Carb Depletion

[musclemass22]

I have a show on Oct. 1st. I plan on carb depleting Mon./Tues and then slowly start loading. My ? is "How low should I go and should I replace the reduction in calories with good fats or all protein?" I am 5'7, 170, and eating about 2350 calories per day. Any one got a good meal plan I could use for those 2 days? Also, do I count the fibrous stuff in my totals? Last time I did this, I just stuck to broccoli, Green beans, lettuce, and cucumbers. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated

[patfactorx]

I depleted carbs for 2 weeks for my last show and loaded on the night before pre-judging. I really cut my bodyfat and it looked pretty good. I unno if you want to do the same though.

I changed my diet to higher fat and protein during that time.

[hydrajack]

There are a million ways to do it but bottom line is you should have this already worked out and know what you are going to do the last week of the show.

I attached 2 diets to this...they are carb depletion and carb loading. you can use those for the week. It's what I use that I got years ago. and there is no risk of spilling over. first one is carb load second is depletion. Ignore the caloric intake #'s as they don't add up...but you get the idea on the diet.

They are in Adobe so if you don't have Adobe Illistrator 7.0 download it from their website and then open the attachments up.

[musclemass22]

Hydra--I'm not walking into this blindly, just lookiing for a few suggestions. If I should keep the calories at 2350, substituting protein or fat, or both. I liked that depletion diet you posted though. I need to incorporate some red meat I think to help me feel more satiated throughout the day. It is my 3rd show, so I have a little bit of experience but still trying to learn how my body reacts to certain things. Thx for your help

[XTRMEWJ]

Here is my gripe with depleting carbs...

If you deplete the carb stores, you need to replete them before a show. Now the problem with that is the fact that in order to replete say 300 grams of stored muscle glycogen, you are going to need to take in enough carbs to not only meet energy needs, but also store those 300 grams. Carbs in that amount, regardless of the source, will spike you insulin and make you store subQ water. In contrast to depleting and then repleting, I think its a good idea to just keep the CHO intake the same the last few weeks before a show and keep that same amount of CHOs all the way through friday night before a show. In the morning, after you stop drinking tons fof water, if you need to, you can get a quick 75 or 100 grams of carbs to help fill out. If you do this, there should be minimal subQ water, as the only water available for that glycogen would be subQ water...doing this, according to the preceding logic, could actually dry you out a bit more.

Thats what I did and I was in the best shape of my life on stage this last weekend. Whatever you do, good luck to you!!

That just my take on it.

Sean