Natural Bodybuilder's Diet - My Bodyduilding Competition Diet, Meal By Meal. Inside The Pages Of A Natural Bodybuilder's Competition Diet Journal. Date: From: Tom Venuto. Knowing just how many grams of protein per day to lose weight is important but there are other even more important aspects to consider when dieting. The Author Practices What He Preaches And Shows How He Uses His Own Fat Burning Diet System For Bodybuilding And Competition Diets.. After reading my letter on the home page, many people are intrigued about the . Of course, I explained on the home page that this nutrition program was created BY a bodybuilder, not just FOR bodybuilders. With that out of the way, usually one of the next questions my readers send me is, ? I teach this customization process in my Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program. Calories, protein, carbs, fats, macronutrient ratios and food choices, must all be individualized. What you will read below is a sample of some of my personal bodybuilding diet menu plans that I actually used to prepare for competition. My goal is to prove to you that I practice what I preach and to let you see an actual sample of bodybuilding diet menu plans. My very best to you,Tom Venuto,Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder. Pre Contest Diet Changes 1. Weeks Out - Tightening Things up! Tom Venuto. Friday, July 8th, 2. For the past three weeks, I’ve been on what you could call a “clean” diet, but it was far from strict, low calorie or low carb - it was more like a “pre- diet diet”. You can see my 1. I went off the diet for a bit when I traveled Indonesia and Vietnam, but I continued to take whey protein (morning, afternoon, night).The Author Practices What He Preaches And Shows How He Uses His Own Fat Burning Diet System For Bodybuilding And Competition Diets. After reading my letter on the. This section is written for everybody (not only bodybuilders) who wants to reduce his/her body fat in order to reach a healthy and sustainable body. Free Newsletters Need help achieving your fitness goals? The Muscle & Fitness newsletter will provide you with the best workouts, meal plans and supplement advice to. July 2nd. After an “official” weigh- in today and an un- official body fat test, it’s definitely time to tighten things up. Here’s what’s changed. I will now begin carb cycling with medium carb days of 2. The carbs will probably go even lower (1. Note: 1. 50 grams is a very low carb diet for me. You wouldn’t like me when I eat less carbs than that : ) My early day meals will contain the starchy carbs (mainly oatmeal and yams, sometimes white potatoes or rice, especially after workouts), and my late day meals will contain the fibrous carbs (green veggies & salad veggies), with the essential fats. Protein stays constant in every meal. I’ve bumped up my essential oil supplement to two tablespoons a day in conjunction with the drop in carbs. If I feel like it, I’ll substitute 1 of the tablespoons of oil for natural peanut butter instead (why? Because it keeps the dietary. I need it and tastes damn good when you’re on a diet!) I know some bodybuilders who use cream for their pre- contest fat instead. That can make a nice protein shake if you mix it with protein powder, but I use whole foods over shakes most of the time (go figure. I also get some fat. I eat red meat once every day. The rest of the fat is incidental in my chicken breasts, oatmeal, etc. Whatever works for you. In any case, you want to keep *some* fat in the diet, and the lower your carbs go, the more fat you can eat, within reason. I do NOT like ketogenic diets (close to zero carb, or very low carb/high fat). In fact, I think they suck. I’m not saying they won’t or can’t get you ripped, I’m just saying in my opinion, I think they suck for hard training bodybuilders. Adaptation to low carbs and. You can sometimes remedy the energy problems by taking the fats way up, but I find that a diet over 2. I prefer a cyclical low carb diet with very high protein (for healthy bodybuilders!!! I would not advise copying my precontest diet for general weight loss purposes. When you’re training hard and doing cardio, believe me 2. I’ll undoubtedly be headed soon), is very low. I just can’t understand why anyone would want to drop to 1. Right now my carb cycle is 3 days medium carbs (2. This is still not that strict, it’s only the first adjustment. Here’s the “medium carb days” where I will be 6 out of every 8 days. That’s down another pound since last week. This was wearing only a t- shirt and sweatpants, no shoes. I unfortunately haven’t had anyone around to take my body fat with the Skyndex (4- site digital body fat skinfold caliper), although there are some trainers at our club that will volunteer for me. I would normally have Richie measure me, as it’s important to have a skilled tester for consistent measurements, but I haven’t been able to connect with him as often as I’d like. So what I did instead this week was to break out my Accu measure caliper. I often recommend the Accu- measure for other people, but for me it doesn’t offer as much precision as I need. Only measuring one skinfold site (iliac crest) doesn’t work well for a bodybuilder who is shooting for low single digit body fat, because some of the. I find that once my iliac crest is down to 2mm or so in thickness, I still have fat in other areas that could be measured with a multi site test, but at this point, the Accu- measure has “bottomed out.” You might see a 1. Anyway, just for kicks, I measured my iliac crest with the Accu measure and it was 6. If I use the age categories on the accu measure skinfold interpretation chart (I’m 3. Which would be quite high (for a bodybuilder at this point). I would put myself closer to 8% if I had to guess! For example, if I were to use the age 2. Body composition testing is obviously not an exact science. Usually the best bet is to pick one method, use the same tester every time and stick with them for consistency. Next week, hopefully, I’ll get measured accurately with a 4- site test and I’ll log in the results consistently every week after that. But for whatever it’s worth, I know my self- tested iliac crest skinfold is 6 mm, so I do have lots of work to do to get that sucker down to 2 mm or less! Honestly, I don’t really need to test body fat anymore. After 2. 6 competitions, I know exactly when I’m ready by looking in the mirror. I can even tell if I’m getting leaner just by pinching the skin on my abs and waistline with my fingers. The goal is to have what I call “Saran wrap” skin. That is, the skin is so thin that it almost appears translucent and literally “clings” to the muscles underneath. If you pull it away from the abdominal muscles, it literally snaps right back! I’m still keeping my cardio at one session a day, usually 3. I went 3. 5 minutes on the stairmaster 4. PT, level 7 and level 8 at the end, and that was good for burning 5. Was drenched in sweat after that one! That was steady, by the way, not interval. Which burns more fat??? Did I mention, DUH!!!????). Until next time, train hard, eat right and forget about those silly zero carb diets. If you want to know more about my carbohydrate cycling method, go get a copy of my ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle Check out chapter 1. After reading that, you will be an expert at carb manipulation for getting as ripped as you want to be! The carb cycling method I explain in my book is really the most sensible and intelligent way to do low carb, in my opinion. Pre Contest Diet Changes 1. Weeks Out. Tom Venuto. Friday, July 2. 9th, 2. Things are on schedule and looking good. I weigh 1. 96 lbs today. I’ve been losing weight slowly, but that’s intentional as I’ve been known to lose too quickly in the past and come in shredded but flat and kind of “stringy- looking.” Gotta keep the size and thickness, but over the next few weeks I definitely need to kick the fat loss up a notch, so I’ve made a few adjustments (slight decrease in calories and carbs on low days.)My new carb cycle is 3 days low carbs (approx 2. This is my second adjustment (downward) in carbs so far. I’m not a really low carb kind of guy, I prefer moderate reduction in carbs and a lot of cardio. That’s what works best for me and my body type. When I go very low in the carbs, I completely “deflate” and look flat. For me, 2. 00 grams IS low carbs, and 1. VERY low carbs (and is about the lowest I’ll go). Even on very very low carbs, I don’t seem to get lean without a lot of cardio. My body simply responds to the cardio more than carbohydrate manipulation. I know some people are the reverse (cut carbs and don’t do much cardio), so it’s important to understand your own body and how it responds. There’s no doubt - I DO get leaner with as reduction in carbs, just not a severe reduction. As of earlier this week, the diet now looks something like this: Meal 1: 6: 4. Meal 2: 9: 3. 0 am. Meal 3: 1. 2: 3. 0 pm. Meal 4: 3: 0. 0 pm. Meal 5: 5: 3. 0 pm. Meal 6: 8: 0. 0 pm. Alaskan salmon. 8 oz asparagus 1 tbsl udos oil or flaxseed oil. My high days are the same as before (LOVE those high days: 3. I’ve decreased my oatmeal from 1 cup to 3/4 cup, and decreased the size of the yam (I weigh the yam before cooking to make sure it’s exact). I don’t weigh my food year- round, but before contests, I want to know my carb intake to the gram. You’ll notice that the basic structure of my low carb days is that the first three meals are protein and starchy carb (high carb) meals, and the last three meals are protein, fibrous carb and fat meals (fat from beef, natural peanut butter or udos oil/flaxseed oil). It’s important to keep some fats in the diet as the carbs go lower. I’ve found that approx 2. Higher fat diets don’t seem to do much else for me. I was hungry a few weeks ago when I first shifted from the off season diet to lower carbs, but since I’ve cut the carbs and calories again, oddly enough, I haven’t really been hungry. So far, I’m actually eating more than in previous years and still getting leaner. I’m not concerned with getting lean enough; I can always come in shredded, no problem. The challenge is to come in shredded and FULL. I’ve been looking a little flat by the 3rd day of low carbs (even “medium” carbs), and the pumps haven’t been as good as they could be, but I suppose that’s to be expected. I’ll be keeping an eye on my condition and it I’m perpetually flat and I feel like I’m losing size after being on 2. I’ll probably take 2 high carb days rather than one, or pull back on the cardio a bit. When I started several weeks ago, I immediately began with 3. I’m now doing 4. 5 minutes of cardio, 7 days a week, at moderate to moderately high intensity. I’ve been using the stairmaster for half of my cardio sessions and the lifecycle for the other half. The Bodybuilding Diet: How I fixed my health, and became The Hulk. In early 2. 01. 2 I started following a strict bodybuilding diet, which involves eating seven times a day, and obsessively measuring out every meal to meet a predetermined ratio of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. To commit to this food plan, I usually have to pack my meals in tupperware and bring them with me to parties and other social outings. This means I’m often caught scarfing chicken between conversations, and pulling out my food scale at awkward places. Although I try to be discreet, I usually end up having to explain my obsessive behavior to those around me. The question I get asked most often is “Why are you doing this?”. My standard response used to be “To look like Arnold“, but I’ve been asked this question enough times where I’ve since given it some serious thought. It first started with a health checkup in early 2. Since I have a habit of working out regularly, and generally stay away from junk food, I was surprised when my doctor told me I had high cholesterol. My total cholesterol was at 2. LDL cholesterol was at 1. People don’t normally get heart attacks until they’re 6. January, 2. 01. 1Around the time when I got my cholesterol checked. I was in good shape, and worked out 3- 5 times a week. Now this is the part where I’m supposed to tell you I went home and immediately started my bodybuilding diet. But like most people who are aware of a health problem, I made no effort to change my habits. That summer, I even traveled Europe for 5 months and ate all sorts of cochinillo, schweinshaxe, and foi gras, cholesterol be damned. By the end of the trip, I still managed to lose 1. I guess that’s what happens when you spend your days lounging in Parsian parks nibbling on macaroons instead of pumping iron. Looks like my ancestors gypped me on the cholesterol gene, but gave me some kind of freakish metabolism instead. By the time I got back to the U. S., I was ready to get back in shape, so I did what I always do when I’m trying to bulk up – I started lifting weights 5 times a week, and eating a gratuitous amount of food in order to gain as much muscle as possible. This method sounds terrible to me now, but in college it worked wonders. I could devour all sorts of cookies, steaks, and hamburgers, and still build muscle while remaining lean. But in my older age, it was clear that my method wasn’t working as well as it used to. Although I was building muscle, I was also starting to develop a gut. Yup, this was officially my first sign of aging. Here’s me in Germany, at 1. March, 2. 01. 2Before I started the bodybuilding diet, I bulked back up to around 2. I wanted. So I turned to the internet for advice. Anyone who has ever tried searching for diet tips online will probably agree with me that it’s about as fun as filing your taxes. You have to trudge through hundreds of contradictory nutritional advice (milk is bad for you, milk is the perfect drink, avoid egg yolks, egg yolks are the best part), dodge gimmicky supplement ads (“Effortless six- pack abs in 2 weeks, or your money back!”), and decode vague health information like “Detox your body with a cabbage cleansing to restore your inner spiritual and emotional balance”. Huh? I wasn’t looking for a flash diet or a quick fix. I wanted to do it the hard way. The way that works. It turns out all the more credible sounding articles were bodybuilding related. Unlike articles marketed towards yoga girls and beach body types, bodybuilding articles tend to dive deeper into the biochemistry of food, and focus on the overall diet, rather than focusing on a specific “healthy food” . I’m still waiting for the day a frozen yogurt cleanse becomes fashionable, triggering a new generation of yoga girls with uncontrollable gas. The more I read about bodybuilding, the more there was to learn. I soon found myself reading all about the glycemic index, the role of B vitamins, the effects of omega- 3 on jaw development, formulas for calculating basal metabolic rate, etc. I picked up copies of books like Strength Training Anatomy, Protein Power, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, where I learned how to properly execute a back double biceps pose, and learned what a protein shake in the 1. It was all fascinating to me. My nightly entertainment quickly degenerated into watching meatheads on You. Tube lift heavy objects while grunting loudly. I was so into my videos that one night my girlfriend had to subtly suggest we watch something less testosterone- charged, like The Notebook. We compromised and ended up watching Food, Inc. Looking back, it’s kind of amusing that I became so fascinated with a hobby such as bodybuilding. Although I’ve lifted weights for years, I never thought I’d have anything in common with bodybuilder types. But actually its appeal (at least to me) has a lot in common with gaming and general nerd stuff. Watching your body change is like leveling up, and pre- packed meals are like health potions. Following a consistent diet plan allows me to do things like A/B test foods and their effectiveness. Tracking metrics like meal timing and proportions means I know exactly what day and time I will run out of chicken in my fridge. Bodybuilders are really just body hackers. Okay maybe I’m stretching it a bit. But this is how I justify my quick downward spiral into meathead land. What to Eat. One thing I noticed right off when doing my research is that all bodybuilders eat the same few foods. If you go over to bodybuilding. At first it was a weird concept to go from eating whatever I wanted to eating only 1. But actually in an industry filled with noise and drowning in misinformation, this stroke of clarity was what I needed to get started. Here are the foods that all bodybuilders eat over and over: Protein sources: 9. Tilapia. Egg whites. Whey protein. Salmon (this is both a protein and fat source)Carb sources: Brown rice. Sweet potatoes. Oatmeal. Ezekial bread. Fat sources: Almonds. Avocados. Fish oil. Flaxseed oil. Vegetables: Broccoli. Spinach. Asparagus. Kale. There are a thousand reasons why these few foods are popular among bodybuilders, so I’ll mostly summarize. Protein. Chicken breast and tilapia are going to be your main sources of protein because they are lean, easy to cook, and not too expensive. You could also try turkey, halibut, or other lean fishes (sole fish, catfish, tuna, etc.), but I find that each have their respective disadvantages. Turkey, if not ground, can be very tough. Halibut is far more expensive than tilapia. Sole fish is generally very fishy, and flaky once cooked. Also since you’ll be mass producing this food, you’ll want something that will last at least a week in your fridge. Just from my anecdotal experience, chicken and tilapia pass the seven- day- old taste test better than other types of meat. Whey protein (which is extracted from cow milk) will also be a staple. It’s popular among bodybuilders because it’s quickly absorbed by the body, making it perfect in a post- workout shake when the body is in an optimal state the utilize the protein. I also recommend having it in the morning as a breakfast shake if you’re too lazy to make eggs. Before bed, I recommend casein protein (thicker and slower absorbing, also extracted from cow milk). Egg whites are also a great source of protein. It has the highest bioavailability of any protein source, which means the body can utilize more of it due to its balance of amino acids. As a comparison, beef is only 8. The main disadvantage of egg whites is that it naturally contains a lot of sodium. Since I don’t add salt to my food, I was surprised when I first calculated my sodium intake, which was on the high side due to egg whites. For vegetarians, vegans, or those watching their cholesterol (fish, lean chicken, and whey protein all contain cholesterol!), I recommend Nutiva Organic Hemp Protein or Life’s Basics Plant Protein (the unsweetened version is better). Hemp protein (extracted from ground up hemp seeds) is amazing stuff – it’s a complete protein, it’s high in fiber, and it’s rich in Omega 3- 6- 9 essential fatty acids. At first when I did my research, I was set on finding a highly isolated plant- based protein, something like Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 7. But the fiber and essential fats in hemp is part of what makes it so great, so I actually think the isolated versions take away many of its advantages. If you’re not a vegan, I recommend mixing the hemp protein with whey protein for better bioavailability (hemp is “complete” but still low on certain amino acids, like lysine). If you’re a vegan, I recommend just using Life’s Basics Plant Protein (the pea and brown rice protein fill in the gaps in hemp’s amino acid profile). I use hemp protein twice a day – once in the morning mixed in with whey, and again before bed, mixed in with casein. Beef – I do not recommend eating beef or any kind of red meat. I love a 1. 2 oz ribeye just as much as anyone else, but after looking up the nutrition facts I’ve concluded that you should only eat it on rare occasions, if ever. It has far more cholesterol and saturated fat than chicken or fish, and the visible fat is harder to isolate and remove. If you do eat beef, I recommend it be organic and grass- fed, which is leaner, lower in cholesterol, and higher in omega- 3 than corn- fed beef. The same is true for salmon – if you have the budget for it, I recommend buying wild caught salmon, which contains more omega- 3 and less cholesterol than farm- raised salmon. Here’s a pdf of the leanest cuts of beef. Carbs. Controlling your carb intake is the most important factor in whether you gain muscle or lose fat. Usually the only difference between a gaining diet versus a cutting diet is the increased carb consumption. The best carb sources are whole grain, unprocessed, and high in fiber. Refined carb sources like white rice, pasta, and white bread are not optimal because they have a higher glycemic index (GI) and lower fiber content .
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