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 catabolic training.

WHAT TO EAT

Take your body weight and multiply by twelve to get your daily maintenance level caloric need. During the catabolic phase, subtract 300 calories from your maintenance level calories. We will use a 50:20:30 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 - 300 = 1500 calories
total caloric intake during catabolic phase = 1500 calories
50% protein = 725 calories = 181.5 grams of protein per day
20% carbs = 300 calories = 75 grams of carbs per day
30% fat = 450 calories = 50 grams of fat per day

WHEN TO EAT

When to eat is as important as what to eat. 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 for fat storage - 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. change if neccessary

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%