What day is the best time to have your carb up meal ? I currently have mine on Wednesdays at 10:30pm. My schedule is as follows:

Monday - Chest, bis
Tuesday - Quads, tris
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - Back, traps
Friday - Delts, hamstrings, calves

That's a hard question to answer...but I'll try to and I also have some questions for you.

I think most people who respond well to the carb meal like to have it the night before a heavy workout. However, I like it two nights before a heavy workout because that's usually when I start feeling the carbs in my muscles.

So, if you want to go by that, I'd say figure out when you can actually feel those carbs in your muscles best and schedule the carb meal then.

My questions for you are:
1. Why only one carb meal? Its usually twice a week on the carb depleting diet to keep your metabolism from slowing down.
2. Are you following the carb depleting diet (the one with grapefruit, and veggies only)?
3. Could you post your diet for us to see?
4. I am assuming your carb bread is sw potato, banana, and oatmeal. Is that correct? b/c what carbs you eat will determine how quickly you feel them in your muscles. After eating a decadent dessert, I can feel everything swell with just slight movements and my body temperature increase very quickly. With oatmeal and sw potato, it takes a while.

Good luck and I hope you find out the carb timing that works for you.

I just do the mon/thurs carb up and let my training fall whereever it does. I'm not on a split where I hit the same bodypart on the same day, so it just wouldn't work for me to try to schedule my carbs. There was a great thread on this before I'll try to look it up.

http://beverlynutrition.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7196051983/m/1591034481

Here it is about half way down.

Thanks for the great article, Bill. Very helpful.

Winflex, here is my diet which should answer questions 1,2 and 3. As for question 4, yes I use sweet potatoe, banana and oatmeal for the carb up bread.

Workout days
6am Cardio 60 min (4 days a week)
7:30 Meal replacement
9:30am 5 egg whites + 1 whole egg + 1/2 cup oats
11:30am 2 scoops of protien powder
1:30pm 6 oz chicken or turkey + 1/2 cup brown rice + 1 cup veggies
4:45pm Pre workout snack 1 scoop protien + 1 scoop glutamine
6:00pm Lift
7:30pm Post workout 1 1/2 scoop protien + 1 scoop glutamin
8:00pm 7-8oz chicken + 1 cup veggies + salad
10:30pm 8 egg whites

Off days

7:30am 2 scoops protien
9:30am 5 egg whites + 1 whole egg + 1/2 oats + 5 oz turkey
11:30am 2 scoops protien
1:30pm 6 oz chicken + 1/2 brown rice + 1 cup veggies
4:30pm 2 cans of tuna
7:30pm 6 oz chicken + 1 cup veggies + salad
10:30pm 8 eggs

So, in sum, I'm guessing you are doing a MT ThF split for four days a week. Your diet is 8 meals on workout days, 7 meals on off days.

On your w/o days you have oats (meal 2) and rice (meal 4). On your off days, you have oats (meal 2) and rice (meal 4) again.

I'm going to say (from the NNN's I've read and the BMJ's and my own diet that I've followed from Bev) you are NOT on the carb up plan. The carb up plan has no starchy carbs till the carb up on Monday and Thursday nights.

You are more on a lean gain plan where you don't have to worry about carb ups <<this is with the assumption that the calories here will support growth for your weight/height/etc.>>. I would however, check to see if you healthy fats are "up to snuff" in your particular diet. I'm not seeing any there--but you could put them in your shakes, etc.

There are variations on these diets however. Search on "HI-LO-NO" for an example.

What are your goals? competition pre-contest? or lean gain? It looks like you are doing a lean gain here (I know I said that already : ) The carb up diet is usually for the last couple weeks of a pre-contest diet or for a lean person who wants to be maximally shredded in the least amount of time.

One more thought (then I'll be done rambling)...

If you were to incorporate the carb up at some point on this diet, when you did it, drop your oats and rice that day. Because the carb up is there only for glycogen management. In general three days is all you should put your body through on very low carbs...b/c you are going to lower your metabolism if you don't. That varies person to person. If you are daily refilling your glycogen to a manageable level--one that allows you to have workout energy without gaining fat (as it seems you are)--you don't need a carb up.

Timing wise, once you get on the carb up diet, standard is Monday Thursday...but that's because of when your show is going to be I think. It helps with your last week of knowing when you start carbing back up...a lot of the natural shows are on Saturdays.

But if you wanted to follow a diet with carb ups for the off-season I think there is one out there that Mark Ritter did successfully. I've also tried that one. I worked well for me. I look and see if I can find it...and post later.

Here's his diet from fall 1999:

Supplements:
Super Pak w/ meal #1
6 Ultra 40 per meal
1 Ultra-C in AM & PM
Flax Oil - 1 TBS
Creatine Monohydrate - I used 1 tsp. per meal for 7 days,
then 1 tsp. with meal #1 and before and after training.

Meal #1
8oz Beef (93% lean)
4 whole eggs
½ grapefruit

Meal #2
2 scoops Muscle Provider
1 scoop 100% Beverly International Instant Egg Protein
6 TBS heavy cream
5 oz frozen strawberries

Meal #3
8oz beef
3 egg whites
2 cups spinach (or salad)
1 TBS olive oil, 2 TBS cider vinegar or 2 TBS Newman's Own oil and vinegar

Meal #4
Repeat shake from meal #2
Occasionally when time permits I have a whole food meal as follows:
9 oz can Tuna, 4 Hard Boiled eggs, 1 oz walnuts and 1 tomato

Meal #5
8 oz Beef
4 egg whites
2 cups vegetables
1 oz walnuts

Meal #6
1.5 scoops (6 oz Mass maker) 1 TBS Cream, 12 oz water,
1 teaspoon Choles Fiber, Citricell (orange - sugar free) or 4 strawberries
or
1.5 scoops Muscle Provider or 8 egg whites
2 servings oatmeal
1 tbs whipping cream or 1 tbs natural peanut butter
4 strawberries or 1 small banana
6 oz sweet potato, or 1 cup rice or beans

Thanks for the advice, winflex. My goal right now is to become shredded but I am not in pre contest mode. I plan on doing a show next May, but would like to stay lean throughout the summer because I play baseball. After the season, which is around Septmeber, I will start to put on more size. I am 5'7" and weigh 175 lbs.

So to sum up what you suggest, is to drop the oats and rice and add a carb day on Monday and Thursday. How many carbs should I take in that day based on my height and weight above ?