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.

So I've done a handful of PSMFs in my time, some successful, some not so much. Sometimes the diet was easy, sometimes I just couldn't get it done and fell off the wagon. I didn't really know what variables caused me to fail and which caused me to succeed in my goals, until I made a conscious effort to record what variables led to better outcomes.

The following is a list of things I do/incorporate/think of that help me when on a PSMF. Feel free to comment suggestions on what helps you.

Here are my ways I have a successful PSMF, in no particular order of importance. I'll try to keep it short. It consists of physical and mental tricks. These may work for you, they may not.

1. Hydration and electrolytes. Enough said, right? That's been preached on this subreddit, and for good reason too. What I do is take a pitcher, add 1.5 teaspoons of Lite Salt, some zero calorie water flavoring, and fill it up with water. This gets me plenty of water, potassium, and sodium to keep me going. It also has the benefit of keeping you full. I drink one pitcher of this hydration solution a day, as well as other sources of liquids.

2. Always have protein readily available. I'll bake an entire tray of chicken breast so I always have some on hand. If I don't have anything ready to eat, especially after a long day, the little bitchy voice in the back of my head will get louder and louder until I find myself eating a plate of nachos and downing margaritas.

3. Pickles and broccoli. Fills you up, low calories, fun to munch on. Add some lite salt and sugar free ketchup and you're golden.

4. Protein paced evenly throughout the day. Some people on this sub like intermittent fasting on a PSMF. I tried it. It just doesn't work for me. I like to have ~6-8 ounces of lean protein 3 times a day.

5. Manage stress. Mental and Physical. This is a big one for me, and I imagine a lot of people. After a long day at work (I have a physical job) I'm wiped. So in my drained state, I have to be extra careful and mindful not to start eating mindlessly. So as soon as I get home (if I'm feeling stressed that is), I turn on the bath, light a candle, open a bath bomb, and just relax like a man should be able to. I just let everything go for those 20-30 minutes and I feel refreshed and I'm in a much better place. Meditation also works, but I like baths. Just find something to calm your mind after a frenzy of a day.

6. Relax and stretch. This ties into step number 5. Just taking the time to stretch and foam roll takes away a ton of physical stress for me and helps me unwind. Also do peaceful activities you enjoy. Sit outside and drink some tea. Paint some erotic sloths, idk, whatever floats your boat. Just make a conscious effort to get some relaxing into your day, since in today's world, the hustle and bustle and grind 24/7 mentality is super alive and well. It's healthy to take a step back.

7. Sleep well. Take melatonin if you have a hard time sleeping on low calories. This is one of the most important things for humans, so don't take it lightly. You need good quality sleep.

8. Write down and read your goal every morning when you wake up. I think I got this from another post on this sub, it was so good I copied it onto my phone. Write down your goal. Write down why you want it, and how it'll benefit you. Write down how you'll feel when you reach that goal. When you wake up and before you go to bed, read that goal out loud. Be specific with our goal and the time frame. Whenever I feel I'm about to break, I look at my goal again.

9. Find your why. This also ties into the previous statement. I've come across this multiple coaches, especially fitness coaches. Someone who has a bodybuilding goal to get on stage in 16 weeks will usually find success more than the average overweight dude who is trying to lose a little weight just because. The bodybuilder has a why. A specific goal to keep pushing towards to with a set end date. The bodybuilder will probably have a tougher mental fortitude. Same thing with the bride to be who wants to lose weight before a wedding to look absolutely perfect in that wedding dress. If you don't have a specific event like a show, a wedding, a beach vacation, etc, then that's fine too. But you have to be specific. "I want to lose 50lbs because if I continue this trend of an unhealthy lifestyle, I won't live long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle." That's a little heavy, I know, but you can't half-ass this weight loss thing and only kinda want it. For me, this is to get into optimal shape for the military. For you, it may be walking your daughter down the aisle. Find why you're doing this.

10. Keep active everyday. I don't mean go all out everyday with the weights and cardio. But don't just lie down on the couch. I find when I exercise first thing in the morning, even if it's just walking the dog, it sets me up on a great path for the rest of the day mentally. Also get out of the house and try to always be doing something. When I have nothing to do, no work, and I'm just sitting at home all day, I tend to eat out of boredom. Go to the mall or something.

11. Stop the negative and self loathing thoughts. This doesn't mean lie to yourself. If you're familiar with David Goggins, you will know about the accountability mirror. If you're fat, tell yourself you're fat and you need to shape up. But don't hate yourself or have self destructive thoughts. And if you have a bad day or fall off the wagon, get back on. Don't try to overcompensate the next day with hours of cardio. This is dangerous and could lead to a binge/purge cycle (speaking from experience).

Some final words of encouragement that struck a chord with me, so they may also help you. Tell yourself you want it more than anyone else. Do your future self favors. Have a little discipline. PSMF is a short term thing. Anyone can stick with something for a short period of time. You have a goal, you know what to do, so just do it. Sacrifice short term satisfaction for long term satisfaction. Imagine how good you will look when you successfully complete this diet.

So this was a little longer than I though it would be, but oh well.

I'm starting a new cycle tomorrow, and just wanted to remind myself of what I just told you guys.

My weight log will be updated daily if you wanna follow along. I will be going for 14 days and will do a PPL split with low volume since I like being in the gym daily.

Male, 22 years old, 5'8, cat 2, 18-20% bodyfat, I hover in the 180-185lb range, I'll weigh in first thing tomorrow morning.

1. 183.0

2. 181.2

3. 179.3

4. 183....yah...about that. Something came up and I got drunk and ate a lot of food. But I enjoyed it. It'll only set me back a day.

5. 180.7 - Coming back down in weight.

6. 178.7 - lowest weigh in yet

7. 178.2

https://ibb.co/fvB6P0d

Hey all. Title pretty much says it all. The first pic is from 7/31/19 as you can see, but I started my journey on 9/1/19 at about 275 lbs. I first started with keto and IF and got down to 213 lbs. Then on 11/24/19 I began PSMF + IF and have been doing that since and am now 170 lbs. I'm in maintenance mode right now but I plan to go back to PSMF macros in a few weeks and try and get to sub 10% BF. My advice is to read RFL and just follow the book - literally has all the answers. I'd be glad to answer any questions as well.

I'm not trying to scare anyone but I think it's worth warning those who haven't run PSMF before. If you run a crash diet with extremely low calories like PSMF your immune system won't be as good as it could be. I think in the current climate and for people in certain places it's worth thinking about this before you start a diet or consider extending a current one.

Some background:Before you say anything, yes, it's probably unhealthy to lose and gain weight like that, but please bare with me, had an awful year, my mom died, then COVID struck, anxiety was incredible painful and all I could do is eating. This time around I'm not planning to succumb.

First time around I didn't even know the name of this diet, I had a nutritionist that sent me what I could eat and whatnot in quantities. It was pretty awful, I couldn't eat any vegetable and I was basically eating eggs and meat all day, without caring about my well being.

Needless to say it was a success, but at what cost. I ended up throwing up at the smell of meats and eggs, it was really awful. This time around I decided to do my research, and ended up discovering this diet, its fundamentals and how the body works. From there, I felt I could play with everything, and it felt so easy! Probably because first time was so tortuous. I'm around 230 pounds right now, and the weightloss doesn't seem to stop.

Well, let's start with some of my experience and suggestions:

About protein powder: is REALLY good. I saw lots of discouraging comments on this sub, but let me tell you by experience that its a good idea if you're fed up of eating meats and eggs all day. Of course, be careful to not be dependent of it! You cant just protein powder your way to weightloss, you will get tired or will grow acustomed to not eating, and thats not healthy at all. I've been drinking 1 scoop of protein powder (ON Gold Standard Whey) mixed with one teaspoon of coffee (caffeine really helps getting you throught the day if your body isn't used to dieting). I found out I liked mine mixed with water, this way I could drink one cup of almond milk on another moment of the day if my macros allowed it.

My main meals: Ok, let me tell you. I'm from Peru and I have tons of cooking experience, It was really fun coming up with adaptations to food I loved to fit my macros. There are some I REALLY recommend (I'll only specify some quantities, for a better control I really suggest you to buy a cooking scale and download My Carb Manager. This way you can track your food's macros efficiently)

1. Capresse salad: Throw some thick tomato slices on your hot pan (use some PAM o a little bit of olive oil). Cook them both sides for some minutes until they're getting all mellow, then salt, pepper, place some mozzarella on top and cover. Next up you can use fresh basil our you can blend it with some oil and throw it on top. This is probably the easiest food I cant think of, remember, you pick the quantities based on your macros and what ingredients you like the most!

2. Fake stew: Hot pan, throw chunks of onion, tomato, and minced garlic. You don't really need that much, for reference I usually cut 30g from each and half minced garlic. saute really well, add spices like fresh pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, MSG (msg is a good friend of this diet!), bayleaf, you can add curry powder if you want some strong flavors added. When vegetables are really runny or caramelized, add some water and throw your meat (I've only used chicken and beef, but I guess you could try with fish as well). Cook until your meat is done, then blend all the liquid and vegetables with a couple basil leaves. Serve your blended "stew" and your meat on a bowl with diced cucumber and some cilantro, this gives freshness that contrast with the hot fake stew.

3. Fish salad: Usually I make it with fresh tilapia but you can make it with canned tuna too. Chop some onion, tomato, celery and cilantro, season with juice from 4 lemons, salt and pepper. Throw your fresh fish to the airfrier or pan until its done, then crumble it and mix it with the salad. Think of it as a pico de gallo with fish, in Peru we eat it as a breakfast. You can use some lettuce leaves to wrap it as a taco.

4. Peruvian ceviche: Cut your fish, place it in a bowl, add salt, garlic puré, chopped cilantro and let it rest, it will make the fish juicier. On the meantime, squeeze some lemons and chop a onion. Mix everything with msg, white pepper, and some extra salt until you like its flavor. If you want to be extra (and if your macros allow it) you can make a "leche de tigre" to elevate your ceviche further. Blend some raw fish with fish broth, fresh celery and cilantro, 1 garlic clove, onion, salt, msg, lemon. Strain the juice and add it to your ceviche mix. Some recommended fish for ceviche are tilapia and sole. Even tought most of them work, some will crumble at the contact of lemon juice. Oh, and you can add cooked shrimp or octopus, it really depends on your macros.

5. Soy sauce chicken: This is something we call "pollo al sillao" here, its a mix between peruvian and chinese cuisine. First sear your seasoned protein (salt, pepper) with a little bit of PAM, you can add some water if needed to cook it completely. Then bring up your heat and add minced ginger and garlic (you can mash it if you don't want to bite chunks), saute and add chopped mushrooms and red bell pepper. Keep sauteing until cooked, now season everything with salt, pepper and MSG, then deglaze with soy sauce and finish it throwing some chopped scallions. Turn off the fire inmediately (scallions taste better if undercooked). Serve with cooked brocoli or cucumber for freshness. Pollo al sillao is really good if you like strong flavors.

6. These are my main recipes, but sometimes I would eat and omelette of egg whites with onion and spinach topped with mozarella.

I can't adress it enough: MSG IS A REALLY GOOD FRIEND. It will add that umami flavor to your foods and make them feel 10 times more complex in flavor.

Drink a lot of water and have a good rest: If you can't stop thinking about snacking something your macros can't afford, better drink some water. Tea, fruit infused water, almond milk (if your macros allow), etc. Fill your anxiety with water. Resting is important as well, since dieting can make you feel tired you need to sleep following your schedule to avoid insomnia.

First weeks are rough, but remember to TRACK YOUR WEIGHT. PSMF allows you to lose weight really fast, make it a reward! Getting on that scale will feel like it, and will make you stop missing eating junk food.

Diet in intervals: Choose a time span of 3 weeks to 1 month of dieting. The next week put the diet to rest, and when the week is over restart. DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE THE TIMINGS THAT WORK FOR ME. DO IT IF YOU HAVE SELF CONTROL. DON'T TAKE IT AS A EXCUSE TO EAT IN LARGE QUANTITIES AGAIN, KEEP EATING HEALTHY HOMEMADE FOOD UNTIL YOU RETAKE THE DIET.

Careful with soda: Even tought it won't make you gain weight, it makes you feel unhealthy and bloated, it can fuck your mentals, avoid it if you can!

Try to start exercising even if you never did it: Losing weight makes you feel able to do a lot of stuff, and everything feels rewarding. Don't worry about the gym, get out your house and walk, take your dog with you if you can, it will force you to walk more! Take your headphones with you and get Google Fit, get the complete experience!

Lastly, and be really wary with this one since I'm talking about my experience. Friends are great, but sometimes they can be discouraging and will unknowingly push you out the diet. What I did the first and this time is avoid social gatherings, at least for the first weeks. DON'T ISOLATE YOURSELF, JUST AVOID TRICKY SITUATIONS ON YOUR DIET! When they notice you're losing weight, they'll become more sensitive with you. Then it'll be easier.

Hope I was clear enough portraying my experience, my english is not that good.Again: it's my experience, it doesn't have to work this way for everyone. just take what you need and make your diet something that makes you feel complete. I wish I knew all this when I started. Don't be scared if this is your first time dieting, been there!, believe me, it will work and you will feel better!

You can do it!

It’s finally done! I went from 181 to 164 using the diet. Honestly, it got extremely difficult during the last week. I could barely work or sleep, and I’m so glad it’s over! HOWEVER I made it to my goal weight of 165 and more importantly, I have abs for summer 🤩

The hardest part by far was the gym. I was winded out after every set, and I had to take 4 to 5 minute breaks during difficult movements like pull ups. Cardio also had me just hating my life more so than usual. The social pressure was also pretty difficult, since telling people I’m going on this diet led to a lot of worry from others, which is understandable but it just adds to the stress of being on the diet in the first place. All and all, 10 out of 10 would do again.