Help me tweak my diet + contest prep

Ok let’s hope I learned from all the help in my previous posts and this diet is close to perfect from the start.I have been following a diet close to what I am posting for the past 3 – 4 weeks. This will be my first competition ever.

My plan is to lean out as much as possible by following a small calorie deficit diet (TDEE - 10%) for the next month as I am doing Mr. Valley at the end of March. Might add some clenbutrol to make sure I look good.

After Mr. Valley I will gradually move to a calorie surplus diet (TDEE + 15%), but keep my diet clean enough to still have some form of a six pack.

Advice on how I can achieve what I mentioned above would be greatly appreciated.


My stats:

Age : 23
Weight : 77kg
Body fat : Usually varies between 10% and 12% (Has been a while since I had it measured)
Height : 1.73
BMR : 1830
TDEE : 2995 (I used the average between “mod. Active” and “very active” as a multiplier – 1.6375)

Diet Notes:

• I will cook my food in conola oil where possible
• My protein shakes will be mixed with water, not milk.
• Except for my morning coffee and afternoon tea, I will drink water/green tea throughout the day
• I have not worked out the specific calories of this diet. Before I do that I want to know what type of food(s) I need more/less off, if I am spreading my meals out correctly etc. Once my diet’s structure is correct, I will tweak it to match the specific amount of calories.


Diet:

Meal 1 – 07:30 – Protein + Carbs
60G Oats
3-4 Egg omelet with some shredded chicken and raw spinach.
Multivitamin

Meal 2 – 09:30 – Protein + Fat
Nutritech pure whey – 1 Serving
10 Almonds
1 Large Banana
1 Tablespoon peanut butter

Meal 3 - 12:00 – Protein + Carbs
200g Chicken breast
50g brown rice + Veggies

Meal 4 - 14:00 – Protein + Fat
200g Chicken breast
Salad with 2 tsp conola oil
10 Almonds

Meal 5 – 16:30 – Pre-Gym meal - Carbs
40G Oats
1 Large Banana

Gym - 17:00
Pre-Workout
Cytomaize inta-workout (only on leg day)

Post Gym Smoothie - Between 18:30 and 19:00
Nutritech pure whey – 1 Serving
Little bit of raw oats
50g dextrose
1 Medium Bananna
2 Tablespoons No Fat Plain Yoghurt
Little bit of low fat milk

Meal 6 – 20:00 and 20:30
200g Chicken breast / Fish / Mince / Steak / Something meaty
Salad with 2 tsp colola oil

Before sleep - around 23:00
Casein with water

What do u currently look like cos u have about 4 full weeks of dieting for that show,cant count the last week. What chemicals are u on currently how much cardio are u doing at what heart rate?

DJ wrote: What do u currently look like cos u have about 4 full weeks of dieting for that show,cant count the last week. What chemicals are u on currently how much cardio are u doing at what heart rate?

Hi DJ, thanks for the quick reply.

• Not on any chemicals at the moment
• My back looks good.
• Top 4 abs are visible when I flex them.
• Arms are very lean
• There's some fat in the love handle area that is unwanted, but its too late to do something about that now.
• V-line is starting to look good.

Post photos bud, that's the only way we can do critical assessment. U can do something about those love handles, cardio, yohimbine and clenbuterol. Dont be quick to rush into competing, u wanna do well and u wanna win.

DJ wrote: Post photos bud, that's the only way we can do critical assessment. U can do something about those love handles, cardio, yohimbine and clenbuterol. Dont be quick to rush into competing, u wanna do well and u wanna win.

Will post some photos as soon as I get the chance. (Tonight hopefully).

It's not that I want to rush it, I just want to get one comp under the belt so that I have an idea of how it is. Let's see what you think when i upload dem photos. Hopefully there is some hope for me

I know how u feel bro. Doing my first show in 7 weeks.

Good luck .

Are you doing a fitness or body building one?

For now I plan to stick to fitness.. not nearly big enough for all that flexing

Does my diet look like a step in the right direction?

Body building bud. I am not into being first princess at a beauty pagent

Yea looks ok but it's all dependant on what u currently look like.

DJ wrote: Body building bud. I am not into being first princess at a beauty pagent

Yea looks ok but it's all dependant on what u currently look like.

You make it sound like a Toddlers and Tiaras episode :pinch:

If u see how some of those guys act, it is...

DJ wrote: If u see how some of those guys act, it is...

:ohmy: I have never done it, so have no experience with it. Lets just hope everyone leaves their panties and handbags at home

Solid diet dude!

This is the first time i have ever taken pics like these, so if I am posing like a retard, my apologies :blush:. I have some tape on my back that needs to stay on till Friday, but I'm sure it will give an indication of how my back looks. Also added some memes where my face used to be haha :pinch:

Bud to be honest if u cut down now to be ready fir thks show u are gonna be crash dieting and u are gonna look very thin in terms id muscle size compared to other guys. If I was u I would set my sites on competing next year and spend a year trying to pack on as much muscle on your chest shoulders and arms.

DJ wrote: Bud to be honest if u cut down now to be ready fir thks show u are gonna be crash dieting and u are gonna look very thin in terms id muscle size compared to other guys. If I was u I would set my sites on competing next year and spend a year trying to pack on as much muscle on your chest shoulders and arms.

I agree 100% with DJ. +1 for the upload.

That is what I was afraid of. Losing muscle while cutting down, as I am just starting to put on decent size. If I can't lose the fat without the muscle then I am not doing it. I might still do Mr. Valley and just cut down on all my water before the show. I really want to start getting the experience asap. Even if I don't win.

I think I will start my diet TDEE + 10% - 15%, but try to eat more protein than carbs, cut down on carbs after 6pm and do enough cardio to stay at least a little lean (a little leaner that I am now).


Can you give me some advice on making my diet better? Below is a few things I think can make the posted diet better.

Add some Simba peanuts to some of the Protein + Fat meals
Adding cottage cheese to the salads
Add more brown rice / sweet potato / Whole grain pasta?
Up the amount of chicken of each meal
Maybe add some low GI, wholewheat chicken or tuna sandwiches with trim somewhere in the morning


Regarding a cycle, I want to a Turinabol + test-cyp cycle somewhere down the line as my previous one was interrupted by my wrist injury. But before that my diet needs to be perfect

We are here to help and the first thing I am gonna suggest u do is start doing chest press on an incline Smith machine. Reason for this is it is pretty safe to do on your own with out a spot. U wanna hit heavy weight between 6-8 reps. It must take u 3 seconds to lower the weight in a controlled manner down to your chest. Then pause at the bottom with out the bar resting on your chest, hold this for 1-2 seconds then explode up to the top of the motion. This controlled motion of your chest press means there is more time under tension causing bigger, stronger muscle fibers. The same day u hit chest u wanna work side delts so do side lateral raises 3 decent heavy sets of 6-8 reps. Then u wanna do up right rows also 3 sets but 8-10 reps.

For your back : heavy compound movements. Start off with dead lift or rack pulls for your back. Same slow tempo as I stated for chest. 4 sets of 6. Then bent over barbell rows 3 sets of 8. Back must be parallel to the ground. So flat as possible. Then do 40 wide grip pull ups. As many sets as it takes u to get 40 reps. Then low rows with a under hand grip, pull tillbthe bar touches your belly button. Make sure u are leaning forward the whole time. This will stop u going to heavy and swinging to get the weight to belly button.

Bud doing a little show isnt gonna give u major experience and to be honest u not gonna win it. There are guys your height that are 82-85kgs ripped to shreds already. Rather put in solid training for a yeae. Stay consistent with diet and training. Keep a log book of youe training so that every week u smash your previous weeks weights and reps to ensure progress. Then look at doing a show. I have been training now 10 years and have only decided now to do my first show.

DJ wrote: We are here to help and the first thing I am gonna suggest u do is start doing chest press on an incline Smith machine. Reason for this is it is pretty safe to do on your own with out a spot. U wanna hit heavy weight between 6-8 reps. It must take u 3 seconds to lower the weight in a controlled manner down to your chest. Then pause at the bottom with out the bar resting on your chest, hold this for 1-2 seconds then explode up to the top of the motion. This controlled motion of your chest press means there is more time under tension causing bigger, stronger muscle fibers.

I basically do this exactly like you described, but i rest the bar on my chest, and I think I can slow the movement a little bit.

Thanks for the advice. I also recently started doing a lot of drop sets. For flat I like to do dumbbell press. My max is 40kg dumbells doing about 4 reps. I usually start at 30 and go heavier.

DJ wrote: The same day u hit chest u wanna work side delts so do side lateral raises 3 decent heavy sets of 6-8 reps. Then u wanna do up right rows also 3 sets but 8-10 reps.

Will do that. Only problem is upright rows. It is one of the few movements my wrist can't so. What exercise can i replace this with?

DJ wrote: For your back : heavy compound movements. Start off with dead lift or rack pulls for your back. Same slow tempo as I stated for chest. 4 sets of 6.

I love dead lifts. What is rack pulls?

DJ wrote: Then bent over barbell rows 3 sets of 8. Back must be parallel to the ground. So flat as possible. Then do 40 wide grip pull ups. As many sets as it takes u to get 40 reps.

Sounds good.

DJ wrote: Then low rows with a under hand grip, pull tillbthe bar touches your belly button. Make sure u are leaning forward the whole time. This will stop u going to heavy and swinging to get the weight to belly button.

Do this a lot But will try the leaning thing.



Thank you very much for the help.

Use an ez bar for upright rows. My chick has same issues with wrists. Rack pulls are partial dead lifts.

U need to lift heavy. All sets to failure. No pyramid up.

DJ wrote: Bud doing a little show isnt gonna give u major experience and to be honest u not gonna win it. There are guys your height that are 82-85kgs ripped to shreds already. Rather put in solid training for a yeae. Stay consistent with diet and training. Keep a log book of youe training so that every week u smash your previous weeks weights and reps to ensure progress. Then look at doing a show. I have been training now 10 years and have only decided now to do my first show.

I have been training for about 2 years if you put the on and off time together (3 total). So still a laitie. Started of as one of those skinny okes with a beer belly. My upper arms was smaller than my forearms are now, had no chest at all.

DJ wrote: Use an ez bar for upright rows. My chick has same issues with wrists.

Thank you will try that. Hope it helps.

DJ wrote: U need to lift heavy. All sets to failure. No pyramid up.

I only recently started with a gym partner I can trust. So always used the pyramid to test my strength each day because i didn't have someone proper to spot me.

So will start my training like that next week, when the tape on my back is off

DJ wrote: Rack pulls are partial dead lifts.

Saw someone doing this the other day. Will give it a try.



My biggest problem atm with back exercises and going heavy is that I cant use wrist straps.

A Lot of guys don't use straps. I row 65kg dumbells off the floor with no straps. So it is possible... your fore arms and grip strength will get stronger in time so just stick with it.

DJ wrote: A Lot of guys don't use straps. I row 65kg dumbells off the floor with no straps. So it is possible... your fore arms and grip strength will get stronger in time so just stick with it.

Thanks. Any advice on the diet?

Why cant you use straps?

PS - I say go do the show. Even if you don't place anywhere, you'll know how to be better prepared for the next one