Preparing Contest Diet

[btufts]

Hey everyone I'm looking for a little help with my diet here. So far I have bulked up to 205 at 10%bf. My goal for my first contest in April is 6%. Mainly I'll be playing it by ear and tweaking my diet by how i look in the mirror. I've been basically eating the same things now just in higher quantities.

20 minutes low intensity cardio. atleast 1 litre water (with fat burner)

Meal 1- Whey isolate, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk. 500 ml water. Multi vitamin. Omega 3 capsules.

Meal 2- 6 egg whites, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk. 500 ml water.

Train. - atleast 1 litre water.

Meal 3- Weight gain shake. Glutamine. 500 ml water. Omega 3 capsules.

Meal 4- 1/2 lb lean steak, or chicken, or tuna, 1 cup sweet potatoe. 500 ml water. Multi vitamin.

Meal 5- Sock eyed salmon, 1 cup sweet potatoe, veggies with vinagrette dressing. 500 ml water.

Meal 6- Tuna with olive oil, lemon, and 1 cup sweet potatoe, veggies. 500 ml water.

As it gets nearer to competition i'll cut a few carbs in my later meals. This type of diet worked well for me in the summer time but i cut a lot of carbs out and lost a bit too much muscle than i'd like to. Please critique. Thanks.

B

[Praetorian]

I would suggest starting your diet 17 weeks out from the contest. I dont count the last week so in essence that is regular 16 week precontest diet.
I would eliminate dairy.
I would try to keep protein at 40-45g per meal.
6 meals is sufficient
I would eliminate the weight gain shake...if this is your post workout meal use whey protein and a carb source being that you are not on a keto diet
That appears to be alot of carbs for someone your size...is that 1 cup cooked oats or dry?
I would suggest starting cardio at 40min once daily....in the morning is perfect

P

[rickyboy36]

Hey everyone I'm looking for a little help with my diet here. So far I have bulked up to 205 at 10%bf. My goal for my first contest in April is 6%. Mainly I'll be playing it by ear and tweaking my diet by how i look in the mirror. I've been basically eating the same things now just in higher quantities.

20 minutes low intensity cardio. atleast 1 litre water (with fat burner)

Meal 1- Whey isolate, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk. 500 ml water. Multi vitamin. Omega 3 capsules.

Meal 2- 6 egg whites, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk. 500 ml water.

Train. - atleast 1 litre water.

Meal 3- Weight gain shake. Glutamine. 500 ml water. Omega 3 capsules.

Meal 4- 1/2 lb lean steak, or chicken, or tuna, 1 cup sweet potatoe. 500 ml water. Multi vitamin.

Meal 5- Sock eyed salmon, 1 cup sweet potatoe, veggies with vinagrette dressing. 500 ml water.

Meal 6- Tuna with olive oil, lemon, and 1 cup sweet potatoe, veggies. 500 ml water.

As it gets nearer to competition i'll cut a few carbs in my later meals. This type of diet worked well for me in the summer time but i cut a lot of carbs out and lost a bit too much muscle than i'd like to. Please critique. Thanks.

B

Wow man..those are ALOT of carbs!!I know for sure i would not lose much with that type of carb ratio in my diet.The way I see it you are lacking alot of fat.I would be extremely hungry after 4 weeks of dieting like this.Honestly i would cut the sweet potatoes in your last 2 meals and add some walnuts or almonds there instead.Id cut the weight gainer out as well and have some dextrose and whey if this is indeed your PWO shake

But then again,if you say this has worked for you in the past...why make any changes...

[natenator]

Wow man..those are ALOT of carbs!!I know for sure i would not lose much with that type of carb ratio in my diet.The way I see it you are lacking alot of fat.I would be extremely hungry after 4 weeks of dieting like this.Honestly i would cut the sweet potatoes in your last 2 meals and add some walnuts or almonds there instead.Id cut the weight gainer out as well and have some dextrose and whey if this is indeed your PWO shake

But then again,if you say this has worked for you in the past...why make any changes...
Dieting and you want him to take in glucose?

[rickyboy36]

Dieting and you want him to take in glucose?

What are you talking about??I told him to eliminate his carbs,especially in his last two meals and add in some good fat!As for the carb source,im with praetorian on this one--Use a bit of it PWO with protein.Then with time,if he plateaus,then we can cut some more out as well

I would of cut out MORE carbs NOW but this guy claims he had execellent results the last time he ate that way.

[natenator]

What are you talking about??I told him to eliminate his carbs,especially in his last two meals and add in some good fat!As for the carb source,im with praetorian on this one--Use a bit of it PWO with protein.Then with time,if he plateaus,then we can cut some more out as well

I would of cut out MORE carbs NOW but this guy claims he had execellent results the last time he ate that way.
Talking about your recommendation for dextrose post workout. The idea is to keep insulin levels low/stable and pretty sure dextrose won't help with that.

Oatmeal would be a better choice but I also believe that when dieting the post-workout meal doesn't really matter as long as it's something eg: protein/fat or protein/carbs and not containing pure sugar.

[rickyboy36]

Talking about your recommendation for dextrose post workout. The idea is to keep insulin levels low/stable and pretty sure dextrose won't help with that.

Oatmeal would be a better choice but I also believe that when dieting the post-workout meal doesn't really matter as long as it's something eg: protein/fat or protein/carbs and not containing pure sugar.

Some people have high cortisol levels after training and good way to eliminate that quickly is through sugar.Small amounts of course when dieting.But then again,if one is sensitive to spiking insulin(which doesnt seem to be his case)or has plateaued so to speak,maybe having oatmeal would be ok.Then again,i know alot of people as well who use bcaa's exclusively Post workout.Bcaa's work fast as well in stopping cortisol.

I guess it all depends if your an endo or an ecto and what stage of your diet you are at.Personaly,when i wasnt doing a keto diet but rather a regular low carb one,i would always spike after training and had good results as well.

[btufts]

Cutting out dairy definately a yes but is there a substitute to mix with oats? Dry 1 cup oats. This was part of a 12 week transformation i did last summer by Kris Gethin ( not sure if anyone has read that on bodybuilding.com) I am starting this now (approx. 16 weeks out) but i find when i cut carbs too low too fast i sacrifice a lot of mass. Then again i'm not sure if this is water or not. This is how much food i am eating currently and this maintains the weight i am at. Then again I'm not sure if this is water or not. I will be reducing carbs as i go, and increasing cardio by 5 minutes a day per week. I always do my cardio in the morning before breakfast as I'm in a fasted state and there are no carbs for my body to utilize.

[rickyboy36]

Cutting out dairy definately a yes but is there a substitute to mix with oats? Dry 1 cup oats. This was part of a 12 week transformation i did last summer by Kris Gethin ( not sure if anyone has read that on bodybuilding.com) I am starting this now (approx. 16 weeks out) but i find when i cut carbs too low too fast i sacrifice a lot of mass. Then again i'm not sure if this is water or not. This is how much food i am eating currently and this maintains the weight i am at. Then again I'm not sure if this is water or not. I will be reducing carbs as i go, and increasing cardio by 5 minutes a day per week. I always do my cardio in the morning before breakfast as I'm in a fasted state and there are no carbs for my body to utilize.

Bro,when you cut carbs,you definately lose water.Carbs bring water to your muscle.Thats why when people go on a keto diet,they lose alot at first cause they cut out all their carbs.Then once the carbup again the water comes back.

And yes,with less water you will lose some strenght as water acts as "levrage" in the muscle.But it doesnt mean you are losing muscle though.Alot will disagree with me here,but i use CREATINE when dieting in about the 4th week of my diet when i feel my strenght has gone down.Creatine adds water to the muscle and helps with strenght and reduces the chances of injury.

[natenator]

Hey Ricky I'm curious. Have you competed before ?

[btufts]

I am contemplating doing a keto diet but do i just jump right into eliminating all carbs right away or do i ease into it after reducing carbs. As i have never competed before i don't know how my body will react to keto. Is there a certain amount of calories i should still be consuming? 16 weeks on no carbs seems pretty crazy

[LondonMuscle]

like Prae said, no dairy and drop the weight gainer

i have a veggies with every meal except for 1 or two, those i consume fruit... i believe in having a very high micronutrient intake while dieting and as the diet progresses i drop more carbs and replace them with more veggies... i also dont consume non veggie carbs with all meals, just morning, pre workout, during workout and pwo then i start backing them down as the weight loss slows

as for the discussion above... i dont believe one should wait to consume cals post workout, u should be having those during your workout

i keep the high gi carbs during the workout for as long as i can but those eventually get dropped as well... right now i have 70 of protein and 70g of dextrose during the workout and then consume lower gi carbs pwo

[rickyboy36]

Hey Ricky I'm curious. Have you competed before ?

No Nate,I have never competed before.Unfortunatley i started bodybuilding a bit old and i dont think i have the genetics either to make it very far.But i love reading and studying about diets and preping and everything that bodybuilding has to offer.Seven years on various boards has helped me understand alot.The only thing i would not feel comfortable giving advice for are the last 2 weeks of their diet before the show.This part is very important and will only let others with more knowledge do so...





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[rickyboy36]

like Prae said, no dairy and drop the weight gainer

i have a veggies with every meal except for 1 or two, those i consume fruit... i believe in having a very high micronutrient intake while dieting and as the diet progresses i drop more carbs and replace them with more veggies... i also dont consume non veggie carbs with all meals, just morning, pre workout, during workout and pwo then i start backing them down as the weight loss slows

as for the discussion above... i dont believe one should wait to consume cals post workout, u should be having those during your workout

i keep the high gi carbs during the workout for as long as i can but those eventually get dropped as well... right now i have 70 of protein and 70g of dextrose during the workout and then consume lower gi carbs pwo

In the end..theres more than one way to skin a cat.I say try different approaches.This one sounds good as well as does Nates.See what sounds logical to "you"..try it..and if it works stick to it :)

[natenator]

No Nate,I have never competed before.Unfortunatley i started bodybuilding a bit old and i dont think i have the genetics either to make it very far.But i love reading and studying about diets and preping and everything that bodybuilding has to offer.Seven years on various boards has helped me understand alot.The only thing i would not feel comfortable giving advice for are the last 2 weeks of their diet before the show.This part is very important and will only let others with more knowledge do so...





.
If you a healthy it's never too late to give it a shot. You may surprise yourself :)

I will disagree with your comments regarding the last two weeks. If you screw up the first 14 the last 2 won't make a hill of beans ;)

[natenator]

like Prae said, no dairy and drop the weight gainer

i have a veggies with every meal except for 1 or two, those i consume fruit... i believe in having a very high micronutrient intake while dieting and as the diet progresses i drop more carbs and replace them with more veggies... i also dont consume non veggie carbs with all meals, just morning, pre workout, during workout and pwo then i start backing them down as the weight loss slows

as for the discussion above... i dont believe one should wait to consume cals post workout, u should be having those during your workout

i keep the high gi carbs during the workout for as long as i can but those eventually get dropped as well... right now i have 70 of protein and 70g of dextrose during the workout and then consume lower gi carbs pwo
I definitely don't agree with the high carbs during a precontest diet nor do I agree with fruit but to each their own and your conditioning definitely shows you did something right.

[Praetorian]

I am contemplating doing a keto diet but do i just jump right into eliminating all carbs right away or do i ease into it after reducing carbs. As i have never competed before i don't know how my body will react to keto. Is there a certain amount of calories i should still be consuming? 16 weeks on no carbs seems pretty crazy

If you were to start a keto diet yes you would eliminate most carbs day one. Some carbs are still necessary, trace carbs and will account for approx 50g carbs per day. So it is not zero carbs and you would also incorporate a refeed/cheat meal once per week. Being in ketosis is much easier then running a low carb diet by the way...it sounds harsh but its not.
P

[LondonMuscle]

I definitely don't agree with the high carbs during a precontest diet nor do I agree with fruit but to each their own and your conditioning definitely shows you did something right.

the way i see it, if u can get away with it, why not?

my general strategy is to consume as many carbs as possible, eat as many cals as possible and do as little cardio as possible all while still attaining your weight loss goals

i dont like to drop cals or increase cardio when i am already losing fat at a sufficient rate, i like to keep that stuff as like a reserve... as the progress slows which it always will, i have cals i can back off and cardio to add

imo too many guys get the cals too low, carbs too low and cardio too high to start a diet then have problems later in the diet because they started too low

i keep everything in there as long as i can and back it off as i need but not before... you are most glucose tolerant during and immediately pwo which is why i think high gi carbs are fine in the earlier stages of a diet... even type 2 diabetics have been shown to have regular metabolism with respect to glucose right after intense exercise!

we all have our strategies though, i just do what makes sense to me

[btufts]

Thanks Prae, I think i may start this but i'll have to organize a meal plan. But again, is there a certain amount of calories i should still try to consume? As of right now i am eating about 4000. Should these trace carbs be eaten throughout the day or centralized to morning, pre training, during training, and pwo? Appreciate the help everyone.

B

[Delt King]

It would be a good idea to pick a coach and stick with one method. Too many trainers in the mix and you'll be second guessing everything you're doing. It's tough enough to diet for a show without being confused IMO

[btufts]

I think i'm going to stick with leaving my carbs early in the day, thats when i train anyway. then all other meals would be protein/ fat meals after that. Dr. John Berardi has a theory like this, as the body only needs carbs a few hours after training, otherwise they are just stored as fat. Also the protein/fat meals will raise test levels. I tend to lose fat pretty easily once i cut carbs anyway. Will update for sure. my skin already feels tighter haha.