The metabolic recovery phase is an essential preliminary for all those wishing to lose weight and who come from low-calorie and/or hypoglucidic dietary backgrounds. For the same reason, bodybuilders are used to preceding the muscle definition phase by the mass, or anabolic (bulk) phase. Once this preliminary phase has been concluded, for those who need it, it is possible to approach the catabolic (cut) phase. It is therefore necessary to establish the objectives of this diet in terms of both calories to be taken and macronutrient percentages.

Calorie targets of the diet

  During the catabolic phase, the emphasis is on reducing calorie intake as much as possible without the cut adversely affecting recovery (or, if a negative influence is tolerable, that it is not excessive), without the yo-yo effect setting in and in any case without ever reducing calories below 70% of one’s calorie requirements. As previously suggested, it is desirable to start with a calorie cut of 10% of one’s requirements. If, during the weekly follow up, you notice a drastic drop in weight (more than 1kg in a week), then this means that the calorie cut has been excessive and you need to reduce it (we suggest by half: 5%). If, on the other hand, a negligible weight loss is noticed (200g in one week), then one should cut back even more (5-10% again). Finally, if a not excessive weight loss is noticed, then one should continue with the identified calorie intake. The moment the weight loss stops, one should cut calories by another 5-10%. And so on until you manage to lose weight without any disabling side effects. Every 2 to 8 weeks, depending on the extent of the calorie cut, a week of an isocaloric or less hypocaloric diet can be introduced (the greater the cut, the more frequently this should be used). More precisely, during the cut-off week, the diet should be restored to the calorie level used immediately before introducing the current cut. For example, starting from an isocaloric diet and introducing a cut of 10%, during the interruption you should resume the diet with calories equal to your requirements. If, on the other hand, after a 10% cut, you still cut 5%, then during the interruption you would have to go back to a 10% cut. And so on. Wanting to use more precise guidelines for a starting point for the experiment (which, we repeat, should be such, given the need to personalise the protocol and to proceed by trial and error in optimising it), it is possible to refer to the following scheme:

• from the isocaloric diet, cut calories by 10% to 90% of one’s requirements and follow this diet until the weight loss stops;
• every 8 weeks introduce 7 days of isocaloric diet;
• Cut calories by a further 10% to 80% of your requirements. Continue feeding in this way until the catabolic process stops again;
• every 4 weeks introduce 7 days of diet with calories equal to 90% of requirements;
• Cut calories by a further 5% to 75% of your requirements. Follow this diet until catabolism stops again;
• every 2 weeks introduce 7 days of diet with calories equal to 80% of your requirements;
• cut calories by a further 5 per cent to 70 per cent of one’s requirements and follow this diet until the weight loss stops;
• every 2 weeks introduce 7 days of diet with calories equal to 80% of your requirements.

It is reiterated that any diet should only be discontinued when the process of weight loss ceases, and that the low-calorie regime should be discontinued when:

1. while continuing to cut calories, you cannot lose weight;
2. when the required calorie cut exceeds 30% of the requirement;
3. when the body composition targets set a priori have been reached.

Qualitative objectives of the diet

  The most important thing to do at this stage of the diet, with regard to macronutrientintake, is to minimise the amount of carbohydrates taken in on average each day without this resulting in a worsening of post-workout recovery and, consequently, a deterioration in performance. Carbohydrates, in fact, as we have seen, are the main motor of the endocrine pancreas and, as such, have the power to increase insulinemia even very significantly. Now, insulin being the anabolic hormone par excellence, it is clear that a high-carbohydrate diet goes badly with a diet that should be geared towards weight loss. On the other hand, insulin, like carbohydrates themselves, is extremely important for post-workout recovery. Furthermore, as certain organs are dependent in their metabolism mainly on carbohydrates, a diet that is totally devoid of them would be unacceptable. The aim of this diet should therefore be to identify the minimum threshold of carbohydrates that needs to be consumed in order to keep the recovery process from training working and to maintain the body’s physiological functions. It is therefore a question of starting from that previously identified average daily intake level relative to the initial diet. The suggested intake for the average athlete for the initial diet is 100g/day. In order to find the carbohydrate set point, one has to proceed with the progressive cutting of carbohydrates by an amount of about 10-20g/day on average each observation period (which is usually one week), i.e. each time one repeats the anthropometric measurements, until one starts to notice worsening in the recovery processes from training (watch out for injuries). The calorie load, of course, just as for the anabolic phase and the metabolic recovery phase, should be adjusted accordingly, possibly keeping it constant by increasing, in parallel with the reduction of carbohydrates, the fat content or, better still, the protein content.

Approaching diet goals

  As with the anabolic and metabolic recovery phases, for the catabolic phase it is possible to act simultaneously on calories and macronutrient percentages, or first on one and then the other in various ways. From my own experience, I can suggest the solution of immediately bringing the carbohydrate content to the tolerable minimum, if known beforehand, and then gradually acting only on calories. Other approaches, more suitable for those who are trying a low-carbohydrate diet for the first time and who therefore do not know the glucose set point, may be the following:

• intervene first on calories, without varying the percentage glucose load, and then modify the latter when the quantitative approach begins to show signs of impotence;
• Intervene on calories first, followed by carbohydrate intervention after the first calorie cut. One proceeds with the carbohydrate cut from week to week regardless of the results of the diet, or only when the strategy adopted loses power. Once the carbohydrate set point has been found, then, if required, a further calorie cut can be made.
• Alternate various calorie and carbohydrate interventions until the calorie and carbohydrate set points are found.

It is also possible to intervene on carbohydrates first, and then only switch to calorie cutting once the carbohydrate set point has been identified, but this approach seems less effective than the others. The introduction of a calorie cut after a period of a low-carbohydrate diet may not have the desired effect because the body’s metabolic (hormonal) conditions may not be conducive to a reduction in body weight.

The stabilisation diet

  As previously clarified, the human organism, by its homeostatic mechanisms, tends to keep its vital parameters constant, as does its body composition. Well, at the end of a diet focused on weight loss, the organism is in such a condition that its homeostatic mechanisms have not yet acquired the new body composition parametersas basal values, i.e. those towards which to strive. At the end of a catabolic diet, especially if it is discontinued because the body composition can no longer be changed in the desired direction despite not having reached its goal on the somatocard, the body is in a condition of extreme sensitivity to stress tending towards weight gain. The yo-yo effect is therefore more likely to occur than in other contexts. In order to prevent a new increase in weight and a recovery of the initial values of body composition, it is suggested to precede any other attempt to modify body composition by a period of stabilisation of the results obtained. More practically, this involves returning in a relatively gradual manner, retracing in reverse all the steps consisting of caloric and/or glucidic cuts made during the catabolic diet period, until one returns to the initial (isocaloric) diet. Ideally, you should take one step back each week, so that in a relatively short time you should be back to the initial diet regime, but you may decide to slow down if you notice the beginning of a yo-yo effect (remember again that it is desirable to check weight and body composition periodically). Once you have returned to the initial diet, then, before starting a new caloric/glucidic increase or cut, you should observe a period of constant isocaloric dieting, so as to give the body time to adapt to the new body composition parameters. I recommend a duration of 10/14 days of isocaloric diet (initial diet) for every kilo of weight lost.