I need a little help with my BF

Ok. Long story short, I had to take a little break from training (injury) and my BF is now up around 18%

In the past, I have never had to follow any strict dieting (I have always eaten pretty healthy, but I never had to eat "perfect") in order to stay in good shape. I don’t compete in shows or anything… I just like to look and feel good.

However, Now that I am getting a little bit older (28), it seems like everything I eat goes straight to my mid section! :tear:

It looks like I am going to have to finally bite the bullet and find a CLEAN diet (I'll probably use the base from one of the stickys above) and follow it strictly.

My stats are:

28yrs
5'8
175lbs
BF= 18.5%
BMR = 1816.75

Based on my statistics (and what I have learned by reading the diet forums here for a few days), I need to consume approx. 2816 total calories per day to maintain my current weight of 175lbs.

This is where I get confused. If I want to blast out my gut via a clean diet and intensified cardio work (along with my normal weight training) would I be better off following a "Lean Muscle diet” and chipping away at the BF a little slower (while still packing my muscle mass back on)??

My activity level is limited to my time in the gym. I work from home and basically sit on my ass all day long. Making time to eat will not be an issue for me... figuring out how much and what I should be eating is another story!

How many Calories should I be consuming on a daily basis if I want to get my body fat down to about 10% by next summer?? Also, what should the Protein/Carb/Fat ratio look like?? :scratch:

Any help is appreciated guys... Even if you just point me in the right direction. tx-

How much cardio are you doing and when? What does your diet/workout plan look like right now?

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Originally Posted by AandF6969

How much cardio are you doing and when? What does your diet/workout plan look like right now?

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First... thanks for the help. I really do appriciate it.

My diet right now is (in a nut shell):

(Wake up)
10:30am
Meal 1 = Breakfast Shake: 20oz water,
60grams Whey, 1tbls natty PNB, 1 banana, 1 (small scoop) low fat/low sugar frozen yogart, handful of seedless green grapes.

1pm Meal 2 = 8 Egg whites, 2 cups of Shredded wheat cereal with Blueberries, Fat free (smart start milk)

5pm Meal 3 = Chicken Salad (about 8oz) on a Whole Wheat Bagel, Multi-Tab Vitimin, and Flax seed oil.

8pm (pre work-out)
60grams Whey, 1tbls natty PNB, 1 banana, 1 (small scoop) low fat/low sugar frozen yogart, handful of seedless green grapes.

9pm Workout 1-hour

PWO (10pm) ISO-pure Mass (pre mixed drink) Protein 35g, Carbs 53g, Fat 0g Potassium 40mg, Sugars 13g

PPWO (11-11:30pm)- 8oz Chicken Salad, 1 slice of wheat toast, Flax seed oil.

3am Sleep.

I work out 4-5 days a week, and do Cardio for 20mins 3-days per after my weight training. (I will adjust my training accordingly, as I get serious with the new diet).

I have been training for about 9 years, so im not completely out of shape. But I have been out of the gym (on a regular basis) for the last 6 months or so because I hurt my shoulder. I am just starting to ease myself back into my regiment, but it is clear that I am going to have to take my diet serious from here on out (seems like my metabolism has finally slowed down on me). I’m carrying most of my BF in my mid section, and under my chest (def. not gyno).

Again... thanks for any help you can throw my way. I really want to max out on my conditioning for the last summer in my 20's... Just a personal goal of mine. I want my abs popped by July! It's going to be a good fight this time around.

Wake up earlier and do some cardio on an empty stomach for 45min-1hr and I guarantee you'll start seeing results fast.

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Originally Posted by StoneGRMI

Wake up earlier and do some cardio on an empty stomach for 45min-1hr and I guarantee you'll start seeing results fast.

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Right, that is definitely in the plans. I have always done my cardio that way in the past. I agree the results have always been better.

My concern right now is with my diet. I have never been the calorie counter/meal wei***ng kind of guy, so eating clean is going to be brand new to me for the most part. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to the specs of proper nutrition.

In the past, i just did my best to stay away from foods that seemed bad (fast food, take out, fried, ect.) and trained hard 5-6 days a week. I probably wasn’t getting the most out of my training, but I was satisfied.

This time around I want to do it the right way, and maximize my efforts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mogamedogz

First... thanks for the help. I really do appriciate it.

My diet right now is (in a nut shell):

(Wake up)
10:30am
Meal 1 = Breakfast Shake: 20oz water,
60grams Whey, 1tbls natty PNB, 1 banana, 1 (small scoop) low fat/low sugar frozen yogart, handful of seedless green grapes.

1pm Meal 2 = 8 Egg whites, 2 cups of Shredded wheat cereal with Blueberries, Fat free (smart start milk)

5pm Meal 3 = Chicken Salad (about 8oz) on a Whole Wheat Bagel, Multi-Tab Vitimin, and Flax seed oil.

8pm (pre work-out)
60grams Whey, 1tbls natty PNB, 1 banana, 1 (small scoop) low fat/low sugar frozen yogart, handful of seedless green grapes.

9pm Workout 1-hour

PWO (10pm) ISO-pure Mass (pre mixed drink) Protein 35g, Carbs 53g, Fat 0g Potassium 40mg, Sugars 13g

PPWO (11-11:30pm)- 8oz Chicken Salad, 1 slice of wheat toast, Flax seed oil.

3am Sleep.

I work out 4-5 days a week, and do Cardio for 20mins 3-days per after my weight training. (I will adjust my training accordingly, as I get serious with the new diet).

I have been training for about 9 years, so im not completely out of shape. But I have been out of the gym (on a regular basis) for the last 6 months or so because I hurt my shoulder. I am just starting to ease myself back into my regiment, but it is clear that I am going to have to take my diet serious from here on out (seems like my metabolism has finally slowed down on me). I’m carrying most of my BF in my mid section, and under my chest (def. not gyno).

Again... thanks for any help you can throw my way. I really want to max out on my conditioning for the last summer in my 20's... Just a personal goal of mine. I want my abs popped by July! It's going to be a good fight this time around.

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you have fat and carbs in most meals...you want to go pro/fat or pro/carb in each meal.

You have a bagel and bread in there stay away from bread if you can there not good carbs imo.

try not to eat any carbs. 4/5 hours before bed

altogether you have way to many carbs in there...im just putting together my cutting diet now and im at.....
P/280 C/76 F/91

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Originally Posted by kif

you have fat and carbs in most meals...you want to go pro/fat or pro/carb in each meal.

You have a bagel and bread in there stay away from bread if you can there not good carbs imo.

try not to eat any carbs. 4/5 hours before bed

altogether you have way to many carbs in there...im just putting together my cutting diet now and im at.....
P/280 C/76 F/91

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Gotcha. Thanx for the tip. I will rely on little pointers like this to patch my diet together. I appreciate it.

So I should cut the whole wheat bread and bagels out completely, and replace them with another complexed carb? Yams or brown Rice I suppose? I will probably have to add some green veggies to my diet at some point. Maybe meals 3 and 6?

Also, does anyone have any idea how many calories per day I should be consuming based on my stats above? :scratch:

Anyone else care to hook me up with some tips/ideas/opinions. tx

The separating fat and carbs thing is pure mythology. The only time you really want no fat is post workout.

Read this for details.

http://forums.steroid.com/diet-nutrition/271788-best-diet-discussion-well-ever-see.html

damn bro... thanks for the article... but that is a little too scientific for me. lol- Im not that smart!

Im not looking to compete... i just want to cut my BF down from 18% to about 10%.

Just a real basic diet (total calories, and P/F/C Ratio's).

About 2500 calories with low carbs should do the trick. Unless you don't tolerate low carb well. That sort of thing seems to work for most people. The most important thing is keeping it clean, staying away from the high GI stuff.

This one is fairly scientific too, but well explained. It is an article by Dr. John Berardi, who is an absolute genius in my opinion. It explains why you eat a certain way and don't just reduce calories, and shows just how complex the human metabolism is.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/...n/new_view.htm

Here is the nutrition index containing many articles he wrote on the subject.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/index.htm

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Originally Posted by sonnygll

About 2500 calories with low carbs should do the trick. Unless you don't tolerate low carb well. That sort of thing seems to work for most people. The most important thing is keeping it clean, staying away from the high GI stuff.

This one is fairly scientific too, but well explained. It is an article by Dr. John Berardi, who is an absolute genius in my opinion. It explains why you eat a certain way and don't just reduce calories, and shows just how complex the human metabolism is.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/...n/new_view.htm

Here is the nutrition index containing many articles he wrote on the subject.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/index.htm

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I appreciate the tips bro. Slowly, im starting to put together what (appears to be) the proper diet for cutting.

I've cut the carbs wayyyy down (keep them limited to pre and pwo shakes, and Oats with my Whites for breakfast), and im doing my AM cardio empty.

I should be able to adjust it accordingly over the next couple of weeks, once i see how my body responds.

Still looking for more tips if anyone out there has them.

It’s popped Abs or bust for next summer.

How realistic is it for me to go from 18% to around 10% by next June?? (I am very disciplined with training and diet).

That's very doable. That should be less than 3 pounds of fat a month. So if you can burn off a pound of fat every week, you can get there ahead of schedule. That is if you are somewhere in the 200 lbs neighborhood.