Maureen
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Just wondering about the 30 grams of white rice at the last meal? My last meal brings me to 8pm, bed at 10-10-30. This seems like a big insulin spike when I’m not expending any energy. Should I be concerned. Honestly have been following the plan faithfully and haven’t lost much weight 4lbs, no bodyfat loss, but do see a visible difference. Any thoughts?
Hey there,
Just follow the plan as written. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. If you need the macros you need them, regardless of the time. Post training timing for meals would be the biggest thing I would be concerned about when it comes to the timing. In my experience…the magic of a prep happened in the 2nd half of the training….the training increases and the caloric intake starts to decrease a bit as well. Hang tight and trust the process 🙂Should be continue using the pre workout when we are taking the fat burner?
You don’t HAVE to take any of these products. They are supplemental to your diet. If you haven’t tried using them before, you might be super sensitive to them. In my opinion, if you are going to take the fat burner and WANT to take a pre workout as well, take one with just with creatine monohydrate and beta alanine. I wouldn’t double up on the caffeine. Hope that helps. And as usual, make sure you check with your physician before taking any supplements.
O-K. My goal IS to follow Nicole’s plan, so I will order water at the bar. : )
More power to you girl! You got this! Remember……most aren’t willing to put in the work and do what it takes in order to get the results. You are here, working your butt off. Remember: You don’t want average, you want something more. So the odds are, you have to give it all you’ve got.
Stay strong and Train hard!Just double checking…is an alcoholic beverage okay as part of the refeed meal?
It doesn’t specifically say NO ALCOHOL but I would suggest not to add alcohol. You are looking to refeed your body with extra carbs that will eventually give you a boost in energy and improve your training. Usually a contest prep would not include any alcohol. I would steer clear from it during this challenge. it doesn’t offer the nutrients other foods can, and you need all you can get during this prep.
I read in a previous thread that BCAAs technically remove you from fasted state during your morning cardio. What, if anything besides water, do you take before cardio and still maintain fasted state? L-carnitine supplement, black coffee, pre-workout with 2.5 calories?? I usually drink Advocare Spark (15 calories and herbal caffeine) before/during cardio for energy, however, if this is not technically fasted cardio, I will eliminate it. Unfortunately, I cannot drink coffee because it causes heartburn.
Technically drinking BCAA’s for cardio would make it NOT fasted. With Nicole’s plan she is OK with you taking them with your morning cardio.
Thanks, Moe! Should’ve told me to R-E-A-D! Just so excited!
No worries! It’s a lot of info 🙂
In regards to the refeed, is it better to have it as Meal 1 or Meal 5? Does it matter? On a previous plan I was on, the refeed was always a post-workout meal, but since this one is scheduled on a rest day, I wasn’t sure if the timing mattered as much.
Looking forward to the burger & fries or blueberry pancakes – still undecided!
Nicole wrote that she would like you to have it as the last meal of the day…..to help guard against having a cheat day 🙂
Good Morning. Could some of you who are experienced with these diets provide some tips to address hunger (other than eating)? I was really hungry yesterday. I realized that I waited too long between meals, which I won’t do again. So far I’ve tried the following: gum, sips of ice tea, water, taking a walk, going to my room and closing the door. I may resort to just going to bed for the night, like Nicole said.
I know some of you are thinking, “just suck it up!” but for me, I’m already below my IBW with BF ~ 16%, and I normally never eat only 1800 calories per day. I would be one of those ones who would die in a “famine” situation. : ) And I’m very committed, too…so it’s not that either!Drink your water, drink tea, decaf coffee…..make sure you are timing your emails correctly.
Can I take BCAA prior to cardio and still consider it fasted cardio?
I think that is fine to put some BCAA’s in your water.
Will there be much weight loss with phase 1?
It all depends on the individual. Since there is a height/weight guideline. Some of us fall on the lower end and some on the high end. Our backgrounds are different, our nutrition before this was different. Do you see where I am going with this? If you follow the entire plan you will see some dramatic changes. But to give you a number from phase to phase is tough to call.
I been following my workouts to the best of my advaibility. I done my 45 mins. Of cardio. I went back to do the workout for today. I done about half of it. Should I go back and finish the rest? I’m thinking I should. I can’t really do these at home.
Just get back and finish it. Might take a little bit of maneuvering in order to get it in. If this is more training than you are used to, give yourself time to figure out what schedule works for you.
Hi Maureen,
Thanks for your quick response! I wanted to clarify my previous question to make sure I have the correct information. Per Phase I, it’s noted ” If you have to weight training and do cardio all at once, make sure you are weight training before you do cardio.” So based on that, if I’m doing both together, I should weight train first then do fasted cardio. How can I eat Meal #1 before I weight train but I’m doing my fasted cardio after I weight train? Will I be doing fasted cardio first, take a break, eat and then weight train? I hope that makes sense
I am working out at 4:30 am also. Since it’s so early in the morning, it would be hard to eat so much before going to the gym. HI.
If you have to put them together then eat, strength then cardio. Not everyone has the luxury of doing fasted cardio. You can switch meals or sub something that’s easier on your stomach if you feel like it’s “too much food” prior to training.I am following meal plan 2 for females. Are we supposed to log our cardio sessions into myFitness Pal?
If so, that may make it so that the app will refuse to record my progress. I have been within 100 calories of my daily goal but if I log cardio it will give me a deficit of 400-500 “calories” and put me at 1500 instead of the 2000 Nicole’s program calls for.
Hi there,
Don’t put in your activity. It will give you more calories, therefore changing the macros. Just log your food.Hi there,
If you are lifting in the morning, I would not suggest doing that fasted….only the cardio. Do what you can to eat meal 1 prior to your workout. You need the energy to be able to hit those weights as hard as Nicole wants you to. 🙂Just curious on time for the legs workout. Should it take 1.5 hr or was I being slow. Should all these workouts fit into an hour?
4 sets on some of those exercises will tend to take longer. As well as training body parts one leg/arm at a time. Right now the rest between is longer so that makes the workout longer as well. They usually run me over an hour as well.
Good afternoon,
I’m lifting followed by cardio session per schedule as a split each doesn’t fit well with my work schedule. I’m eating and following supplement suggestions, but I find I’m hitting a wall if you will during cardio portion. What are your thoughts on using a re-carb supplement before starting cardio session? Or over the course of the program will my body naturally adapt?
I appreciate your time and thoughts!
AngieThe point of fasted cardio is that you don’t have that immediate carb to get you through. Your body will tap into stores in order to get you through that workout. You will eat right after. Just hang on and do the best you can. If you haven’t done it before, it definitely is a new thing.
I have never used one in my life. Is this really important for effective workouts, or is it just another hi-tech gadget? Haven’t people been getting into great shape without them for years and years? Please enlighten me! I am here to learn!
You are right….people have been training for years without one. I for one, find it useful to keep myself in check with my cardio. I can go on feel but the heart rate monitor is like a trainer on my shoulder for…..”work harder Maureen”…or “rest a little longer you need to recover a bit more”. Or even to see that when I train hard, my heart rate takes a nose dive upon resting because I have improved so much. Personal preference but a great tool to up the game in my opinion.
What am i doing wrong?! I get a few in and then my body starts swinging and it’s too difficult to finish the set after that starts.
Just focus on lowering yourself down slow. I hold the straps at the top which helps me to control the “down” on the exercise.
Is cardio to be done ever day or should it be done on a 5 day on 2 day off split similar to weight training?
By the looks of the schedule, she wants you to have 2 FULL days off. So do your cardio on the days of strength training as well.
Actually the way you perform a pyramid set is as follows:
Set 1: Lift heavy enough to get 15 reps. If it was easy at the end, up the weight
Set 2: Weight is increased. Shoot for 10-12 reps. If you finished that easy, up the weight
Set 3: Weight is increased. Shoot for 8-12 reps. If you still finished that set easy without failing at the end, you can add another set OR take note that you need to lift heavier next week.
It is good to struggle! It should be hard!! As the weight increases, the reps typically go down. If you can do 15 each set solid AND you are increasing weight each time, that means that the first set you did was wayyyyy too light for you.Go with Nicole’s explanation.
“Actually the way you perform a pyramid set is as follows:
Set 1: Lift heavy enough to get 15 reps. If it was easy at the end, up the weight
Set 2: Weight is increased. Shoot for 10-12 reps. If you finished that easy, up the weight
Set 3: Weight is increased. Shoot for 8-12 reps. If you still finished that set easy without failing at the end, you can add another set OR take note that you need to lift heavier next week.
It is good to struggle! It should be hard!! As the weight increases, the reps typically go down. If you can do 15 each set solid AND you are increasing weight each time, that means that the first set you did was wayyyyy too light for you.”
She is just making sure you are lifting enough to stay within that designated rep range. She gives a great way to make sure you are lifting enough for the desired rep range. But not starting out too heavy. That way you can build the weight up as you work through the specified sets.Hello,
I’m super excited to be starting this as I have done my last 2 preps by myself. I was wondering, I am a Fitness Instructor and will is hinder my progress if I workout on the “OFF” workout days?? As a Fitness Instructor some and most of my classes I participate in and I was just curious. Thanks!Melissa
Hi there,
Because this program is pretty intense…it might mean you will be doing more than you need to. As far as the cardio goes…you can count some of your classes toward the cardio if your heart rate gets elevated like it should.Hi-
Are we supposed to be doing pyramids during phase 1? When I looked through the workouts the rep ranges led me to believe you stay the same with each set for the exercises. Or when it says 8-12 do I need to start with 12 and work my way down to 8 reps by set 4?
Lauren
Hi there, Your rep ranges would be between the 8-12 range for the 4 sets. It will indicate whether it’s a drop set or not. Your goal is to increase the weight as you go. You are resting longer, eating more and trying to lift as much as you can. Hope that helps.
Hi there!
For phase 3 nutrition/carb cycling, it appears that I don’t fit into any of the height or weight categories.
It only goes up to 150 and 5’6.
I would love to be 150 by that time but that’s not going to happen (I’m a realist)…I figured I’d stick with meal plan #3 unless there was a typo…any thoughts??
Thanks in advance!As the notes say…just go for the height. Are you taller than 5’6?
I would use the one that comes closest to your height.Should we implement this as part of our total fat for the day?
Hi there,
Don’t count this in for your fat totals…just take it as a supplement. Follow the guidelines listed to find the one that will work best for this program.I’m confused on the meal plan. Am I suppose to eat the same thing every day? Or is this where the food exchange list comes into play?
Hi there,
I would recommend eating the same meals everyday. When you feel like you need a change, swap out something. But make sure the macronutrient amounts make a good exchange and it doesn’t effect your plan too much.
I am working out at 4:30 am also. Since it’s so early in the morning, it would be hard to eat so much before going to the gym. 
(I’m a realist)…I figured I’d stick with meal plan #3 unless there was a typo…any thoughts??