Shaping up - diet and training

The shaping-up phase is of key importance for someone in training. This phase allows her/him to display her/his muscle mass which s/he has industriously built up in training, through the bulking phase and cutting phase during the entire year! Not to run the risk of losing your muscle mass through an excessively tough or imbalanced shaping up diet, our trainer David Costa draws your attention to 5 errors you should avoid and also offers 5 tricks you can use to shed fat faster!

5 errors: Get rid of any of your false beliefs!

  To shed kilos successfully you need to start up your body so that it runs at maximum performance to burn the most calories and, very importantly, to not seek to lose weight too fast! To accomplish this you must not do 5 things, namely:

- Stop eating: your metabolism will slow down to protect your body against a shortage of food;

- Reduce the number of your meals to 1 or 2 a day: you will be starved when eating and easily deposit the consumed food in the form of fat (this is a common response by the human body to the anticipated absence of food);

- Omit all fats, all saccharides and eat only protein: you induce severe shortages to your body and may suffer from hazardous deficiencies, inefficient metabolism, severe fatigue and an actual loss of strength!

- Engage in long cardio workouts or doing cardio in a waterproof jacket or having your body wrapped up in a foil: all these are the ideal prerequisites for exhaustion, loss of muscle mass, dehydration and a waste of time!

- Consuming fat burners or drainers: they are not effective when your nutrition is inadequate and on top of that, your heart will be very chaotic.

5 tricks to shape up: simple and effective!

To slim up you need to consume fewer calories than you burn, as simple as that.

On top of that, there are simple and effective tricks you should apply:

-       Take a minimum of 4 trainings in a week (weekly) of bodybuilding  with heavy weights and do 8 to 15 repetitions of each exercise with pauses of maximum 1 minute 30 seconds;

-        Have trainings no longer than 1 hour;

-        Eat a full breakfast: protein (eggs, whey protein, fromage blanc (white cheese), meat, or fish), fats (oils, seeds, oil-containing crops), saccharides (whole-grain bread, cereals, fruit);

-        Do not eat saccharides after 4 pm;

-        Distribute your meals throughout the day (4 to 6 meals).

Be patient! Take measurement of your waist and of your weight at the beginning of the diet, then once every week, always on the same day in the morning before eating anything.

My fitness model diet

Schedule for the shaping-up phases for 6 weeks including the stabilization phase for an 80kg man:

Phase 1: Weeks 1 and 2: 2320 kcal

7-7.30

Oat flakes or muesli: 50g

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Whey protein powder or eggs: 30g or 6 egg whites and 2 egg yolks

10-10.30

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Apple: 150g or banana: 100g

12.30-13.00

Lean beef: 150g

Wholegrain carbohydrates, bulgur or quinoa: 50g (raw weight)

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 100g

Salt: A pinch

15-15.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey (8 egg whites or 40g protein or 150g chicken/turkey

17.30-18.00

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Apple: 150g or banana: 100g

After doing sport:

BCAA - Glutamine: 5g + 5g

Compote: 100g

20.30-21.00

Egg whites (8) or lean beef (150g)

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 100g

Salt: A pinch

Phase 2: Weeks 3 and 4: 2110 kcal

7-7.30

Oat flakes or muesli: 50g

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Whey protein powder or eggs: 40g or 7 egg whites and 2 egg yolks

10-10.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey: 8 egg whites or 40g protein or 150g chicken/turkey

12.30-13.00

Lean beef: 150g

Wholegrain carbohydrates, bulgur or quinoa: 50g (raw weight)

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 100g

Salt: A pinch

15-15.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey: 8 egg whites or 40g or 150g

17.30-18.00

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

After doing sport:

BCAA - Glutamine: 5g + 5g

Compote: 100g

20.30-21.00

Lean beef: 200g

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 300g

Salt: A pinch

Phase 3: Weeks 5 and 6: 1920 kcal

7-7.30

Oat flakes or muesli: 50g

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Whey protein powder or eggs: 40g or 7 egg whites and 2 egg yolks

10-10.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey: 8 egg whites or 40g protein or 150g chicken/turkey

12.30-13.00

Lean beef: 150g

Wholegrain carbohydrates, bulgur or quinoa: 40g (raw weight)

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 100g

Salt: A pinch

15.00-15.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey: 8 egg whites or 40g or 150g

17.30-18.00

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

After doing sport:

BCAA – Glutamine: 5g + 5g

20.30-21.00

Lean beef: 200g

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 300g

Salt: A pinch

If 6 weeks of diet are not enough, Phase 3 can go on until your muscles get better shaped up.

Phase 4: Stabilisation: 2250 kcal

Phase 4 is introduced once your muscles are shaped up as desired and you have accomplished your goal. You can stay in this condition for a period of 4 to 8 weeks depending on how tired your body gets. If you are tired then you are unable to recuperate well and get started again, and then you need to consider a higher intake of saccharides.

7.00-7.30

Fruit: 1 piece (150g), if it is a banana: 100g

Oat flakes or muesli: 50g

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

Whey protein powder or eggs: 30g or 6 egg whites and 2 egg yolks

10-10.30

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

12.30-13.00

Lean beef: 150g

Wholegrain carbohydrates, bulgur or quinoa: 50g (raw weight)

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 100g

Salt: A pinch

15.30-16.00

Wholegrain or multigrain bread: 40g (1 big slice)

Egg white or whey protein or chicken/turkey: 6 egg whites or 30g protein or 120g chicken/turkey

17.30-18.30

Almonds or hazel or cashew nuts or peanuts: 20g

After doing sport:

BCAA - Glutamine: 5g + 5g

Compote: 100g

20:00-21.00

Lean beef: 150g

Rapeseed oil: 1 big spoon

Green vegetables: 200g

Salt: A pinch

This method allows you to push the share of fat down to 8% or even 6%, depending on your metabolism and your baseline. You will need strong will and determination to get through the tough period of a voracious wolf-like appetite. Getting supervision from a professional in physical training is also important in order to avoid errors that might do you harm.

This eating schedule can be used as a good foundation for your eating regimen throughout the entire year. Then, to get the best results, the important thing will be to alternate your intake of saccharides, fats and proteins always in dependence on what phase you are in.