So ive had a few people asking me about my diet, how I structure it, and what I eat. Now before I get onto this, I have to say that my diet is completely individualistic for what suits my own needs. Ive developed my diet over a moderate time period to take into account what foods work best for me what macronutrient split I like the most and, generally, what produces the best results. My diet is pretty varied, and every day is different. Im going to lay out my diet plan for a heavy back day last week. Here, I was pretty moderate with my carb intake, even by my own standards (I tend to eat high protein, moderate fat, moderate carb). So, here goes.
Meal 1: 200g Turkey Breast, 3 whole eggs. ½ avocado, 75g Spinach. Liquid Fish Oil, Multivit, Thermogenic, D3.
Some people shudder at the thought of any form of meat in the morning, but most people into fitness know its benefits, and you do generally get used to it. Ive tried steak in the morning and I did like it, but im a huge fan of turkey so that tends to be my staple. Eggs are obviously great and a big part of most peoples morning routines- I like mine poached. My general goal in the morning is to try and eat in a way which keeps my insulin relatively stable; im not a big fan of carbs in the morning. Yes, eggs are moderately insulinogenic, but the fats from the avocado tend to nullify this to a certain degree. To be honest, its not that much of a big deal, I just like this set up. In terms of supplements its pretty standard- fish oil and multivits are a staple for most. Im currently also using a thermogenic, which I tend to take about an hour before I eat. Vit D3 is also a great supplement, I take it here purely for ease of use.
Meal 2: 200g Chicken Breast, 200g Quinoa, 50g Kale
Chicken breast- shock!. No but seriously, my second meal is nearly always chicken breast based. I would definitely prefer to have oily fish here, but to be honest I cant stomach fish- even fish fingers make me queasy!. So I settle for breast here. High quality breast is best- look out for all of the diphosphates and dextrose added to the cheap frozen crap. Anyone who follows me will know im a huge fan of Quinoa. I don’t always include a carb source in my second meal- a lot of the time I actually consume all of my carbs in the post workout meals. But, today I was training a bit later (after 3 meals instead of 2), so I thought it would be a good way to keep me going up until the brutal back session I had planned. I really hate kale, but it’s a great source of fibre and several micronutrients so it is included here just as a change from spinach.
Meal 3 (Pre Workout): 30g Whey Protein, 2tbsp Almond Butter, ½ tsp Cinnanom, ½ tsp cocoa, 300ml Coconut Milk. Green Tea. 2000mg L-Carnitine, 2000mg Vitamin C.
This was my last meal before I did my workout. I don’t tend to consume carbs pre workout. From personal experience, ive found my workout intensity tends to drop if I do. Some say that pre workout carbs can blunt fat oxidisation. Im not 100% sure on the credibility of the science behind this, so I don’t actually factor in this as a reason for avoiding carbs pre workout. I tend to feel a lot better when I have a large, but carb free, pre workout meal. Usually I have a food based pre workout meal, however here I decided to go for a shake. I don’t necessarily like just whey and water here, that really doesn’t satisfy me enough or provide me with what I need. I like to get in good fats pre workout from almond butter and coconut milk. My staple pre workout supplement wise is a large cup of green tea, l-carnitine and vit c. Im not a big fan of pre workouts- if im seriously lacking energy pre workout then that says something is wrong with my diet- a pre workout would just mask this fact. Essentially, id much rather provide my body with the nutrients it needs through food, over a sugar/caffeine loaded supplement.
Meal 4 (Post Workout): 300g White Rice, 200g Chicken Breast, 75g Spinach. 45g Whey Protein, 10g BCAA.
Standard post workout whey shake is included as you would expect. I use iSupp Elite Pure Whey- it’s the best whey ive ever tasted. When I have a shit tasting whey I tend to mix it with almond milk, but there was no need here. Im not overly hyped on BCAAs, I don’t think they make a significant impact on your workout. However, I was given a box from a friend of mine whose a sponsored athlete, and as they were pills I thought there would be no harm in using them post workout. I also like white rice post workout. NB by white rice, I DON’T mean basmati. Its either jasmine or standard boil-in-the-bag white rice- never basmati. 45-60 minutes later I eat, usually something reasonably small and boring- chicken and spinach in this case.
Meal 5: 150g Chicken Thigh, 75g Broccoli, 100g Quinoa
Last meal of the day here. I usually have this about 7-8pm, I don’t tend to get hungry after that. I normally swap to chicken thigh at night, purely for a change. I do like to keep fats a couple of hours away from post workout, just to make the most of the proteins and carbs im requiring at that time. Although im not a proponent on carb back loading to any great extent, I do think carbs later on in the day do help you sleep. Im actually not too fussed about what carbs I get in here, it just happened to be Quinoa. I don’t think the GI of carbs is wholly important at this stage, although I do really like oats with my last meal too.
On this day I ended up consuming about 3000 calories. It worked out being around 100g fat, 200g carbs and 300g protein. Protein intake was a bit excessive if im honest; ideally I would have had a little less protein and a little more fat. However, I don’t get hugely hung up on these tiny details- worrying about 10g of a macronutrient is, in my opinion, stupid. It roughly worked out as a 40/30/30 split of PCF. As I have already said, my diet changes every single day- as does my PCF split. This is just an example of how I structure my own diet, and how it fits into and around my training. Peace!
Patrick Chapman Fitness 
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