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Note: This post is NOT sponsored by Kinobody in any way; this is just my opinion and experiences.
Greg O’Gallagher (A.K.A Kinobody) is slowly dominating the YouTube fitness industry with a rapidly growing subscriber base (currently at 217,000).
His approach to fitness is controversial; unlike all the others who promote high volume and strict diets, Greg has a seemingly ‘too good to be true’ approach – he promotes fewer sets, heavier weight, and a diet where you can still eat chips and burgers and everything else which would typical be on the ‘banned’ list when it comes to weight loss.
Some people hate him, others love him. Some say his programs will not work, whilst his testimonials beg to differ.
I like to try things out for myself, so I used his general approach to weight loss to see if it worked.
The Kinobody Fat Loss Approach
Here is a breakdown of Greg’s general approach to fat loss:
- Ensure you maintain a calorie deficit, primarily using calorie counting.
- Intermittent fasting: Essentially postpone when you first eat to later on in the day, normally in the early afternoon.
This approach appealed to me: although I love fitness, I do not like the idea of spending hours in the gym. Intermittent fasting also makes a lot of sense to me as the idea that I could be losing weight whilst still having large and satisfying meals would make losing fat so much easier.
What did I do?
At the time I liked the idea of benching, squatting, and deadlifting every day… yeah you read that right – I went through a rebellious fitness phase where I just decided to go against the norm and do what I thought was logically right (I got great results btw).
As I was essentially doing a full body workout each day I kept the volume low and did heavy weights, which coincided with Greg’s approach nicely. I would essentially work up to a heavy set of bench (between 3-7 reps), and then to a 1-3 rep max on squats and deadlifts. After I would hit one or two accessories, such as a set or two of pull-ups, bicep curls, and close grip bench press.
Now Greg works out a lot less frequently than this (2-3 times a week instead of my 4-6) so I did not follow his approach 100%. However, when it comes to losing weight lifting is not the main aspect – the food is.
In terms of food, I determined the amount of calories I needed to lose weight. After figuring this out, it was now just a matter of what food to eat and when. I tracked the foods I ate using MyFitnessPal.
My strategy was simple: wait as long in the day as possible before eating anything calorific. This meant I could still consume calorie-free liquids – Greg highly advocates black coffee and sparkling water as they are good for suppressing appetite. I also chewed gum quite a bit as I found that it helps keep my mouth occupied and helps me last longer (*cough*).
At the start my first meal would be around 11am as I struggled to hold on until the afternoon, however within a few weeks it was getting pushed back more and more to about 12.30-1pm. I found that if I just keep myself busy time absolutely flies and before you know it it’s lunchtime.
I tried to keep the first meal relatively small at around 600 calories – this is because I cannot stand being hungry at dinner and love the feeling of being extremely full – I was a borderline obese kid… I LOVE food. I tried to maximize protein intake in this meal as foods which are high in protein are pretty filling, and it will help me get my daily protein requirements in.
My workouts were at around 5pm. I would workout for about 45-60 minutes and have dinner straight after. Most of the time I would have a little snack such as a biscuit or a piece or toast just before the workout to give me a little boost of energy.
After my workouts I was hungry as hell so I went absolutely ham at dinner. As I ate fairly few calories at lunch I had enough space to eat delicious calorific carbs such as pasta, pizza and rice. Of course my main priority was protein; I consumed as much as I could in that sitting.
The meal would normally clock in at about 1200 calories, resulting in my total calorie intake for the day being around 1900 cals; this was around a 600 calorie deficit – a fairly aggressive fat loss approach.
Despite the low calories, I felt good. This is likely due to the amazing satiety I had in the evenings resulting in me never having to go to bed hungry, and mentally being okay with dieting as I did not feel like I was sacrificing anything for it.
After the adjustment period I started to prefer not eating breakfast as I was performing better; I felt lighter, had more energy, and my mind was clearer. This was a big turning point for me as I realised that our bodies are capable of a lot more than we give credit for. Resisting my bellies urge to eat was a lot easier when I realised that I felt a lot better not eating breakfast, and soon my belly started to get the message and just shut itself up.
Okay. That’s out of the way. Now to the…
Results
On January 19th 2015 I started using Greg’s methods – I weighed 73kg. This is a picture I took on the day:
A month later, on February 22nd 2015, I weighed 69.3kg, and looked like this (picture took on day):
This is is a 3.7kg drop in the space of a month. You know what, let’s be conservative and say that around 1kg of that was water weight – so a 2.7kg drop in true weight over 34 days, the equivalent of 0.55kg (1.2lbs) a week.
Verdict
Admittedly the lighting in the second picture is absolutely majestic, but you can definitely see the difference; especially the popping of the abs and chest.
It is fair to say that the Kinobody fat loss approach definitely worked. I was already fairly lean and was still able to shed a few extra kg’s whilst still eating pizza and the foods I love, meaning that if you are not sub 12% bodyfat then you should be able to see similar results.
After seeing just how well intermittent fasting worked for me I now do it all the time, for bulking and for cutting; I just feel better and more energised, and can control my diet easier.
For me the best part is the ability to not let dieting take control over your life; on a typical diet you are restricted to lean protein, salad, and low GI carbs as otherwise you will likely go over your calorie limit. However, not eating breakfast essentially gives you a whole other meal which you can fit in later in the day, which is perfect when you and your mates want to go out for a big ass dinner and have a couple of drinks.
If you are trying to lose weight I would definitely suggest you give it a go – check out Greg’s channel for more detail on his methods.
Interested in learning my specific methods to getting a 100kg bench, 140kg squat, and 180kg deadlift? Click Here.
-Mike
