In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we work through everything lifters need to know about carbohydrates. We start with what carbohydrates actually do beyond just providing energy, including the glycogen story, why resistance training depletes far less glycogen than most people assume, and the other roles carbs play in supporting training quality, recovery, and adherence. We cover how to set your daily carbohydrate intake based on training volume rather than a fixed number, the low carb question handled honestly including where it works and where it costs you, and how to time carbs around training in a way that actually reflects the evidence.

We also get into the glycaemic index versus glycaemic load distinction, why GI matters far less than most people think once food is eaten in a real meal context, and how to select carbohydrate sources that support performance, satiety, and gut health across different phases. We wrap up as always with what we learned this week.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we run through another Instagram Q&A and welcome Talia to the show for her first appearance. We start with how to decide between cutting and bulking, covering why body fat percentage tends to be the more useful dial, where recomping and maintenance phases fit in, and how to make the call based on your current composition.

From there we get into meal frequency through a cut and contest prep, including how to structure eating around training performance, protein distribution, hunger management, and why total calorie intake matters more than meal frequency for metabolic rate. We finish on staying on track while travelling, from eyeballing versus tracking and how precise you really need to be, through to practical strategies for eating out and matching your approach to the phase you are in. We wrap up as always with what we learned this week.

Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

Talia O'Brien - https://www.instagram.com/dietitiantali/ 

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In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we kick off our macronutrient series with a full deep dive on protein. We start with why protein matters for you beyond muscle, from connective tissue and hormones to satiety and the thermic effect of food.

From there we get into how much you actually need, working through targets for your phase across a deficit, maintenance, or surplus, why the 1.6 grams per kilo figure is a lean mass ceiling rather than a hard limit for you, and how to adjust based on your body composition, age, and training. We bust the myth that you can only use 20 to 25 grams of protein per meal and explain how to distribute your intake across three or more feedings a day to get the most from it. We also cover protein quality, why collagen falls short if your goal is muscle, and practical tips to help you hit your target, from fixing a low-protein breakfast to smart snacking. As always, we wrap up with what we learned this week.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we break down how to actually hold onto muscle when you are in a calorie deficit.

We cover why perception of muscle loss is often inaccurate and why objective tracking matters before a deficit even begins. From there we get into how starting body fat percentage should influence your rate of loss, the research behind protein targets and why the commonly cited ceiling may undersell what leaner athletes actually need, and how carbohydrate distribution and peri-workout fuelling support training performance and indirectly protect lean mass. We also cover training volume management when recovery capacity is already reduced, and why sleep and stress are genuine muscle retention tools rather than optional considerations. We wrap up as always with what we learned this week.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we unpack why putting in effort and following a strategy doesn't always lead to the results you expect. We start by looking at the growing role of AI chatbots in nutrition advice, where they fall short compared to real coaching, and why confident answers aren't always accurate ones. From there, we get into the practical side of fat loss stalls, including the difference between eating well and actually being in a deficit, how weekends can erase a week's worth of progress, and why individual variability means your calorie target might need adjusting regardless of what a calculator says. On the muscle gain side, we cover training execution, the importance of fuelling performance, and why nutrition supports but doesn't drive hypertrophy on its own. We also touch on setting realistic expectations, choosing the right metrics, and knowing which lever to pull when progress stalls. As always, we wrap up with what we learned this week.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we share practical strategies that make fat loss more sustainable. We talk through keeping food choices consistent day to day, why that doesn't have to mean boring eating, and how it helps reduce food noise and improve scale accuracy. We cover daily movement as an underrated expenditure lever, how fibre and food volume can shift hunger management, and the difference between true physiological hunger and appetite. We also explore why highly palatable foods and flavour enhancers can sometimes work against you in a deficit, eating window strategies including the risks of extreme backloading, and where time-restricted feeding fits depending on training timing. The episode wraps up, as always, with what we learned this week.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we cover the four nutrient deficiencies we see most commonly across our clients and in clinical practice. We discuss vitamin D, iron, magnesium, and omega-3, including how prevalent they are, why they matter specifically for active individuals, how to test for them properly, and what adequate intake actually looks like beyond standard reference ranges. We also cover how to address each through food first and where supplementation makes sense, including which forms and doses are worth using. As always, we wrap up with what we learned this week.

Whether you are a physique athlete, a recreational lifter, or someone looking to optimise their health and performance through nutrition, this episode is for you.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

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Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians Podcast, we take a different approach and walk through what a typical day of eating actually looks like for each of us. We share our current training phase, calorie and macro targets, and how we structure meals around our schedules. We cover topics including fuelling early morning sessions, biasing macros throughout the day to allow flexibility at dinner, adjusting calories between training and rest days, and how autoregulation fits into a sustainable approach to building or maintaining. Whether you are tracking closely or operating with more flexibility, this episode reinforces that evidence-based nutrition can look very different from person to person.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

⸻

Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians podcast, we do a full breakdown on fat loss, covering everything from whether you are actually ready to diet through to what to do when progress stalls. We talk through dieting readiness, rate of loss, how aggressive you can afford to be depending on body composition and experience, and why protein targets in a deficit likely need to sit higher than what gets thrown around on social media. The conversation also covers cardio and NEAT as expenditure tools, why daily movement often drops more than people realise during a diet, and what metabolic adaptation actually looks like in practice versus the narrative that gets built online. We also discuss training in a deficit, performance red flags to watch for, and why progress photos, gym performance, and measurements deserve attention alongside the scale.

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

Refalo et al. paper:

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/9900/effect_of_dietary_protein_on_fat_free_mass_in.179.aspx 

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Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.

In this episode of The Bodybuilding Dietitians podcast, we unpack the role of cheat meals in both bulking and cutting phases, from unstructured high calorie days to strategic diet breaks and refeeds. We discuss why context matters, how the term "cheat meal" can shape your relationship with food, and what the research says about diet breaks for hunger, satisfaction, and adherence during prolonged deficits. The conversation also covers the "superfood" label, we share a few foods we genuinely prioritise and why, including things like extra virgin olive oil, potatoes, dark chocolate, and berries. The episode wraps up as always with what we learned this week!

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Links & Resources

Coaching Services – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/enquirenow 

Website – https://www.thebodybuildingdietitians.com/

Instagram

The Bodybuilding Dietitians – https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingdietitians/?hl=en

Team TBD – https://www.instagram.com/_teamtbd_/?hl=en

Jack Radford-Smith – https://www.instagram.com/jack.radfordsmith/?hl=en 

Damien Cox – https://www.instagram.com/dietitian_damiencox/?hl=en

Lauren Stevens – https://www.instagram.com/thephysiquedietitian_/?hl=en

⸻

Enjoying the podcast?

Make sure to subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a five-star rating or review, it really helps us grow and reach more listeners.