Strong Fat Guy Needs Advice

Good day guys

I need some advice regarding my diet, so I will be giving my full training background and all info I think is relevant, as well as all the homework I have done myself.

My stats:

Age: 25
Height: 1.86m
Weight: 107kg

Unfortunately I live in a small town with no one that can do my bodyfat% for me, so the best I can do is do a guestimate. My guess is somewhere between 22% (me being optimistic) and 28%(me being realistic/pessimistic) bodyfat.

Measurements
Chest: 107cm
Waist 109cm
Hips 102cm
Thighs 64cm
Calves 44cm
Arms 40cm

To give the reader an idea of my frame size, my wrists are 19cm in curcumference

I’ve been doing weight training for a year and a half now, I started with the 5x5 training program and quickly progressed to 6x6 then I got a bit brave and did GVT. I almost died but I survived through every workout and finished it even if it had me puking (which did happen a few times), but the muscle I put on with it was awesome, it made me able to see alot of my muscles even through the fat :smiley:

At the moment I am following the Natural Body Building Bible (written by Tyler English) 24 week program (in week 5 right now). I am doing the 5 sessions per week program. I also do 2 - 3 HIIT sessions per week and 1-2 steady state cardio sessions. I must admit that I absolutely hate the cardio but I just grind through it.

To give the reader an idea of my strenght levels, I can do 10 reps of the following exercises at the following weights (I have not done PRs since more than a year ago and my work sets are now higher than the PRs at that stage)

Squat: 140kg
Bench: 120kg
Deadlift 170kg without straps (I can do 200kg for reps If I use straps, but gripstrength is a major weakpoint for me at the moment and my strats are all torn up)
Millitary press: 80kg
Weighted parallel dips 40kg

Up untill this point I have just focused on eating healthy, and not counting my calories and only focusing on protein intake. I have come a long way, aesthetically, from being the fat guy at the gym to being one of the bigger guys in a small town gym.

I have now set my sights on getting in shape to the point of competing in IFBB within the next 2 years. I particularly want to take part in the classic bodybuilding class. I also like taking part in the local amateur strong man events, where I never win but at least I don’t finish last either xD

I now wish to start managing my macro nutrient values, and I need someone to tell me if my calculations are correct.

According to my research, my basal metabolic rate is about 2289 calories.

I need 3458 calories per day to maintain my current weight.

If I want to lose 1kg of fat per week I would need to consume 2838 calories per day.

From what I understand my nutrient partitioning should be 35% carbs, 35% fats 40% protein.

I am guestimating I might be about 85kg lean body mass, so at 1.5g protein per pound of lean body mass am I correct that I would need 281g of protein per day?

I am particularly interested in whether I should drop the carb % to 20, whether it would be beneficial.

I eat 3 meals a day, with a mid morning apple and orange, post workout whey protein shake and a mid afternoon can of tuna, and a before workout banana. The only supplements I use are whey, creatine and a sugarfree pre-workout when I can afford it.

It is not always possible for me to eat perfect due to my job, but I try to never skip a meal and rather eat something that does not agree with my macros than to not eat at all. I have started keeping a food journal this week to document everything I eat.

I also need advice on what times of the day I should be consuming what. I train from 17:30 in the evening till about 19:00 and on the HIIT and cardio mornings from 6:00 to 6:30.

I would really appreciate if a guru could review my research and workout routines to point out what I should change to achieve my goals, which are fatloss without losing muscle till I can get to about 12 - 15% bodyfat from where I can do “clean bulking” and cutting when needed, and point out any bad/broscience I am applying.

Sounds to me like you’ve got a fairly decent handle on it all.

You can play around with things like nutrient timing, carb cycling, etc. So lowering your carbs on off days, eating the majority of your carbs around your workout window, that sort of thing.

Really though, it’s all going to be trial and error at this stage. Your plan seems pretty well thought out so you’ll just have to give it a go and see where it gets you, adjusting as you go. I would err on the side of lower carbs but that’s just my preference. With your protein high and your calories in a deficit you should see some pretty positive changes fairly quickly.

As far as beginner posts go, this has been absolutely wonderful. You’ve got a plan for your calories, your macros, you’re doing morning cardio and weight training in the evenings. I could cry, quite frankly.

I’d actually like to see you start a thread in the bodybuilding section of this forum and chart your progress. If you make it to the IFBB in 2 years it’d be quite a journey!

Try this (unless that program is giving you fantastic results)…

Up untill now I have been getting great results, but I only just started working out in a calorie deficit so will have to see how I can keep up with the intensity while “starved” lol. I printed out the workout and the essential parts of the article for my “Do you even lift, bro?” file where I put all things interesting and worth referencing. Thanks for the link

Thanks for the kind words of motivation, I will start a thread like that very soon. I entered into a “12 Week transformation challenge” competition that a supplement company is holding in my country so I will post all the progress pics here too.

Today is first day of keeping carbs to the workout window and I must say its taking a lot of getting used to, feel a bit sluggish and tired, craving sweet things. Can’t wait for mid afternoon carb meal.

Calories in calories out is an outdated paradigm -only run a very small deficit. You have a long journey ahead of you and running a deficit for a protracted period of time is going to slow down your metabolism.
Having the fuel to really bring it in training consistently/ intensity is more important.
-If all your food choices are totally clean like fish and greens etc you will be shocked how much you can eat and still lose weight at this stage

Dude, get the hell out of here with that nonsense. Putting yourself in a deficit is the best way to lose fat, and is the only way to lose weight. It’s not a “paradigm”.

There’s been a few recent studies, also, that show the muscle loss from being in a deficit is extremely minimal.

You can get the energy one needs for training by not unnecessarily restricting your carbs.