The Diet Plan of All Diet Plans

Following on from a blog on Trainerroad about useful literature I purchased a few books... and been doing some planning...

Some books about training and some about diets... one of which has been most interesting.

Nutrient Timing by John Ivy and Robert Portman.

Overview - What to eat and when to eat to optimise muscle repair and development. The underlying message/theory is to not allow your blood sugar levels to drop too low or you reduce the rate at which your muscles can re-build due the chemical reactions that take place.

There are 3 main time periods to focus on:
Energy Phase - 10 mins before a workout
Anabolic Phase - !mmediately after a workout
Recovery Phase - 2 & 4 hours after a workout

Each phase should see the intake a protein and carbohydrate supplements. Each phase has a different amount of each. Supplements are preferred to eating the food as they absorb quicker that food does... So I have put in an order for some supplements... should last a while! ;)

This is something I have not done in previous diets. Recently I have been eating nothing for breakfast... the first bit of food I consume is either 10am (chicken breast) or lunch time (other than a coffee or two). What I have basically been doing is putting my body in a fasted state, completed a high intensity session, depleted all sugar levels and then not consumed anything for a long period of time after. This may have promoted weight loss but certainly didn't promote muscle repair... if anything, it did the opposite!

I have therefore split my training week into 2 key days:

Low Intensity Training days (LIT) 
High Intensity Training days (LIT)


Monday - Recovery (LIT)
Tuesday - HIT
Wednesday - LIT
Thursday - HIT
Friday - LIT
Saturday - HIT
Sunday - LIT

Each day is going have a different diet plan to optimise both muscle development and weight management.

HIT days will follow the Nutrient Timing System (NTS) and LIT days will follow the 'fasted' weight management theory.

Tuesdays & Fridays will induce 1600cal deficit
Monday & Sunday will induce a 600cal deficit
Tuesdays & Thursdays & Saturdays will be +100cal

Total weekly deficit will be approx 3000-4500cal to promote a 1-1.5lb a week weight loss.

LIT Diet Plan
Breakfast - None
8am - NTS Recovery Supplement
10am - NTS Recovery Supplement & Chicken Breast
Lunch - Tuna Salad
Dinner - Chicken & Veg
Pudding - Yogurt & Fruit
TOTAL Consumed Calories - 1896
TOTAL Burned Calories - 3500
Deficit - 1604

HIT Diet Plan
Breakfast - Oats & Fruit
Pre-workout - NTS Energy Supplement
Post-workout - NTS Anabolic Supplement
8am - NTS Recovery Supplement
10am - NTS Recovery Supplement & Chicken Breast
Lunch - Tuna Salad
Dinner - Chicken & Veg
Pudding - Yogurt & Fruit
 + additional treat (probably cake)
TOTAL Consumed Calories - 3600
TOTAL Burned Calories - 3500

Before the long Sunday ride I will eat a large breakfast (when I say large breakfast, I actually mean pancakes)... Basically a LIT day with some pancakes.

The Lull Before the Storm

This is a really weird time of the year for my 'training'... I am currently in a 2 week period of having no structured training.

I've just finished a 16 week Build and Specialty plan. My next phase of training is a 12 week 'base' phase... but before this begins I have taken the advise of all the training literature... to take some 'time off'. 

They never say to take 2 weeks off completely... just don't work to a structured training plan. Go out and enjoy the cycling without worrying about what you're doing and why. So I've been commuting and throwing in some Strava segment efforts for a bit of fun. 

One reason for this is to give your body chance to recover from such a large training load it has just completed. The other... which I believe to be the more important reason, is to give your mind chance to recover. Working to a structure training plan for 28 weeks takes a serious amount of mental power to keep yourself motivated... by the end of that period you need to give your mind a period of time off to ensure your motivation is back on top form for the next training plan. I'm using this time to plan ahead. To research diet plans & theories. To look at new bikes, equipment and kit. Looking ahead to the future and planning for it... imagining myself on the start line in 28 weeks time... with a full season of training under my belt and a new bike/wheels to use builds me with excitement... builds me with motivation to want to succeed! I'm only 5 days into my 'rest' period and I'm already getting 'itchy feet'... I want to train... but I can't... I know there is something I should be doing... but I can't do it.

I've taken the time to look at the last 16 weeks training to reflect and aid me in my goals for the next seasons training.

My training was really well structured for the build phase, I then started a week of 'specialty' before a taper week before the ToS. The ToS saw a massive gain it CTL (blue line) but due to an illness following, it all but disappeared. I managed a week or 2 of the remaining specialty plan before a taper week before the 'end of the season'. The taper week should have been in preparation for an 'A' priority race. I didn't have one. This really didn't help motivate me by the end... I had no end goal... no end goal meant no motivation. If I take anything from the review of this it would be:

1) Don't risk getting ill. A TSB (yellow line) of 30 or below puts you at high risk of illness due to your body being so 'run down'. The ToS dropped my CTL to -39. As a result of becoming ill, I lost all the gains from that training block. I would have been better off sticking to plan and making consistent gains.

2) Have a goal event for the end of the season. The build up to the final weeks is when your mind is at it's weakest. It was so easy to miss a session because I had no event to aim for. 

Following on from my two weeks 'recovery' I have planned out the next seasons training. I've been quite optimistic and prescribed a larger amount of CTL than I have done previously. The end of the build phase peaks with a weekly TSS of 820. It's a bit of a trial so see how my body behaves. The additional CTL comes from the addition of low intensity rides. Time will be the largest limiting factor. 

I've split up each phase so you can see how the periodised plan develops CTL. Each block ends with a 'recovery week' of reduced training load before starting the next phase of training.

Fortunately there are no Sufferlandrian tours during this period to make me ill... and I have the national hill climb championships at the end of the season (as well as the WTTA hill climb series from Sept-Oct) to keep me motivated all the way to the end.

The only thing I have not accounted for is holidays. I'm hoping I can persuade the boss for me to take my bike and complete the prescribed training as planned. Although I have pushed my luck already and told her we can't go away between August-November due to races... that didn't go down too well!

Diet Progress

My diet has been pretty stable for a while. Not perfect by any means... but stable.

Breakfast: Coffee
Morning Break: Chicken Breast
Lunch: Tuna Salad
Afternoon Snack: Cake (yeah I know)
Dinner: Meat & Veg
Desert: Banana, Orange, Yogurt & Jam/Honey
Treats: more Cake (ooops!)

Its not great... low on the 'healthy' carbs and high on the sweet treats. I know things need to improve but as it happens, it has still made some progress...

I started off at 157lb last year with a % body fat of >14%
I'm currently 144lb with a % body fat of 10.2%... nearly dropped below the 10% mark. I'm starting to get quite 'vascular' and looking pretty ripped! I might post a before/after photo at some point.

I have no idea what my limit will be. I'm just going to have to keep going until I notice a drop in power I suppose?

I have purchased some literature after some advice from a Trainerroad blog:
Nutrient Timing System - all about what to eat and when to maximise energy & recovery
Racing Weight - all about how to reach a racing weight and setting goals & expectations.

They both look really interesting and I will be sure to modify my diet plan around them.

Here are some photo's of typical lunches & dinners:

Gillingham & District Wheelers U303

Training since last week as been a little unstructured... I completed 1 interval session and then played around on Strava for a few days. Even Friday afternoon I was chasing segments. Should really have been taking it easy but you've got to have fun too.

Waking up in the morning my legs were feeling a little sore so didn't really know what to expect.

I arrived early and got everything set-up. Time was ticking along and before I knew it I was getting warmed up. The day was dry, reasonably warm and there wasn't a breath of wind around. Ace!

Getting nervous I was watching starters congregate at the start line... I should probably be more focused on what I was doing. 

I wasn't using any special tech power profiling after last weeks mishap so had a pacing strategy in my own mind. Hit >320 on the hills and try and maintain 300W on the flat. Knowing that power would drop on the downhill sections as you spin out.

Setting off I felt awesome... and the power reflected it. 350+W... I wasn't going to hold onto this for very long. Despite that, I was struggling to hold back. It's easy to put in excess effort on hills. I managed to drop back to 300W but it felt hard. My HR was elevated after the early effort and it had probably raised the lactate levels quite a bit.

The rest of the ride was like that. There were lumps and bumps all around the course so it was like doing over/under intervals. 330W-270W. Then came the 6 mile climb up the back end of the course. It was only 1-2% gradient so a bit like a false flat. The advise was to empty yourself by the top of the hill... there is then a chance for recovery before the last couple of miles. Then you just have to hang on.

Those last few miles were longer than expected. I was really suffering but still managed to hit the power targets.

I absolutely smashed it!

Official Time: 47:32

Position: 8th out of 40 (ish)

Average Power: 300W

NP: 307W

Chippenham & District Wheelers U83 Hardriders

First race of the season and first race on the new Ridley Choronus.

I was also gambling with this new 'Bestbikesplit.com' power profiling tool to help pace etc.

I had a pretty good idea of what I could achieve as I had done plenty of testing indoors up until now. Reaching the end of the 'specialty' phase in Trainerroad is all about testing your training is complete ready for the big day so knew I could handle it (290W). The only thing was holding the TT position for the whole hour. They also say you can achieve higher FTP outside. I was feeling optimistic.

So the power profile was all set-up and all I had to do was press start. I was cutting it a bit fine to get to the start... just arrived as my minute man went off. So quickly got into position and the count down started. I always start the Garmin on the 5 second warning. That way, when I cross the line, I know how much longer is on the clock. 5 seconds came and pressed start only to find out that my Garmin decided to crash and turn itself off. Bollocks! It's not like you can ask the starters to hold you there whilst you sort it out...

So there I was beginning my first race, with no power feedback trying to get the bloody thing re-set and navigate a course I was barely familiar with. After about 5 miles of switching it on/off it finally came to life and acquired all the necessary GPS signals. Only to find I was hovering at about 350W. I quickly cut that back and settled in.

Mile after mile went by... I was recognising certain sections and ticking them off as I went by. I even managed to catch a couple of riders (not something I'm used too). The middle 3rd had a consistent head wind that was sapping away at the average speed but I tried to forget about it. Instead just concentrating on keeping that power above 290W.

Before I knew it I was at the last roundabout and knew it was the home run... I was above my expected power so knew it was a case of holding on to the line... 

This is where your body begins to let go... no amount of interval training can prepare you for. Your weaker muscle groups die first, others begin to compensate, you loose form and your body begins to cramp up. Normally its my calf's... but today it was my hips. It was reasonably easy to ignore as the pain in my legs was noticeably worse as a result of the relentless wattage they were outputting. 

Crossing the line and having no idea of my time (due to the mishap at the beginning) I felt well chuffed... my average power was 296W and NP was 306! 

Official Time: 1:01:19
Position: 21st out of 73