Moderate Carbohydrate Diet - A Sample Menu Meals
Last Updated on Saturday, 03 July 2010 15:59 Written by Yasar Shahzad Saturday, 03 July 2010 15:53
Moderate Carbohydrate Diet - A Sample Menu Meals
This reduced carbohydrate menu format is more restrictive than the basic diet and is designed for accelerated fat loss. It is intended for competitive bodybuilders, fitness competitors or non-athletes who want to get extremely lean or break a sticking point. It is effective for those with an endomorph body type or people who are carbohydrate-sensitive. It works by reducing total carbohydrate intake, thereby depleting glycogen stores and forcing your body to draw on stored body fat for fuel. It also works by managing blood sugar and insulin better than a high carbohydrate diet. Never remove all of the carbohydrates from your diet. Extremely low carbohydrate or zero carbohydrate diets are not necessary to get lean. Instead, you should decrease your carbohydrate intake slightly, eat fewer carbohydrates in the evening and change the type of carbohydrates you consume. Switch from processed and simple carbohydrates to natural complex carbohydrates, especially fibrous vegetables. Fibrous carbohydrates include most vegetables (green beans, asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery, cauliflower, string beans, squash, zucchini, etc.)
Meal 1:
Lean Protein, Starchy carb (large serving)
Meal 2:
Lean Protein, Starchy carb (large serving)
Meal 3:
Lean Protein, Starchy carb (small serving or none), Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad)
Meal 4:
Lean Protein, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad), essential fat
Meal 5
Lean Protein, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad), essential fat
Meal 6
Lean Protein, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad)
Notes on the reduced carbohydrate diet menu template
1. Simple carbohydrates such as fruit (fructose) should be minimized on this plan and replaced with more fibrous carbohydrates. Fibrous carbohydrates have a higher thermic effect, they are slower to absorb into the bloodstream and are less calorie dense.
2. Non-fat and low-fat dairy products, while they are good protein sources, also contain simple carbohydrates (lactose) and have no fiber. On this plan, dairy should be reduced to a minimum and replaced with fiber-containing complex carbohydrates (starchy carbohydrates & fibrous carbohydrates)
3. Timing is everything: Using the calorie-tapering method, make your early day meals, especially meals one and two, larger than your evening meals. Start eating early in the day and finish eating early in the evening. Try to eat your last meal two or three hours before you go to bed.
4. No starchy carbohydrates should be eaten late in the day. Eat only protein and fibrous vegetables/salads after 3:00 PM. This usually means that you eat starchy carbohydrates only with meals one, two and three and no starchy carbohydrates (fibrous carbohydrates only) with meals four, five and six.
5. To make this menu plan even more effective (stricter), remove the starchy carbohydrate in meal three and reduce the serving sizes of the starchy carbohydrates in meals one and two. This would turn the moderate carbohydrate menu into a low carbohydrate menu. For the purposes of this program, “low carbohydrates” would be defined as 25%- 30% of the total calories from carbohydrates.
6. Keep your fat intake low but never attempt to remove all the fat from your diet. Always include at least one or two tablespoons per day of essential fats such as Udo’s choice oil blend, flaxseed oil, unprocessed oils (extra virgin olive or canola), fatty fish like salmon, small amounts of nuts or seeds, or natural peanut butter. The further the carbohydrates are reduced, the higher the fats may go, up to a maximum of 20-30% of the calories from fat.
7. Macronutient ratios should be approximately 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% fat for the moderate carbohydrate menu. Depending on how sensitive you are to carbohydrates, you may need to make further reductions in carbohydrates depending on your results. If you’re doing enough cardio, if your caloric intake is correct, and you still don't lose body fat, then you can reduce your starchy carbohydrate intake further. Never completely remove all the carbohydrates from your diet. 25% carbohydrates is about the lowest you can go without losing all your training energy; that’s about 150 – 200 grams for men and 90 - 100 grams for women.
One of the secrets of maintaining a high metabolic rate is to never keep your calories and/or carbohydrates low for a long period of time. To prevent metabolic slowdown when you reduce your carbohydrates, cycle your calories and carbohydrate intake up and down on a rotating 3 days low to 1 day high cycle. Eating more every fourth day keeps the metabolic rate from slowing down and it replenishes depleted glycogen stores to keep your energy levels high so you can continue to train hard. If you lose weight too quickly or you’re losing lean body mass, use the “zig-zag” carbohydrate cycling method of three low carbohydrate days followed by two or three high carbohydrate days (or simply increase your calories altogether). Do not stay on low carbohydrates for more than three days in a row, and do not stay on high carbohydrates for more than three days in a row.
Since you’re temporarily reducing certain entire food groups (fruit & dairy), make sure you always take a multi-vitamin. Fruit and low-fat or non-fat dairy products are healthy foods and should be used more freely in maintenance or muscle gaining diets.
This is not a maintenance diet. Use it for short periods when maximal fat loss is desired. After you reach your goal, you’ll go back to a more balanced baseline diet.
The high protein intake of this diet tends to be a diuretic, so it’s extremely important to drink plenty of water; as much as a gallon a day or more.
Always check with your doctor before making any major changes to your nutritional program or going on any high protein diet. Bodybuilders have used this type of diet successfully for years, but it’s not suitable for everyone.
