experience: just started lifting weights when i was 16, fucked around till around last year, went from 200 to 250
current diet is meal plan stuff for college, usually like
morning: 30g whey concentrate shake with 30g dextrose, 5g leucine mixed in
workout right after shake
pwo: 30g whey concentrate shake with 60g dextrose, 5g leucine, 5g creatine
breakfast: wheat bagel with ham, this egg circle thing they serve, cheese,
skim milk 130cals and 14g protein
lunch: varied, deli meat sandwiches or two chicken breast sandwiches, about 10 ounces of chicken total for two sandwiches according to worker, 100g of peanuts, apple or banana
dinner: same as above
bed: casein shake (us milk protein) 30g
I also take a multi in the morning.
routine:
CHest and shoulders, Bike intervals for cardio
back
arms, sprint intervals for cardio
legs
repeat (i don’t plan off days, i always go at least 6 times a week, its usually a saturday or sunday i miss because of my internship)
I need to cut, I’m way too heavy for my liking and clothes like jeans are starting to get uncomfortable.
I am thinking about following a video called big on a budget. I can mash together a similar meal plan listed on the video with a combination of college meal plan items and store brought foods.
I need some advice, i have never been on a cut and i don’t know my ratio to macros and cals and all that stuff. before now i just tried to eat healthy and just made sure i ate enough protein, stay away from fast foods etc.
Take my advice with a grain of salt as I’ve got my own diet issues, but if I was you I’d start by taking all of the bread out of those meals. It looks like you eat a bagel or sandwich at every meal. That’d be an easy way to cut some carbs out.
[quote]Tyler johnson wrote:
fucked around till around last year, went from 200 to 250[/quote]
Why did you do that? How much did your lifts go up from the additional bodyweight? How did your strength/weight ratios change?
I don’t really have anything to offer, I’m just curious.
This seems like a pretty major bodyweight jump to me, especially given that there are a number of people at your height and starting weight who lift comparable numbers as you. Did you find much value in increasing your weight like that, or did you do it because you were “bulking” and that’s just what you do?
First, congratulations on your strength numbers; they’re very good for someone so young, and who has been lifting seriously for only a year.
Second, and if you’ll pardon the expression, you have paid a heavy price for your strength gains with respect to the amount of fat you’ve gained. That said, there is an upside to being this overweight–you can make great progress towards recomping by simply focusing on eating less. At this point, there is really no need to obsess over specific calorie targets, macros, etc (unless you just want to). In fact, the only macro-related goal I would suggest is that you get ~200 g of protein per day. Other than that, find a way to take in fewer calories than you expend, doing so by whatever means is least painful for you–low carb, carb cycling, low fat (but not too low), intermittent fasting, etc. Right now, the ‘how’ of your calorie deficit matters very little (as long as your protein intake is adequate). So pick a method, and watch the scale (and the mirror) to ensure you’re making progress. Best of luck.
[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
First, congratulations on your strength numbers; they’re very good for someone so young, and who has been lifting seriously for only a year.[/quote]
x2. I should have mentioned that too. I didn’t mean to come across negative, if I did. My questions are just curiousity, not criticism.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Take my advice with a grain of salt as I’ve got my own diet issues, but if I was you I’d start by taking all of the bread out of those meals. It looks like you eat a bagel or sandwich at every meal. That’d be an easy way to cut some carbs out. [/quote]
This right here would go a long way towards helping you with recomping.
[quote]Tyler johnson wrote:
fucked around till around last year, went from 200 to 250[/quote]
Why did you do that? How much did your lifts go up from the additional bodyweight? How did your strength/weight ratios change?
I don’t really have anything to offer, I’m just curious.
This seems like a pretty major bodyweight jump to me, especially given that there are a number of people at your height and starting weight who lift comparable numbers as you. Did you find much value in increasing your weight like that, or did you do it because you were “bulking” and that’s just what you do?[/quote]
It was just me being stupid
I started fat, i couldn’t bench 135 when I started and when I began to blow up my numbers it became addicting. The camera is really shitty, i have decent outlines in my shoulder chest and arms so i rationalized that my growing stomach was worth it. I have never had a problem with girls so the weight gain didn’t deter in that area either. Never been afraid to take my shirt off either etc.
i just woke up this morning looking in the mirror and realized I’m a fat as hell.
and purely with strength and numbers, i don’t think the weight gain was worth it or helped in anyway. Just stupid.
so should i just cut out bread and see how i look like two week from now and go from there?
I should add being in college i do drink on the weekends, I’m in a frat. I limit my self though to a buzz and usually only drink one night a week.
I don’t particularly disagree with anything above, insofar as recommending the higher protein intake and making sure that you’re in a calorie deficit, though it if were me I would also do the following (just my musings/opinions for whatever it’s worth):
make sure I was getting at least 30 min of higher intensity cardio at least 3x per week, e.g., HIIT, hill sprints, brisk walking / perhaps with a weighted vest, farmer’s walks, etc.
since your body fat percentage looks fairly high (probably 25%+), I’d personally consider focusing the remaining macro intake more on fats as opposed to carbs. You don’t have to go super low carb, but setting aside the “calorie is a calorie” or “IIFYM” debate, there does seem to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that guys with higher body fat percentages tend to have more sensitivity to higher carb intakes, and that includes being hungry more often than you might be if you were eating more calories from fat instead of getting reciprocal calories from “quality,” more complex carbs. This could be insulin sensitivity, former fat boy syndrome, or even a total fallacy, but there are a lot of guys like myself on the boards here who can vouch that there is something to this, having been pretty thick at a previous point in time.
Begin every workout with 20-30 minutes of SS cardio. Nothing that involves sitting, elliptical, stairmaster,etc. You don’t have to be dripping sweat; but your clothes should be wet.
[quote]Tyler johnson wrote:
fucked around till around last year, went from 200 to 250[/quote]
Why did you do that? How much did your lifts go up from the additional bodyweight? How did your strength/weight ratios change?
I don’t really have anything to offer, I’m just curious.
This seems like a pretty major bodyweight jump to me, especially given that there are a number of people at your height and starting weight who lift comparable numbers as you. Did you find much value in increasing your weight like that, or did you do it because you were “bulking” and that’s just what you do?[/quote]
It was just me being stupid
I started fat, i couldn’t bench 135 when I started and when I began to blow up my numbers it became addicting. The camera is really shitty, i have decent outlines in my shoulder chest and arms so i rationalized that my growing stomach was worth it. I have never had a problem with girls so the weight gain didn’t deter in that area either. Never been afraid to take my shirt off either etc.
i just woke up this morning looking in the mirror and realized I’m a fat as hell.
and purely with strength and numbers, i don’t think the weight gain was worth it or helped in anyway. Just stupid.[/quote]
Actually, Lorez asked a pretty important question and your answer shows that you are currently unable to objectively assess your body composition and you do not have enough of an understanding of how your body responds to training and diet.
It would be best to take things slow from here and not do anything extreme to lose weight.
EyeDentist has some very good advice. Keep training hard, keep your protein sufficient, find a couple of places to cut some calories (I’d go with usmc’s suggestion of just dropping the bread from a couple meals), and as BlueCollarTr8n said, work some SS cardio into your workouts at the beginning (serving two purposes: getting your body warmed up and burning some extra calories). You could even do 10 minutes at the start of your workout and 10 minutes after if that’s easier to digest.
Basically…do what the big, ripped guys said to do.
I personally would be a lot more aggressive with your diet. Yeah, cutting the bread’s a good start but I’d just go as low carb as you can handle for a while.
Google lyle mconald rapid fat loss and you’ll find loads of info to cut really aggressively.
You’re a strong dude but you’re carrying a LOT of fat, particularly for someone so young. I’d make fat loss my main priority for the next little while.
I actually have mcdonald’s book, but it seems its more suited towards a short term goal. wouldn’t it be better to cut with low carbs for a while to get used to this and then maybe do his protocol once I have some of this down pat? This is a life style change for me.
also: ill cut the bread out and see what happens in a few weeks, and add cardio everyday. Would you still keep the HIIT and add ss on the other days or just cut HIIT and just do ss?
