10 percent, trying to get leaner. please help.

[rororosey21]

Hello Gents,

so heres my story, im 27 years old, been working out consistently since i was 16. In my prime i was shredded, 6 percent bf. About a year ago i broke both my wrists at the same time (thank god i had girlfriend at the time) and thus wasnt able to work out for a bit. Put some weight on and now that im older im finding it harder to get back to where i was... it used to be so easy. The pics below are before the accident and where im at now. The first 2 are before, and the last one is now. Im still in pretty solid shape, but i want to get back to where i was and then some.

Im 6 ft 1 1/2 and weigh about 184... in my best shape i was at about 176. I dont want to be a monster, im def going for the lean ryan reynolds blade look.

heres my diet... i try to follow this the best i can, im a med student so its not always the easiest, but i think i do a pretty good job.

meal 1
1 scoop isopure
half cup of whole oats, raw
3/4 cup of low sugar soy milk

meal 2
2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites
4 slices of 97 % fat free turkey bacon

meal 3
salad of arugula
can of tuna, fresh sushi grade fish, chicken breast, lean turkey burger, or bison
table spoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
2 table spoons natty pb

meal 4
same as meal 3

meal 5
if its a training day will be:
half cup of quinoa, chicken breast, broccoli, and some low sugar tomato sauce.

if not a workout day, same as meal 3 and 4, always switching up the protein source and the green (arugula, spinach, broccoli, etc) plus 2 hard boiled eggs.

meal 6
if post workout
2 scoops of isopure and low sugar soy milk
some kind of carb source. heres where im a bit confused. In the Milos videos, he says i need a simple carb.... do i just add some cytocarb to my shake or is it okay to eat some low fat cookies, poptarts, or candy here? (ie swedish fish) sounds counterintuitive to even be asking that but if its legit im stoked.

meal 7- either the same as meal 4 or another shake (casein based with 2 table spoons of natty pb)

i also take omega 3 fish oil twice a day

macros- not counting greens as carbs

on average
82 grams fat, 74 grams of carbs, 300 protein
calories 2340

every sunday i will consume at least double the carbs. prob throw a cheat meal in there as well... ie pizza etc.


i lift intensely high rep 3 to 4 times a week... and do cardio 2-3 times per week which consists of 1.5 mile jog, an ab circuit, and 5 100 meters sprints, walking and jogging in between sprints.
what do you think?

i was also thinking about doing a 50 mg var cycle for 8 weeks or so... never cycled before, kinda curious.

what do ya think? Thanks in advance

[mg1228]

lookin good in all pics----drop the soy milk and double the cardio to 5-6 times a week---make sure its low intensity---do 45 min to an hr on an empty stomach in the am 5-6 days a week and drop ur other cardio and u should b gtg

id even up the carbs early in the day---at a low bf% like yours u need carbs so ur body doesnt hold on to the last bit of fat it has--

figure ur tdee also so we can make sure ur eating enough

[Damienm05]

First of all, you're hard work over the years really shows. Even now, I think you look great. I'd also say you're beyond where Ryan Reynolds was in Blade; not tryna ride your dick or anything but definitely feel if you implement the critique below, you'll be set. Look for the bold.

Hello Gents,

so heres my story, im 27 years old, been working out consistently since i was 16. In my prime i was shredded, 6 percent bf. About a year ago i broke both my wrists at the same time (thank god i had girlfriend at the time) and thus wasnt able to work out for a bit. HAHA - YES! Put some weight on and now that im older im finding it harder to get back to where i was... it used to be so easy. The pics below are before the accident and where im at now. The first 2 are before, and the last one is now. Im still in pretty solid shape, but i want to get back to where i was and then some.

Im 6 ft 1 1/2 and weigh about 184... in my best shape i was at about 176. I dont want to be a monster, im def going for the lean ryan reynolds blade look.

heres my diet... i try to follow this the best i can, im a med student so its not always the easiest, but i think i do a pretty good job.

meal 1
1 scoop isopure
half cup of whole oats, raw
3/4 cup of low sugar soy milk You said it yourself, your metabolism isn't what it once was - cut it

meal 2
2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites
4 slices of 97 % fat free turkey bacon I'd cut the turkey bacon and add 4 more egg whites. It's not too high in cals but it's just not a quality protein source.

meal 3
salad of arugula
can of tuna, fresh sushi grade fish, chicken breast, lean turkey burger, or bison
table spoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
2 table spoons natty pb I'd honestly do a complex carb instead. Your diet may as well be keto as it stands. regardless, 1 tbspn. of evoo is plenty of fat for this meal.

meal 4
same as meal 3 Pro/fat for this meal is fine but again, I wouldn't do the peanut butter, just the evoo

meal 5
if its a training day will be:
half cup of quinoa, chicken breast, broccoli, and some low sugar tomato sauce. That's a very nice pre-wrkout meal, keep it just the way it is.

if not a workout day, same as meal 3 and 4, always switching up the protein source and the green (arugula, spinach, broccoli, etc) plus 2 hard boiled eggs. again, no peanut butter just the evoo/balsamic dressing. Just via that you're already at 50g of fat. But i like the variation

meal 6
if post workout
2 scoops of isopure and low sugar soy milk
some kind of carb source. heres where im a bit confused. In the Milos videos, he says i need a simple carb.... do i just add some cytocarb to my shake or is it okay to eat some low fat cookies, poptarts, or candy here? (ie swedish fish) sounds counterintuitive to even be asking that but if its legit im stoked. You do not need a simple carb! If bulking, you could get away with it but you're trying to be 6% body fat! In fact, if you're going for 6% body fat again, I would just do a pro/fat shake. this is your 2nd to last meal, no carbs is very justifiable. No milk, just 40g pro via isopure in water and 2 tbspn. of natty PB that we took out of your earlier meals

meal 7- either the same as meal 4 or another shake (casein based with 2 table spoons of natty pb) No variation, casein w/ 2 tbspn. nattty PB is perfect

i also take omega 3 fish oil twice a day

macros- not counting greens as carbs

on average
82 grams fat, 74 grams of carbs, 300 protein 300 pro is excessive, I'd say your straight at 250. Get carbs to 150, my suggestions should yield that. 70g fat would be ideal. At last that would be a better way to compose your 2300 cals.
calories 2340

every sunday i will consume at least double the carbs. prob throw a cheat meal in there as well... ie pizza etc. A refeed is good but stick to complex sources, 300g spread throughout the day. Stop eating them 3 hours before bed. Nothing wrong with a cheat meal as long as the cals aren't over the top.


i lift intensely high rep 3 to 4 times a week... and do cardio 2-3 times per week which consists of 1.5 mile jog, an ab circuit, and 5 100 meters sprints, walking and jogging in between sprints.
what do you think? I'd say do LIT, 45-60 minutes 5 days per week either post-workout or early in the morning before you eat. Just focus on the fat-burning zone.

i was also thinking about doing a 50 mg var cycle for 8 weeks or so... never cycled before, kinda curious. You're physically a good candidate for aas but i see no need man. more cardio and the above corrections, you're where you wanna be in 8-12 weeks regardless.

what do ya think? Thanks in advance

[Damienm05]

Redo the diet with new macros so we can get everything in check.

[rororosey21]

A genuine thank you to both of you for the feedback. From my calculations, my tdee is between 2900 and 3300 depending on how active i am... since it varies, i gave a range. Thus lets say 3100. Both of you have advised me to cut the soymilk. Consider it gone, but im wondering why, the soymilk i have is 80 calories, 7 g protein, 4 carbs, and 1 sugar per serving.
Low intensity cardio will be increased. Does walking at a fast pace on the treadmill count, or does it have to be a run... running for 45 minutes is murder for me in terms of mere boredom. My pulse is usually around 160 during a moderate jog. If im walking on an incline at least i can watch tv, not theres anything good on at the god forsaken hour of the morning.

here is the corrected diet with appropriate macros.

Meal 1
3/4 cup raw oatmeal, 1 scoop isopure
fat 3g/ carbs 28 g/ protein 30 g

Meal 2
2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites
fat 10/ carb 1/ protein 44

Meal 3 4 oz tuna, arugula, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp balsamic vin, 1 cup quinoa cooked
fat 19/ carbs 42/ protein 36

Meal 4 same as meal 3 minus the quinoa, sub 6 oz chicken for tuna
fat 19/ carbs 3/ protein 48

Meal 5 if its a training day will be: half cup of quinoa, chicken breast, broccoli, and some low sugar tomato sauce. fat 4/ carbs 50/ protein 45

if not training cut out the quinoa
fat 3/ carb 10/ protein 37

meal 6 if post workout
2 scoops of isopure 2 tbs natty pb fat 17/ carb 9/ protein 58

if no workout repeat meal 4

meal 7
1 scoop of casein protein and 2 tbs natty pb
fat 17/ carbs 10/ protein 32 330

calorie total comes out to approximately 2540 depending on whether or not its a training day

Do i need to be concerned about the massive amount of cholesterol im ingesting?

[mg1228]

for ur cardio---220-age=__x65%=ur target hr---yes a brisk walk on slight incline will do

[mg1228]

total the day up for us if u will---is that 2500 on a workout day?

[rororosey21]

So sorry. Forgot to total. For a workout day It comes to .. fat 73/ carb 122/ protein 304, 2670 cals. For the non workout day it comes to 53 fat/ 74 carb/ 249 protein for a total of 2100 cals.

[mg1228]

i would try to get closer to tdee on workout days---within 300--do it with carbs

on non workout days go 700 back--

otherwise ur gonna risk ur muscle at ur bf%

remember ur really increasing cardio--no need to cut back so far on calories

[rororosey21]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you suggesting that I cut 700 cals non workout days or add 700? I'm guessing the latter. I'll be able to maintain low body fat with the additional carbs and calories?

[mg1228]

go 700 cals below tdee on non workout days and 300 behind on workout days---just make sure u do the cardio--yes to your maintaining question