On the Right Track?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Hey! I’ve been training for just over a year now and I’ve gained about 30lbs since last May. My fat percentage has gone up so for the past 6-8 weeks I’ve been reducing my calories and upping my cardio (sprints 1x week + 8k run 1x week). I’ve lost about 15lbs (prior to this I was ‘bulking’ and weighed about 210, now I’m ~195). I can notice the weight loss but I fear that I’ve lost some muscle too. My legs feel smaller especially… but I haven’t lost any strength (haven’t really gained any either).

I’ve been doing a westside template (original ws4sb1) and will be switching to a 4 day split (from here Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION) next week.

My question is basically whether I should eat more/less/differently and/or do a different workout plan to keep the muscle that I have gained and continue to focus on getting rid of some fat? I want to run a 1/2 marathon in september and then I plan to get back into bulking mode for the winter but I don’t want to lose strength and muscle.

Currently my typical diet is:

6:30 wake up
7:00 1 cup of oatmeal w/brown sugar and milk + 1 orange + protein shake
between 7:00 and 10:00 1L water

10:00 2 yogurts + 1/2 cup of organic granola + 1 glass of milk + fresh pineapple chunks
between 10:00 and 12:00 1L water

12:00 chicken breast + rice + salad + brocoli + water
between 12:00 and 3:00 1L water

3:00 protein bar + 1 glass of milk + fresh fruit
between 3:00 and 6:30 1L water + 1 apple

6:30 workout protein shake + water

7:45 meat or pasta + salad + asparagus + water

10:00 1 glass of milk

I’m going to start taking a multi vit (opti-men) and fish oils (4per day). My whey is from opti also, Gold Standard and I take it with milk.

My main lifts are:
Deadlift 365x3, Squat 275x3, bench 210x3, military 150x3. My chest is very insignificant, I think I use my shoulders too much when I bench (I need to fix that!).
So ya I just want to make sure on the right track, eating the right stuff and lifting with the right plan. I also rock climb (1x) and do yoga (1x) during the week. And sit in front of a computer all day…
Oh also I’m 6’ tall and 27 yrs old.

Thanks for any input!

2

It looks good to me, just that you may be doing a lot if you try to do a half Marathon.

3

There’s a huge amount of diet info here so I can’t see why you’d be eating this way with your goals.

Basically:

Not enough protein
Way too many carbs
Too many sugars

4

[quote]Just_Matt wrote:
There’s a huge amount of diet info here so I can’t see why you’d be eating this way with your goals.

Basically:

Not enough protein
Way too many carbs
Too many sugars
[/quote]

I disagree about the carbs since he’s stated that he’s doing a decent amount of cardio and is pretty light. I would actually increase the amount of food you’re taking in and carb load before the marathon, other than that you’ll have to play around with your intake to see how you’ll respond. Defintely add in more protein and healthy fats though, keep the sugars for breakfast and activity only.

Try seperating your carbs and fat meals ie:

P+C meals for breakfast and pre and post wrkout including cardio (for fatfree protein sources try egg whites tuna and whey powder)

P+F meals at all other times for recovery (meat, eggs nuts ect.)

You last meal of the day should be a P+F unless you’re training late.

Hope that helps

5

Thanks for the feedback, anyone else feel like chiming in?