Long term dieting (for 30+lbs loss)

[Bastard Samurai]

I'm 28 years old and 185 lbs. I'm looking to cut about 30-35lbs off my frame over the course of the remainder of the year (for MMA/MT purposes). I'm now more into functional muscle and strength for fighting instead of for size and appearance.

I've been looking at all the cutting diets and they all seem geared towards short-term weight loss (good for pre-contest/fight) but not necessarily for the long term. I would like to "float" around 150 thereby making it easier to cut down to about 135-147lbs. Just having trouble getting started, a point into the right direction or example would be greatly appreciated.

BS

[BWhitaker]

whats your current bf%

[Bastard Samurai]

sorry, about 18-20% bf @ 5' 9", I'm in my last year of college and can start planning a proper diet and actually be able to follow it. Thanks.

[200byjune]

why do u want to cut it in a year?

[Panzerfaust]

The cutting diet is not geared toward just for someone cutting down for a show. It is a cutting diet for dropping body fat, regardless of what you are doing it for.

[StoneGRMI]

^ Word. I've ran similar cutters for months at a time.

[audis4]

Who said they were geared towards short term weight loss?
almost 2 years ago when i started getting serious about dieting/training, I cut for the better part of 9 months.

The whole point of cutting is to start at maintenance cals and slowly (i mean slowly) drop cals when you have plateaued. If done right, you will slowly begin replacing muscle with fat.

Experiment, manipulate carbs/cals whatever. Try different stuff that works better for you.

Make sure your meal timings are correct as this will be crucial. Focus on not overtraining.

I would really advize on posting a diet/workout routine and read A LOT!

[Panzerfaust]

The confusion here seems to be that someone who competes in BodyBuilding might diet 8-10wks because his BF% is not that high to begin with plus he has to get it down very low.

An average person carrying alot of BF will need to "cut" for months and months if necessary.

[DNoMac]

Hi Bastard - with your bodyfat that high, you can easily follow the cutting diet for well over two months and continue to drop weight. As long as you're staying below maintenance, you should continue to lose weight.

[Bastard Samurai]

Okay maybe I'm not asking the question correctly...

I've done some cutting diets before but I've had little success staying on them cause of the limited carb intake. I would like to develop a diet program that I can stay on, lose weight and still have enough energy for training. I know 30-35lbs will take a MINIMUM of a year to lose and I'm prepared for that.

I've just started researching and as always this is the first place I come to. Based on other info I've found it says that reducing calorie intake by 500 kcals a day should result in losing a lb/week. To be honest, during my previous cutting diets I've only concentrated on counting grams not calories, so this is kinda new to me.

[Bastard Samurai]

Thanks DNoMac...where should I start making the cuts? The carbs or the proteins (to stay below maintenance)? That's where I get confused...I need carbs for energy (to train) but cutting carbs would help me cut more weight. Or do I have that wrong?

[audis4]

[QUOTE=Bastard Samurai;3962867]Thanks DNoMac...where should I start making the cuts? The carbs or the proteins (to stay below maintenance)? That's where I get confused...I need carbs for energy (to train) but cutting carbs would help me cut more weight. Or do I have that wrong?]QUOTE]

well, sure but your cutting cals when your cutting carbs.

Don't focus on the carbs aspect, I'm not sure why everyone gets so tied up into that. Carbs are essential for me to think, workout etc. etc. When I'm cutting down, I have carbs in every meal.

Like I said, start slow, begin at maintenance and slowly drop cals from there. You might even want to consider calorie cycling.

good luck!

[Bastard Samurai]

[QUOTE=audis4;3963060]

Thanks DNoMac...where should I start making the cuts? The carbs or the proteins (to stay below maintenance)? That's where I get confused...I need carbs for energy (to train) but cutting carbs would help me cut more weight. Or do I have that wrong?[/QUOTE]

well, sure but your cutting cals when your cutting carbs.

Don't focus on the carbs aspect, I'm not sure why everyone gets so tied up into that. Carbs are essential for me to think, workout etc. etc. When I'm cutting down, I have carbs in every meal.

Like I said, start slow, begin at maintenance and slowly drop cals from there. You might even want to consider calorie cycling.

good luck!

Thanks bro, I just found Narks and Nova's dieting 101 and it is the shit! Lots of valuable info there. I'm from the old school of "carbs are bad" but I'm changing my attitude very quickly! Here's a PM I sent Nova and maybe I can get some other people's info:

I'm 29 yrs. old. If I weigh 185 and my bf % is 20% then my lean body mass would be about 148? If correct then would my maintenance intake would be about 2000 for sedentary and about 2600 kcals for moderately active? these are conservative numbers to error on the side of caution...

My activity would be compound weight lifting 4 x a week(for MMA and muay thai purposes) am cardio and heavy bag work (daily) and plyometric exercises (occasionally).

[audis4]

[QUOTE=Bastard Samurai;3963129]

Thanks bro, I just found Narks and Nova's dieting 101 and it is the shit! Lots of valuable info there. I'm from the old school of "carbs are bad" but I'm changing my attitude very quickly! Here's a PM I sent Nova and maybe I can get some other people's info:

I'm 29 yrs. old. If I weigh 185 and my bf % is 20% then my lean body mass would be about 148? If correct then would my maintenance intake would be about 2000 for sedentary and about 2600 kcals for moderately active? these are conservative numbers to error on the side of caution...

My activity would be compound weight lifting 4 x a week(for MMA and muay thai purposes) am cardio and heavy bag work (daily) and plyometric exercises (occasionally).

I would google the harris benedict formula and plug your #'s into the equation. Once you have that #, multiply that by another # (how active you are) and this will give you your maintenance cals.
Hope this helps! And yes, nark and nova's log is very educational!
Best of luck!

[Bastard Samurai]

I have the HB formula saved on my laptop as an excel file (I actually got it from this website). I calculated my LBM on my own and plugged that # into the program and these are the numbers I got. And my bf% is not an estimate, it is an accurate %. It was taken @ the university I go to. I'm an exercise science major and we get this done free of charge! Sometime in the fall I'm getting it checked again to see the progress I've made.

[audis4]

what did they use to check your BF? how many different places did they pinch?

well good, take that #, which is your maintenance cals, and split those up into meals. Once you begin to plateau, slowly drop cals every few weeks.

[Narkissos]

I know 30-35lbs will take a MINIMUM of a year to lose and I'm prepared for that.

^^If you're doing it all wrong.. Yes.


-CNS

[DNoMac]

Thanks DNoMac...where should I start making the cuts? The carbs or the proteins (to stay below maintenance)? That's where I get confused...I need carbs for energy (to train) but cutting carbs would help me cut more weight. Or do I have that wrong?

I like my carbs as well. Have you tried carb cycling? I've had success with this is the past. Here is an article that explains it incase you are unfamiliar with it: http://www.t - n a t i o n .com/readTopic.do?id=811783 (remove the spaces). Also, like Audis said, go on the internet and put in all of your stats and calculate your BMR using the harris benedict calculator. Thats a good start.

[Bastard Samurai]

^^If you're doing it all wrong.. Yes.


-CNS

Hoping not to, but if it does take that that long, I'm prepared for it.

[colinwoods84]

hey I just wanted to say I really enjoyed that article. I think it opened me up to a lot. I am going to start a new thread about my situation and hope to hear from you. Good luck thread starter with your loss. I am going to shoot for about 20-25 lbs fat loss cant wait to hear your success.