hey guys i'm new to this forum but i've been on a workout program for 2 months now mainly bulking up and adding muscle mass but i'm about to start cutting and try to lower my body fat %. i wanted to get a second opinion on what my diet should look like when i begin cutting. i decided carb cycling is a good idea, that way it keeps my body guessing and my metabolism working fast.

basically carb cycling means that i'm gonna alternate between high carb days and low carb days. high carb days will be on tues / thurs / sat / sun and low carb days will be on mon / wed / fri. i'm gonna try and do it so on high carb days my caloric intake comes from 40% protein / 40% carbs / 20% fat. and on low carbs its gonna be like 55% protein / 20% carbs / 25% fat. i'm also gonna try and make sure virtually no carbs are eaten after 6 pm.

here is a sample high carb day

meal 1 (9:15 am)- whey protein shake (1 scoop mixed w/ skim milk and fruit)

meal 2 (11:30 am)- 4 egg whites
oatmeal shake (1/2 cup of quaker flavorless oatmeal, 2/3 cups of skim milk, fruit)

meal 3 (1:15 pm)- 2 grilled chicken breasts
1 cup of brown rice
1 cup of salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette dressing

post workout meal (3:30 pm)- gatorade
whey protein shake (2 scoops mixed w/ skim milk, natural peanut butter and bananas)

meal 5 (5:45 pm)- 6 oz steak
1 baked potato
1 cup of salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette dressing

meal 6 (8:15 pm)- 1/4 cup of cottage cheese
1/2 cup of vegetables


sample low carb day

meal 1 (9:15 am)- whey protein shake (1 scoop mixed w/ skim milk and fruit)

meal 2 (11:30 am)- 4 egg whites
1 piece of whole wheat toast

meal 3 (1:45 pm)- 4 oz turkey breast
1/2 cup of brown rice
1/2 cup of vegetables

post workout meal (3:30 pm)- gatorade
whey protein shake (2 scoops mixed w/ skim milk, natural peanut butter and bananas)

meal 5 (5:45 pm)- 1/4 lb hamburger (no bun)
1/2 cup of green beans

meal 6 (8:45 pm)- 1 scoop of casein protein
1 glass of skim milk

i'm also gonna post my workout i did for the muscle building portion of my workout and what i'm gonna do when i cut and the supplements that i'm using but i'll do that in the relevant forum topic. but yeah just throw me some tips / suggestions they'd be much appreciated! thanks!!

Hey Jonny,

Taking a quick look at your diet I would suggest you strip it down a bit more, makes the food a bit more plain and boring but gets that BF right down.

There is a load of talk these days about carb cycling, I am not a fan and hence the plan I will give below doesn't show that. Not saying I'm right its just my opinion.

I have used:

7am (after morning workout)
6 egg whites scrambled
2 cups oats with water only

10am: Protein shake

12:30pm: 2-3 chicken breasts, 2-3 small potatoes, 3-4 pieces broccoli

3pm: 250grms fillet steak, hand full of green beans

5pm: protein shake

7:30 pm: 250 grms salmon or tuna, grilled or dry fried with onions, tomatoes and red capsicum.

before bed: protein shake.

You should not use any oil at all to cook your food, its either dry fried or grilled.

Drink only water and make sure you have at least 5 litres per day.

This is pretty strict and nothing else should go in your mouth, if you follow it properly for 3 weeks you will see results, 6 weeks you will be very impressed, 10 weeks you will be a machine.

Have a look at some of the photos at InnerFight - Hard Evidence
the 4th and 6th guys pics are after 3 weeks on the diet.

Good luck

i like the looks of some of the food ideas you posted, but i've been reading a lot about carb cycling and a lot of people have had success with it but i respect your opinion. though because the diet you listed has a decent amount of carbs i'll prolly sub it in during one of my high carb days. just the only thing is i don't know if i'll be able to eat 2 cups of oats lol that seems like so much. from bulking up i've been eating 1.5 cups and i can barely get that down.

Yeah the oats its really tough, just mix them with luke warm water and maybe add some cinnamon, also to get them down why don't you take some sugar free juice mix watered down, not much but it will help you get them down.

i usually mix my oats with skim milk...is that ok? i feel like it tastes a lot better then with just water and the skim milk is some extra protein. plus i drink a lot of water during the day (2 bottles while working out and 1 with each meal- so about 8 a day)

Is skim milk ok? yeah sure, but what do you want ok or the best? If you want the best then water is the best.

How big are your water bottles? 1.5 liters? If you drink 8 1.5l bottles thats huge and maybe too much.

How long has your website been going Innerfight? looks cool, a lot like crossfit

nah each bottle is .5 L so i drink about 4 L a day

Hi, We recntly celebrated our first birthday so a year. Its work in progress, we just wanna share our training and ideas with people.

Glad that you liked it. Have you tried some of the traning programs?

Need any advice we would be mroe than happy to help.

Endure Conquer Achieve

4 l a day is sweet man. Keep that up.

Haven't tried any yet no. Looks good though!

It's hard to determine since I don't know what you look like, what your body fat percentage is and what your current weight is. To me, it seems like that is barely eating anything at all. If cutting is your main concern your best friend will be cardio. You will need to do a lot of cardio 30 mins or more a day 5-6 days a week. You will need to cut out all or most condiment type items such ass dressings or sauces as to not add extra unnecessary calories. I am 5'9", 172 pounds with 5-6% bodyfat and eat way more than that meal plan.

Take a look at my blog at MaximizeYourPhysiology.blogspot.com and search for the what I eat post and take a look at the picture on the sidebar to show you my stats are correct.

i'm 6'0 and weigh 185 lbs. not sure what my bf% is but i have a little bit of body fat to lose but nothing rediculous.

yeah my workout is gonna be mainly cardio. i'm gonna be lifting 4 days a week (mainly on the high carb days) by doing 20 mins of medium intensity cardio, then i weight train and then i do 20 mins of cardio again after lifting. on my off days tues, thurs and sun i'm gonna do HIIT for 30 minutes. so cardio is my main concern def.

in terms of me not eating enough, do you mean in general or of a specific food group. i measured out the grams of protein and for both the high and low carb days it came out to be about 190 grams of protein a day, which is right around my body weight. do you suggest eating more protein, more carbs, or what?

When you get round to it please let me know how you get on. Any feedback to make it better and helop more people get into good shape and live a life they love is really appreciated.

Have a great day

i was told that when adding muscle mass try to eat 1.5 x your body weight in grams of protein, so that's what i've been doing for the past 2 months, eating about 270 grams of protein a day and it was a pretty clean bulk for the most part, i weighed 165 lbs june 1st and as of now i weigh 185 lbs and have put on a solid amount of muscle mass.

but now since i'm gonna start cutting tomorrow, i was told its a good idea to cut down on calories but still eat your body weight in grams of protein. but if thats not true i was wondering how much to actually eat during a cut.