T Nation

Diet Critique Please

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

Currently 183lbs @ 5’10
Lifts are - 350/235/435

I want to get down to around 170-175 while keeping or building muscle; I’m in no rush.

I already started 3 weeks ago by simply cutting out junk food(which I ate a lot of) and saying bye to my large pre-bedtime, high carb meals that I was fond of having. This has brought me from 187/188 to the 183/184 I am now. At the same time I have been still getting stronger in the gym.

I now feel that to continue I should start actually knowing my daily cal intake and macro breakdown and then slowly reducing it over the weeks.

Can someone direct me to the best site for nutritional information(so I can calculate my macros and cals) ?

This is only preliminary( I will tweak and define portions better once I get some good info)

8am - 3 whole eggs, 1/2 cup oats, banana, 2 tbsp peanut butter - all blended

12-1pm- 1 steak or one chicken breast, 1 serving(around 2 cups) of mixed vegetables

5-6pm - Same as lunch.

9-10pm(I go to bed@1am) - 3 whole eggs, 2 tbsp peanut butter - blended

pre workout - 1 serving whey, 1 scoop ice tea mix(35g carbs)
post workout - same as pre.

So, pretty simple, this is roughly how I eat now only I plan to make it more consistent and regimented. I know the carbs aren’t super low but I have been leaning out as is on this and I figure it will give me more room to move down as I begin to stall.

I also plan to pick up some omega3s to balance out with all the 6 and 9 im getting…

Thoughts ?

#2

Why do you want to get down to 170-175? Do you have a general body fat precentage you can give us?

#3

Why? I didn’t really want this to turn into a thread about the merits of cutting at a certain level of development vs continuing to add mass…

But-
#1- To look good for summer
#2- To potentially compete in the summer in a lower weight class
#3- My diet has been shit, doing a cut will, I hope, instill some good habits.

I don’t really know my bodyfat % ; I would just be guessing. I’m fairly lean. I have lots of vascularity in my forearms, quite a bit in my upper arms when pumped, and i’m beginning to have vascularity in my shoulders/upper chest when pumped. My legs are fairly well defined with some cuts. Skinfold measurement beside my bellybutton is roughly 1/2 inch.

Maybe I will try to throw up some pics.

#4

Ok, so I went and tried to add up all the meals and get a macro breakdown. The numbers aren’t totally accurate as I don’t have a scale to weigh my food. When it says that a serving size for a steak is 100g it’s hard to adjust to what you think your actually eating…

I got(without pre and post workout) -

Calories - 1700
Protein - 155g
Carbs - 120g
Fat - 60g

Pre and post are

Calories - 180 x2
Protein - 25g x2
Carbs - 25g x2

Totals on workout days then are

Calories - 2420
Protein - 205g
Carbs - 170g
Fat - 60g

For a ratio of 46/40/14

So to me carbs are on the high side and fat on the low side. What about calories, Where do you generally start, in terms of maybe a lean mass multiple, to begin a cut?

Thanks.

#5


To get an idea of where i’m at. This is 183/184.

#6

Bump , no one wants to help me out ?

#7

It looks to me like you are at a really low bf %. Have u checked it?

#8

[quote]heavylifter36 wrote:
It looks to me like you are at a really low bf %. Have u checked it? [/quote]

No, haven’t had it checked. That picture may make me look slightly leaner than I truly am because of the shadows.

I basically want to get to 6/7 %, contest type condition, just for the fun of it, the experience, the discipline, and, of course, to look awesome for summer.

Still no one has given me any advice on the diet…

?

#9

just based off what you posted…

i think 2400 cals is a good starting point for training days…and probably 2100 for non…but, you will have to adjust based on your rate of progress obviously…

your protein is kind of low on the non-training… i would do 200g or so on both days…it is paramount you keep protein high as it will spare lean body mass…

60g of fat is fine…your body doesn’t understand percentages…only total amounts…that is a good amount for your weight…altho you could do more fat on non training and less carbs…

as far as carbs…

basically, i would just systematically cut out carbs over time…However, you may not have to cut carbs/calories as your metabolic rate may not drop…so, you really need to pay attention to how you are progressing on weekly basis…if you are losing at a reasonable rate(like 1 lb a week), i would not cut cals at all…

buy a scale and use fitday.com to track cals/macros…eventually you will get in some type of routine, and it will become easier…

#10

[quote]D Public wrote:
just based off what you posted…

i think 2400 cals is a good starting point for training days…and probably 2100 for non…but, you will have to adjust based on your rate of progress obviously…

your protein is kind of low on the non-training… i would do 200g or so on both days…it is paramount you keep protein high as it will spare lean body mass…

60g of fat is fine…your body doesn’t understand percentages…only total amounts…that is a good amount for your weight…altho you could do more fat on non training and less carbs…

as far as carbs…

basically, i would just systematically cut out carbs over time…However, you may not have to cut carbs/calories as your metabolic rate may not drop…so, you really need to pay attention to how you are progressing on weekly basis…if you are losing at a reasonable rate(like 1 lb a week), i would not cut cals at all…

buy a scale and use fitday.com to track cals/macros…eventually you will get in some type of routine, and it will become easier…[/quote]

Thank you.

#11

Just for a point of reference, contest type condition for body building is closer to 2-4%. You look about 8% now so getting down to 6-7% shouldn’t be too difficult. See how the diet goes as far as energy levels are concerned and remember that you can do some quick bodyweight circuits on your non training days to keep the metabolism moving / add extra calorie burn.

Your diet is a bit off as far as balance, mainly due to you getting the vast majority of your carbs first thing in the morning. I would recommend (and I am no expert mind you, but I do know a little) spreading out your carbs more evenly over the course of the day, trying to stay with veggies for carbs as much as possible, and try to get the same amount of carbs on training days as you do when you are not training. If you were to get 120g of carbs a day the days would look as follows (in carbs per meal:)

Workout Days

Breakfast - 20g carbs
Lunch - 20g carbs
Mid afternoon snack - 15g carbs
Dinner - 5g carbs
Pre - 30g carbs
Post - 30g carbs

Non Workout Days

Breakfast - 30g carbs
Mid morning snack - 30g carbs
Lunch - 20g carbs
Mid afternoon snack - 20g carbs
Dinner - 20g carbs

Try to get as much lean protein as possible, as well as good healthy fats. However, not forcing 80g of carbs down first thing in the morning and eating with good frequency can both help your body burn more fat throughout the day.

#12

[quote]Ghall wrote:
Just for a point of reference, contest type condition for body building is closer to 2-4%. You look about 8% now so getting down to 6-7% shouldn’t be too difficult. See how the diet goes as far as energy levels are concerned and remember that you can do some quick bodyweight circuits on your non training days to keep the metabolism moving / add extra calorie burn.

Your diet is a bit off as far as balance, mainly due to you getting the vast majority of your carbs first thing in the morning. I would recommend (and I am no expert mind you, but I do know a little) spreading out your carbs more evenly over the course of the day, trying to stay with veggies for carbs as much as possible, and try to get the same amount of carbs on training days as you do when you are not training. If you were to get 120g of carbs a day the days would look as follows (in carbs per meal:)

Workout Days

Breakfast - 20g carbs
Lunch - 20g carbs
Mid afternoon snack - 15g carbs
Dinner - 5g carbs
Pre - 30g carbs
Post - 30g carbs

Non Workout Days

Breakfast - 30g carbs
Mid morning snack - 30g carbs
Lunch - 20g carbs
Mid afternoon snack - 20g carbs
Dinner - 20g carbs

Try to get as much lean protein as possible, as well as good healthy fats. However, not forcing 80g of carbs down first thing in the morning and eating with good frequency can both help your body burn more fat throughout the day.[/quote]
Sounds like solid advice to me. I have never been down below 6% though, but I think the above advice is the way to get there. U might have to try increasing cals for 1-2 weeks if you completely stall out.

#13

[quote]tmay11 wrote:
To get an idea of where i’m at. This is 183/184. [/quote]

I don’t know man Dropping another 10lbs is not needed unless your wanting to compete or something.

#14

Thanks for the help guys. I think I will try to spread my carbs out more evenly throughout the day, I can see how a high carb breakfast could interfere with fat loss. As far as eating the same amount of carbs on wo days vs non-wo days I don’t know. I feel like I can eat lots pre and post and it wont affect my fat loss, plus there is the huge benefit of helping to keep all my muscle(i’m scared shitless about loosing my muscle…) So I think I will continue to consume more carbs on wo days - or at least until I start to stall…

I think I might post some pics here every week to help keep myself accountable .

#15

It will be hard to lose ten pounds from 8% bodyfat at 183 without losing any muscle. You currently have around 15 lbs of bodyfat so if you were to only lose fat and have no muscle loss you would be down to 5 lbs of bodyfat at 173 which is just under 3% bodyfat (and would be extremely difficult to do.)

If you were to get to about 6.5% bodyfat at 173 that would mean losing 4lbs of fat and 6lbs of muscle from where you currently are. You could also lose 3lbs of just fat from where you currently are to put you at 180lb and about 6.5% bodyfat. Just something to consider.

#16

Why are people assuming that they know I’m exactly 8% BF… hilarious. I even said the picture was generous.

#17

[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Why are people assuming that they know I’m exactly 8% BF… hilarious. I even said the picture was generous. [/quote]

no sweat man, I’m just giving a frame of reference assuming you were at 8%. If you want to know for sure you can get tested and the rest is pretty easy math. You seem like you do a good job of figuring out what works for your body and I’m sure you will get to where you want be in time for summer! Good luck with the cut!