Eating full circle: your fat stores will never know what hit 'em when this get-lean diet and supplement plan take over

Muscle & Fitness, May, 2009 by Jim Stoppani, Joe Wuebben

Excuse us if we're being a bit manipulative this month. We modified your poundages and reps starting on page 100, and now your carbs are about to get manhandled: flipped upside down, then flipped right side up, then upside down and inside out.

If you let your body coast on the same amounts of oatmeal and vegetables every day, it adapts to that predictability and ceases to change. When you have bodyfat to lose and a six-pack to uncover, change is exactly what you need. So you must modify your food intake with the following four-week meal plan the same way you do your training. Because when it makes you leaner and more ripped, being manipulative doesn't sound so bad, does it?

ERRATIC EATING

Similar to the "Highs & Lows" training program, this diet varies your carbohydrate intake similar to the way your reps are flip-flopped in the gym. You'll eat low-carb on Day I and double that amount on Day 2. Then the scheme is reversed, just as the rep ranges are in the workout: On Day 3 you eat higher-carb and on Day 4 you cut carbs in half. To be more specific, you'll eat 0.5 gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight on Days 1 and 4, and 1 gram per pound on Days 2 and 3. This four-day cycle repeats seven times over the course of the program.

Lean Cycle
Every four days, you have two higher-carb days (Days 2 and 3)
sandwiched between low-carb days (Days 1 and 4). After Day 4, the cycle
repeats:

DAY        CARB INTAKE  DIET DAY

Monday        low          1
Tuesday       high         2
Wednesday     high         3
Thursday      low          4
Friday        low          1
Saturday      high         2
Sunday        high         3
Monday        low          4

Cycle repeats starting with Day 1 on Tuesday, and so on.

LEAN PLAN

These sample daily menus are designed for a 180-pound male but will work well for anyone weighing 160-200 pounds. If you're above or below this range, simply adjust your portion sizes accordingly.

DAYS 1   4

Breakfast
4 large whole eggs
2 large egg whites
2 slices low-fat American cheese
1 cup oatmeal

Late-morning snack
2 scoops whey protein
1 Tbsp. peanut butter

Lunch
8 oz. extra-lean ground beef

2 cups mixed greens salad
1 Tbsp. olive oil/vinegar dressing

Midday snack
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 Tbsp. salsa

Preworkout snack
2 scoops whey protein

Postworkout snack
2 scoops whey protein
12 oz. Gatorade

Dinner
8 oz. chicken breast
1 cup broccoli
2 cups mixed greens salad
1 Tbsp. olive oil/vinegar dressing

Nighttime snack
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

TOTALS: 2,393 calories, 338 g protein, 93 g carbs, 63 g fat

DAYS 2   3

Breakfast
4 large whole eggs
2 slices low-fat American cheese
1/2 cup Raisin Bran
1/2 cup low-fat milk

Late-morning snack
2 scoops whey protein
1 oz. mixed nuts

Lunch
1 can solid white tuna in water
2 slices whole-wheat bread
1 Tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise

Midday snack
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup sliced pineapple

Preworkout snack
1 scoop whey protein
1 medium banana

Postworkout snack
2 scoops whey protein
20 oz. Gatorade

Dinner
9 oz. tilapia (or other low-fat fish such as cod or sole)
20 asparagus spears
2 cups mixed greens salad
2 Tbsp. olive oil/vinegar dressing

Nighttime snack
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

TOTALS: 2,695 calories, 314 g protein, 183 g carbs, 76 g fat

NOTE: Mix all protein powders according to directions on the label.

Cycling your carbs in this manner will help spur fat loss by keeping calories in check. But cycling between extremely low-carb days and highercarb days also helps prevent the body from adapting to one level of carbohydrate and calorie intake. This will keep your metabolism running at full speed over the 28-day program. The concept is similar to muscle confusion: The more you keep your muscles guessing, the better they'll respond to your training. In the case of your diet, alternating between different levels of carb intake will keep your fat stores in limbo, making it more likely that your body will respond by shedding flab.

HI, PROTEIN

On low-carb days protein accounts for the majority of your calories. You'll take in 1.5-2 grams per pound of bodyweight per day, or 270-360 grams for a 180-pound individual. This equals about 55% of total calories from protein, 20% from carbs and the remaining 25% from dietary fat. All of this comes to roughly 13 calories per pound of bodyweight per day, or 2,340 calories for the 180-pounder.

Protein remains the same for Days 2 and 3: 1.5-2 grams per pound of bodyweight. With the higher carb intake, protein becomes about 45% of total calories, close to 30% from carbs and fat still hangs around 25%. You'll consume 15 calories per pound of bodyweight, or about 2,700 calories for the 180-pounder.

Each Sunday, your only nontraining day of the week, drop the meal after workouts and drink the preworkout shake as a snack. This equals about 12 calories per pound of body weight if Sunday falls on Day 1 or 4 of the meal plan, and 14 calories per pound if it falls on Day 2 or 3.

After four weeks, you'll likely move on to another training program. Feel free to step away from this carb-cycling diet plan to something a bit higher in carbs, especially if you set your sights on gaining more mass. When it's time to get super-lean again, though, don't hesitate to be manipulative.