Diet Critique Please!

[Mark5]

Hey everyone, just wanted some opinions on a cutting diet that I have just recently started. I have just finished a few months of bulking and stats before starting to diet are:
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 200
BF%: 14.1

My goal is to diet down to about 7-8% body fat while retaining muscle mass. I've never really done a cutting diet before, so this is new to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated! One thing I'm unsure of is figuring my total calories needed during the day. I know the difference between BMR and RMR, and I had my RMR tested and it came out to be 1819 calories, so I've been using that number along with TDEE to calculate my dietary needs. Not sure if using RMR is acceptable or not, so any advice on that would be great. Anyways, I've been using the 1819 calories (or roughly 1800) and then adding approximately 1000 calories of average daily energy expenditure giving me 2800 calories burned per day. Then I subtracted 500 calories to create a deficit and have been using 2300 calories per day as my dietary goal. I have been breaking up the 2300 calories as follows:

Meal 1:
5oz grilled chicken
4 pieces of Ezekiel bread or one whole wheat bagel
Meal 1 Total: Protein - 57g, Carb - 56g, Fat - 7g, Cals - 515

Meal 2:
5oz tuna
1 cup cooked, brown rice
1 scoop whey protein
Meal 2 Total: Protein - 59g, Carb - 56g, Fat - 6.5g, Cals - 518.5

During workout:
Gaspari Sizeon
Protein - 7g, Carb - 39g, Cals - 184

Meal 3 (Post workout):
2 scoops whey protein
1/3 cup dextrose
Protein - 48g, Carb - 50g, Fat - 1g, Cals - 401

Meal 4:
5oz tuna or turkey
1oz almonds
Protein - 41g, Carb - 7.5g, Fat - 21.3g, Cals - 385.7

Meal 5:
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
Protein - 40g, Carb - 12g, Fat - 21g, Cals - 397

Daily Totals:
Protein - 258.75, Carb - 215.95, Fat - 55.76, Cals - 2400.64

One thing I know I need to do is work in some veggies, so that's one thing on the grocery list. Besides that, I need any other advice or critiques to help me out. Thanks in advance everyone!

[jypoll]

i am not familiar with ezekiel bread, but i wouldn't go for a bagel even if it is whole wheat. Personally i would get bloated and i get more energy out of oats.

and maybe drop about 20g of carbs, or more depending how carbs affect you, and switch it to 20g of protein.

[--->>405<<---]

2300 looks like a good deficit for u.. I got ur tdee at 3200.. Wats the reason for the dextrose as opposed to complex carb?

I prefer low carb for cutting.. As a matter of fact i ate low carb for almost 5 months and have gotten down to 11%ish and have now switched it up and am trying my hand at a carb cycle..

Personally id reduce carbs down from 215g to closer to 100 and raise protein up to 300ish.. Id change the ezekiel bread to sweet potato or oats or brn rice And def never eat a bagel.. Id also lose the 40g carbs mid workout..

And like u said throw in some greens in at least 2 or 3 meals..

How much cardio u doing? When u doing it?

[Mark5]

2300 looks like a good deficit for u.. I got ur tdee at 3200.. Wats the reason for the dextrose as opposed to complex carb?

I prefer low carb for cutting.. As a matter of fact i ate low carb for almost 5 months and have gotten down to 11%ish and have now switched it up and am trying my hand at a carb cycle..

Personally id reduce carbs down from 215g to closer to 100 and raise protein up to 300ish.. Id change the ezekiel bread to sweet potato or oats or brn rice And def never eat a bagel.. Id also lose the 40g carbs mid workout..

And like u said throw in some greens in at least 2 or 3 meals..

How much cardio u doing? When u doing it?

I starting using the dextrose after I saw a lot of guys here using it post workout, though I do wonder if it has contributed to any fat gain or not.

I have tried low and no carb diets before, but lost way too much weight and energy and strength so I'd quickly hop back on my carbs. I guess I don't want to cut them too low. I've already noticed a slight strength decrease after cutting them, kinda scared what cutting them even more would do.

I used to never drink anything mid workout until I read about how sipping on a carb drink can lower cortisol levels during or after a workout.

As far as cardio, I do it two days on and then one day off. I want to eventually do fasted cardio in the mornings but haven't worked it in yet. Currently I do one hour of cardio after my lifting, low to moderate intensity on the treadmill. I keep my heart rate in the 125-130 range.

[--->>405<<---]

from wat ive learned on here theres no need for dextrose PWO.. id go back to oats or sweet potato..

[Back In Black]

I'd drop your intra workout carb drink too. If the rest of your diet is on point there shouldn't really be a big issue. If anything, get some BCAA's and sip on them through your workout. That should drop carbs to 175g and with the addition of some veggies it will look alot better.

You could maybe lose 5-10g of fat too.

Any reason for the addition of the whey in your pre workout meal?

[Mark5]

from wat ive learned on here theres no need for dextrose PWO.. id go back to oats or sweet potato..

Sounds good. I can't really say that I've noticed any difference since taking it that way.

I'd drop your intra workout carb drink too. If the rest of your diet is on point there shouldn't really be a big issue. If anything, get some BCAA's and sip on them through your workout . That should drop carbs to 175g and with the addition of some veggies it will look alot better.

You could maybe lose 5-10g of fat too.

Any reason for the addition of the whey in your pre workout meal?

The reason for the whey pre workout was basically to throw in there to meet my protein needs, and even with the 258g, I still feel like I may be coming up short since I know a lot of guys around 200 will try to shoot for 300g protein. Would it be wrong to just throw a scoop of whey in addition to a couple of the food meals that I'm already eating to get to that 300g?

[Back In Black]

Not wrong as such but you would need to drop the cals from your carb quota. You only require 1.5g protein per lb of lbm so you are bang on at 250ish. Folk are scared to lose their protein and they don't take into account what they really need.

[Mark5]

Not wrong as such but you would need to drop the cals from your carb quota. You only require 1.5g protein per lb of lbm so you are bang on at 250ish. Folk are scared to lose their protein and they don't take into account what they really need.

Well I don't have a problem with that, it'll save me some protein!

So my upcoming changes are going to be:

Change Meal 1 carbs to oats or brown rice
Drop intra workout shake
Change PWO carbs to oats

Sound good? Anything else I can tweak?

Also, is it normal during a cut diet to lose strength? I'm scared of this and trying to still lift as heavy as I can on most lifts to hopefully counteract this.

[Back In Black]

Normal for a lot of people especially if you drop below 10%. But certainly not inevitable. What lifts and rep ranges do you plan on doing?

[Mark5]

Normal for a lot of people especially if you drop below 10%. But certainly not inevitable. What lifts and rep ranges do you plan on doing?

I shoot for 4-6 reps with a good amount of rest between sets on fast twitch muscle groups like chest, bis, tris, back, some legs and then I'll go for 6-8 reps on slow twitch dominant muscles but usually do drop sets or very little rest between these sets.

[Back In Black]

There are various ways of retaining/building strength when cutting. The ultimate goal should really be not to lose lbm. My current way that helps with retaining lbm and INCREASING strength is to one week do 8-10 reps and the following week 4-6 reps. Except quads, they get 15-20 reps or 12-10.

[Mark5]

There are various ways of retaining/building strength when cutting. The ultimate goal should really be not to lose lbm. My current way that helps with retaining lbm and INCREASING strength is to one week do 8-10 reps and the following week 4-6 reps. Except quads, they get 15-20 reps or 12-10.

What is your theory behind why this builds or retains strength and mass as opposed to purely lifting in the lower rep range all of the time?

[Back In Black]

One is a more or less a strength range and the other a hypertrophy range. Not doing only one every week helps not burnout on a particular programme when on reduce calories. My upper body strength is pretty much as good as it has been following this. I'm only at 11% mind you but still getting stronger every session.

[Mark5]

One is a more or less a strength range and the other a hypertrophy range. Not doing only one every week helps not burnout on a particular programme when on reduce calories. My upper body strength is pretty much as good as it has been following this. I'm only at 11% mind you but still getting stronger every session.

Very interesting, I might give this a try and see how it does.

Another thing I was curious about is staving off the body's starvation response by having one day where you eat more calories or have a cheat meal or something of the like. What do you think of an approach like that? If nothing else, I know having one cheat meal per week would probably keep you from going completely insane with such reduced calories and non tasty foods

[Back In Black]

Mate I have a cheat MEAL every Saturday night. It's not ridiculous, I don't double my calories for the day with it or anything. If it's pizza its home made. Never a takeaway I may cook a curry or a chilli or a lasagne or a ziti (this is amazing btw, well done the Italian Americans). And I normally have some form of dessert.

[Mark5]

Mate I have a cheat MEAL every Saturday night. It's not ridiculous, I don't double my calories for the day with it or anything. If it's pizza its home made. Never a takeaway I may cook a curry or a chilli or a lasagne or a ziti (this is amazing btw, well done the Italian Americans). And I normally have some form of dessert.

Awesome, thanks for all the help everybody!

[Buddhabody]

If you diet right you shouldnt lose too much strength. I was leg pressing 1000lb for reps, six weeks out from my show. Dont shy away from heavy weights and your basic compound movements. Good luck mate

[Mark5]

If you diet right you shouldnt lose too much strength. I was leg pressing 1000lb for reps, six weeks out from my show. Dont shy away from heavy weights and your basic compound movements. Good luck mate

After approximately 3 weeks on this diet, I can tell my strength has gone down slightly. Not to a huge degree, but for example my reps on bench of 225 has gone down from about 8 or 9 to about 4-6, and my deadlift has gone down from about 4 reps of 285 to 1 rep of 285. I also noticed that I get gassed a little easier/quicker on arms and shoulders. As long as I don't lose too much more, I wont be disappointed but it sucks to lose any strength at all. Also, my weight at the start was 200, and today is 191. I know a lot of this is due to far fewer carbs and less water retention but it still plays games with you mentally. On the bright side, I am noticing a bit more definition in my arms, especially when holding a weight and my stomach area doesn't look quite as bloated as it did at the beginning, so hopefully those are positive indicators of the reduction in calories and cleaning up my diet in general. Thanks for everyone's help, it is invaluable. I'll be posting in here periodically moreso for myself to keep track of results, but any other comments or advice is always welcomed.

[Buddhabody]

Whats your carb intake currently and what are your carb sources? Also congrats on sticking with the diet

[Mark5]

Whats your carb intake currently and what are your carb sources? Also congrats on sticking with the diet

Thanks! I'm definitely a food lover, so it's been hard. My carb sources right now are brown rice and regular oats. Usually my first two meals have brown rice, then I workout and then I'll have the oats mixed in with whey post workout. I've cut out all simple sugars. The rest of the day my carbs come from fibrous sources or whatever happens to be in the almonds or peanut butter that I eat.

[Mark5]

Didn't see the first part of your post, I'm currently at about 150-170g of carbs per day.

[Buddhabody]

I would up my carbs later in the day. Personally, I would eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, cream of rice. Carbs will not cause you to gain pounds but will help you get full amd be stronger for workouts. Honestly, your strength should not decrease as much as it has. Possibly carb cycle on a 3-4 day rotation

Day 1: 250g of carbs
Day 2: 175g of carbs
Day 3: 100g of carbs
Day 4: 50-75g of carbs

Just a suggestion, good luck

[Mark5]

I would up my carbs later in the day. Personally, I would eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, cream of rice. Carbs will not cause you to gain pounds but will help you get full amd be stronger for workouts. Honestly, your strength should not decrease as much as it has. Possibly carb cycle on a 3-4 day rotation

Day 1: 250g of carbs
Day 2: 175g of carbs
Day 3: 100g of carbs
Day 4: 50-75g of carbs

Just a suggestion, good luck

I actually had been curious about an approach like this. Maybe up my carbs slightly and lower my protein slightly on workout days, and then up my protein/lower my carbs on non workout days, either way making sure I hit my caloric goal. What do you think about an approach like this?

[Buddhabody]

I like your thinking but I would not lower my protein at all instead I would make your low carb days your non workout days like you've stated. Also I would be careful to eat plenty of green veggies. Try a carb cycle for 2 weeks and see how you feel, also what supplements are on you?

[--->>405<<---]

Woukd the 4day carb cycle be more beneficial for bulking and a 7 day carb cycle for cutting? Is there a difference? If so woukd u mind explaining?

[Mark5]

I like your thinking but I would not lower my protein at all instead I would make your low carb days your non workout days like you've stated. Also I would be careful to eat plenty of green veggies. Try a carb cycle for 2 weeks and see how you feel, also what supplements are on you?

Just basic stuff at the moment. Multi vitamin, EFAs, EAAs/BCAAs, and a joint supplement.

[Buddhabody]

I would not recommemd a carb cycle for bulk instead I would stay at 300-400g of carbs daily with a fat intake around 100g daily. Also protein would be at atleast 300g and no more than 350g. Also with such heavy macros I would do cardio 4-5 a week. Also i would shoot for a heart rate of 120-145bpm.

[Mark5]

Just an update after a couple more weeks...

Strength has more or less stayed put, which is a good thing. Size has mostly stayed the same, and weight fluctuates between 191 and 193 right now, haven't had a BF measurement since starting to cut. Is it normal for fat loss to go this slowly? I am definitely seeing more lines and definition along my arms and the outline of my abs is starting to poke through again. Maybe I'm just being impatient, but I guess I thought I would have seen more results by now. I'm having probably 2 cheat meals per week at the moment. I haven't worked fasted cardio into my routine yet as I'm still trying to figure out how to do it with my work schedule.