I periodize my eating programs along with my training, and as so many people ask me to explain, here’s my current program. This is my June through Sept eating program. It’s a 7 day system, cycled twice with a simple mod on the 2nd cycle. This is not necessarily how I eat all the time, just what I’m doing now. For the record, I’ve been severely under eating for way too long and it’s my intention and goal to slowly increase my calories back up to where they should be for my size, but that’s another story.
Seven Day Food Cycle
— Cycle One —
Monday through Wednesday: 3500 calories roughly (low maintenance level)
5 meals per day
Pre-workout shake (2 scoops Isagenix Meal Replacement, 1 scoop Isagenix Whey
Post-workout shake (2 scoops Isagenix Whey)
Biggest meal at breakfast
Front load starchy carbs, from brown rice and oatmeal
No starchy carbs after 5 pm, just protein and veggies
Last meal of the day is a 2 scoop Isagenix Whey protein shake with a Tbsp of Flax seed oil
1 to 2 Tbsp of Flax seed oil with each meal
1 Tbsp of coconut oil with each meal
Thursday: Roughly 2800 calories – focus is on eliminating a meal or two at end of day to increase fasting time before breakfast on Friday
Same pre workout and post workout shake
Only breakfast meal includes starchy carb (oatmeal)
All meals and calories before 17:59
Fast from 17:59 through breakfast on Friday
Friday: Roughly 1800 to 2200 calories – focus in on cutting starches and fats to reduce calories and to fast from 18:00 forward
same pre workout and post workout shake, but post workout shakes is 1 scoop of whey instead of 2
NO starchy carbs at all.
Protein, veggies, flax seed oil and coconut oil only
All meals and calories before 17:59
Fast from 17:59 through breakfast on Friday
Saturday: Re-Feed day, roughly 5000+ calories – focus is to replenish glycogen stores, increase metabolism and Leptin. Show the body that there IS an abundance of food and everything is OK.
Re-Feed day includes one BIG meal of fruit alone. Apples, cherries, raspberries, blueberries etc. All on an empty stomach and given an hour to process before eating anything else. This is based on the proper consumption of fruit principle (see point #2 here on the principles of Food Combining).
Double servings of starchy carbs: ie: 1 cup of raw oatmeal cooked into a pot, 2 cups of rice at each meal WITH Ezekiel wraps (chicken).
3 Meal Replacement Shakes with 2 scoops The Best Meal Replacement + 2 scoops The Best Whey Protein for 600ish calories each with walnuts or almonds in them for extra fat.
2 Tbsp Flax seed oil with each meal
2 Tbsp coconut oil with each meal
(digestive enzymes before each meal)
Sunday: 3 meals, 6 hours apart.
Only purpose is to increase time between meals.
Ideally, no starch at last meal
— Cycle Two —
Mon-Wed: identical to cycle 1
Thur-sun: 4 days, no starch, all meals, shakes etc consumed by 17:59
Fast from 18:00 through breakfast meal the next day
Monday following cycle 2: Refeed day. 5000+ calories, with Tue and Wed being maintenance levels
Each day includes 5 grams of creatine in am, first thing, along with 5 grams after each workout for 3 servings of creatine per day. Each day has 5 grams of Glutamine following each workout and right before bed. BCAA’s are included in the Meal Replacement and the Whey protein.
Alcohol: I really really enjoy red wine,. However, during this phase, and from what I can tell, I’ll be considering this for a longer period of time, what I’m doing is allowing myself one weekend a month for alcoholic beverages. A night out for beers with the guys and then a night of great wine. This is working for me in a really good way so I’ll keep it up. I plan the night I’ll be enjoying the beverages 30 days out. I know where it will be and with whom. It’s not by accident or random. When alcohol is in the body, fat loss stops. Alcohol is also estrogenic which is not what any guy really wants, so I keep a safe distance when I’m shooting for a specific goal.
Nothing is ever permanent for me when it comes to eating styles. I cycle them, just as I cycle my training, based on goals, holidays or what have you. During a down-cycle in my training, I cut back on calories. I must reiterate, this style of eating is what I’m doing now.. it’s not what I do all the time.
Training System
While I wont get into details of it, the overview is this: 2 workouts each day. Mon, Wed and Friday Am and PM are EDT workouts of 2 PR zones each workout. Tuesday and Thursday AM workouts are body weight circuits and kettle bell drills. Tuesday and Thur evening workouts are 20 minutes of stairs. Both AM and PM workouts on Tue and Thur are timed events with the goal of reducing the total workout time each session. ie: improve with each session by going faster and faster while increasing strength on each lift.
I highly recommend the Escalating Density Training (aff) program, its methodologies and way of thinking.
There are a few times in my life that I consider “… next to God experiences” and when I found out about oats and began eating them, this was one of those times. I had been vegetarian for a few months at least, maybe a year, eating nothing but raw veggies, salads, fruit and fruit juices. I took a course on “whole foods” and learned about Steel Cut Oats. I began eating them and everything just “straightened out” in my life. Blood sugar was more balanced, I became even more regular and I began to put on some muscle. I began with… Continue reading