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My Bodybuilding Diet
Philosophy
By:
Delbert Hickman
Many times I
have asked various people advice on bodybuilding. Many times I have been
given advice on bodybuilding when not asked for. The fact that most of
the advice was so different made it hard to determine what was "sound"
and what was "fluff". Like most other fit-conscious people, I many times
purchased bodybuilding, health and fitness magazines looking for the
secret diet or training program that would change my life forever. What
I found was that I became even more confused and frustrated. Nothing was
coming together. In this article, In this article I will discuss the
ups, the downs, and the all-arounds that I have battled with day in and
day out in regards to a proper Bodybuilding diet program.
I'll first begin by asking you to raise your
hand if you have, like myself, spent hours and days looking through
count-less magazine articles for that magical diet that will shed body
fat and make you lean and ripped? Okay, you can put them down now. I
have made the mistake of thinking that there was a diet plan made for me
out there and all I had to do was find it. Okay, next question and again
raise your hand if it applies to you. How many times has someone(s)
given you advice on how to diet and, if from multiple people, each set
of advice differed drastically making you even more confused? High carbs,
high protein, high fat.. etc, etc.... What to do!!! What to do!!! It's
enough to drive you crazy isn't it?
Before I go into what I found that works for
me, I want to first of all talk about diet and what it really means.
Diet is analogous to being married in a lot of ways. You first must make
the commitment to diet. This is a hard decision to make especially if
you plan to make it last. Once you commit to dieting, you WILL work each
and everyday at it. Each day will present different challenges and will
test your commitment. You will be tempted to do things that will
compromise your commitment (i.e. indulging in foods that will only deter
you from reaching your desired goal). If you plan to make it, you must
treat each day like it's brand new. This helps keep the flame burning
that fuels your desire to reach your goal. Sound familiar? To me, and
I'm sure several others out there share my opinion, diet is the
difference between success and failure 80-90% of the time in
bodybuilding. Take a look around you next time you're in the gym. How
many people are pushing huge amounts of weight or running like mad on
the treadmills and their bodies seem to always stay the same? The reason
a lot of them have not seen a change is because they have not realized
how important a proper diet is. If you take a look at my photos on the
previous page and start from the March picture on down to the October
picture (not trying to be vain but its a point of reference), there is a
significant and noticeable difference in my body fat. The reason for the
change was that I slowly learned how to diet. It was a long and winding
road that I'm still traveling. The more I learn, however, the more I am
motivated. Make no mistake, diet is the hardest thing to master in
bodybuilding. It will test you in everyway imaginable and will be the
one thing that makes most new bodybuilders ask the question,
"Is it really worth it"?
Diet Details:
I will detail what I have done for dieting
and I must caveat it by saying that this is what I have found that has
worked for me. It is not meant to be a magically discovery that will
work for you.
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8 weeks out from a contest:
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5:45am - 8oz. very lean beef (eye of round) 3 egg
whites, 1 grapefruit
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9:00am -
Low Carb Protein shake (6 gram carbs, 32 grams
protein) with 4 strawberries and 2 TBS Heavy
Whipping Cream, 1 TBS
Flax Oil, 1 can tuna
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12:00 Noon - 8 oz. Chicken Breast 4 Cups Salad (Red
Wine Vinegar for dressing) 1 Tomato
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3:00pm - 8 oz. Chicken Breast, 2 Cups Salad, 3 egg
whites, 1 TBS
Flax Oil
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4:00pm - HIT THE GYM!!!!
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7:00pm - 10 oz. Chicken Breast, 2 Cups Leafy
Vegetables
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9:30pm - Low-carb protein shake (6 gram carbs, 32
grams protein) with 4 strawberries
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10:30pm - Sleep
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For carb-loading,
I replace my sixth meal on Monday and Thursday with a meal consisting
of: 10 oz. sweet potato, 1.5 cups cooked brown rice, 6 oz. banana. As I
draw closer to a competition, I have found a great way to cut calories
is to replace the Chicken or Beef with Whiting Fish Fillet (about 70
calories per 4 oz.serving which is half of the same portion of chicken
breasts), cut the heavy whipping cream, and drop the sixth meal and
replace the 5th meal with the Monday and Thursday carb-load. Additional
supplements I used were as follows: Amino Acids (BCAA's),
L-glutamine,
ZMA, Dissected
Liver tablets, and
Vitamin C. I really had and am having great success with this plan.
I was given assistance by Sandy and Roger Reidinger with Beverly
International. They have been great. |
