How I manipulate my diet in the 30 days leading up to a video shoot

I typically weight in at 168. That’s my number. However, I do have occasional drops as low as the 160 range and then bump ups into 175 range (although that’s hard for me to maintain). I always stay as lean is possible. 

For those curious on the pre-shoot dieting I do, when I shot Redemption (2016) I was right at 168, for Reconstruction (2017) I got up to 176, then cut down to 172 for the shoot. You might think that it’s not that much difference, and it’s not really. But, when you’re capturing high-quality video, it shows. 

Once December is over, everyone is going to be in full blown fitness mode for a little while. It will calm down in the dead of winter, then pick back up again before summer. (Unless, of course, you’re one of our die-hards). If you’re not worried about taste and flavor, or “treating yourself”, and are more concerned about the absolute basics, then the following eating habits might be of interest.

The usual diet for lean muscle mass

Breakfast: 30 grams of a protein shake with BCAAs + 1/2 cup oats
Snack: Handful of mixed nuts/almonds
Lunch: Grilled chicken breasts + mixed veggies and/or salad
Snack: Plain Greek yogurt infused some 15 grams of protein powder
Dinner: Grilled chicken breasts, tuna, or salmon + 1/2 cup oats + a green veggie of choice
Post-Workout: 30-40 grams of a protein shake with BCAAs +

*Water consumption is always around .75-1 gallon per day.

weighing in at 172-lbs

Modifications at about 20-30 days out:

1. Added a rice cake with a half tablespoon of natural peanut butter in the morning
2. Added carb source at lunch. Typically more oatmeal or a handful of pretzels.
3. Natural peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat toast in the evening

* This bump in calories clearly come from carbs and fats. It allows me to add more weight quickly.

7 days out:

Diet returned to “the usual” with slight reduction of carbs

2 days out:

1. All fats are cut.
2. Carbs are increased to the levels listed above at 30-20 days out.

The day before the shoot:

Diet returns to “the usual”

The day of the shoot:

I steadily consume a lot of carbs throughout the day along with BCAA’s to maintain energy and pump.

Post-shoot:

One calorie dense meal. This is one of the only times I feel a somewhat comfortable having a “cheat meal”.