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How It’s Structured

The meal plan is going to be broken up into two days: a “Training Day” menu and an “Off Day” menu. Since the spring cleaning training program calls for you to train 4 days per week, you’ll eat from the “Training Day” menu on those days and the “Off Day” menu on the others. You’ll always be shooting to have 5 meals per day plus post-workout nutrition on training days.

Non-Starchy Vegetables

On both days you’ll plan to get in at least 4-6 servings of non-starchy vegetables per day. These include all green, leafy veggies such as kale, varieties of lettuce, spinach, collard greens, etc. as well as cucumbers, cauliflower, sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, green beans and all the other veggies you hid in your napkin when you were a kid. I realize that it can get pricey, but I urge you to choose organic vegetables when possible. Yes, it does make a difference.

Protein

You’ll also be aiming to have protein with each meal on both days in order to insure that you are maximizing muscleprotein synthesis. Acceptable sources include beef, skinless poultry, lean cuts of pork, fish, shellfish (great this time of year!), game meats (bison, elk, ostrich, etc.), dairy such as Greek yogurt and cottage cheese (if well tolerated), and eggs. Just as organic veggies are preferred, high quality protein such as grass-fed, free range and Omega-3 are also recommended. And while macronutrient counting can have it’s practical limitations, you should be shooting for approximately 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal bodyweight (meaning if your goal is to be 225 pounds, you should shoot for 225 grams of protein per day).

Starchy Vegetables & Complex Carbohydrates

Starchy vegetables and other complex carbohydrates will also be part of your plan and be prioritized on training days. Carbs are critical for muscle glycogen replenishment and maximizing training performance, so if you are a carbo-phobe it’s time to start changing your tune. Preferred sources are oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes/yams, barley, millet, farro, quinoa, beets and summer squash.

What to Avoid

What you do want to avoid is processed foods. With so many fresh ingredients available this time of year there’s no excuse to be eating out of bags and boxes that are stamped with barcodes. If you only take one piece of advice from this entire meal plan, this is the one to follow.

I’m also going to recommend that you only drink liquid calories intra-workout. So say goodbye to those lattes, your three-whey-shakes-per-day habit and the couple of beers after work that have been keeping you from the only six pack that actually matters.

Healthy Fats

Healthy fats are critical for your hormonal system to function properly as well as delivering a feeling of satiety. Good sources of healthy fats include avocados, raw nuts, seeds, egg yolks, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olive oil, macadamia nut oil and walnut oil. Keep in mind that fats have more than twice the caloric density of both carbohydrates and protein per gram so try to be aware of portion size here and think more in terms of teaspoons as opposed to generous pours when it comes to dishing out the oils.

As mentioned, you are shooting for 5 meals per day on both training and off days. What changes is the macronutrient breakdown per meal on the different days as well as the addition of intra-workout nutrition on training days. Here’s how it looks:

Training Day

Meal 1: Protein plus carbohydrate

Meal 2: Protein plus fat (plus vegetables)

Meal 3: Protein plus fat (plus fruit/vegetables)

Meal 4: (90 minutes pre-workout) Protein plus carbohydrate (plus vegetables)

Intra-Workout: 2:1 Carb-to-protein drink

Meal 5: (60 minutes post-workout) Protein plus carbohydrate (plus vegetables)

Off Day

Meal 1: Protein plus carbohydrate

Meal 2: Protein plus carbohydrate (plus vegetables)

Meal 3: Protein plus fat (plus vegetables)

Meal 4: Protein plus fat (plus vegetables/fruit)

Meal 5: Protein plus fat (plus vegetables)