I have a couple of questions. First one, do you count the carbs in your protein mix, the one I use has 6. Second question, I am close to contest date and trying to keep carbs down, between 75-100. I get hungry and will munch on baby carrots. How counter-productive is this?

thanks

First, try to consume your carbs with a meal.

How close to the contest are you and are you on "target"?

Second, if you're on target, by four weeks out carbs should be a little higher. Meals 1-3 should be higher carbs, lower carbs are meals 4 and 5.

Meal 3 should contain 50% of your daily carbs by using complex carbs. After that meal, you should be hurting because you are so vascular.

If you need crunch, try celery. If you need or want bulk, add celery, onion and cucumber for your meals. Drop them 10 days out.

thanks for reply, as I am only 10 days out from contest, I might be arriving at the party a little late; ie: wish I had found this forum earlier. As far as am I on target? My inexperience has me asking this question every day. Upper body is ahead of legs in both cuts and vascularity.
Diet has been mostly carbs in the early part of day, oatmeal for breakfast and lots of broccoli and salads for carbs the rest of day. Seems like the time between last meal and bedtime is the hardest...this is when I tend to grab the carrots and am hungriest. 275-300 grams of protein a day with about 60% coming from shakes. Reading this site has me questioning the whey also. Maybe my mind is playing games, and I'm just worrying too much.
Sorry if I'm rambling but I tend to be second guessing everything as d-day approaches.

stress will ONLY hurt you now. You made a plan and stuck with it, at the very least you learned something.

Take heed, did you come in flat, did you lose a lot of muscle.

Ive dieted low carb VERY high protein and Ive dieted moderate protein moderate carb low fat. I do better on the latter.

Its a learning curve.

To answer your question, you need to munch on greens. In my prep they are free, though I only eat them with meals. If I get the munchies I chew gum or drink a diet soda slowly or green tea with splenda, this helps.

Ive heard conflicting things on carrots, some say to high in sugar and others say the high sugar is only an issue if they are cooked, you said you are eating them raw. I would go with greens or like frank said celery.

Good Luck

Just an update, I took your advice and climbed down off my ledge, stuck to what we had been doing (friend pretty much said same thing, "it's working and you can't be second guessing now". It was good enough. First place in the 50 and over masters lightweight, and first in the 50 and over overall. NC state bb championships.
I am definately pleased (first show in 10 years) but I know I can come in better. After reading this site the last few weeks I believe the knowledge here is some of the best I've found. Btw, used the goo Sat. it was awesome.