Diet rescue needed....urgently

[RoidGut]

Stats: 5'6", 195 lbs, 32 yrs old...don't know bf%...probably now around 15% give or take.

I have been doing some research on different diet strategies and decided to read further into this carb cycling diet. Does anyone have any opinions for or against this kind of diet? It sounds pretty interesting...though I am no diet expert.

Basically, I need to change up my current diet because it is simply not working for me. I recently joined the military, and just got back from basic training. This was a 3 month long event and during which only had 3 meals per day. Needless to say, this completely screwed my metabolism up when I returned. I was used to eating 5 to 6 meals per day (about 3000 to 3500 cals) and was forced to eat only 3 meals....not very healthy meals due to food selections in the mess hall.

So when I returned I eased my way back to 5 meals but am gaining massive amounts of bf. I tried dropping my caloric intake to 2500 and now even 2000 but I am still gaining bf???? My maintenance is 1900 cals so I should be losing weight given I dont' just sit on my ass all day...I workout almost ed and do cardio. So what gives?

The macros of my current diet are as follows:

300g protein, 185g carbs, 30g fats...total of approx 2100 cals.

I don't know how to fix my metabolism. Could it be my age is finally catching up to me? I really need some help cuz I havn't ventured into the bf state that I am in now since I was in high school. I am having a very hard time dropping bf and I know my diet is behind it but don't know why.

I have a hunch that it may be my PWO meal. Because I work all day, the earliest I can get into the gym is around 9pm. So that puts my PWO meal close to 10:30 or 11pm. I know it is not healthy to go to bed after eating a pretty high cal meal. But I have read that the breakfast and the PWO meal shold be the highest calroic wise. Am I stupid in thinking this?

[TR'05]

First up bro, going to bed after a eating a high cal meal is fine. If its your PPWO meal so be it. I don't know why you think theres something wrong with this? Most guys around these parts finish off their days with a nice sized meal before hittin' the sack, whether bulking OR cutting.

How long have you been back at your normal routine for? 1900 maintenance is very low in my opinion- for someone close to 200 lbs verging on unneccessarily low. Your body is probably looking for anything to use as energy (potentially stored muscle, but that's tough to tell). I'm 180 lbs right now and my maintence I've found to be up around 3000kcal with my activity level.

A potential problem may be over training. If you're hitting the weights and cardio ed this could be holding you back- your body has just had enough.

Either way, post of your diet and list the macros. It will be critiqued. As it stands now, there isn't enough info to really figure out what's shakin'.

[RoidGut]

I made a mistake when I said my maint. was 1900...that is my BMR...to be honest, I don't know anymore what my maint kcal amount is given I can't find that happy medium anymore. It used to be around 2500 cals when I was 185 lbs.

I have been experimenting with the carb cycling diet now for a week. The only difference between this diet and the one I was one about a week ago is the addition of the low and no carb days. My previous diet closely resembled the High carb day but had a bit less carbs.

Basically, I do a 3 day cycle of high, low, no carb and repeat.

High Carb Day:

Meal 1: 56 P....81 C....5 F....571 cals
Meal 2: 56 P....6 C....3 F....283 cals
Meal 3: 56 P....8 C....6 F....316 cals
Pre WO: 60 P....75 C....5 F....571 cals
PWO: 81 P....113 C....16 F....930 cals

TOTAL: 309 P....283 C....35 F....2671 cals

Low Carb Day:

Meal 1: 51 P....52 C....4 F....438 cals
Meal 2: 56 P....6 C....3 F....283 cals
Meal 3: 56 P....8 C....6 F....316 cals
Pre WO: 51 P....52 C....4 F....438 cals
PWO: 76 P....67 C....14 F....712 cals

TOTAL: 290 P....185 C....31 F....2187 cals

No Carb Day:

Meal 1: 46 P....8 C....3 F....240 cals
Meal 2: 56 P....6 C....3 F....283 cals
Meal 3: 56 P....8 C....6 F....316 cals
Pre WO: 74 P....8 C....4 F....360 cals
PWO: 71 P....6 C....12 F....426 cals

TOTAL: 303 P....36 C....28 F....1628 cals

ED, I also use 15g of pure fish oil that I throw into my 2 shakes that I use throughout the day....they were not included in the macros above...sorry, too lazy to recalculate

[usualsuspect]

The macros are great and all, but more importantly, what type of foods are you eating?