Erin Banks recently shared his full day of eating for the 2023 Legion Sports Fest Pro and the 2023 Olympia. He is set to attempt the first defense of his Men’s Physique Olympia title on this year’s Olympia stage and the prep is going as planned with an intense training routine and a stringent diet.
Erin Banks is an American IFBB Pro bodybuilder. He won the Men’s Physique Olympia title by dethroning former three-time champion Brandon Hendrickson at the 2022 Olympia. Winning the Olympia title as a professional bodybuilder is equivalent to scaling the tallest mountain.
In spite of having achieved the massive feat, Erin Banks is relatively new to the professional bodybuilding circuit. He earned the IFBB Pro card in 2019 but had to sit on the sidelines due to the global pandemic.
The 35-year-old made his professional bodybuilding debut with a second place finish at the 2021 Houston Tournament of Champions. In the nine pro shows he has competed in so far, Erin Banks has never finished outside the top three. His resume includes two Arnold Classic wins – in 2022 and 2023 along with the 2022 Men’s Physique Olympia title.
An outspoken competitor by nature, Erin Banks has entangled himself in fierce rivalries with elite competitors like Diogo Montenegro and former Olympia title holders Jeremy Buendia and Brandon Hendrickson. Although the trash talking aspect of his game may not sit well with a lot of people, Banks has added a lot of spice to the Men’s Physique division with it.
Erin Banks shares full day of eating
In a video posted on Dragon Pharma’s YouTube channel, Erin Banks shared what his full day of eating looks like eight weeks out of the 2023 Olympia. Banks explained his current diet that differs between his training days and off days. He elaborated:
“I have a couple of different diets. I have a ‘diet one’ which is a high diet. Then I have two ‘diet twos’. So the first diet two is when I am training. The second diet two is when I’m on an off day. So, I have two off-days which are Wednesday and Sunday. Today is Sunday!”
Erin Banks does not count the macros in his food and relies on his coach’s advice and his own instinct. So without further delay, let’s check out what the Men’s Physique Olympia champion’s diet looks like.
Meal 1
The first meal is the one that usually consumes a lot of time in Erin Banks’ day as he has to cook it himself. It is a modest egg and rice cereal meal that helps him sustain in the early going of the day.
“I do not eat my cream of rice plain. I have to have some type of flavor… Right now, I have the vanilla chai…” Erin Banks stated.
The Men’s Physique Olympia champion is gluten intolerant. So a food like oatmeal is exempted from his diet. While there is gluten-free oatmeal, Banks loves cream of rice cereal too much to opt for anything else.
“It just digests so well for me in my body…” he concluded.
Overall, the first meal consists of:
- Eggs – 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg cooked with pink salt
- Cream of Rice – 60 grams (75 grams on a training day) with flavoring
- Blackberries
- EAA formula with water [Spread across the day]
Energy – 410 Kcal; Macronutrient intake – Protein – 47 grams, Carbohydrates – 56 grams and Fats – 15 grams
[NOTE: Macronutrient profile and energy values are approximate estimates based on the data available]
Meal 2
The second meal of Bank’s off day is another modest mix of cream of rice and a protein source. Great tasting food is one of the things that Erin Banks sacrificed when he decided to become a professional bodybuilder. However, eating foods that are strictly meant for fueling performance and health has given him a successful career and the Men’s Physique Olympia champion is thankful for that.
His second meal of the day includes:
- Cream of Rice Cereal – 60 grams
- Almond Butter – 16 grams
- Whey Protein Isolate – 2 scoops
Energy – 561 Kcal; Macronutrient intake – Protein – 62 grams, Carbohydrates – 58 grams and Fats – 9.8 grams
Meal 3 and Meal 4
Erin Banks calls the third and the fourth meal of his day ‘the meal of champions’. If you’ve not guessed it already, it’s the good ol’ chicken and rice meal. Banks makes sure to prepare both these meals in advance and carries them with him when he heads out to work. This ensures that he eats healthy food irrespective of the busy schedule.
“Main thing is standing on top of your food. Even though you’re busy, you’re a dad, you’ve got crazy work hours, you got this going on, you got that going on… But regardless of what you’ve got going on in life, you’ve got to make sure you eat those meals because they are very important. Make it count,” Erin Banks stated.
Both meals are similar in composition – grilled chicken, rice and seasoning. However, the Men’s Physique Olympia champion consumes greens supplements and glutamine along with the third meal.
These meals typically consist of:
- Jasmine Rice – 150 grams
- Grilled Chicken – 200 grams
- Pink Salt and Hot Sauce for Seasoning
- Green Vegetable Supplements, Glutamine [with meal 3]
Energy – 497 Kcal; Macronutrient intake – Protein – 37 grams, Carbohydrates – 72 grams and Fats – 6 grams
Meal 5
Erin Banks has put in a lot of work to make rapid progress in the 2023 Olympia prep. Satiating the taste buds once in a while is as important as fueling the body with the right food. The Men’s Physique Olympia champion was allowed to enjoy a cheat meal by his coach and he headed straight to his favorite sushi restaurant to have dinner.
“Cheat meals are back in and the body is responding very well. So we get to treat ourselves to a nice little festivity here and we get to burn it off tomorrow! Tomorrow is chest day…”
A plate full of popular rainbow and dragon sushi rolls concluded Erin Banks’ day of eating. Here is the approximate nutrient profile of sushi rolls:
Energy – 650 Kcal; Macronutrient intake – Protein – 25 grams, Carbohydrates – 74 grams and Fats – 28 grams
Total approximate caloric intake and macronutrient profile for the day:
Energy – 2615 Kcal; Macronutrient intake – Protein – 208 grams, Carbohydrates – 352 grams and Fats – 65 grams
Men’s Physique Olympia champion goes grocery shopping
Most of the foods that Erin Banks allows to be put in his body are strictly organic. Be it fruits, vegetables or meat, nothing is exempted from this rule. Eating good quality food is an inseparable aspect of bodybuilding or fitness in general. However, Erin Banks suggests giving careful thought to other factors that matter as well. He advices:
“How many times are you consuming these foods? Are you getting your right macros in? Does it correlate with your workout plan? Does it correlate with what you’re outputting in the gym? So all that matters…”
Banks heard out for grocery shopping in the middle of his day. He resisted the urge to buy a peanut butter chocolate pie during his grocery haul at Costco and headed straight to the produce section. The 35-year-old bought blackberries and baby spinach. After buying grilled chicken strips for his kids he got cage-free egg whites for himself.
“This is what saves me in the morning. It’s my source of protein in the morning. I need that,” Banks said while putting a large pack of egg whites in his basket.
Erin Banks does not rely too much on seasonings to add flavour to his food. However, a dash of Himalayan pink salt makes food that much enjoyable for him and he got one for himself. Fats are as essential as protein and the Men’s Physique Olympia champion laid his hands on a sturdy almond butter jar, finishing his grocery shopping for the week to come.
Erin Banks will have to face hungry former champions Jeremy Buendia and Brandon Hendrickson to successfully defend his top spot at the 2023 Olympia. But if he can stay the course and bring an overall package to the stage, he might be in for a long title reign in the division.
You can watch Erin Banks explain his full day of eating below, courtesy of Dragon Pharma YouTube channel:
Published: 15 September, 2023 | 9:11 AM EDT
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