Benny85

Hello everyone,

I am beginning a twelve (12) week cutting cycle at the start of next week (01/08/2005), and I was hoping that you would help me improve the nutritional program I will be following. I am confident that I am on the right track in relation to the exercise (aerobic and resistance) portion of the program, but am not so confident with the nutritional portion of the program.

Here is a sample of the current plan I have made:

Note: I am around 100KG in weight, 6'3 in height, and 25% bodyfat. I will have more accurate measurements within the next couple of days when I accurately measure my body composition.



Note: Additional fats (flax seed oil, peanut butter) are measured in tablespoons, chicken will be exchanged for other lean meats (such as turkey), and any dairy products are of the low-fat variety.

Feel free rip this apart if you feel necessary, as I could be way off-track in relation to what/when I should be eating. I am also unsure of various aspects (which I will list below) which hopefully you can set me straight on.

1) Portion sizes - Currently, I am measuring a portion by the size of my clenched fist (as described in 'Body for Life' and the 'Abs Diet') due to the time efficiency of this method. My concern is that this may not be an accurate enough measure, and may ultimately lead to unwanted results (such as the body entering survival/starvation mode). Any thoughts on this matter?

2) Evening carbohydrates - In my meals towards the middle of the day (where there are extended periods of inactivity) I have tried to restrict carbohydrates to a certain extent. My concern is that I may undo any positive benefits of this by eating carbohydrates in meals 6 and 7 (even though I recognise the important of a simple carbohydrate in a post-workout meal to distribute nutrients to the muscles). Any opinions?

3) Supplements - Are there any other supplements (apart from whey protein) that I should be taking (such as something to prevent muscle cannibalization during cardiovascular activity)?

Any help on any of these matters will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks.

grant

I would add something to begin with, you can't start training without some sort of energy, yogurt, whey, oats, berries, egg whites would all be good choices.

Benny85

You don't think that H.I.I.T on an empty stomach is a good idea? I can understand that the main benefit of H.I.I.T is the calorie expenditure after performing the exercise, so in theory you should not need to perform it on an empty stomach, but most authors seem to advise against this.

Have there been any studies in relation to H.I.I.T on an empty stomach versus H.I.I.T after eating?

Thanks heaps for your response.

grant

Well you say that you want to avoid being in a starvation mode and that is exactly what your body is in after sleeping for however long. I'm not sure if you've done HIIT before but it can be quite challenging to the beginner.

I can't see how after sleep and not having any carbohydrate in your system, (your liver glycogen would be quite low already after only a banana for your pwo carb) where you wouldn't end up burning muscle tissue. This is obviously something we don't want to happen as building muscle and losing fat is hopefully your ultimate goal here. By building muscle your creating a more efficient machine (your body). I'm not talking about large amt here by any means, just something to get you started in the morning. At the very least some BCAA capsules to reduce the catabolic effect of your cardio.

grant

You might also want to get some numbers in there, how much of what are eating? What are your macros exactly?

Benny85

Do you mean the ratio of carbohydrates/fat/protein? I would not be able to accurately estimate this, as I have based the plan on 'portions' (to avoid confusion). I am open to suggestions on how I should do this though.

Thanks for you reply.

grant

I see, well you could get a scale and weigh out your food, although a clenched fist might work--a deck of cards is also said to be a good measure. I would personally would want to know exactly what I'm eating not necessarily ratios but how many grams of protein, carbohydrate, and fat your body requires. There are seveal recent threads devoted to understanding and determining these numbers.

Benny85

Thanks, I will do some more research and see what I can come up with.

I have been doing a bit more reading, and I am considering exchanging the simple carbohydrate in meal three (the orange) for a complex carbohydrate (such as brown rice), the simple carbohydrate in meal four (the apple) for a fibrous complex carbohydrate (such as asparagus), and the complex carbohydrate in meal six (the potato) for a fibrous complex carbohydrate (asparagus once again).

This is to avoid having fat (the flax seed oil) with a simple carbohydrate. What do you think?