Bodybuilding Forums

Weight: 158lbs male 28 years old
Goals: wanting to bulk and lose a little fat I have. Mark's diet seems ideal for this. Am a bit of a hard gainer and getting older so prone to a little fat. Have just cut some excess fat from 164lbs, over the period of the last 4 weeks by cutting out sugary carbs, working out, keeping protein intake high, 6 meals a day. However, the meals were still high carb/low fat, which I believe now to be the wrong approach. 6 pack is starting to appear. Appears fairly well when tensing but still obvious fat covering it (I'd say just over an inch on the belly (bottom two packs) if pinched between forefinger and thumb). I don't have body calipers, so what % bodyfat does this sound like?

I have designed a diet that I feel should work but would like your help. It's a high/med/low carb cycling diet. I'm eating 6 meals a day. 3 of those meals (on high and medium carb days) are higher carb/low fat meals. I eat them for breakfast and either side of my workout. The other 3 meals are high fat/low carb (+ fibrous veg). Protein remains the same for every meal regardless of carb day. The calories cycle with the different carb intakes.

So it looks like this:
Mon: no carb (2000 cals)
Tues: high (3000 cals) Workout
Wed: med (2500 cals) Workout
Thur: no (2000 cals)
Fri: med (2500 cals) Workout
Sat: high+ (sugary carbs to mix it up)
Sun: med (2500 cals) Workout

And the diet looks like this for each day:

Meal 1 6:00am: (high carb, low fat i.e. porridge)
Meal 2 9:00am: (low/no carb, high fat)
Meal 3 12:00am: (low/no carb, high fat +fibrous veg)
Meal 4 15:00pm: (high carb, low fat, fruit +fibrous veg)
Workout, PWO shake
Meal 5 18:00pm: (high carb, low fat, fruit +fibrous veg)
Meal 6 21:00pm: (low/no carb, high fat)

I also do shift work so those meals are somtimes shifted about. For example, I might have all 3 carb meals and workout by early afternoon with high fat meals for the last 3 meals of the day.

On the low/no carb days I don't eat any fruit. The fruit I eat on the carb days are strawberries/blackberries/raspberries. All carbs on high/med carb days are starchy (porridge, brown rice), not sugary. Carbs on high carb day are about 150g. Carbs on med carb day are about 100g. Carbs on low carb day are about 20g. Meaning an average of 90ish/day. As I say, protein remains constant regardless.

What are people's views on this approach as I've heard good things about the 1,2,3 day carb cycling and in a way Mark's approach is the same theory, but has a longer no carb period. Mark also backs a mid week carb up day.

But my main worry is that even though I make sure I eat either low fat/high carb meals, OR low carb/high fat meals, that insulin secretion is still going to be in my body when I move onto the high fat meals at other times in the day. i.e. is a 3 hour gap between meals sufficient for the insulin to not be mixed with the higher fat meals?

I'm aware I may have to up my calorie intake (which I'd do with extra fat), but want to see results at this level first. Total weekly calories approx 18000, which averages 2500/day. I was losing approx 1lb of weight per week on a 14000 cal/week (2000/day) diet, but not sure how much muscle I would have lost, but definitely lost fat.

Any other advice welcome.

Thanks,


Paul

Opinion, not fact, follows.

I don't like your plan, because consistency seems to be the key to making results happen. Consistency in the gym, consistency in the kitchen, and consistency with your lifestyle. A plan that changes things up too often -- for no good reason that I can see -- is doomed to failure because it's too complicated and you won't form a habit from it.

My suggestion: Re-gear your program around a consistent macronutrient intake five days out of the week, and go off-plan on your high-carb days 2 days a week. Make sure you're reaching at least 1g/lb (2.75g per kg) of protein per day on EVERY day, including weekends. If you're putting on too much fat, reduce your high-carb day to one day per week; if you're not gaining as you plan to, give yourself a one-hour carb spike mid-week to refill glycogen stores.

Best of luck,
Matt B.

it sounds like it could work as long as you stick most carbs on your high carb days around the workout.

and redgiki, if he sticks to this plan each week he is being consistent.

Thanks for the replies and opinions.

I guess I've just got to test it out. Carb cycling (as you probably know) is a plateau buster when applied to cutting, so the changing up of intake is certainly beneficial. I've read good things about cycling carbs on a bulk because it limits fat gain. However, carb cycling on a bulk would include high carb intake, something like 500g,300g,150g on high/med/low days respectively. We know high carb intake keeps insulin high and increases the likelyhood of fat gain, however, people report little fat gain carb cycling on a bulk??? I'm carb cycling on a high fat intake and keeping carbs to a low using Mark's methodogy, so hopefully reducing the likelyhood of fat gain further.

I've just ordered some fat calipers and I'm going to monitor results each week for a month. I'm going to gain approx 1lb a week (new to bodybuilding so hoping for some decent initial gains) and will adjust calorie intake to that level, I'm thinking it can go either of 3 ways:

1. Weight increases and fat increases noticeably
Which means it's no different to a standard bulk of a bulk/cut cycle.

2. Weight increases and fat stays the same
Which means the plans working reasonably well

3. Weight increases and fat decreases
Eureka!

Par2 wrote:3. Weight increases and fat decreases
Eureka!

This was my experience for my first 3 months on the diet; after that, I stabilized a bit and seem to have to prioritize one or the other.

--Matt B.