A bodybuilding cutting meal plan

Nutrition is one of the hardest parts of training. Here's a great article from Muscle Talk on how to cut weight.

For the definition of 'cutting' and detailed information please see the article Cutting V Bulking: Losing Body Fat Whilst Gaining Quality Muscle You'll find two sample meal plans there, both of which are designed to encourage fat loss and muscle maintenance. This article provides an alternative cutting meal plan, based very much around good quality food choices including some basic supplements, please refer to the information in the article to compliment the information here.

Exercise and Cutting
Your weight training regimen you follow when you're not cutting needs to be continued for when you are cutting. High repetitions with low weights are not required; high reps do not 'tone muscle' nor do they aid in the loss of fat. Heavy weight training is standard; the only things that change are dietary factors and cardiovascular activity levels. Weight training whilst cutting, must remain intense. You will be able to continue to train hard as you're the plan provides structured nutrition to fuel exercise.

In order to achieve optimum results, try to include 40-50 minutes of cardiovascular exercise or high intensity interval training (HIIT) three or four times per week. Ideally this should be done first thing in the morning, if it fits in with your daily routine, following a black tea or coffee and nothing else. Intensity should be low, say about 55-60% maximum heart rate, the optimum level for mobilising fat reserves whilst maintaining muscle tissue. In practice, this is the level so when you cease exercising you feel slightly warm and just out of breath.

Weight loss supplements
There are a huge number of weight loss supplements on the market, some rubbish and some effective. Some are labelled as 'fat burners' but they do not burn fat; they are thermogenic aids and simply increase core body temperature very slightly and thus metabolic rate is raised. Although they may be used as an addition to a suitable cutting and cardio regimen, weight loss supplements must not be relied on too heavily. Green tea has mild thermogenic properties and will provide antioxidants in the diet, so is a useful addition. Supplements based on ephedra or ECA (ephedrine – caffeine – aspirin) are effective, but not without side effects. Hoodia can be used for suppressing appetite where appetite is a problem, but a well designed regimen, shouldn't allow for excessive hunger.

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The meal plan
Meals must be small but regular, and in order to keep growing, it is essential to keep protein intake high. The key to effective cutting lies in careful manipulation of your intake of carbohydrate foods, i.e. carbs should be low, but not omitted. Consume complex starchy carbohydrate foods regularly, but in small portions only. Be strict in avoiding treats and junk food. Following a meal plan similar to the one below should give a steady loss of body fat, and if you are training hard, there will be no loss of muscle. Portion sizes and meals have been structured in such a way to help keep you feeling full up and satisfied whilst dieting.

Wake 6.30 am	Strong black tea / coffee
40-50 mins low intensity cardio
7.30 breakfast	Porridge: 30g oats + skimmed milk + tsp sugar
	3 egg whites + 1 egg yolk scrambled
	200ml fresh fruit juice
10.00	100g chicken breast
	2 oatcakes
	Fruit
	Mug green tea
12.30	180g tuna or mackerel salmon or chicken breast
	30g wholemeal pasta or basmati rice
	Large mixed salad
	Mug green tea
15.00	100g chicken breast
	2 oatcakes
	Fruit
	Mug green tea
45 mins pre-workout	20g whey protein powder in water
	2 oatcakes
	Banana
	Drink water
45 mins intense weight training
Immediately post workout	40g whey protein powder + 5g glutamine in water
Evening meal 60 mins later	150g lean red meat or 180g salmon steak 40g wholemeal pasta or 40g basmati rice or 2-3 small boiled new potatoes
	Large serving mixed vegetables
22.00	Serving James' Super Smoothie – The JSS Cutting Shake
Bedtime	200g cottage cheese

As with all the plans on MuscleTalk, this is merely a guide and must not be stuck to rigidly! You must eat a variety of different meats/fish, starchy carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables every day, and drink plenty of water. Adapt the plans to suit your own needs and daily routine and adjust according to your results in order to attain a steady loss of body fat.

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Carb Cycling for MMA Fighters

As MMA fighters, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve our game. We sharpen our skills, improve our conditioning, and increase our strength, all with the goal of being better warriors. However, many of us fail to take advantage of a very important key to success in the ring (or cage)—optimal nutrition.

How many of you are exactly the weight you want to be right now? How many of you currently possess your “ideal physique?” If you’re like many of us, you probably have some extra “fluff” weighing you down, that once lost, could substantially improve your speed and agility (not to mention your “game” with the other sex). Perhaps you’re on the other end of the weight spectrum and could stand to gain some extra “buff” to help you overpower your opponents and bring more force to your strikes and grappling.

Well, there’s a method of eating that can be used to address either of these scenarios all while having plenty of energy to continue pursuing your skill, conditioning, and strength goals. The method is called carbohydrate cycling. Its main premise is that by exploiting your body’s insulin levels via cycling your daily carbohydrate intake, you can maximize its anabolic (muscle building) and anticatabolic (muscle sparing) effects while minimizing its ability to store fat and maximizing your body’s ability to burn fat. And how do we do that, you ask? Let’s get started!

Put in simple terms, we consume a high carbohydrate diet on some days of the week (typically on our most physically demanding days such as training days or days of heavy skill work) and a low to moderate carbohydrate diet on the other days (typically on days that are less physically demanding or on rest days). The high carbohydrate days raise our insulin levels, fill our glycogen stores, keep our metabolism burning efficiently, and stave off muscle catabolism. The low carbohydrate days are the “fat burning days.” They keep insulin levels low enough to allow for maximum fat burning while retaining muscle.

If your goal is to lose fat (and retain or even gain muscle), you will only have one or two “high carb days” per week. The other five or six days are your low to moderate carb days. If your goal is to gain muscle (while keeping fat gain to a minimum), go with two to four of these high carb days (the number will depend on your metabolism and work load, or in other word, how many days per week you train and at what intensity). The rest of the week is your low to moderate carb days.

Macronutrients and meal frequency for MMA

The macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Though this diet is called “carbohydrate cycling,” manipulation of your protein and fat intake will also play a key role. The following are general guidelines for each macronutrient on a typical high carb day and a typical low to moderate carb day. Note that we lower protein on our high carb days and also keep fat as low as possible. Also, keep in mind that for optimal blood sugar levels, metabolism, and amino acid turnover, it is best to divide your daily totals into 5–7 meals per day (about every three hours or so).
Carbohydrate Protein Fat
High carb day 2–3g per lb/bw 1–1.5g per lb/bw as low as possible
Low to moderate carb day 0.5–1.5 grams per lb of bw 1.25–1.75g per lb/bw 0.25–0.5g per lb/bw

Example set up

Here’s how to use the funky table using a 200-lb fighter as our example.

On a high carb day, our fighter would shoot for the following totals:

* 500 grams carbohydrate (200 lbs x 2.5)
* 250 grams protein (200 lbs x 1.25)
* 30 grams fat (while we aim to keep fat as low as possible on high carb
days, there will always be an incidental amount in the foods we eat)

Dividing these numbers evenly over six meals, we get approximately 83 grams
of carbohydrates per meal, 42 grams of protein, and five grams of fat.

A low carb day for the same fighter might look something like this:

* 200 grams carbohydrate (200 lbs x 1.0)
* 300 grams protein (200 lbs x 1.5)
* 70 grams fat (200 lbs x 0.35)

A sample week of carbohydrate cycling for a fighter looking to lean out might look like this:

Monday: MMA training and cardio/conditioning work; low carb
Tuesday: Weight training; high carb
Wednesday: MMA training and cardio/conditioning work; low carb
Thursday: Rest day; low carb
Friday: Weight training; high carb
Saturday: MMA training and cardio/conditioning work; low carb
Sunday: Conditioning work; low carb

The days and set up will vary depending on your own situation and goals. Just remember that if you’re trying to gain weight, use a higher number of high carb days (3–4 per week). If you’re trying to lean out, only go with one or two high days per week, and on your low carb days, look at taking carbs all the way down to 0.5 grams per pound of body weight. If your MMA days are more demanding than your weight training days, look at making them your high carb days. Also, try to space out your high days during the week. Having them back to back can lower your insulin sensitivity, which is what we’re trying to exploit with carb cycling in the first place.

Okay, what do I eat? Not cheeseburgers and ice cream! Stick to healthy whole foods for this diet. If you can’t kill it, grow it, or pick it, you probably shouldn’t be eating it!

Here are some examples for each macronutrient category:

* Carbohydrates: oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, yams, fruit

* Proteins: chicken breast, turkey breast, lean red meat, eggs, fish, low
fat cottage cheese

* Fats: almonds, cashews, all-natural peanut butter, olive oil, flax oil,
fish oil, avocados

Wrap up

Not only is this diet “the bomb” in terms of results and ease of use, it’s also very easy mentally. It’s a lot easier to push through a day of lower carbs when we know we have a day of high carbs coming up! Using the guidelines above, you should be able to set up a diet that will not only allow you to reach your physique and training goals but also improve your health and well-being. What more could you ask for (cheeseburgers and ice cream, right)?

More reading on carbohydrates here:
http://www.buildingbodies.ca/Nutrition/Low-Carb-Stupidity.shtml
http://www.buildingbodies.ca/Nutrition/Carbohydrates_101.shtml
http://www.buildingbodies.ca/Nutrition/nutrition-and-fitness-basics.shtml

Shelby Starnes is a successful national level bodybuilder, powerlifter, Muay Thai practitioner, nutritionist, and trainer. He has been affiliated with Troponin Nutrition since 2005. For information on his consultation services, email him at shelbystarnes@troponinnutrition.com or check out his webpage on the Protege Nutritionists link at www.troponinnutrition.com.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

-- article source: http://buildingbodies.ca/exercise/carb-cycling-for-mma-fighters/

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