The cycle diet by Pavlina Aladjova

The Cycle Diet by Scott Abel

A few notes before you start 1

The Cycle Diet is also known as the Supercompensation Diet or as many of my clients call it, the “Have your cake and eat it too” diet because you get to eat indiscriminately at certain times (Yes…I know I got your attention with this).

A diet should be two things. A diet should be something that someone can maintain long term and a diet should have some kind of benefit for the body. There are a lot of diets that do work and a LOT that don’t but what’s most important is what diet is viable and beneficial in the long term. The Cycle Diet is JUST THAT.

If you are looking to get RIPPED for a bodybuilding contest, this is not the way to do it. Being ripped is a state of condition that can’t be maintained. But if you are looking to maintain Lean Body Mass, keep growing and keeping being productive all year long then you are definitely in the right place.

The Cycle Diet is something that can be done all year round. I’ve done it for over 15 years now. And you can see me anytime of the year and you will see the level of conditioning that you can get to through this. I’ve always maintained that an athlete should look like one all year long and not for 2 weeks of the year! And trust me when I say that you can achieve that through The Cycle Diet so put all your faith into it and don’t take upon it half-assed.

A few notes before you start

You have to be considerably lean in order to qualify for The Cycle Diet. I know that probably pisses most of you off but the ONLY way the Supercompensation diet will work is when your body is in a Supercompensation state. And that is impossible when you have 20-30 lbs of fat to lose. If you are not there yet, DON’T WORRY. I have illustrated in this book what you need to do to get there. Once you do, you will be there FOR GOOD.

Through this report I will explain to you the “What”, the “Hows” and the “Whys” about this diet and its workings. Some of the things I will say, you will find extremely hard to believe. But trust me, it’s all backed up by science and I will show that as well without being “too scientific”.

This diet works for just about anyone. From professional athletes to housewives. But it works BEST for people involved in strength and power activities. Such athletes will not only benefit in terms of cosmetics but also in terms of performance which is like an icing on the cake.

My ex-wife Annie who has never done anything athletic before once decided to do the Toronto marathon. She did The Cycle diet throughout the whole thing and in spite of no running experience, she was able to complete the marathon without any breaks in 4 ½ hours. Her first sport related event ever. So once again…BELIEVE. Every time you are supposed to eat to your heart’s content, DO IT. Don’t bog yourself down with the fear that you’ll get fat. You won’t. ©2012 and beyond Balboa Media & Scott Abel *All rights reserved

Starting Out The first and foremost thing to note before you start is the difference between Absolute(k) calorie deficits(AKD) and Relative (k)calorie deficits(RKD). AKD: 1000 or more kcals+ from daily needs Creates a fat storing machine Lowers BMR Lowers LBM which further lowers BMR Lowers Sodium/Potassium pump efficiency Lowers electrolyte efficiency Decreases lipolysis (less efficient fat burning) Increases gluconeogenesis (muscle wasting) Increases lipogenic activity (rebounding) Can decrease immune function Insulin sensitivity is the same Increase in Catabolic Hormones Decreases Leptin leves (huge negative consequences)

RKD: 500-800+ kcals from daily needs Creates a fat burning machine BMR same or increased LBM same or increased Sodium/Potassium activity is the same Electrolyte efficiency is the same Increased lipolysis Less gluconeogenesis or the same Decreased lipogenic activity Immune function same or enhanced Greater insulin sensitivity Decreased Catabolic Activity Leptin levels same

*RKD assumes exercise is part of the diet strategy.

The GOAL is to diet in Relative calories deficit at or near Absolute calories deficit or at or near BMR before assessing caloric needs for activity. At or near but NEVER in an absolute calories deficit and definitely not for a long time.

Calculating your caloric requirements Step 1: BMR Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or what its called now - Resting Metabolic Rate(RMR), is the amount of calories you burn while sitting at home and watching Oprah all day. Basically how much energy you expand daily at complete rest. There are many factors that affect BMR namely height & weight (collectively termed as body surface area), Lean Body Mass (LBM), age etc. For example, if someone is 6’ 5”, 250 lbs; that is a LOT of body surface area for their metabolism to keep heated at 98.6 degrees and is going to require a lot more calories than someone who is 5’ 2” and 160 lbs. In case of lean body mass, people that are leaner have a better fat burning furnace usually because they are programming themselves or it’s just genetic. But the NUMBER ONE factor is age and there is a tremendous downturn metabolically with age. With women unfortunately it starts in the late 20’s. And I keep emphasizing to all my female clients that if you are less than 28 years old and you have trouble with weight now then you better get a handle on it…NOW! Because a woman’s metabolism starts to downgrade about age 28, it does again around age 35 and at age 40 its pretty much tumbling dice. With men it’s a little later. Early to mid 30’s is the first downturn and mid 40’s is another huge downturn. Further down I will elaborate on how to factor in the above to accordingly calculate your BMR.

Calculating your caloric requirements

BMR Formula Women:

655 + (4.35 X’s weight in lbs) + (4.7 X’s height in inches) – (4.7 X’s age) = approx BMR

Men:

66 + (6.23 X’s weight in lbs) + (12.7 X’s height in inches) – (6.8 X’s age) = approx BMR

What I will do is use two test samples (myself and Annie) and use the above formula. My wife is 5’ 4” , 125 lbs at 49 years of age. So using the above formula for females, her BMR comes to: FEMALE EXAMPLE: 655 + (4.35 x 125) + (4.7 x 64) – (4.7 x 49) = approx 1269 calories. So if she wanted to do the Cycle diet (which she has been doing for years), she starts at 1269 calories per day or slightly lower. But, if she still had fat to lose then she would have to “qualify” for the Cycle diet and then we would look at a relative deficit. The relative deficit is based upon also adding in your daily activity factor which is Step 2. I on the other hand am 5’10”, 230 lbs at 44 years of age. So using the above formula for males, my BMR would be: 66 + (6.23 x 230) + (12.7 x 70) – (6.8 x 44) = approx 2088 calories. Since I am following the Cycle Diet, I start at 2088 calories on my DIET days. I wont go above that amount on my diet days. But on the cheat day… Lord save the world! (I’ll get to that soon) But if I wanted to be in a relative deficit, I would have to consider my daily activity factor which is Step 2. ©2012 and beyond Balboa Media & Scott Abel *All rights reserved

Calculating your caloric requirements Step 2: Activity Factor The activity factor is calculated using the Harrison-Benedict method of calculating calorie needs for activity. Harrison – Benedict Method for calculating calorie needs for activity Sedentary – Little or no exercise Light Activity – Exercise 1-3 times per week Moderate Activity – Exercise 3-5 times per week Very Active – Hard exercise 6-7 times per week Extreme Activity – Hard exercise twice per day 6-7 days per week or very physical job + hard activity

BMR BMR BMR BMR BMR

x x x x x

1.2 1.375 1.5 1.725 1.9

Annie falls right in the “moderate activity” category. So based on that we would multiply her BMR with the factor of 1.5 BUT… Because she exercises 5 days a week and not 3 and her exercise is intense, I will move it to 1.6 instead of 1.5 that is suggested by the method. The point you should take away is that these values can and should be modified based on your situation. So, taking the 1269 and multiplying it by 1.6 it yields an approx of 2030 calories. Now getting back to the point of relative deficits, you remember in the relative deficit I said 500-800 calories to be in maximum relative deficit. Subtracting both the low and high end of these values from 2030 we get 1530 and 1230 respectively. So if I wanted her to just lose fat and get ready for the cycle diet I would stagger (not cycle) her calories at “12 – 15 – repeat – 12 – 15 – repeat” because those are the values I got by considering the low end of the relative deficit and the high end of the relative deficit. In my case, I’d give myself a 1.6 as well (moderate activity of exercising 5 days per week and with intensity). So taking my 2088 and multiplying it by 1.6 it yields an approx of 3340 calories. Considering both the low and high end of relative deficit it gives me 2840 and 2540 respectively. So if I had fat to lose, I would stagger my calories at “25 – 28 – repeat – 25 – 28 – repeat”.

Calculating your caloric requirements Step 3: Calories “needs assessment” The primary training goal that needs to be satisfied in order to follow the cycle diet protocol is to create a “supercompensation metabolism”. In order to do that we start with the basic calories “needs assessment”. As mentioned before, if you have a considerable amount of fat to lose then subtract calories for MAXIMUM Relative deficit (maximum deficit you can create without it becoming an absolute deficit and thereby causing all the negative effects mentioned above in the comparison). If you’re already pretty lean, you start right at the BMR before considering activity (i.e skip Step 2). It may not appear so but this does creates a huge calorie deficit.

The Spike Day Once you’re done calculating your daily calories limit, you need to follow that on a regular basis. If you are not yet at the point where you qualify for the cycle diet, then you need to buck up and stick with it. Don’t be discouraged as you will be there soon. However if you are lean and I mean really lean and in a “needs state” (which is assessed by leanness, constant hunger and eating ability), you are ready for the BEST part of the cycle diet – THE SPIKE DAY! Over time as you stay in a caloric deficit, the body starts to exhibit a multitude of negative outcomes most of which have been mentioned before in the discussion about absolute deficits. If you keep the caloric restriction up for a long time you will experience muscle loss, lack of energy and chronic fatigue. This is where the spike day comes in. The spike day serves as a means to refuel muscles and prevent the breakdown of lean tissue. More importantly, it plays the pivotal role of raising the levels of the hormone leptin which is the master hormone responsible for fat loss. The first step is to test supercompensation mode slowly once assessed by scheduling a spike day once a week. Do this for several weeks and then add a maximum of another half day of eating to it. Annie and I have been at this for so long and we eat half of Thursday and all of Sunday and we eat WHATEVER we want.

The Spike Day

The most beautiful thing about the supercompensation mode is that there is NO worrying about glycemic index or starches. There is no worrying about what oil the restaurant you went out to eat in cooked its food. On this day, there is NO CALORIE COUTING simply because you simply CANNOT take in enough calories on this day! You will be able to test if you are still in supercompensation mode when you see that your bodyweight each week returns to normal or within a pound or two or even lower. If that is not happening you are NOT in supercompensation mode yet and you still have some work to do. Do note that this is no matter how much weight you gain from the spike meals or spike days. So don’t look at the weight you gain on the spike day or the day after. Check your weight at the end of the week to know whether you in supercompensation mode or not. One of my clients on his supercompensation diet gained 15 lbs on a Saturday once I assessed him being in the mode and had him start eating that way. On the following Wednesday he lost 16 lbs. So the spike day allows you to stay in a fat burning mode but at the same time you refuel muscle glycogen and intra-muscular fats because your body will reload to areas where it’s needed the most. If you don’t need the calories you just end up getting FAT. This is why it’s important to assess whether you truly are in supercompensation mode. So don’t read the above paragraph and go out and start eating all the crap you want every Sunday while completely ignoring all that was said before it. You have to be in a supercompensation metabolic mode in order for this to work. But when you are…you literally have your cake and eat it too! ©2012 and beyond Balboa Media & Scott Abel *All rights reserved

Closeout Points There you have it…the entire Cycle Diet approach and everything you need to know to get started with it today. The next step is to go and download the Cycle Diet Cheat Sheet PDF located on the download page. The Cheat Sheet is a simplified version of the Cycle Diet and provides you with action steps based on your own unique starting point (body composition, training experience etc). CAUTION! Naturally, the most effective method to use when judging if you are ready for the Cycle Diet or not is to read your bio-feedback or have someone do it for you. With that being said, I realize not everyone has the knowledge to read their own bio-feedback nor do some people have someone to do it for them. But I also realize that you want to start today! So I have come up with a more generalized approach at determining your starting point on the road to adapting the Cycle Diet as your full time diet.

Scott The guidelines in the Cheat by Sheets are Abel just guidelines but they are a good indicator so please adhere to them until you are ready to start the Cycle Diet… and it won’t be long! Don’t get discouraged if you are not entirely ready for the full blown Cycle Diet. I promise it will all be worth it even if you have to wait a bit longer. The Cycle Diet is a lifestyle approach that will continually help you stay lean, stay focused, stay satisfied and continue living at your very best while enjoying the foods you love each and every week.