Mike’s Diet

I came up with this diet a few years ago. I’m a little bigger now but I find that the formulas still work well for leaning up and will even work as pre-contest prep up to about 2 weeks out. It mostly deals with protein and carbohydrates. Although I think essential fats are very important, they can be added in the form of MCT fuel, flaxseed oil, etc with no change in protein/carb ratio.

When I started my diet I weighed 235lbs, and I my goal was to be lean at 200lbs. With this in mind, I chose 200lbs as my benchmark. During the first stage of my diet, I set my protein intake at 200 grams (1 x 200lbs) and my carbohydrate intake at 350 grams (1.75 x 200lbs). Trying to stabilize my metabolism, I stayed there for 4 weeks. Below is an example of an average day intake.

Carbs/Protein

1 cup oatmeal (measured dry) 52/10
2 slices of Pumpernickel bread 30/06
1 protein shake 16/50
1 banana 29/01
4 rice cakes 48/04
5 oz. Albacore tuna (drained) 00/37.5
4 oz. whole wheat pasta 68/20
6 oz. sweet potato 41/03
9 oz. chicken breast 00/58.5
2 cups brown rice (measured cooked) 70/10

Total 354/200

I try to break it up into about seven meals and take in some protein and carbs with each one. The foods listed in bold are taken within 30 minutes after working out.

During the second stage of my diet, I manipulate my intake in several different ways to boost my metabolism. First, I cut my carb intake in half (.875 x 200lbs) to 175 grams and I jack my protein intake up by 50% (1.5 x 200lbs) to 300 grams. As you take in less carbs, your body will want to feed off your muscle and the extra protein tricks the body into feeding off of it instead. Make sure that you take in lots of water during the high protein stage because extremely high protein diets can be hard on your kidneys. I drink 2 gallons of water a day during this stage. My body gets used to low carbs after 5 days, so I double my cardio. If you are doing no cardio, then do 30 minutes a day for 5 days. I stay at this intake level for only 10 days. Below is an example of an average day intake.

Carbs/Protein

1 cup oatmeal (measured dry) 52/10
1 slice pumpernickel bread 15/03
10 oz. Albacore tuna (drained) 00/75
1 protein drink 16/50
1banana 29/01
2 rice cakes 24/02
2 oz. whole wheat pasta 34/10
1 cup broccoli 05/02
22 oz. chicken breast 00/143
1 scoop all natural peanut butter 04/04

Total 179/300

I try to break up my morning meals with some carbs with my protein leaving all protein for the afternoon. The foods listed in bold are taken within 30 minutes after working out. Also, I leave the 1 scoop of peanut butter until the very end of the day.

There are very many different versions of my stage 3. I have taken my carbs up to 800 grams and as low as 88 grams. What I have found that works best for me is to go back to stage 1 intake for 3 days. This lets your muscles fill back up with glycogen but is not so much that it causes water retention or worse is stored as fat. Repeat stage 2. Do this as many times as you need to reach your desired goal.