Any changes needed???

[chunkystyle81]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It is much appreciated. What is Ezekiel bread?

Blaz, in cutting out the carbs from all meals but Meal 1 and the pre-workout meal, would this have an adverse effect when I try to get out of the cutting phase? And I have also been warned about caffeine withdrawl headaches...would having an occasional cup of coffee be a bad idea? Or helpful?

[Blaz Kavlic]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It is much appreciated. What is Ezekiel bread?

Blaz, in cutting out the carbs from all meals but Meal 1 and the pre-workout meal, would this have an adverse effect when I try to get out of the cutting phase? And I have also been warned about caffeine withdrawl headaches...would having an occasional cup of coffee be a bad idea? Or helpful?

The transition phase from cutting to bulking shouldnt be too adversely affected providing you plan your meals carefully. When you're satisfied with your weight loss and are ready to bulk, you'll need to up your daily calorie intake to above maintenance cals (somewhere around 500 cals above maintenance is a good start). When you begin incorporating more cals into your diet, keep them clean. Brown rice and more fibrous veggies are good options.

What I do is I have a formulated Excel spreadsheet with my daily diet macros which allows me to see the nutritional breakdown and how many cals are in each meal. My maintenance cals are around 3000, so when i'm cutting, I adjust the meals on the spreadsheet until I arrive at 2000-2500 cals per day or thereabouts. When I switch to a bulking phase, I add meals that will bring my calorie intake to 3500. This usually means inserting 2 extra meals consisting of chicken breast/brown rice and lean steak/sweet potato or something as such. Providing your extra cals are clean and your training and cardio are dialled, you shouldnt experience any negative impacts when you switch programs.

I hear what you're saying about coffee. I work in an office and have about 30 cafes within a 5 minute walk, but if you're serious about cutting, it might be an idea to find an alternative for awhile. I used to have a jumbo capuccino with 3x sugars everyday, but this was counter-productive for my goals. Now I sometimes have black coffee but recently i've been getting into green tea as a substitute. If you end up getting withdrawl headaches, have the coffee, but try and refrain from adding sugar. Its true what they say, when you're bodybuilding, eating becomes boring and repetitive. But it really comes down to how badly you want what you're working towards. Sacrificing alcohol, sugary and fast foods is small price to pay IMHO when you begin to see your hard work pay off.

[SlimmerMe]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It is much appreciated. What is Ezekiel bread?

Blaz, in cutting out the carbs from all meals but Meal 1 and the pre-workout meal, would this have an adverse effect when I try to get out of the cutting phase? And I have also been warned about caffeine withdrawl headaches...would having an occasional cup of coffee be a bad idea? Or helpful?

Live grain sprout bread with lots of nutrients (and about the only bread suggested/recommended around here)