I am hardcore about what I eat and I stick to the basics all year. My diet isn't much different pre-contest. I might just eat more carbohydrates in those last three weeks before the contest. ‘Three weeks?’ That’s another question I get a lot! Yes, three weeks. I can't carb up in a few days. It doesn't work for me as I need time to load due to my fast metabolism. Plus I bloat up if I intensify the loading process over a short time period. I don't want bloat. My trademark used to be size, but now I am a dry freak. I want lines and clean muscle. No "bloat" at all. Do I want to be bigger? Not really, as bigger is not necessarily better. I can get bigger, don’t doubt that. By eating huge amounts of food (everything) and training slow and heavy but the result is pure "bloat", a face like a chipmunk and possibly a new title,..’Meathead’! No thanks! I want to look good in clothes, I want to walk like a normal person, I want that healthy glow and when people look at me I want them to be able to relate to my appearance and say..."Wow I like that" instead of ‘Gross!’.

I know I can accomplish this look by maintaining muscle quality with a proportional amount of mass. Hopefully you won't tell me that you know someone that used to train with weights and was twice my size. Yikes, I hate that and love being able to retaliate with "Oh, he must have been 560 pounds huh?"

Calories used to be my biggest gauge in measuring how I wanted to look and I ate huge amounts of protein when I was younger. Now I have since found that while I obviously need a little more protein than the average person, my intake is within reason. I hardly ever do more than 300 grams of protein a day and I concentrate more on fiber and fats. Yes, I love carbohydrates but I eat low glycaemic carbohydrates. I love fruit and will indulge on fruit before a workout but mainly my thing is vegetables, lean proteins and high biological value protein supplements such as SPS Lean Muscle & SPS Pro-Meal. It’s all about balance and I try to eat with logic in mind. I try to listen and understand my body and what it needs. Foods have all the nutrients and vitamins in them but if you don't eat with balance in mind you’re going to have some problems performing in the gym and you going to hate working out.

Intense workouts need intense nutrition & a carefully planned supplement plan. In the off season I have my little mind games which inspire me and check my training partners are not hiding behind their shirts. If you train with me be committed or be bumped off the team. The best mind game I have is.."Shirts off fellas". My training partners hate that because I will inspect all aspects of their body while they struggle with their set - no hiding or camouflaging can be done during a tough set. If you’re fat you will hang the gut out there for me to see. If you claim to have been eating like I have instructed you and you have sworn up and down how you stuck to the diet but can't explain why you're not getting the Strydom like hardness with the intense workouts day after day, one session with shirts off will tell me instantly if you’re telling the truth. Actually with this kind of training, diet and supplementation you should see a difference on your body every week.

Muscle should be shaping and your body weight should be changing. Not dramatically. Can you gain 20 pounds in three weeks? No, and who wants to? If you want to do that then you’re not a bodybuilder because that will not be quality muscle. Weight needs to come progressively with time. Muscle weighs more than fat and as you gain more muscle so your bodyweight will go up. Also remember that products such as my Nitro Blast & Pump Power formulas have powerful muscle cell volumising effects, which might initially contribute to a rapid increase in lean body mass.

If you’re a beginner it might stay the same as you lose fat. Wow..now your closet becomes out of order and that's when you come directly to Strydom Wear and we will be more than happy to equip that closet with new stylish athletic wear...LOL!

I eat around 4 500 to 5 500 calories a day. This is not always easily accomplished with whole food meals alone and here’s where intelligent supplementation by way of SPS Mass Builder and Pro Meal shakes helps provide the protein and calories I need to fuel my body. Now that doesn't mean you need to go out and try to do that as there is a formula behind my calorie intake. I am tall 6 ft 2 inch. My work load in the gym is at an advanced level with long endurance-like workouts. My metabolism is very high. I don't take in thyroid medication. I used thermogenic fat burners like my Burn & Build which works very effectively with my diet. Again, how do I eat that many calories while eating clean? I eat healthy fats. Natural fats like, avocados, nuts(peanut butter is my favorite) and egg yellows. I eat dairy products too, just the low fat kind. I don't think we can get enough calcium in our diets with supplements and green leafy produce. I eat fat free cottage cheese, yogurt and milk. It does a body good. I may cut these out the last few weeks before a show but I feel it when I don't get dairy in my body. As I mentioned earlier, I eat huge amounts of fiber. My vegetables, sweet potatoes and oatmeal take care of this.

Who cooks all this food for me? I do. I am a man and I can take care of myself. I say this because bodybuilders are famous for getting their girlfriends or wives to cook for them. In the end, she becomes a maid. That's not cool. A girlfriend is your friend, your lover, your partner and yes, you can make each other meals but don't turn her into your slave. I even see bodybuilders making their girl friends carry the food! Come on, if you don't have the energy to do things for yourself your diet is clearly off and you need to analyse the diet for deficiency.

People always ask me how I find the time to run my business, train, fulfill my appearance obligations and still prepare all my meals? It’s easy to cook and clean dishes, you just have to get into a groove of doing it. Also remember that meal replacements such as SPS Pro Meal can come in handy whilst on the run. Here’s some help to get you started: Go to the store and you know that meat dept that has fish lying in the fridge? Buy some of it and take it home. Turn on the stove top, place a non stick pan on there and place the fish in that pan. Fry it and eat it. I bet that will be the best piece of fish you ever ate. Non-stick pans could have been designed with bodybuilders in mind since you don’t need grease, oil or butter to pan fry this fish and with just a few spices it will taste better than it would in a high class restaurant. Don't be fooled by my trendy hip look. I do everything for myself. A monk once told me, "Gary remember, you can study your mind to know many things but you still must chop wood and carry water".

So when I say be balanced, you know I mean in your diet, your training and your lifestyle. You need to have ambition and goals but to achieve them and fully appreciate your success you need to chop the wood!