Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are not bad for you in moderation, but when trying to lose body fat, you're body needs to be in a state of lipolysis (the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells) which happens when glycogen levels become depleted. High Glyic carbs should be kept to a minimum on low carb/calorie days and consumed in moderation during the cheat day. The brain and nervous system needs roughly 50 grams of carbs coming from glucose to maintain daily functions. Carbs should never be eaten without adequate amounts of protein . Doing so really spikes insulin levels and cause an increase in bodyfat! It’s very important to combine a fibrous carb (green vegetable) or (fruit) with each meal to provide energy needed to train and carry out daily functions, but not load your glycogen stores to the point where you don't hit lipolysis until much later on. Focus on diet just as much as or more so than training when trying to get shredded! Do not make the mistake of reducing calories too much when trying to shed bodyfat. If you normally take in 2500 cals per day you should only reduce calories to 2000-2200 per week until you start losing weight at about 1-2 lbs per week. If you lose more during the first week, don’t worry because it will be a lot of water. Going lower can eat away muscle tissue. Just as you have to periodize your training, the nutrition plan must also be periodized. Staying on a low calorie/low carb diet for too long will not just lead to fat loss, but a lot of muscle loss as well. A mistake most people make when trying to lose body fat is sticking with the same exact calorie-carb reduced meal plan seven days a week. This will not work well because the body has a finely tuned system that protects itself from starvation mode. When the body feels threatened it begins to store bodyfat after only a few short weeks as opposed to releasing it. By including two- weekly calorie/carb up days, you can trick the human body by giving it a calorie surplus–hence negating the slowing down of the metabolism that comes from calorie depletion. Protein should not need to be reduced during the first carb up day but it can be reduced some during the cheat day because the body can readily use fats and carbs for fuel when in a calorie surplus. All carbs, whether they are of fruit, rice, bread, potatoes, ice cream, milk or pure sugar, eventually turn to glucose and they will all elevate insulin levels. It’s the slower burning carbs with a lower glyic index like fruit and steel oats that you want to consume because they provide more energy for training and can help keep bodyfat levels a bit lower because the initial insulin spike is less. Let me be clear, all carb sources will count towards your daily carb intake regardless of their Glyic Index. This includes all fruits! Mixing foods found on the lower end of the glyic index scale with foods found on the higher end of the glyic scale will reduce the glyic index of the high glyic index carbs when eaten in the same meal. In addition, eating low glyic carbs has a carry-over-effect to the next meal. For instance, eating steel cut oats would lower the glyic level of a white potato if a potato was eaten in the meal following the oats. Relying on fibrous carbs helps improve ones conditioning. Everyone should think of high-fiber foods as a diet aid. Strive to consume 30 grams or more of fiber per day. Slowing down carb absorption also helps keep your energy up longer during the day when dieting. If you take in 30 grams of carbs that are absorbed quickly, you're going to process them quickly, and then you're going to feel tired, hungry and depleted. When you take in the same amount of carbs with a high amount of fiber, they'll stay in your system longer, and you'll have a lot more energy. The fiber also slows down the digestion of protein . The longer that it takes your body to process the protein , the more efficiently it will use each gram! During a cutting phase you’ll do better sticking to foods such as green vegetables/salads with extra virgin olive oil and lean protein sources later in the day and fruit, cereal and/or oatmeal along with lean protein sources during the morning. Carbohydrates and protein , break down slowly throughout the day as well as burns bodyfat. Remember the Krebs cycle ! Your last 3 meals should be composed of proteins and fibrous carbohydrates, such as green vegetables. Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day! Keep food volume up (especially lean protein sources). Consume 5-6 meals per day) to keep hunger pangs at bay, speed up the metabolism and to prevent muscle loss or weakness. Trade carbohydrate calories for protein calories gram for gram on the five lower carb days and you will lose weight! Replace an equal amount of carbohydrate calories with extra virgin olive oil for dinner and you will lose weight. Stay around 150 grams of carbs on low carb days as a baseline (you may need more if you start losing muscle or begain to experience low blood sugar. All carbs whether they are fruit or whatever turn to sugar and spike insulin (a fat storage hormone ). So it’s very important to read the label or do some research on the internet to find out how many carbs are in each food you consume. You’ll also need to read the labels on each food consumed so you can see how many macronutrients of protein , carbs and fat you are ingesting. Focus on slow burning carbs as opposed to fast burning carbs. Adding in some slow burning carbs with fast burning carbs helps lower the glyic index of the fast burning carbs. Keep this in mind if you decide to take in some High gly***ic index carbs, mix them with a low gi carb source. If you are involved in a lot of outside activities (for i.e.; long distance cycling) you can bump carbs up to 200 or more on low carb days.