The Deadline Diet
by Jeff McCarrell

Last year at the Mr. Olympia and NPC National Bodybuilding Championships, we witnessed an unusual occurrence at the shows. It seemed that dozens of top level professional and amateur bodybuilders, both natural and enhanced, kept coming up for a visit. As it turns out, most of them were coming to talk to Jeff McCarrell. Jeff has a rep as contest prep guru and has coached several top competitive bodybuilders. When this guy talks diet, everybody listens. Lucky for us, Jeff took some time out of his busy schedule to pen us a diet article.

One of the most educational things a person can do for himself is to set a deadline for reaching his physique goal. An impending deadline forces you to accelerate the learning curve and you will acquire more info about how your body works than ever before. Sometimes the deadlines are self-imposed; other times you may have a specific event in mind for which you want to peak.

Maybe you're a competitive bodybuilder prepping for an upcoming contest. Maybe you‘re just a regular guy or gal, who wants to knock the socks off your old friends at the high school reunion, or look good for your upcoming vacation on the beach. Doesn't matter, the following diet can help you reach that goal. It has worked on countless people and after only one death and two dehydrations, I think I have got the kinks worked out. (Just kidding.)

A couple of things to keep in mind here. One, I have included supplement recommendations for those that use prohormones, creatine, fat burners and other little helpers. Second, this diet is mostly geared not just towards the competitive bodybuilder. All the information can be used by the noncompetitive person just wanting to knock’em dead on the beach.

This is a 16 week diet with four main phases. In each phase, the diet, training, and supplementation will be manipulated and or changed, so stay on your toes. This isn’t necessarily a painless diet, but if about 16 weeks from now you want look the best you ever have, then this is the diet for you. Are you ready? Good, let’s go!

Phase I

Let's figure out how much protein and carbs you’ll need. Take your total body weight and multiply by 1.5. This is how many grams of protein and carbs you'll be eating (a 1:1 ratio). For example, a 200 pound male would eat 300 grams of protein and 300 grams of carbohydrates per day. Your fat intake comes only from the naturally occurring amounts found in the protein and carbohydrate sources, but do not exceed .5 gm of fat per pound of bodyweight per day. These ratios will change from phase to phase.
Food intake should be spread between five or six meals. I would recommend you get a large amount of your allotted carbohydrates right after training, preferably in a post-workout drink (Vitargo CGL preferred). You should also taper your carbohydrate intake towards the evening (depending on when you train.) In other words, your last meal of the day should be lower in carbs than your previous meals.

Okay, now, what the heck are you supposed to eat? Honestly, phase one’s menu is pretty bland and boring, but it’s also very simple. (It’ll get a little more complicated later.) The majority of what you eat should come from the following:

Protein

Carbohydrates

Eat as clean as possible, but don’t get caught up in the sodium issue. We’ll only worry about sodium in the last week. I would recommend buying a food scale and a Nutrition Almanac. I always weigh my food to be sure of proper portions. I’ve also found it easier to diet if you have all your food prepared the night before. You know that when you’re hungry, if you can’t just grab something healthy already prepared, well then you end up cheating. You know what I am talking about here. You will go by the Mickey D’s to order some crap and then justify it in a heart beat. PREPARE your food ahead of time!

Phase 1 Example Diet (Day 1)
200 lb. Total Body Weight (1:1 ratio of carbs to protein)

It is also important to follow the nightly protein supply strategy on non-workout days. A combination of various fast and slow digestible protein sources (ground beef, Protein Blends, low fat cottage cheese) should again be consumed for this purpose shortly before going to sleep.

The Cardiovascular training in phase one will be 4 x 30 minute’s sessions of cardio per week. Remember to get your heart rate up the required fat burning rate. Adhere to the following formula to determine your exercising heart rate: 220 – your age x .70 = BPM (Example 220-36x.70 = 128.8)

As far as training goes, I like to have my athletes continue their regular training regiment for this phase. Do not change anything. I try not to change their entire life overnight. We will change your training program later in the program.

Supplementation in this phase should consist of Nutrex Research’s Vitrix and Vitargo- CGL, as well as Prolab’s Lean Mass Matrix, protein powders and MRP's. Do not take any fat burners like Lipo 6 in this phase. We will add those in later when they are really needed. In regards to Vitrix or Volu-Gro, here is what I recommend for Phase I:

Vitrix
2 liqui-caps 3 x per day with meals.
Vitrix is the leading and most powerful natural testosterone stimulating product for building lean dense muscle. Vitrix is the only pro-testosterone formula that utilizes a liquid capsule delivery system to guarantee maximum absorption. With its high quality ingredients and superior delivery system Vitrix enhances testosterone levels quickly and measurably. This creates an enormous anabolic effect inside the muscle cell allowing it to absorb a vastly increased amount of nutrients like protein, creatine and glycogen. In bodybuilders who are dieting to get ripped, such as the Deadline Diet, Vitrix helps to preserve vital muscle tissue and strength levels. Furthermore, Vitrix contributes to enhancing recovery, combats over-training, allows for a more intense and aggressive training style while significantly improving your pump during workouts. Using Vitrix along with your Deadline Diet can make a vast difference!

Volu-Gro
1 serving per day on training days (post workout)
1 serving per day on non-training days (morning)
In order to keep your muscles full and properly hydrated during the first phase of the Deadline Diet, I would also recommend to add the potent creatine and glycogen loader Volu-Gro. Since Volu-Gro is completely sugar-free, it won’t interfere with your goal of going after that rock hard, shredded look. On training days I want you to consume one serving of Volu-Gro immediately after your workout. During periods of dieting, loading CREATINE and GLYCOGEN simultaneously into your muscles with Volu-Gro, following an intense workout session, is the key to continuous muscle growth, retaining a massive pump and quick recovery. Since Glycogen is the main energy component of your muscles and pulls fluids, protein as well as a host of other nutrients into your muscle cells, this modern day strategy of sugar-free glycogen loading has changed the laws of contest dieting forever. The days of looking flat, depleted and feeling tired have finally come to an end!

At the end of four weeks, you should be adapting to eating more frequently, doing your cardio, and getting your rest patterns down, as well as getting used to the reduced fats in your daily diet. Now it‘s time for the phase two, so don’t get too comfortable!

Go to Phase II