Hey guys, I am going to vegas for spring break in March. My goal is to have the beach body/“look good naked.” Currently I plan on leaning down to about 190lbs,8% body fat, and try to losing minimal muscle. I am currently 197lbs, 12% body fat at 6’2".
Once I hit my target weight I will gradually increase my calories slightly above 3500 calories to a bulking diet to try and put on some muscle. I have been lifting consistently for about 5 years.
Online calorie calculators say I need about 3500 calories to maintain my weight with my current activity level. I lowered my caloric intake to 3000 but after two weeks saw no loss in weight, so last sunday I dropped down to 2500 now, and I am now seeing results. Here is my current diet:
7:15am: 430cal, 7g fat, 60g carb, 34g protein
1 cup of oatmeal
1 scoop of On whey protein, Gold Standard
a shot of prune juice to keep things moving
multi-vitamin
9:30am: 325cal, 2g fat, 32g carb, 43g protein
1/2 of a chicken breast
1/2 of a veggy bag(broccoli, spinach, green beans, or brussel sprouts)
apple
noon: 350cal, 5g fat, 48g carb, 35g protein
1/4lb of deli turkey on lite wheat bread
~1 cup of unflavored plain yogurt
2:30pm: 220cal, 6g fat, 10g carb, 27g protein
one 5% fat beef burger
1/2 bag of veggies
5:00pm pre-work: 150cal, 0g fat, 27f carb, 1g protein
1 banana…I don’t know about this one. Seems to work for me so far.
3 scoops of Amino Shooter(has caffeine, creatine, and select amino acids including BCAAs ) i drink this starting 10mins before lift upto ~20mins into lift as directed.
LIFT ~5:15
then do some cardio ( high intensity, ~25mins)
7:00pm Post Workout: 430cal, 2g fat, 60g carb, 48g protein
50/50 maltodextrin/dextrose
2 scoops of ON whey protein Gold Standard
5g creatine
9:00pm: 255cal, 9g fat, 2g carb, 40g protein
can of tuna
flax seed pills
10:30pm 240cal, 3g fat, 18g carbs, 36g protein
1/2 tub of cottage cheese
11pm sleep
I change the meal ordering everyday(chicken, burger, tuna) with things like 5oz steak and potato, egg whites, almonds.
I am drinking well over a gallon of water a day.
One day a week I will bring my calories back up to 3000 or 3500.
This week I started Chad Waterbury’s “The 3-day-per-week, full-body workout plan”, and following the guidelines pretty strictly. The program basically has me doing compound movements every workout(deadlift, squat, bench, military press, etc). After each lift I do some where from 15 to 25mins of cardio based on how beat I am. If i feel really taxed I’ll walk on an incline on the treadmill. I try to change it up: treadmill, bike, stepper, etc…
On non-workout days tue, thur, and sat I do abs work and more cardio. Again based on soreness, sometimes go for low-intensity for an hour or high-intensity 20mins.
I think it is worth noting I walk to work (0.3miles) and to the gym (0.8 miles) everytime.
Some questions:
Is 1,000 calories under too much??? I seem to be losing around 1/4lb a day, for the last 3 days anyways(Their is a really nice scale at the gym)
How can i minimize muscle loss?
Any changes to the diet?
Any changes to the workout?
Any suggestions or advice would be very helpful.