Hi All - My goal is get get as lean as possible for my upcoming show. I don't handle carbs well at all, so I aim for a very high Protein/Fat Diety with very little carbs. This Diet is Approximately 250g Protein, 100g Fat, 70g Carbs. The only addition to the diet is a Multi-Mineral/Vitamin, BCAA's before after training and a Protein Powder Drink only after I train.



Meal 1:

6 Egg Whites 2 Yolks
0.5 Cup Oatmeal
5ml of Flaxseed Oil
4 Ultra 40 Tabs

Meal 2:

250g Tuna with Cucumber and Pepper
4 Ultra 40 Tabs

Meal 3:

250g Sirloin Steak
Half Cup Strawberries

Meal 4:

250g Chicken Breast + Cucumber

Meal 5:

6 Egg Whites + 2 Yolks + Onion and Spinach.
6 Ultra 40 Tabs.

Would anyone make any adjustments to this diet?

That seems like a lot less carbs than 70g. The oatmeal might be 27 and the berries maybe 13. Depending on how far out you are from the show and what type of shape you are already in I would up the carbs significantly. I'm in contest prep right now and I had my carbs cut to 100 with refeed days where its up to 200 and I'm starving and have less energy.

Its all about timing with the carbs. I would at least get them in at breakfast, pre and post training. I think I would wilt away to nothing on this diet.

Personally, I don't agree with your diet with these macros, but if you feel you can get your best results this way, than that is fine by me...

Ivanov, what is your current body fat and weight? Hard to make adjustment if we don't know your caloric needs? When is your contest? Even with your carbs at this level you may still need to bring it up a bit so you have something to drop out later on during your prep. But then again, that depends on when your contest is?

I am not being a smart ass here, but what makes you think you do not handle carbs well. Ive heard this from numerous people then they work with me and miraculously they handle carbs well. All about proper macros.

Now if a true endo you may need lower carbs than an ecto, but....

Anyways what have you tried?

My show is just over 4 weeks. I am around 10% Body fat at the moment weighing around 185.

The main reason I am lowering carbs this low is simply because I have not been doing cardio this year and want to see what the best possible shape is for me without cardio. I stick to a 4 day a week weight training program with mostly compund movements.

Would it be better to introduce another carb meal somehwere for example, brown rice or sweet potato and than drop this in the last week?

By the way, in Australia our .5 cups of Oatmeal may be a little more than in the US. Anyway, my half cup is about 35g of Carbs and I take slightly more after my training days.

Thanks guys. Don't hesitate to knock my diet as I'm learning and am pretty new to this and would not have anywhere near the experience some of you guys would have.

I see. 4 weeks is not a lot of time and you may be correct to do a diet that is a 50/20/30 split in macros (or in your case 47/10/43). IF you do stick to this diet, make SURE that you are doing a twice weekly carb up meal replacing your final meal of the day consisting of: 1 cup Oatmeal (australian measurement), 10 oz. white potato, 1 large Banana, 1 cup strawberries, 2 cups green veggies, 1 tbsp butter (on veggies or potato)

Try to do it every 3rd and 4th day after, example; Wednesday night, then Sunday night.... I prefer to do it on the days that I am lifting also.

You may be better off to bring your macros closer to the 50/20/30 range. Your split seems to be a little higher in fat so try to up the protein a little? Shoot for closer to 300 grams to give yourself the best chance to spare your muscle. You are sitting at about 2130 calories.

4 weeks and at 10% are you competing to win or just for fun to say you did it. Because you will not be competitively lean enough if you are at 10% with 4 weeks to go. You may be able to get to around 7% or so.

Id stick with the 50/20/30. Id do one carb up per week, not two, you are in crunch time and cant really worry about lean mass retention if you want to be in shape. You need to push hard. My rule is over 10% twice weekly carb up with those macros if above 10% then one weekly. The more bodyfat you have on you the less insulin sensitive you are so it takes more to clear the blood and store the glycogen makign fat storage more likely. Id stick to one, but yes you will feel horrible and yes you might lose a little more LBM, other may disagree with this, but thats what I have found to be effective for someone over 10% and in your shoes.

Id drop cals 500 below RMR and do twice daily LISS cardio sessions.

Bring your macros up to 50/20/30 the healthy fats will help melt the fat off you.

Good Luck

The leanest I have been is around 9% so any improvement would be awesome. Hopefully I have not left it too late. My biggest mental issue is losing too much hard earnt muscle.

I decided to introduce cardio first thing in the morning before meal 1 for 4 days a week. High Intensity sprinting on a bike for around 25mins. 60 seconds moderate cycling, 30 seconds sprinting repeated for around 10-15 sprints/times.

I will definately only have one carb up meal at max per week.

In regard to Beverly's Joint Product, I have been taking this at 5 tablets per day. As this contains glucosamine would it still be ok to take this until the day of the show?

Thanks for all your help.

quote:

decided to introduce cardio first thing in the morning before meal 1 for 4 days a week. High Intensity sprinting on a bike for around 25mins. 60 seconds moderate cycling, 30 seconds sprinting repeated for around 10-15 sprints/times

You'd be better off in the evening. First thing in the morning, I believe you would be using hard earned muscle to fuel that exercise. I say this from experience.

morning cardio is fine if you do LISS, long duration steady state, dont do HIIT on an empty stomach, HIIT requires glycogen if you dont have any in your system you are asking to metabolize muscle. Slow steady state.

HIIT for evenings like frank said.

Thanks so much guys, I now agree with what you daid and am surprised I haven't picked up on this earlier.

What about Beverly's Joint product though? Can I continue to take 5-6 caps a day until the day of the show even though it contains glucosamine?