Getting back to my fighting weight

[AZArmor]

Hey guys, I'm trying to drop weight and get back into the cage again. It's been a few years(life and military obligation and stuff got in the way). There's a tournament at the beginning of October that I'd really like to get myself into, but the thing is it's at 155 lbs and I'm currently 189 lbs. I'm currently doing a ton of cardio (Insanity every day, a kickboxing or a grappling match a day, plus some extra push ups/sit ups/ running). and following a diet that one of the guys over on the nutrition forums recommended to me:

5am - Meal 1 (preworkout):
1/2 cup oats w/ 1/2 cup blueberries OR 1/2 of a banana
1/2 cup 1% milkfat cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder (blend such as Myofusion or ON Pro Complex) OR 1 whole egg + 5 whites
3 fish oil caps

8am - Meal 2 (post workout):
2 scoops protein powder (50% casein, 50% Myofusion blend)
1/2 cup oats

10am - Meal 3
8oz grilled chicken breast
150g of potato (white or sweet) OR 1/2 cup (dry measure) rice (brown, basmati, jasmine, etc)
1 cup veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, brussell sprouts, etc)
3 fish oil caps

1pm - Meal 4
7oz 95/5 lean ground beef
1 cup veggies
3 fish oil caps

4pm - Meal 5
8oz grilled chicken or fish (tilapia, snapper, etc)
1 cup veggies
3 fish oil caps

7pm - Meal 6
8oz grilled chicken or fish, OR 7oz lean steak (top round, flank, etc)
1 cup veggies
3 fish oil caps

8pm - Meal 7 (bedtime)
1/2 cup 1% milkfat cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder (Myofusion)
1tbsp natty PB

Thus far on this diet I've lost about a pound in 5 days - which is great, but just doesn't seem like it'll cut it. My body and slow metabolism are extremely stubborn in letting me cut, so I've always had issues with plateaus. If this diet doesn't pick up or at least keep going, I'm thinking about switching to a high protein/fat low carb diet that one of my coaches says that he uses to cut weight.

I'm also considering running a 8 week cycle of Var about a month from now should the results not be coming. It'll be my first cycle, but I've been doing research for a couple of weeks and will continue to do so, and only use it as a last resort.

What are your guys' thoughts? Any problems that you see or recommendations to make? I know the forum rules so I'll only ask whether or not the companies with banners on this site(buysteroids.com and ar-r) are honest with quality products. Can someone PM me with info about them?

Thanks Gents! I'll let you know how things go!

[gixxerboy1]

what are the macro's of that diet and total calories?
anavar isnt going to help you loose weight

[DanB]

t3 and or clen is what I would and have done to make weight,

you dont mention any lifting only bodyweight exercise?

you must be skin and bone at 155lbs if thats the case, why not step up to 170? how tall are you?

[AZArmor]

I'm five foot eight and a half. If I step up to 170 ill be a pretty small guy in the division, but while I was in 155 I was bigger than average and had a pretty good reach on the guys I fought.

I'll update in a little while with the macros Once I'm off the phone and home at my pc.

I thought that Var had good fat burning qualities? I know that it makes muscle dense and heavy, but I figured that with cardio and not much lifting I would maintain some strength but shred fat and drop some weight. would t3 be a better choice for that? What about nolva as PCT? I'm not too keen on the idea of using gear, but as my options widdle further down as different diets fail it seems like I'm gonna need to if I want to get near the cage again.

[DanB]

I fight at 170 and was considering going up to 185 before i threw in the towel to just focus on growing as much as possible for next few years and enjoying life, and I'm the same height as you, but then again my style is to just stand on your toes and bang so reach dosnt come into it for me and AAS suits my style perfectly

Var wont really burn fat, dont understand what you mean about dense and heavy really either to be honest, it will ''harden'' you if your bodyfat is low but from your stats it dosnt sound like yours is low enough and the ''hardened'' look is only a benefit for asthetics i.m.o and makes little difference to performance, if anything a var only cycle will hamper perfromance from test levels being suppressed

you can drop b/f while running var but this is dependent on your diet and I tried sparring on 100mg var before and had to drop the var completely, the pumps were too much, I was even getting pumps in my delts from keeping my arms/hands up lol

If you dont want the idea of running gear then t3 mabey isnt for you, it can burn through LBM when used without AAS, clen and or ECA is a better choice,

You never mentioned what age you are either but its a fact that older you get the harder it is to make weight hence why alot of fighters step up as they get older, and since you said you hadnt fought in a few years 155 simply may not be possible for you anymore

anyways if I was in your shoes I would first get the macros from my diet, tdee (which will be higher then normal person who just lifts a few times a week due to amount of training you will be doing so you need to just keep adjusting it until you find a sweet spot) and make sure im in a healthy deficit,

I would hammer out 5mile fasted cardio 5-6 mornings a week in sub 45mins, prob start with eca 3x's a day and see how that does for next couple months, the energy from ephedrine will also let you train harder and longer, and make it alot easier considering you wont be getting the amount of carbs/cals you need for the amount of training you will be doing, but this is obviously necessary to drop the weight

but my money is on you having to fight at 170 to be honest since its been a few years since you been anywhere near 155

start lifting aswell, even if its full body circuts, it will burn cals and increase strenght, your mad if you dont and will be seriously down on strenght when you come up against somebody who hasnt had the gap in their training like you and has been lifting constantly for last few years

legs, back and core especially, squats and deads, this is where your power will come from

[yannick35]

You guys are amazing, all the props and respect to you. I used to compete in tae kwon do 20 years ago, i just turned 40 and i did spend a lot of time training, dieting and more. T3 and clen worked very well for me too, but diet and cardio are the keys here, back then i used to drop tones of weight and we did not even have epherdine in 1990.

[AZArmor]

Ok guys, here's the macro. I took quite a bit of stuff and this is my current daily meal plan.

5am - Meal 1 (preworkout):
1/2 cup oats (303 Cal, 13g Pro, 51g Carb, 0g Sug, 5g Fat)
1 scoop protein powder OR 1 whole egg + 5 whites (120 Cal, 24g Pro, 3g Carb, 1g Sug, 1g Fat)
1 fish oil cap (10 Cal, 1g Fat)

Meal Total: 433 Cal, 37g Pro, 53g Carb, 1g Sug, 7g Fat

8am - Meal 2 (post workout):
2 scoops protein powder (240 Cal, 48g Pro, 6g Carb, 2g Sug, 2g Fat)

Meal Total: 240 Cal, 48g Pro, 6g Carb, 2g Sug, 2g Fat

10am - Meal 3
4oz grilled chicken breast(130 Cal, 27g Pro, 0g Carb, 0g Sug, 2g Fat)
150g of potato OR 1/2 cup rice (108 Cal, 3g Pro, 23g Carb, 0g Sug, 1g Fat)
1/2 cup veggies (27 Cal, 2g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 0g Fat)
1 fish oil caps (10 Cal, 1g Fat)

Meal Total: 275 Cal, 32g Pro, 29g Carb, 1g Sug, 2g Fat)

1pm - Meal 4
7oz 95/5 lean ground beef(354 Cal, 44g Pro, 0g Carb, 0g Sug, 19g Fat)
1/2 cup veggies (27 Cal, 2g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 0g Fat)
1 fish oil caps(10 Cal, 1g Fat)

Meal Total: 361 Cal, 46g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 20g Fat)

4pm - Meal 5
8oz grilled chicken or fish (260 Cal, 54g Pro, 0g Carb, 0g Sug, 2g Fat)
1/2 cup veggies (27 Cal, 2g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 0g Fat)
1 fish oil caps(10 Cal, 1g Fat)

Meal Total: 297 Cal, 56g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 3g Fat

7pm - Meal 6
8oz grilled chicken (260 Cal, 54g Pro, 0g Carb, 0g Sug, 2g Fat)
1/2 cup veggies(27 Cal, 2g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 0g Fat)
1 fish oil caps(10 Cal, 1g Fat)

Meal Total: 297 Cal, 56g Pro, 6g Carb, 1g Sug, 3g Fat

9pm - Meal 7 (bedtime)
1 scoop protein powder (120 Cal, 24g Pro, 3g Carb, 1g Sug, 1g Fat)

Meal total: 120 Cal, 24g Pro, 3g Carb, 1g Sug, 1g Fat

Daily total: 2023 Cal, 299g Pro, 109g Carb, 8g Sug, 38g Fat

[AZArmor]

I'm coming up on 26, the last time that I competed was when I was 21. I'll set my sights on 170 first and see if I can get past that, if not then I'll go into welterweight . I'll throw in some lifting 3 or 4 times a week, probably switch between lower and upper/core lifts.

Also, I've used a few different calculators and my TDEE is somewhere between 2800 and 3100.

Thanks for the kind words Yannick!

I'll look more into clen and ECA, thanks for the advice DanB! I'll keep you guys updated on how things go.