Dieting down to 175

After competing in the 200lb class at nationals in 2011 my motivation was low. I ate like crap for the rest of the year and got up to around 210lbs. When it was announced that there would be a 175lb strongman world championship at the Arnold in 2013 I paced my house for the rest of the day. I was so fired up! I knew what I have to do and started getting to work.

I decided I can't waste one day with a bad training session. My diet needs to be on point. Here is what I did

My meal plan is so simple I decided to keep my strength I didn't want to do anything drastic. I started cheating less. I guess you could say my diet is 90% paleo a sample day almost always looks like this. Most of my food is organic with grass fed beef/bison and fish (talipia, salmon) as the main meat sources I just can't stand eating chicken a lot

wake up 5:30AM

Meal 1 6:15am Shake consisting of
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup spinach or kale
1 cup greek yogurt
28grams whey protein
1tsp cinammon
little over a cup of almond milk

meal 2 9:30AM

1 oz raw almonds
28gram whey protein
an apple


Meal 3 12:30PM (training day)
6oz grassfed steak
4oz sweet potato
1 cup of green vegetable

Meal 3 (rest day)

6oz talipia
huge mixed salad
2 tbs EVOO

meal 4 3:00-3:30PM

1 cup greek yogurt
20grams whey protein
dash of cinammon
1tbs strawberry jam (training days) 1tbs peanut butter (rest days)


1 scoop ESP Nutrition Max Force N.O 4:30-5:00PM

5:00-530PM train 2 scoops ESP Nutrition Power Thru sipped throughout

meal 5 7:00-7:30PM 6oz meat
tons of veggies sometimes sweet potato, rice, etc


if i was hungry i'd eat something again around 9:30 protein shake with peanut butter, some eggs. something with protein and fat.

my training stayed basically the same as before. I did add in more conditioning work and my job has changed where I walk a lot more than before. Lots of super sets, shorter rest peroids. All my accessory work I would try to keep my heart rate fairly high. About twice a week I finish off with kettlebell swings, medicine ball slams, high rep clean & press, sprint intervals on an airdyne, etc

I cold brew 1/2 gallon of green tea with 6 bags (a pack of 100 is 12 bucks at costco) and add 1/4 of it to 3/4 of water and drink that every day. been doing this for about a month and it seems to help more caffeine more gooder I say.

I add cinnamon to everything! It helps with insulin sensitivity is cheap and makes things taste better. I add it to all my vanilla protein shakes

If my weight loss would stall or I started to feel sluggish in the gym I would cheat, get a pizza. go out too eat, etc. Sometimes for an entire week. When I went back to my normal diet I would start to lose weight/get leaner within a few days. I guess these are called refeeds or carb ups and kick the metabolism back up again.

Saturdays my event day I would eat a ton more carbs. Sometimes even eat french toast before training. I know I burn a shit ton of calories doing strongman events for 4 hours and since I train for so long I don't get my normal 5-6 meals in, usually 3 maybe 4 so I wouldn't worry about it. I stop that and all cheating as it gets closer to a competition and having to make weight.

I would also like to note that my weight has been hovering around 185 for about 2 months. I lost the actual scale weight quickly. My weight would get up to as high as 193 on cheat weeks and as low as 181 when back to dieting I have added muscle and lost fight in a few cycles this way to get to my current state.