Diet

Rather unusually for a bodybuilder I don’t eat meat or fish, and never have.

Year round I consume about 200-250g protein a day split over 7 or 8 meals. Although in the final stages of a diet it has been cut as low as 150g to bring calories down.

My main protein source is egg whites (supplied by www.eggnation.co.uk) which I alternate with a protein blend such as USN Pure Protein (available at www.musclefinesse.com) A blend

combines proteins from several sources for a varied amino profile and has the benefit of a gradual nutrient release.

Post workout I add simple carbs to a whey isolate(e.g EAS Precision protein) which is ‘faster’ than a blend and needed at this time to refuel and prevent catabolism.

Off season I use supplemented protein less and instead enjoy eating cottage cheese. However during a diet this has to go as it contains a small but nevertheless significant amount of simple sugars.

My complex carbs come from oats or sweet potatoes. Off season I mix raw oats in with my protein blend, but on a contest diet I eat them separately to ‘stretch out’ the meal into what appears to be a larger volume. I add mixed spice and sweetener to my cooked oats and water it down to make the bowl of ‘porridge soup’ as big as possible!

I have tried a few different methods of contest dieting including a gradually lowering of carbs, carb cycling (a pattern of high and low days) , low carbing with weekly ‘cheat’ refeeds….I couldn’t honestly say which works BEST - the main thing is to stay focussed and stick to the plan and it generally comes good in the end.

My base diet is always the same for contest prep – all that changes is the amount of carbs. A rough idea of how I would start a diet is as follows:
Meal 1(after cardio) : 30g oats and scoop protein blend
Meal 2: 120g sweet potato and 8 egg whites / 1 yolk
Meal 3: 30g oats and scoop protein blend
Meal 4: 120g sweet potato and 8 egg whites / 1 yolk
Meal 5 Post Work out shake : scoop whey protein isolate, 20g glucose or maltodextrin, glutamine, creatine
Meal 6: 8 egg whites / 1 yolk and green veg Meal 7: scoop protein blend
In night: eggs or protein blend

My fats come from a few egg yolks (which may be cut later) and ‘good fats’ added to my meals – I use Virgin pressed coconut oil or Flax etc. Again the amount varies, I often start off a diet with fairly high fat and adjust as needed. Often lower carbs will mean higher fat and vice versa.

I do not find it easy to diet! I have a very sweet tooth with a particular weakness for chocolate and ice cream! On a diet I tend to crave things like peanut butter, dried fruit , coconut and nuts aswell as the more naughty things like cream cakes and chocolate.

Off season I love to eat out when I can, and my favourite type of food is Mexican, Pizza, or Italian