Cutting Diet Critique and Questions

[CGY]

Hey guys, I could definitely use some help here. I'm running into a few problems which I'll get to in a minute but first I'll start off with my stats and diet as you guru's will be able to take me to school better after that.

Age: 23 years
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 235
BF%: 20-25% (guessing)
Lifting for about 5 years, only the last two consistently.

I have been following this diet along with an ECA stack for a couple weeks now...

Meal 1
-1/2 cup of oats "or" 2 slices of brown toast w/ 2 tbsp. of natty PB
-5 egg whites
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 2
-Myoplex M.R.P.

Meal 3
-1 cup of 1% low fat cottage cheese
-5 oz. of chicken or turkey (or one can of tuna if I'm sick of chicken and turkey)
-large salad w/ tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 4 (PWO)
-Myoplex M.R.P.

Meal 5
-1 cup of raw vegtables (usually carrots or asparagus)
-1/4 of cottage cheese
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 6
-8oz of lean meat
-2 cups of veggies
-1/4-1/2 cup of brown rice

Fist off, I'd love for you guys to critique my diet and don't hold back if its completely F****D. I am trying to cut down hard before summer, as I'm sure many of your are.

Secondly I am having a couple of problems, one is that since I have started my ECA stack, I am finding it very hard to down most of this food. Everytime I eat, I am having to force it down, where as before I started the ECA I was loving everybit of every meal. Do I just need to get used to this and keep chewing until it goes down?

The other problem is, I am eating mostly Tuna right for Meal 3 and Meal 6, and the taste is starting to get to me. Anyone have any idea's on how to make Tuna go down a bit easier after you have been eating it everyday for 2 weeks?

Thanks for your help guys!

[Tambit24]

switch the rice and cottage cheese in the last to meal. you don't want the carbs for your last meal. it doesn't look that bad compaired tov others I've seen. Wat ECA stack you take. pre made?

[CGY]

switch the rice and cottage cheese in the last to meal. you don't want the carbs for your last meal. it doesn't look that bad compaired tov others I've seen. Wat ECA stack you take. pre made?

Will do, I was thinking of switching them around anyways since the lack of carbs before my workout seems to be limiting my endurance lately anyways.

It's not a premade ECA stack, I am just mixing the pills myself...
24mg - Ephedrine (3 X 8mg pills)
200mg - Caphine (1 X 200mg pill)
81mg - Aspring (1 X 81mg pill)
...I take this 3 times e.d.

[gotjacked2k7]

I agree, looks pretty solid. Thats similiar to what I'm doing as of now but I may be running into a similar problem as you...
Are you having trouble getting rid of the stubborn low abs fat? I'm open to suggestions on that as well as any "last ditch diets" for the week before the contest to get that extra edge.

[PROTEINSHAKE]

meal 1- I would up the egg whites to 8 or 10 to get more protein. up the oats to a full cup & dump the natty pb...dont mix fats/carbs in the same meal

meal 5- needs protein...chicken/tuna/fish or take the lean meat from meal 6 & add it to meal 5 instead & the rice from meal 6 should go to meal 5 also.

meal 6-if thats your last meal of the day...make it a slowly digestible protein(casein) & flax..

I dont see enough carbs in yuor diet....add a sweet potato somewhere(meal 3) then you will have carbs in meal 1,3 & 5

this would be the easiest modification to the diet you currently have i think.

[CGY]

I agree, looks pretty solid. Thats similiar to what I'm doing as of now but I may be running into a similar problem as you...
Are you having trouble getting rid of the stubborn low abs fat? I'm open to suggestions on that as well as any "last ditch diets" for the week before the contest to get that extra edge.

With my BF% where it is right now, the fat is coming off fairly easily from everywhere right now, including my waistline and lower abs. I know after I drop another 10lbs or so though it will start getting tougher.

Last time I did some cutting what seem to help was just doing a solid abs workout first thing in the morning before I ate. I would really feel the burn, and the last bit of fat that didnt want to come off seemed to slowly creep away.

[CGY]

meal 1- I would up the egg whites to 8 or 10 to get more protein. up the oats to a full cup & dump the natty pb...dont mix fats/carbs in the same meal

meal 5- needs protein...chicken/tuna/fish or take the lean meat from meal 6 & add it to meal 5 instead & the rice from meal 6 should go to meal 5 also.

meal 6-if thats your last meal of the day...make it a slowly digestible protein(casein) & flax..

I dont see enough carbs in yuor diet....add a sweet potato somewhere(meal 3) then you will have carbs in meal 1,3 & 5

this would be the easiest modification to the diet you currently have i think.

Thank's for your help. Funny that you mention the Eggs, I actually uped the amount this morning. Do you think if I just up the cottage cheese, and add some egg's to meal 5 it will be enough protein? The problem with this ECA stack is that I am having so much trouble finding an appetite during the day. I'll post a reformated diet and let me know what you think.

[CGY]

Meal 1
-1 cup of oats
-8 egg whites
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 2
-Myoplex M.R.P.

Meal 3
-1 cup of 1% low fat cottage cheese
-5 oz. of chicken or turkey (or one can of tuna if I'm sick of chicken and turkey)
-large salad w/ tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 4 (PWO)
-Myoplex M.R.P.

Meal 5
-1/4 cup of raw vegtables (usually carrots or asparagus)
-1/2 of cottage cheese
-5 egg whites
-ECA and multi. vit.

Meal 6
-8oz of lean meat
-2 cups of veggies
-1 cup of cottage cheese
-flax?

[PROTEINSHAKE]

in meal 5 I'd rather you have chicken/tuna/turkey or the lean meat as a protein source. I know it feels like you are eating a lot but the idea is to keep your metabolism going as a steady rate.. when you re-post the diet.... try to get us the macro breakdown per meal...

[PROTEINSHAKE]

the only real carb source i see there is the oats.....the veggies are carbs but small amounts...need a sweet potato in meal 3 or 5. as I said b4--I'd switch out the lean meat in 6 & move it to 5

[CGY]

Thank's for your help. I'll work on the macro's, and add some more carbs then repost again. Totally open to any other suggestions in the meantime as well.

[gotjacked2k7]

"Last time I did some cutting what seem to help was just doing a solid abs workout first thing in the morning before I ate. I would really feel the burn, and the last bit of fat that didnt want to come off seemed to slowly creep away."


-Thanks for that, I've heard consistantly that abs and cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is the way to go, guess it's time I give it a try. How bout dehydration during the last 3 days? Is it necessary or can it hurt my vascularity on photo shoot/ contest day? One other thing I'm confuse about is your diet seems to mix protein and carbs in the same meal, I was told this is a "no no" and you should separate by having a protein meal then carbs meal. Could this be some bally's/gnc hearsay?

[PROTEINSHAKE]

^ thats a complete fallacy...... pro/carb is fine & recommended... CARB/FAT should not be mixed together....that will make u fat.

[CGY]

-Thanks for that, I've heard consistantly that abs and cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is the way to go, guess it's time I give it a try. How bout dehydration during the last 3 days? Is it necessary or can it hurt my vascularity on photo shoot/ contest day? One other thing I'm confuse about is your diet seems to mix protein and carbs in the same meal, I was told this is a "no no" and you should separate by having a protein meal then carbs meal. Could this be some bally's/gnc hearsay?

I'm still working on the diet thing myself, it is definitely not perfected, as is why I posted it up here for advice. As far as the dehydration element goes, I'm not a competitor so I'm probably not the best person on here to give you advice on that. But you might try some NO (nitric oxide) to keep your pumps and vascularity up once you are dehydrated. Again though, I'm forsure not the best person for advice on contest prep.

[gotjacked2k7]

Thanks guys, I'm mostly preparing for an abercrombie body type photo shoot. I just dont wanna be as sickly as those pansies look, I'm goin for the happy medium between contest monster and GQ model. Thanks for your help!

[Prada]

CGY, you need to post your macros in order to work on it. Yes there are alot of things that can be ameliorated but post the macros per meal and the grand daily total.

[Tambit24]

I would add some carbs (rice, oats...) to pre work out and ditch the cottage cheese last meal. Looks like a lot of food right before bed, but just IMO. Just keep going with what you have and see how you feel and if the weight is coming off.