I have been following the Bodyopus Diet program from the book, "Underground BODYOPUS Militant Weight Loss & Recomposition" by Dan Duchaine.  Below is a basic overview.  Please keep in mind that I have made some strategic changes to the standard Mon-Fri plan outlined below, as well, I've made changes to the workout program offered in the book.

 

BODYOPUS is a ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diets work by drastically lowering carbohydrate intake. What this does is reduce the amount of insulin secreted and therefore tricking the metabolism. The leading cause of weight gain in the US is not from eating to much dietary fat but from eating too many carbohydrates. Insulin is a hormone released by your pancreas following carbohydrate ingestion and the associated rise in blood sugar(glucose).

 

Insulin triggers a few things: it brings blood sugar into the muscles for energy, it converts blood sugar to glycogen, stores extra blood sugar as fat, and it prevents fat-burning of existing bodyfat. In order to achieve fat loss we must limit insulin levels by reducing the intake of carbohydrates. Most ketogenic diets are classified as hazardous by most physicians, but when used under control, ketosis is a great fat-loss tool.

 

In order to establish ketosis your blood glucose needs to fall below 50mg/dl. When you're in ketosis your pancreas will now produce glycogon instead of insulin. Glycogon can be loosely called a catabolic hormone. It isn't normally secreted but when it is it's usually an indiction of starvation or diabetes. In BODYOPUS glycogon is not your enemy, instead you will use it to your advantage. What it does is break down fatty acids and convert them into ketones. These ketones will be the primary fuel source for your body, including the brain. This state occurs when there are more ketones than glucose in the blood. However ketosis is not for everyone, if you are not active and don't require a lot of energy ketosis can be very hazardous. It tends to cause ketoacidosis. This can make the blood acidic if they are not used up, so I can't stress it enough to exercise and train sufficiently. The BODYOPUS diet will cause ketosis for 4 days out of the week which is not a problem for bodybuilders and athletes.

 

BODYOPUS is a seven day cycle. Monday through Friday you are carb depleting and Saturday & Sunday carb loading. Monday thru Friday you eat a 70% fat / 30% protein diet. On the weekends you will follow a 60% carbs / 25% protein / 15% fat. As far as calorie levels go, you will consume 10% less than your maintanence level on weekdays and about 5-10% above you maintenance level on weekends. You're probably wondering where all that fat is coming from, well you will consume 30% from Omega-3 and Omega-6 (Flaxseed Oil) acids , another 30% from unsaturated fats (monounsaturated & polyunsaterated), and 10% from saturated fats. You can get these fats from a few sources: fish, beef, whole eggs, olive or safflower oil, bacon, sausage, pork, and cheese. Basically you want to consume enough fat but remember NO CARBS. That means no bread, cereal, fruit, pasta, milk, sugar, the list goes on and on. Carbs are everywhere so you must be careful. On the weekends you can eat some real food but be careful not to consume over 16g per lean body weight(kg) of carbs(the result is in calories so to convert it to grams: just divide your answer by 4).

 

I change this plan according to how far out from competition I am.  For instance, to get low bodyfat percentages I have to lower calories...so I change my fat intake and get super-strict on my carb loads.  I also have to be careful in how I manage my cardio sessions as the workouts during this diet need to be completed during the 3 day window of having high(er) glycogen levels.  Contact me for more questions - but I believe I have a great workout and diet plan using Bodyopus principles.