A competition diet can be very costly. The expense of quality meats, supplements, and other specialized foods combined with the quantity a competitive bodybuilder needs can cost quit a bit. It’s important to plan all daily activities around your diet. You must make it a priority to be a successful competitor.
Most bodybuilders begin dieting at about 6 to 12 weeks before the day of competition. If you have a fast metabolism, you may only need as little as 5 weeks or less to come in shredded for competition. Slower metabolisms require up to 12 weeks of dieting time.
Initially, dieting needs to be done gradually so that the body doesn’t react negatively or lose too much size too quickly. The way you do this is by gradually cutting the quantity of “bad calorie” foods such as sugar, fat, high sodium, and food oils. For example, putting less sugar in fruit juice and cutting out mayonnaise on a sandwich.
Eventually food options will become extremely limited. This usually happens around the fourth or fifth week of dieting.
Eating to match your goals should be a priority, but it won’t always taste good. Here is a high protein snack for making sure you hit your protein targets.
Chris Hemsworth, once getting the role for Thor, definitely had to bulk to match the comic book character. He lifted heavy weights for the first portion, making sure he ate more than enough to aid muscle growth. When he came in for his final costume fitting, he had surpassed his initial measurements enough that he no longer fit the Thor costume.
