I’ve been following the same diet (or nutritional principles) for the last 3 years and in that time I’ve been able to gain muscle when I wanted, lose fat when I wanted and then maintain that muscle & level of body fat long term. Obviously there are slight variations to the calories depending whether my goal was to gain muscle or lose fat, but the basic principles stay the same.
Carb cycling is a method of dieting that involves planned increases and decreases in carbohydrate intake. In its simplest form, the days you train you eat more carbs and the days you rest you eat a lot less. Obviously diet is very individualised and the amounts of protein, fat & carbs will vary person to person. Here’s what my current (maintenance) diet looks like:
Workout Day (5 days a week)
Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 100g salmon, vegetables & 1/2 avocado.
Meal 2 (pre workout) – 180g chicken, 250g potato, vegetables.
Post Workout Shake – 40g collagen protein, 1 banana.
Meal 3 – 180g white fish, 250g white rice, vegetables.
Meal 4 – 180g chicken, vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil
Meal 5 – 170g greek yogurt, 20g collagen protein, 1 tbsp peanut butter, blueberries/raspberries.
Rest Day (2 days a week)
Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 100g salmon, vegetables & 1/2 avocado.
Meal 2 (pre workout) – 180g chicken, vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil
Meal 3 – 180g white fish, vegetables, 1 tbsp coconut oil
Meal 4 – 180g chicken, vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil
Meal 5 – 170g greek yogurt, 20g collagen protein, 1 tbsp peanut butter, blueberries/raspberries.
As you can see my rest day is very low in carbs. I won’t go any lower here but if my goal was to lose fat then I would add in 1 or 2 extra low carb day. If my goal was to gain muscle I would increase the amount of carbs on the workout days but not do more than 4 high carb days a week. You’re probably wondering about cheat meals (everyone does), I will have one per week on a high carb day, whether my goal is to lose fat or gain muscle, I will still have one per week. Carb cycling has proven to be the most successful nutrition plan that I & my clients have followed. Stick at it for at least 4 weeks and I’m sure you will be happy with the results.