Eat like a pig & still get ripped; You're built like a man. You act like a man. Here's how to eat like a man - and still get shredded

Muscle & Fitness, Dec, 2008 by Jim Stoppani, Jon Finkel

As a regular reader of M&F, you know the roster of bodybuilding-friendly foods like the back of your hand: chicken breast, tuna, cottage cheese, oatmeal, brown rice, vegetables, etc. Chances are, you've tried every imaginable combination of these staples to keep your meals tasting fresh, But if you've exhausted your culinary creativity and you're about to eat tuna with oatmeal just to try something new, we urge you to stop, Back away from the Starkist and the Quaker Oats, and read on. We've just developed a diet that'll allow you to eat like a regular guy while still getting ripped. Read that sentence again if you have to. You done? Now we'll explain how you can do this with a little primer on "bad foods."

Bad foods can generally be placed into one of three categories: 1) high-carb foods, 2) high-fat foods, and 3) high-carb and -fat foods. The trick is knowing which type of food to eat on which days. And that's what our "Eat Like a Pig Diet" tells you. Each week from Monday through Friday, you'll follow a higher-fat/low-carb/high-protein diet. Saturday is high-carb/low-fat./high-protein, and Sunday is a high-fat/-carb/-protein cheat day.

The secret to this diet is separating the carbs from the fat (with the exception of Sunday). That means when you eat higher-fat foods. Of course, your protein intake stays high. Lastly, you have one high-fat/high-carb day each week in which you can eat both--that's your cheat day.

HIGHER-FAT/LOW-CARB DAYS

On Monday through Friday, follow a higher-fat/low-carb diet. Keep your calories to 14-15 per pound of body-weight per day: 2,500-2,700 calories for a 180-pound guy. For the same body-weight, protein will be high at 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight per day, or just more than 270 grams. Keep carbs way down at 0.25 gram per pound per day, or just less than 50 grams of carbs. The carbs are so low because you can eat almost I gram per pound of bodyweight, or just shy of 180 grams per day.

The higher-fat/low-carb foods you can eat on these days include bacon, buffalo wings, ribs (watch the barbecue sauce--it's high in carbs), fatty cuts of beef and pork, and fattier cold cuts. If you're worried about the saturated fat, don't be. Research confirms that when you eat saturated fat while maintaining a low carb intake, the fat isn't the heart-unfriendly culprit it has been made out to be. Plus, when athletes eat a higher-sat-fat diet, they exhibit higher testosterone levels. Neither will that fat take a one-way trip to your fat cells, blurring your abs and other muscles. When you drop carbs way down, your body is forced to use dietary fat as pure energy, so it gets burned and you get lean.

At right is a Monday through Friday sample diet for the average 180-pound guy* on workout days. On rest days, eliminate the postworkout meal and turn the preworkout meal into an extra snack.

* This diet will also work well for those who weigh 160-200 pounds. If you aren't within this range, make adjustments according to your bodyweight.

SAMPLE HIGHER-FAT/LOW-CARB DIET

(MONDAY - FRIDAY)

* BREAKFAST

Scrambled eggs (3 whole eggs 3 egg whites)

3 slices bacon

* LATE-MORNING SNACK

1 scoop whey protein

* LUNCH

8 oz. rib-eye steak

2 cups chopped broccoli

* MIDDY SNACK

6 buffalo wings

6 celery sticks blue cheese

dressing (use sparingly)

* PREWORKOUT SNACK

1 scoop when protein

* POSTWORKOUT SNACK

1 scoop whey protein

1 scoop casein protein

* DINNER

1/2 rack baby back ribs 2 Tbsp. barbecue sauce

2 cups mixed green salad 1 Tbsp. olive oil/vinegar, blue cheese or ranch dressing

1 scoop whey protein

* NIGHTTIME SNACK

1 scoop casein protein

NUTRITION FACTS: 2,777 calories, 274 g protein, 51g carbs, 158 g fat

NOTE: Mix all protein shakes in water per directions on label.

HIGH-CARB/LOW-FAT DAY

On Saturday you switch to a high-carb/low-fat diet and shoot for 16-17 calories per pound of bodyweight, or 2,800-3,000 calories, Protein stays at 1.5 grams per pound, but carbs jump to about 2 grams per pound of body-weight (more than 350 grams for the 180-pounder) and fat falls to about 0.25 gram per pound (50-60 grams).

Switching to high carbs after five days of low carbs will help maintain your leptin levels, which are critical for ensuring your metabolism stays high and your appetite low. Since carbs are important for keeping your metabolism in check, going low -carb for too long can cause your leptin levels and metabolism to nose-dive. Going high after five days of almost no carbs eliminates this worry.

High-carb/low-fat foods you can eat on this day are lean burgers (home-made on a whole-wheat bun), cheese pizza, popcorn, tortilla chips and salsa, cereal (yes, even your sugary child-hood favorites), waffles, pancakes, angel food cake with whipped cream, sorbet, jelly sandwiches. The criteria? Foods can be high in carbs and even sugars but must be low-fat. Sure, every dietitian warns against fast-digesting carbs--and we usually agree--but on our "Eat Like a Pig Diet," eating fast carbs will help increase your leptin levels when they may be falling. That's because these foods boost insulin, which signals leptin to stay high.