In order to make the most of your workout, you'll need to have a smart diet to go along with it. Nutrition is a key component in the success of any attempt to reshape your body, regardless of whether you're trying to gain muscle, lose fat or just tone up.
Dr. John Berardi's Massive Eating Plan
Nutrition and strength expert Dr. John Berardi's Massive Eating Plan is effective if you're looking to gain muscle. His plan suggests eating six meals per day, three containing primarily protein and carbohydrates, and three containing primarily protein and fat. The idea is that these meals will keep your insulin levels under control to maximize muscle gain and limit fat. Berardi also suggests eating at least 500 calories more than your maintenance level of calories each day.
Calorie Cycling
Calorie cycling is a plan that can be used for muscle gain or fat loss. Bodybuilder Hugo Rivera suggests that one of the major advantages of calorie cycling is that it enables you to avoid plateaus when dieting. Rivera breaks the diet down into two-week segments. During the first two weeks, you'll eat 100 calories above your maintenance level, and during the second two weeks, you'll eat 300 calories below your maintenance level. This will set you up for fat loss with minimal muscle loss. To gain muscle on the plan, you can eat 300 calories above maintenance level during the first two weeks and 100 calories below the second two weeks.
Targeted Ketogenic Diet
Ketogenic diets are nutrition plans that eliminate carbohydrates as much as possible, which encourages your body to burn fat for energy. However, the conversion of fat to energy is not as efficient as the conversion of carbohydrates to energy, so it's not ideal for intense training. The Targeted Ketogenic Diet allows for carbohydrate intake at crucial times--before and after workouts. According to Bodybuilding.com, you should consume 0.33 gram of carbohydrates per pound of body weight each day, split between your pre- and post-workout meals. You should also consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and get the rest of your calories from fat sources. This diet can be used for fat loss or muscle gain.
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