T Nation

Help With Diet: More or Less?

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

I posted awhile back but nobody seems to respond.
My goal is first and foremost fat loss.
To do this I decided to get a bike and ride it EVERYWHERE (I live in NYC) and follow a lifting program on here (first it was Waterbury’s Progressions for Fat Loss, finished that, now I’m doing Destroying Fat by CT). I think I have about 5-10 lbs to lose before I start to slowly increase my calories.

Here is a sample diet and training for two different types of days. I would like to know if I should eat more or less food/calories than I am now. I noticed weight loss slowing down a tiny bit, but I’m still losing fat.

High Carb Day (Lifting+Biking+Sprints)

1 scoop protein
1 c oats/oat bran measured dry
1 serving of fruit
bowl of green veggies w/ salt and spices

or

3 slices ezekiel bread w/ almond butter and no sugar added jam

clif bar
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

3 oz tuna
1/2 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

clif bar
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

purple wraath post workout w/ vit c powder

1 c egg whites
1-1/4 c oat bran
1 serving of fruit
green veggies

clif bar

biking averages to about 90-120 mins a day

Low Carb Day (Biking only):
2 scoop protein
1/2 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

2 scoop protein
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

1 large chicken breast
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

2 scoop protein
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

7 oz tuna
1/4 c walnuts or pumpkin seeds
green veggies

2 scoops protein
1 tbsp flax meal

Everday:
1-2 gallons of water
salt on everything because i sweat A TON
green tea when i remember
6-10g fish oil pills

please help

i am going to add 1 serving Surge post weights and possibly 1/2 a serving in the morning and 1/2 when i get to work (after the ride there). on these days i have to get up at 5 to be at work at 6:30 keep in mind i bike to work which is a pretty intense 6 mile ride (about 30-40 mins).

Training: Destroying Fat (4 days a week heavy lifting, alactic sprints, lactic weight training, medium intensity cardio.

thanks in advance for ANY replies

#2

cpcloud. Weren’t you the one cycling 2 hours a day, wanting to lose fat, AND maintain/gain muscle (in your last post)?

However, this time it seems more clear that your primary goal is fat loss.

I dunno. I would say eat more.

I don’t know how many people have tried Destroying Fat along with a carb cycling approach. You are going to have to experiment. But my feeling is that adding 2 hours of cycling to Destroying Fat is not going to help you. I am sure that if an additional 2 hours of cardio would destroy MORE fat, CT would have included or suggested it. You may be destroying your metabolism instead.

However, if you ARE still losing fat with only 5-10 more pounds to be lean (how lean?), then what you are doing is working; keep it up. Fat loss IS going to slow down the leaner you get. Change it up when fat loss stops altogether and/or you lose muscle.

#3

[quote]andersons wrote:
cpcloud. Weren’t you the one cycling 2 hours a day, wanting to lose fat, AND maintain/gain muscle (in your last post)?

However, this time it seems more clear that your primary goal is fat loss.

I dunno. I would say eat more.

I don’t know how many people have tried Destroying Fat along with a carb cycling approach. You are going to have to experiment. But my feeling is that adding 2 hours of cycling to Destroying Fat is not going to help you. I am sure that if an additional 2 hours of cardio would destroy MORE fat, CT would have included or suggested it. You may be destroying your metabolism instead.

However, if you ARE still losing fat with only 5-10 more pounds to be lean (how lean?), then what you are doing is working; keep it up. Fat loss IS going to slow down the leaner you get. Change it up when fat loss stops altogether and/or you lose muscle.[/quote]

yeah hahaha that was me. i realized i just need to pursue one goal. being a former fat boy i have a fear that if i don’t do cardio i will get fat even with a solid diet and reading Berardi’s article on g-flux made me think hey i can exercise a lot as long as my caloric intake is on the higher side. i’m thinking now that i’m losing muscle as my weights dropped in gym. this obviously is not good as i don’t want to slow my metabolism down.

175 lbs
32" around love handle area (no love handles though)
i’m guessing around 12% bf
i would like to hit 9% which i’m guessing will be between 165 and 170. if this is wrong could someone advise me on how to figure out exactly how much i have to lose to get to 9%? thanks. i will post some pics tomorrow morning so people can tell me what they think i should do.

#4

Don’t base your amount of cardio on fear; base it on results. You’re not going to get fat overnight if you give up cardio.

G-flux is a great concept; however, you’re only doing one part – lots of activity. But you’re not eating lots of food! When you do tons of cardio without eating enough food, your body is going to break down muscle for energy and fight to lower your metabolism and hang on to the fat that’s left. G-flux, higher metabolic rate along with higher muscle and higher activity, takes time to achieve.

Get a caliper to measure bodyfat and LBM from here on out. If your weight loss is muscle, as it sounds like it is, you’ll know you need to make changes.

If it were me, I’d eat like crazy for a day or two to crank up the metabolism.