carb up/down

[anabolicwannabe]

can someone outline a good diet plan a week or even up to 4 weeks or your whole diet if possible? the protein/carb ratio and calories.. thanks..

the last time i did, i totally cut carbs till really low, i turned up looking like i was in 1 weight category lower. i heard that we should carb and/or fat up before the show so as to give the body a fuller look, but not too much to make your stomach bloat like a GH gut. comments on this as well?

[anabolicwannabe]

bump?

[MIKE_XXL]

Do a search here on Carb ups and Fat loads and you will get you answer...i have done a lot of post about this issue already...just search and you will be rewarded...good luck...XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

hmm i found lots of posts on carbing up and fat loading, but i wanna understand the science behind it.. like why carb up 3 days before the show instead of hours before? from what i read though, i figured this out:

correct me if i'm wrong, please. from 10-12 weeks out, drop your caloric intake bit by bit, not too much at a time. at this time, drop your carb intake slowly as well.
until 3 days before the show, carb up. after the weigh in, start to fat load. am i right?

oh i read a post about your diet one week out and i saw creatine in your list of meals posted. i was wondering, doesn't creatine cause water retention? why would you do that so close to competition?

[MIKE_XXL]

Your idea is roughly right...i am not too worried about water retention pre show as Diuretcs will take care of the water and sodium retention...creatine gives me fuller muscle bellies, i not saying everyone should use it pre show, but i do...here is the basics of wht i do:
12-14 weeks out start a diet with 10% deficit, if your maintenance caloric intake is 3000cal. then you would start dieting at 2700cal (3000cal less 10%-300cal = 2700cal.)
Add cardio at 30miuntes per day first thing in the morning
I will also add Ephedrin based fat burnner at this time
I will gradually increase my cardio up to about 1 hour 15 minutes a day by about 4 weeks out of the show, that's around 45-60min in the morning and 15-30min after training
I will only start reducing calories if i stop loosing fat, i measure my waist every week and expect to see at least 1/4" lose...i do not weight myself too often as i feel is screws with my head too much and i get perenoid of excessive weight loss or not enought weight lose, so i measure my waist instead.
As for last week...well since i wrote the last big write up my opinions have changed and i will not be doing carb ups...i will eat my regural diet upto friday afternoon, and 4 hours after cutting water which usually is around 3:00pm on friday afternoon, i will have a fat loading meal...i will not decarp as i will not carb up...NO sodium manipulation...just a big fatty meal around 7:00pm on friday before saturdays show...hoe that helps you out a bit...XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

why the change in carbing up? doesn't fat load and carb load have the same logic behind? i'm assuming the show is 9am on saturday, and no cutting of calories until week 4 (and only if unsatisfied with weight loss)?

[MIKE_XXL]

Saturday prejudgin starts here at 11:00am mostly, so all my recomendations are made for that, however i usually do not make it to the stage untill around 1:00pm...but i count it to the begining of prejudging...
Carbs are like a sponge, for each gram of carbs your body bring in 3.2gm of water with it (give or take i can't remember the exact amount, but i know this is very close) so if you think about it and you eat 100gm of carbs and absorb all of them and store them as glucose inside the muscle cells you just brought in 320gm of water, which is great for fullness but it also blurs lines and definition...fat loading will also fill you out but without the added risk of water, i know of many guys that ended up looking extremly well with fat loading alone, also one of the biggest trainers up north in Canada recomend this kind of last week prep...jusging by my expiriance for me it is proly the best way to go about it, i have done 7 shows and tried a lot of different things, this way will be my next way of doing things...and yes only reduce calories if your weight is not dropping at 2lbs per week rate or laess then 1/4" of your waist...XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

well since carbs bring in water, shouldn't we carb down the last week?
cause i don't see you lowering your carb intake slowly the 12 weeks before. and even though we start off with a 10% deficit and continue it throughout (unless dissatisfied with results), it is just 10% off of our regular diet right? (regular being chicken, and abit of rice and such, not KFC or macdonalds lol) then how about the diet in the LAST week? regular, or something different? and thanks so far for everything, you've been a great help, absolutely deserving of that mod status dude. plus you look great.

[anabolicwannabe]

hmm but we should stop water 18 hours before, and 18 hours before 11 am saturday, is 5pm friday. but you said 3? or should we cut water 20 hours before? a little confused here.

[MIKE_XXL]

Generally speaking 18 hours is what i would recomened the first time, i adjusted that for my own use to 20 hours but for your first show i would do 18hrs....10% deficit is from the Mainenence calories, meaning if you eat 3000clories and nothing happens you don't gain nor loose any weight, you would take 10% of that meaning 300 calorise and start diet at 2700cal. If you are bulking up at 5000cal, you need to find your maintenance caloric intake first and then work from there to figure out your deficit...once you get down to 200-150gm of carbs per day you will not be holding much water at all from those carbs, the problem lays in sudden increase of carbs for carb load into 500-700gm per day, that's what can cause a problem, everybody reacts a bit different to carb up, for me it's a no no and for my wife a "no" as well...i do not like to manipulate sodium or carbs too much in the last week as i do not want to creat unnecessary stress on the body and get shock response which in turn could lead to water retantion...i hops that helps...and you are welcome...XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

so we should not go lower than 150-200gm of carbs? and this is pre determined by our weight which leads to our maintainence calories right?

[MIKE_XXL]

so we should not go lower than 150-200gm of carbs? and this is pre determined by our weight which leads to our maintainence calories right?

Come people with very poor insulin sensitivity will still need to lower thei carb intake, this is a part i can not tell you someone that would be training you and see you all the time could adjust your carbs accordingly, i am just saying what works for me and generaly for a regural BBer, it works for me, a few of my friends, my wife and a few people I have helped in the past...we learn every time we diet...good luck..XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

i'm still a little confused, if we have to drop our carb intake every week, but then we maintain at 10% deficit of our calories? doesn't that mean we have to substitute protein for carbs to keep our calories at for example, 2700?

and also on the use with diuretics, we should only use it once, an hour before dropping water right?

[MIKE_XXL]

Yes Diuretics would be once 1 hr before dropping water...if needed another doese can be given 8 hours later or in the morning before prejudging...you do not want to over used diuretics as it will hurt your phisique...so one dose should do it...

Once you are at a 10% edficit, you do not drop your calories untill you have to, if you stop loosing weight, then you need to reduce the calories, bot DO NOT drop them every week...for exemple if you do come to a point when you can't loose any weight...i would drop carb intake by 50gm, that is 200calories...i would however add 10gm of fat from Flaxseed oil which is 90 calories, so in turn you would only drop calories by 110cal. but over all carbs by 50gm...which should be enough to get you back on track...another way would be to cycle your carbs...
Day 1 - 50gm
Day 2 - 100gm
Day 3 - 150gm
Day 4 - 50gm
Day 5 - 100gm
Day 6 - 150gm
Day 7 - carb up day 350-450gm of carbs (cheat meal)
You can use 100, 150, 200gm cycling, the amount would depend on individual and their insulin sensitivity levels...all other micro-nutrients (Protein & Fats) would stay the same through the carb cycles...hope that clers it up a bit for you...XXL

[anabolicwannabe]

okay, thanks