I am an experienced weightlifter. My current diet consists of about 2600 calories a day, with only 10% from fat. I lift 5 or 6 days a week and do cardio 3 x a week, but I still can't lose my fat around the middle. I just read an article in Men's Fitness about men who are insulin resistant and it sounds like that's me. The author recommends cutting down on carbs. My question is even if I cut down on carbs, should I eat more (to gain muscle) or less (to lose fat). I've read that I should eat 3500 to 4000 calories a day to gain muscle, but I'm afraid it will only add to the fat around my middle.

Great question. Being truly insulin resistant means you have Type 2 Diabetes! However, I understand what you mean and it is true that your body may have somewhat of a blunted repsonse to the output of insulin after eating carbohydrates.

Let me say that it is true that you will have to cut down on your carbs in order to get that "ripped" look. Let me also say that having that ripped look is not necessarily healthy. But, who doesn't want to look this way! You don't have to eat more than 2,600 calories per day but when you cut down on your carbs just replace the calories lost with protein and fat calories.

You will have to eat 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. You will also need to increase your overall fat intake levels to at least 20% of your daily caloric intake. I know this sounds crazy from the fat intake standpoint but I am not talking about going out and pounding steak, french fries, or Big Mac's. I am talking about adding in quality essential fatty acids to your diet. You should get some Udo's oil, Flax seed oil, EFA's, and CLA. Check out the "recommended reading" section for info on Udo's oil. And, since you are an experienced weight lifter you have probably already heard of Flax Seed oil and this can be found in any health food store as well.

I don't believe what many of the books say about caloric intake. I am 6'4 and weigh 270 pounds. I eat about 3,000 calories per day! If I ate 5,000 calories a day I would weight over 300 pounds. I know because I was! I am just as strong as I was when I was 300 pounds so it's not like I'm starving myself at 3,000 calories per day.

Your exercise program sounds solid from a frequency standpoint. But, you must understand how hard you must train in order to get ripped and still maintain your lean body mass. You will have to drop your calorie range from what you eat when you're not ripped, obviously. During this time you will feel light headed and weak and it may be difficult to get a pump but you must push through. The only way your body will "hold on" to the mass that you have built (when your calories drop down) is by stimulating it through heavy weight training. Taking creatine and a quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement is a great idea when your calories get low as well becuase you need to keep your recovery process as high as possible. I find that it is difficult to do without these supplements.