is the problem not actually the cholesterol. But yea, it’s still a bit confusing.

“Needless to say, these findings caught us totally off guard,”

same here lol.

anyway Mark about MANS i was wondering if a person can actually store Fat by eating too much fat and not exercising for a long while.

Thanks in advance.
4 Mark McManus April 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm: At this stage, no one can say definitively that fat can or can’t be stored as fat when carbs are kept low.
I believe the science shows that it cannot, but further research is required.
There’s consecutive days I eat over 4000 calories mostly from fat and I don’t gain any body fat. Read my article on it here if you haven’t already…
http://www.musclehack.com/what-if-you-cant-get-fat-on-a-high-fat-diet/
Mark
5 Jexxer April 16, 2008 at 11:29 pm: Just make sure your protein intake isn’t too much because you can really damage your kidneys this way. The PH level gets really acidic if their is too much protein and since your body doesn’t store your kidneys have to process all the excess protein you consume. Also high amounts of protein causes your body to excrete more calcium which can lead to kidney stones. I take 500mg of Magnesium and 550mg of Potassium Gluconate to help in the process so I don’t get kidney stones again. On the whole consuming fat thing, I suggest staying away from foods with Trans Fat because this type of fat works against your body and will probably end up on your waist.
6 Uplift April 17, 2008 at 7:48 am: Gidday, concerning cholesterol, I ate 20-30 eggs a day, 2 cups of cream, meat, slabs of butter and full cream milk and cheese for around 12 years when following the Rheo Blair eating style. My cholesterol levels were always in the lowest end of the range, much to doctors disbelief when they found out what I ate. Often they would retest me 2 and 3 times…literally dumbfounded. I was playing top level sport, and had a huge training load when incorporated with my own weight training load, so naturally the amounts I consumed reflect that.

I am 52 now, and in deluxe health and fitness. I only stopped eating that way for my own moral beliefs and reasons, wishing to not harm animals. However my diet now, like then, is based along the lines of Mark’s, and I still eat large amounts of cream, butter, milk and cheese, supplemented with whey and casein powders.

In fact, Mark’s site has been a bit of a fantastic wake up call, as far as the carb/fat thing goes, as well as the protein utilisation cream issue. I found I had gradually started eating more and more refined carbs, and perhaps unconsciously heading along the less dietary fat road. I have high expectations, and I was losing hardness, and gaining some fat. Since upping my cream intake, especially with the whey, (which can also play around with insulin levels), I am harder, and rapidly dropping fat.

Based on considerable, real life experience, cholesterol doesn’t concern me in the slightest, and I feel it plays an important role in optimum hormone levels and health. All important hormones. Hormones that control all bodily function. I would be most worried about the effects of refined carbs and sugar, and blood composition. Hormone replacement therapy, all time low testosterone levels…other hormone problems…obesity…the contemporary obsession with carbs and no fat…coincidence?

The HIT thing in the book is a classic. I love it! I love asking ‘experts’ if they have ever seen a fat sprinter? Sprinters, who avoid aerobics like the plague, and who have low body fat levels, and guess what else? Rampant hormones!

The truth for me is, if it wasn’t for my beliefs, I would base my eating around whole eggs. Probably a dozen a day. (I am 6′ 220lbs).
7 Jexxer April 17, 2008 at 9:39 am: Cholesterol is different for everyone. Our bodies make 2/3 of cholesterol. If you are consuming a lot of food with high cholesterol your body will stop producing it’s own to make sure it can handle the cholesterol you take in. Some people also have conditions where their bodies can’t make cholesterol. Of course exercise also helps with lowering cholesterol.
8 Mark McManus April 20, 2008 at 11:09 am: I always like reading your contributions Uplift!
Great stuff.
Hope you contribute in the forums when they’re up (probably 2-3 weeks away now).
Anyway, I respect the decision you’ve made regarding diet but it’s great to see you still eat fat and steer clear of refined carbs, wish the same could be said of other vegetarians.
You’re right about HIIT, it’s a godsend for fat loss. I wouldn’t dream of doing any other type of cardio these days.
Cheers,
Mark
9 Odin May 7, 2008 at 10:31 am: Well I have a few things about what foods I should have in my diet. I’m allegic to seafood all together so can I substuite something else for it. And homemade Beef Jerky is the best. I’ll ask some questions on your other deals since I’m just starting to get into bodybuilding so I’m clueless. Thanks for the info. Keep on rockin hard brother.
10 arn November 20, 2008 at 5:32 am: Bro Mark, I just tried the suede chips bro. mean!
Thanks for making my bodybuilding dreams come true! Getting insane results! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Im so happy!!!!!!….um, lol? GOD BLESS!
11 Mark McManus November 20, 2008 at 4:36 pm: Great to hear Arn! Glad I could help.
All the best buddy,
Mark
12 Liam December 15, 2008 at 5:25 pm: the only secret for losing weight is, eat less and exercise more, burn more than you eat, if you take in 2500 calories and burn 1900, you are gaining 600 calories on your body. And also you have to burn 3500 calories to burn off 1 lb of body fat.
13 Ron March 12, 2009 at 7:36 pm: I eat only about 20 grams of carbs a day and continue to build muscle. High protien and high fat will get you through your workouts as long as you supplement…I take creatine , protien and L-Glutamine and motor through my workouts…the body fat is just melting away faster then ever….Thanks Mark for all the info and advice.
14 Kris April 8, 2009 at 2:01 am: Whats the recommended carb intake a day for the weekend?
15 CHRIS June 5, 2009 at 3:05 am: Mark hi, My name is Chris and this my third year of competition bodybuilding. I been on the diet fo about 2-1/2 weeks I seeing some results both I want totally ripped this year. My upper abs or already showing but I always struggle loosing the all the fat off my lower abs. Can you give me some suggestions.
16 Mark McManus June 5, 2009 at 8:58 am: @Chris. Glad you’re getting leaner with this approach. When you get closer to competition time, you may want to invest in my six pack abs book. It’s geared for people at 16% body fat or less to take them to super-ripped status. Of course if you want to hit very low bf% you’ll experience hunger, especially towards the end – no diet is going to be able to avoid that.
Now, you should also be incorporating lying weighted leg raises into your ab routine to help place a little more overload on the lower abs.
An EC(A) stack will help towards the end as well as calcium supplements. Studies show 1800mg of calcium per day accelerates fat loss.
Also, if you aren’t using HIIT as your cardio method, it’s time to do that.
Hope that helps,
Mark
17 Gary September 29, 2009 at 7:08 pm: I am trying to find out about the use of milk on this diet, i have been told not to use milk but i have read about using full fat. It’s for use with protein shakes and also for scrambled eggs. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help clear this up for me.
Warm regards.
18 Aash January 23, 2010 at 2:01 pm: Hey Mark,
Im looking forward to starting the MANS diet in a couple of weeks. I do have one concern though. You say that its nearly impossible to get fat eating a high fat high protein diet. I agree with that. My concern is regarding the carb-up over the weekend or for those 36 hours. Is it possible to gain body fat if the carb up goes a overboard? Is it still possible to have sugary cereals, ice cream and pizzas during the carb up or should i consider sticking to non junk carbs like oatmeal, bagels, potatoes etc? Would really appreciate a reply!
Thanks.
19 mike g January 29, 2010 at 12:26 am: if im just starting this diet after i do 5 1/2 days of low carb can i go right to the carb up days or do i have to do the low carb for more days until my body switches into fat burning?
20 Zach Richardson February 3, 2010 at 11:54 pm: @Aash: from the MANS diet page:
“It isn’t an excuse to go completely nuts but let your hair down a little. Again, there’s no reason to eat passed satiation, let your gut decide how much to eat.
There is no real limit on the amount of carbs you can have. The key is just to watch the time it takes for you to begin to smooth-out (lose definition); it may take a little bit of experimentation at first and it will be different for everyone; 32 hours works great for me. You’ll notice that evey week you go through a mini-cycle of being bigger and smaller; this is just due to fluctuating water levels. When you begin to low-carb you’ll flush out some water, it’s perfectly natural.” He then mentions the increase in insulin is what contributes to lipogenesis, not the calories.
But what about the fat? Your strategy considers all the implications of eating low carbs in respect to converting carbohydrates to fat, right? What about just the fat you eat?
Wouldn’t it be most effective to follow this strategy, work out, and ALSO attempt keep your calories just under your basal metabolic rate, so your body burns not only the fat you eat, but also taps into your current fat?