Female Intermediate Diet:

1. Being or occurring at the middle place, stage, or degree or between extremes
2. One who has mastered the basics, but has yet to reach the full level of potential
3. One who is ready for more in depth training, still needing growth and refinement while refinement is the secondary concern

You've now mastered the five points from the steroid.com training outline, your endurance and strength is up, you have gained lean muscle tissue, yet your gains and progress have begun to slow down or even stop. Your body fat may have increased slightly, but it is still in a very manageable place. Youre not overweight or Fat by any means, and again your gains have begun to slow dramatically. If this describes you, then you are ready for the steroid.com Intermediate Level diet.

When comparing the beginners diet with the intermediate diet, the first things youll notice is the food is pretty much the same; its the amount of food that has changed. Protein will increase, you should be carrying more muscle mass. Fats will also increase a bit, but it will be the carbs that are the big difference. Your ratios of the 3 major nutrients will remain close to the same; in fact, no matter how far you advance they should always remain close to the same.

There is no way to determine exactly if you are ready to follow this diet from our end at steroid.com. Youre going to have to use your best judgment. Its important to remember, everyone is different, and no ones body has the exact same reaction to a certain diet. However, there are key principles that apply to everyone, nutrients do not change from person to person, a carb is a carb for you just as it is your training partner. Its the manner in which our body processes these nutrients that affect all of us differently. As everyone is different, there are key points to consider that can help you determine if you are in fact ready for the intermediate level diet.

Q: Have you gained a lot of excess body fat? Are you gaining body fat rapidly on the beginners diet?

A: If so, this diet is not for you.

Q: Did you start the beginners diet at a relatively high body fat to begin with? By High Body Fat we are not necessarily talking about fat as it is described in every day society, but Physique fat. If so are you still Physique fat today?

A: If you are still over 25% body fat then this diet is not for you. Try to get yourself under 25%, lets shoot for somewhere in the 17-21% range. If you continue on the beginners diet outline and continue to train hard and with consistency, then you will reach that goal. You may very well be chomping at the bit to move to the intermediate diet, but learn to be patient; it will pay off far greater for you in the long run.

Q: Are you relatively lean, have gains begun to slow down and are they becoming increasingly difficult?

A: If you are lean, 21% or under, if your progress has slowed down and the gains are becoming difficult, then this diet is for you.

Its that simple, if you can answer NO to the first two questions and YES to the last, and you have mastered the 5 Points discussed in the beginners training outline, then you are in fact ready for the diet to follow.

Note: This diet is designed assuming all things are perfect. Assuming that the individual who will use this diet is following all guidelines perfectly, is in perfect health, has had a positive genetic response to the beginner diet, and is not someone who suffers from some type of metabolic disorder. If the individual is someone who recently lost a lot of weight using the beginner diet from steroid.com or any other diet, they should not jump immediately to this diet. They should hold their new weight for an extended amount of time, 12 weeks minimum. If this person does not, she will indeed gain a massive amount of body fat very quickly

Intermediate Meal Plan

Daily Totals:

Calories (KCL): 2030-2240

Protein (PT): 151-171

Carb: 106-136

Fat: 83-115

Note: Diet does not take into account carbs from green vegetables. This will take your carb total over the amount listed but dont let this worry you at all. Good news is, although on paper it looks very low in carbs, you will have more then enough energy to train. Further, you will be eating a substantial amount of Good fat to fuel your training more then adequately.

VERY IMPORTANT

Our number one goal is QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY. Because of this, it is imperative that we stay within approximately 15lbs of our contest weight; this does not include water loss weight. If you are not a competitor, you should still follow this rule; you will look better and you will feel better.

If at any time you begin moving beyond this point, you need to examine your diet. Use the advice given in this diet guide and examine your cardio schedule

IF AT ANY TIME YOU NEED TO LOSE BODY FAT AND YOU BEGIN TO STAGNATE, YOU WILL NEED TO BEGIN MOVING YOUR CARB AND FAT SOURCES AROUND.

At this point alternate each meal, in one meal have foods that give you carb sources, but take away the fats, in the next meal take away the carb sources and keep in the fats.

You may need to begin cycling your carb intake. Not in the manner in which you might do if you were dieting hard for competition. You will need to experiment with this.

When we speak of Carb Cycling in this case, simply cut the carbs down one day and then go back to the normal amount the next. At times it may be wise to keep the carbs cut back 2 days in a row, use sound judgment. This is the kind of thing that cannot be written out in detail since it will greatly vary from person to person.

Your daily caloric intake should be split into 3 sections that are adequately planned for utilizing Proteins, Carbs and Fats to the fullest extent possible. Protein being the bulk of your calories, but this does not mean the other 2 nutrients are not of equal importance. Protein will make up 50% of your daily intake, while carbs will be at approximately 30% and fats will make up approximately the remaining 20%. This only refers to your actual food intake. Fat intake will in actuality be slightly higher than this due to the supplements you take, which will be discussed further into the diet outline.

Notes on diet

Notes on Food Types

1. Eggs: Eggs are one of the best sources of protein you can consume. With all foods, no matter how much protein the food has, the body can only use and process a limited amount from each food. Eggs, however, rank higher than almost any food we can ingest; almost the entire amount of protein from the egg will be utilized. Omega-3 eggs have even more benefit for the bodybuilder, as well as for general health. Omega-3 eggs have Omega-3 fats in them, a huge building block to a well-tuned physique; as well as an added bonus in helping to control cholesterol. If you cant find Omega-3 eggs, which should be very rare, regular eggs will work fine.
2. Whey Protein: There are a million brands and types of whey proteins on the market today, and it can be a difficult task to know which one is best.

Choose a protein powder that is of isolate form, not concentrate. Isolate protein absorbs more efficiently then concentrate.

Choose a protein powder that is very low in sugar, close to no sugar or even no sugar is what you want.

Choose a protein powder that is not full of saturated fat.

Choose a protein powder that is not high in cholesterol.

Once you have narrowed your search down to meet the above requirements, choose the protein powder that taste the best.

Peanut Butter: Use only natural peanut butter. Your peanut butters ingredient list should read, Peanuts and salt thats it. It should have no added sugar. A jar of Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter will have 2 grams of sugar listed on the back label for one serving of 2tbsp naturally.
Beef: Your choices of beef should be filet minion, top round sirloin, lean ground beef (4%-*% fat) in that order.
Chicken: Make chicken breast your primary source of chicken. Chicken is high in protein, low in unhealthy fats and a perfect bodybuilding food.
Green Vegetables: Broccoli, asparagus, spinach and green beans should be your main source of vegetables. Other vegetables can be acceptable and can be good for you, but the before mentioned should be your primary source. Vegetables such as corn, white potatoes, and tomatoes should be held to a very minimal consumptionthere is no benefit for these in your diet at this stage.
Fish: Choose fish such as flounder or cod. Salmon is also a great choice in place of beef.
Turkey: Choose the white meat.
Rice: Brown or white is fine. If you put on body fat easily stick with Brown. Both are very similar, however, brown rice is lower on the glycemic index. (see definition for glycemic index)
Sweet Potatoes & Oatmeal: Simply excellent sources for your carbs, and perfect foods for aiding in putting on muscle in your diet.

Measuring Food

1. Meats: Measured raw, NOT cooked
2. Rice: Measured cooked, NOT raw
3. Oats: Measured raw, NOT cooked
4. Nuts, Peanut Butter: Simply measured in a cup or tablespoon

Cheat Meals

For most, one cheat meal per week is acceptable and recommended.

For those that have an extremely fast metabolism, 1 small cheat food or treat per day is acceptable, but limit the entire meal to once per week. You should already know if you have a very, very fast metabolism.

Foods to be Avoided

Acceptable Condiments

1. Mustard: calorie free, eat all you want

2. Vinegar: all you want

3. Any spice such as pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, etc.

4. Low carb Ketchup: Ketchup itself has no place in your diet, but a little low carb ketchup which has 1g of sugar per serving will be acceptable.

5. Low Carb Buffalo Sauce: this can be a great addition to your chicken; a low carb buffalo sauce should have no sugar added and only 1 carb per serving.

6. Any condiment made by Walden Farms. Walden Farms makes a line of salad dressings, sauces and other items that are fat free, sugar free and gluten free.

Condiments or Additives to be Avoided

1. Regular Ketchup

2. Barbeque Sauce

3. Regular Salad Dressings. See list of approved salad dressings

4. Creamers

5. Any sauce with sugar or abundant carbs. If the sauce has more than 1-2 grams of sugar, avoid it.

Approved Salad Dressings

1. Oil & Vinegar

2. Sugar free Italian, Balsamic or Greek

3. Any Salad Dressing by Walden Farms

Protein Bars

As a rule, protein bars and other so called bodybuilding snacks or meal replacements should be avoided as much as possible. Most of these items will have more sugar in them then a regular candy bar. True, they may indeed be packed full of protein but the sugar far outweighs the benefit.

If you are bulking, you find yourself in a jam and there is no other option, choose a protein bar that has the least amount of sugar. This should be a very limited occurrence. If you are serious about your diet, you will plan out and make arrangements to ensure youre getting the proper foods.

Hard Gainers

If you are in fact a true hard gainer, some adjustments may need to be made.

• The first change would be adding in more carbs per serving, start by adding an extra cup of rice or oats to your meals that have these foods.
• Your next option would be adding an extra meal or two. Choose meals that are similar to the ones in the outline.
• The 3 ^rd and final option, after you have tried both of the other two methods, adding in more meals or adding extra carbs to all your meals, now its time to do both. Less then 5% of you will fall into this category.
• If you follow the above outline for 8 weeks and are still not gaining, continue to add in more meals and more carbs. At this stage there is no sample Hard Gainers diet, this diet should make anyone grow, it doesnt matter who you are.

The Diet Outline itself

The above diet outline will help you make the progress you desire, however, as this is a guided plan, there are substitutions that are acceptable. When it comes to the meats and protein sources, what you have read above should be followed fairly closely. There are instances when other meats are acceptable, i.e. things like beef tenderloin can be great, but the above listed is your staple.

If you desire other carb sourced foods, and this is the big one where many people want a change, always examine the glycemic index. You should make your choices from foods that are lower on the glycemic index. If you want to sub one carb source food that is in your diet outline with another, gauge the glycemic index to make your choices. See the discussion on Glycemic Index below.

Fats, these will be harder to substitute then carbs. Fats are a very important aspect to the diet, but keep in mind that as great and as important as fats are, most of the best ones have been mentioned in the diet outline already. Foods loaded with saturated fat are not acceptable. Foods that have fats that lack the connecting piece of the puzzle when it comes to healthy fats are not acceptable.

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index (GI) measures the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. The faster the carb breaks down, the faster it will release glucose into the bloodstream. The foods that do this fast are labeled high GI foods. The slower the release of glucose, the lower the food will rank on the GI.

Below is a chart to show how some foods rank on the GI.

Supplements

*Omega-3 Fish Oil: 3000mg every day, split into 3 doses, taken with food

*Coral Calcium: 100mg-1500mg every day, taken with food

*Potassium: 99mg every day, taken with food

*Juice Plus+ or Related Product: 2 garden blend in the morning, 2 orchard blend at night, both taken with food

You can take other supplements if you like, but try to stay away from anything that has added sugar in it. A lot of supplements contain sugar, and as someone looking to build a great body sugar is one of the number one enemies. The supplements above, along with the diet youll be following is all you really need to get the job done. Whats more, youll be keeping your pocket book fuller if you spend less on supplements and rely on food as the bulk of your daily intake.

When to Advance to a More Advanced Diet

• Its going to be an even harder task determining if you are truly ready to move from the intermediate diet then it was compared to moving from the beginners diet to the intermediate diet. The truth is, most who read these outlines will never be ready to move to the advanced diet. Most do not have the genetics; most will simply get very fat if they move to the advanced diet.
• -There may be a time when you need to add in more food to this diet, you may find very well that you need more food then this diet provides but still less then the advanced diet. Still, most have and never will have any business moving to the advanced diet.
• -If you do fall into the majority, if you are one of the ones who should not advance to the advanced diet, do not view it as a failing. You can only control how your body reacts to a certain extent. At this point your goal will be continually refining what youve already learned to make it fit even better for your body type.
• -At this point there is a chance you spend part of the year seriously trying to gain muscle, which is what the above diet is for, but you spend the other part of the year trying to lose the excess body fat and basically trying to Rip Up. Because of this, each time you diet, and then return to this diet once your fat loss dieting period ends, this diet will again help you gain muscle.

For those that have begun to struggle gaining muscle on this diet, you have followed all the procedures laid out to help remedy this, but they are no longer working, you are the few who are candidates for the advanced level diet. This does not mean you will be bigger or stronger then those who have to stay at the intermediate level diet; the intermediate level diet does not mean the individual herself is Intermediate it simply means you require more food to growthats it.

Figure & Fitness Competitors

The above plan will work just fine for you. Some of you will need to decrease the carbs a bit to maintain a close weight to your competition weight, if so thats fine, just make sure you make the adjustments. However, when it comes time for show preparations you will need to implement a contest diet.

Bodybuilders

Many of you will need to add in more calories over a course of time, simply follow the same guidelines listed in the Hard Gainers section. However, when it comes time for show preparations you will need to implement a contest diet.