When designing a nutrition plan, one has to ask two questions - what to eat and when to eat. When these two factors are balanced, performance and results are maximized. Let’s look at these factors individually with respect to anabolic training.

WHAT TO EAT

Take your body weight and multiply by twelve to get your daily maintenance level caloric need. During the anabolic phase, add 700 calories to your maintenance level calories. We will use a 35:40:25 protein to carb to fat ratio during this phase.
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

EXAMPLE

150 lb man
10% body fat
150 x 12 = 1800 calories
1800 + 700 = 2500 calories
total caloric intake during catabolic phase = 2500 calories
35% protein = 875 calories = 219 grams of protein per day
40% carbs = 1000 calories = 250 grams of carbs per day
25% fat = 625 calories = 69 grams of fat per day

WHEN TO EAT

When to eat is as important as what to eat. Be sure to eat 5-7 small meals throughout the day. This means eating every three hours. When ever you get hungry your body is in starvation mode and utilizes calories to store fat - an evolutionary success for our ancestors living in need but not so good for us.

Think of a meal as a percentage of total calories consumed. Certain meals may need a higher percentage of calories than others i.e. breakfast, post workout. The following percentages should be adhered to in order to maximize results. These are given with the assumption that workout time will be after meal 4.

Meal 1
Calories: 25%
Protein calories: 20%
Fat calories: 30%
Carb calories: 25%

Meal 2
Calories: 10%
Protein calories: 10%
Fat calories: 10%
Carb calories: 10%

Meal 3
Calories: 20%
Protein calories: 20%
Fat calories: 20%
Carb calories: 20%

Meal 4 (pre-workout)
Calories: 5%
Protein calories: 5%
Fat calories: 5%
Carb calories: 5%

Meal 5 (post-workout within 1 hour)
Calories: 20%
Protein calories: 20%
Fat calories: 10%
Carb calories: 30%

Meal 6
Calories: 20%
Protein calories: 30%
Fat calories: 20%
Carb calories: 10%