Diet Template Q & A
1. Won’t I get bulky from eating all of this protein and lifting weights?
Not necessarily. While on a calorie-restricted diet it is extremely hard to build muscle. What will most likely happen is you will maintain your lean body mass as it currently is and will lose a lot of fat, resulting in your arms, thighs, etc. shrinking in total girth. Also, muscle helps to burn more fat, thus helping to create the appearance of the “toned” look that most people find appealing.
If you’re on the massing plan instead of the cutting plan, you will absolutely get bigger, but it largely comes down to calories.
2. What is the purpose of the “workout carbs?”
The purpose is to help maintain or grow your lean body mass, as well as burn more fat. Consuming a workout shake with protein and carbs has been repeatedly shown to prevent losses of muscle while dieting, as well as accelerating fat loss at the same time. This is NOT a huge effect, but it’s likely a meaningful addition.
While there are numerous options listed for workout carbs, we highly recommend using a powder. It allows for ease of measurement and is almost always much cheaper per amount (especially if purchased from Walmart, Costco, or Sam’s Club).
We have provided pictures below of sample workout carb sources for you to use.
For those who may favor a carbohydrate source that is more “natural,” please try using fruit juice or coconut water for your workout carbs.
You can also use virtually any supplement company’s workout carb product (ex – Vitargo, Karbolyn, etc).
3. What type of Whey/Casein Protein? Do you have a preference, can it be flavored?
Any type of 100% Whey protein is fine. Our recommendation is using Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey.
Here is a link to GNC that sells the whey protein mentioned above: http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3267252
We highly recommend a flavored whey protein due to it being mixed in water. If you can handle the plain taste by all means go for it. Chocolate is our favorite, but feel free to be adventurous. J If you’d like to mix your workout carbs and protein together (by all means ok to do), a Vanilla whey is usually a good choice paired with fruity carb powders. RP’s very own Dr. James Hoffmann prefers Banana flavor, but most of the rest of us think he’s crazy for saying that.
Here is a link to GNC that sells a quality casein protein:
http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3531052
4. What about other supplements?
Multivitamins are ok for general health. Creatine is fine to use, and 5g of Creatine Monohydrate every day for the duration of the diet (3 months or so at a time) is effective for almost everyone. Stimulant and pre-workout supplements are ok, but MUST be used in moderation and in the recommended doses only.
If you want a definitive guide on what supplements actually work, please check out Examine.com through the link below. They are the ONLY reliable and unbiased sources of information on what supplements are actually worth taking and what supplements are wastes of money. Their recommendations are virtually identical to what we recommend to our clients.
http://examine.com/referstack/renperiod
5. Are there optimal meal times each day or time between meals?
Yes, and those times are written in on the diet templates. Don’t worry about getting them EXACTLY right… just spread your meals out as evenly as you can and hit the recommended times within 30 minutes or so.
6. Can I replace any other meals in the day with a protein shake if I am running short on time?
Yes, but we suggest only doing this when you need to and sticking mostly to whole foods. While it is best to have mostly whole-food meals, a whey/casein blend shake, on occasion, is much better than missing a meal. There are products on the market that are already blended together; our recommendation is Controlled Labs Pronom 23.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/controlled-labs/pronom-23.html
7. I take it there is no dairy? Can I have milk in my coffee?
There CAN be dairy on the diet. Just make sure the product you’re eating with your meal counts towards the carb, protein, and fat recommendations for that meal as closely as you can. This applies to all condiments that have more than 20 calories per serving, including cheese. Please see the additional note on cheese in #8 below.
8. Can I eat the same foods for every meal?
Sure, but it seems as if variation tends to help prevent burnout. Also, in regards to cheese, please vary your healthy fats so as to not over eat cheese (due to it being high in saturated fat.) Same goes for sausage, bacon, etc… SOME is ok, but ALL of your fats from such animal sources may not be a great idea for health.
9. Are there salt restrictions?
No. We recommend using salt as you have been prior to beginning the diet.
10. Do you care about calories each day?
Yes we do. However, we find it is easier to list the meals in terms of ounces and grams for ease of measuring. The number of calories can be calculated from this very easily, which we do on our end. You don’t need to count calories… all you need to do is try to follow the diet as closely as possible, and the results will come.
11. Are the carbohydrate measurements for cooked or uncooked pasta/rice?
The measurements are done after the pasta or rice is cooked. One cup of cooked pasta/rice = 40 grams of carbs. The measurements are not in the weight of the actual food, but in the content of carbohydrate, which can easily be found on the “nutrition facts” labels of most foods.
To help with measuring serving sizes, please refer to the sheet labeled “Serving Sizes” on the Excel document you now have. Also, approximate portions are listed at the top of the diet for vegetables (1 cup = 1 serving) and healthy fats (2tbsp nut butter = 15g healthy fats). If you need further help with measuring, please consider the following:
1 medium sized apple/orange/banana = 25g carbs
1 cup of COOKED pasta, rice or oatmeal = 40g carbs
*If additional assistance is needed besides what is provided, please visit the following site that we found can be quite helpful:
http://blog.photocalorie.com/portion-sizes/
12. How much water do you want me to consume each day?
Continue as you normally have before the diet. As a general guideline, roughly 64oz (8 glasses) a day is a good starting point. However, just drinking to thirst is usually just fine. If you’re consistently peeing clear or off-yellow, you’re very likely well hydrated, and don’t force-hydrate yourself... there is no advantage of more water than you need.
13. Can I eat foods that are not on the list?
Yes, but please make sure they are fitting. Lamb chops are NOT lean meat, neither are sausage and bacon. Potatoes are a carb, NOT a green veggie. Coconut oil MIGHT be good for health, but we’re not sure, so we don’t recommend using it too much.
14. Is caffeine or diet soda allowed?
Plain black coffee, DIET soda, sugarless gum and Crystal Light are all fine while on the diet.
15. Can I add herbs and spices to add flavor when cooking?
Absolutely, any calorie free herb or spice can be used on your foods to help improve the taste. If it has more than 20 calories, count the macros that make up those calories into your meal and subtract out other foods to make the fit.
16. Is the protein amount for raw or cooked meat?
The protein amount is to be measured in the raw amount of the meat. Thus, a 6oz raw steak has 35 grams or so of protein, but if you cook it down enough, it might only weigh 4oz, but still has just as much protein.
17. What about grass fed butter, coconut oil and egg yolks?
These types of fats can be consumed, however we suggest eating no more than 1/3 of your daily fat requirement from these sources. The reason is that they are saturated fats and the best idea is to consume MOST of your fats from the healthy variety.
With egg yolks, the protein and fat content from them must be factored into the meal allotment as well.
If you do eat egg yolks, be sure to count the protein and fats from the yolk into the meal allotment of macronutrients.
18. What about “cheat meals?”
For massing programs, cheat meals are ok ONLY IF ALL THE DIET FOOD HAS BEEN EATEN AS WELL. For cutting diets, we recommend NOT cheating for the duration of the diet. The results are much less likely to occur if cheating is used.
It is also important to note there that the “cheat” meal if written into the diet does NOT mean eat an entire pizza and other “junk” food. What is usually meant here is a “free” meal where you can go out to eat with friends or family and not have to worry about measuring or counting anything for that one meal.
19. I have a conflict in my schedule, what should I do about the timing of my next meal?
Outside of the post workout meal (eaten within an hour) you are free to move the mealtimes around a bit to fit your schedule. So long as you’re eating about every 3-5 hours you will be fine.
20. I’m busy all day, what can I do to get in a meal?
Using something like a quest bar or a protein shake can be a suitable meal replacement. If you can take some nuts with you, a protein bar or shake (or even some jerky) and say an apple (if carbs are needed) that’s a fairly easy to consume and portable meal on the go. Waximaize is actually a low-glycemic carb, so you can make olive oil, waximaize and whey/casein shakes work for you. ZERO guarantees on the taste!
21. Can I drink alcohol on this diet?
Drinking of alcohol while on the diet should be left at a minimum. Drinking has no positives for body composition. Just be aware of the tradeoffs involved with deviating from the diet, the more you go off the plan, the less we certain we can be of the final outcome.
22. How flexible is this diet?
The RP Diet has lots of flexibility to it; you’re free to use any of the food choices from the acceptable foods list at any meal. Variety is a good thing on a diet! However, there are limits to this and everything is written on the diet for a very specific purpose. If you sub in candy or doughnuts instead of healthy carbs, it is NOT ideal. If you sub in whole grain bread instead of brown rice, that is totally fine. We’d love to list the macros for the diets, but they vary quite a bit based on particular food choices. You can calculate your own macros based on the foods you choose, just be consistent and don’t replace all of your 90/10 beef with fat-free chicken breasts for a week and wonder why your weight is going down!
23. Can I eat veggies that are not on the list?
Yes, you probably can. The veggies listed under that column are there because they have a very low net carb content. Brightly colored veggies can be eaten, but they would be counted towards the healthy carb allotment at that given meal. If a meal calls for no carbs, please try and use veggies from the list provided. There is an abundance of veggies listed to help provide a lot of flexibility with choices.
24. I’m very hungry the first week on the cutting diet, is that normal?
It can be quite normal for clients to be a bit hungrier than normal during the first week or so. This is usually a result of having certain meal times listed and not being able to eat or snack whenever they’re hungry. This usually goes away for most clients after their bodies adjust to the schedule. However, as more and more weight is lost, calories have to be restricted at some point to continue that weight loss, so being hungry is an unfortunate side effect of losing weight. This is likely going to be true at some point as you progress through the cut phases.
25. This seems like a lot of food, what can I do?
Due to eating better quality food choices, a lot of clients experience that the total volume of food actually increases when they start the diet (100 calories from a whole grain bagel is more food than from a bite of a candy bar for example). If you’re on the massing plan, it’s going to be almost guaranteed that at some point you will likely get quite full from eating lots of food. This will be especially true as you progress into the later stages of the mass gaining phases. For the massing plan… you just have to eat the food. Eating more food in liquid is fine, but you’re going to be full either way. Massing isn’t easy!
26. I’m on my menstrual cycle and I’ve gained weight, do I adjust the diet?
No. Wait a week for the cycle to abate before making any decisions about tissue loss. Menstrual cycles increase weight due to water retention, thus we need that water to come off before making a reasonable conclusion about bodyweight changes that actually reflect tissue loss rates.
27. I’m on my cutting diet and I’m STARVING!
You can increase your calorie intake to account for this, but we cannot guarantee nearly the same results if you do this. Dieting is notoriously difficult, and a personal tradeoff for temporary discomfort is necessary in most cases.
28. What if I skip a meal on accident?
If you’re on the cutting diet, just eat the next meal as if nothing happened. If you’re on the mass or maintenance, try to combine the missed meal with your next one or spread it over the next several meals. In any case, don’t make this a regular thing!
29. I cheated on the diet, what should I adjust?
Nothing. Go on like it didn’t happen and keep following the plan as-written. Cheating on the cutting diet is likely not a good idea, but cheating and adjusting constantly tends to form disordered eating patterns, so we highly recommend just moving on with your next planned meal if you cheat. Cheating on Mass is OK, SO LONG as you get in all your programmed food AND you’re ok with risking a bit more fat.
30. I only train 2x per week (or 3,4,5,6,7)…
If you only train 2x per week, then all other days will be the non-training day option. Yes that stinks because it’s so little food. Working out more (up to the point where you have trouble recovering) is almost always a good idea. That way you can get better results AND eat more!
31. Is the amount listed on the spreadsheet the TOTAL weight or just the amount to get the macro breakdown?
In this example for whey protein, the total amount of the scoop is 32g, however there is only 26g of protein. If it is listed on your spreadsheet to have 25g protein with that meal, you would only use 1 scoop to get the 25g worth of protein (the total weight is more than 25g to account for fats, carbs, etc). If you needed 15g of protein for the meal, you would just use about 2/3 of a scoop.
This same rule applies to carbs or fats as well. If you need 40g worth of carbs, that means you measure just the carb amount and NOT the total weight.
32. I have some questions about the diet not covered in these materials, what do I do?
You can email your consultant with further questions, but almost everything should be covered here in the FAQ.
For theoretical questions about WHY the diet looks as it does, please check out our book “The Renaissance Diet,” which dives very deeply into the physiological mechanisms behind the design of our plans: http://www.store.jtsstrength.com/resources//the-renaissance-diet
medula666