Quick Background: Been lifting on and off since high school, got serious over this past summer and lost about 70lbs (See Avatar, old pic actually). I did this through eating LESS, Running, and Lifting. Over the past 4 Months it has been about gaining more muscle, and I've hit a fat loss plateau. I've been 220lbs (I was 290) for about 2-3 months and I want to cut more.
Congrats on the loss so far! Avy is small but I can see big changes, respect!
My Plan- Follow my diet, and begin doing higher rep weight training (15-20 reps), along with 3-4 days of cardio per week. I would like to do this all for one month and see where I am.
Well, I wouldn't restrict myself to 15-20 reps, if anything i'd mix it up. A week of lower rep range/heavier weight, then a week of higher reps with lower weight, something like that. Keep confusing your muscle, keep changing it up. Cardio - 3-4 days a week is not enough if fat loss is your primary goal. You should be doing cardio 6x a week. I was doing it 2x a day, 6 days a week and it showed, fast!
Goal- Keep as much muscle mass, but get weight below 210 consistantly BY END OF MARCH, my lowest since summer was 215, but it went back up. My ultimate goal is just like most people's- visible abs. I'd like to set a timeline for that after march, thinking by my birthday- June 19th... possible?
At 23% bodyfat and basically 3.5 months? Definitely possible, no doubt. If you do this right, 12 weeks can have you sitting somewhere around 15% bodyfat which will definitely show some abs. They won't be well defined, but they should be visible.
My Stats-
22 Years Old
220 Lbs
23%ish BF
NO cycles Ever or anytime soon
College Student Living at home, working PT
BMR- 2214 cal
Maintenance- 3004 cal
You sure on the maintenance calories? Based on your stats, I have you closer to 2500. Other then the gym, how active are you throughout the day? What do you do for work? Do you play sports? How did you calculate your TDEE?
My New Meal Plan (Cal/Pro/Carb/Fat)-
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (Schedule Conflicts)
So what are you doing Tuesday and Thursday? Are those your off days (from the gym)?
-Meal 1- 1.5 Cup Egg Whites, 6 Slice Turkey Bacon, 1 Cup Blueberries-415/49/27/9
Drop the turkey bacon and add a whole egg. First meal of the day, get some good complex carbs in there - i'd go with a 1/2 cup oats. Sweeten with splenda and cinnamon. I add blueberries right into mine
-Meal 2 AND Meal 3- 2 Slice Wheat Bread, 1 Can Tuna, 1 tbsp Low Fat Mayo, 1/2 cup of Blueberries 2 Meal Total- 370/33/55/4
While this isn't horrible, it really isn't a great meal. The tuna is fine, the bread and mayo aren't. Also, the berries have no place here. If possible, go for a better carb source (sweet potato, yam, quinoa, lentils, beans, etc) or drop the carbs here all together, drop the many and start buying tuna in olive oil (tonno in olive oil) - make SURE it's not that crap in the soybean oil with all that other additive garbage. Replace the berries with some green veggies
-Meal 4 (Post W/O)- Protein Shake- 2 Scoops Whey, Creatine, BCAA's.
Ok, I didn't realize meal 3 was pre-workout. Consider taking my advice (dropping carbs and making it a protein/fat meal) for meal 2, but keep meal 3 protein/carb so you can fuel your workout. That said, definitely nix the bread and go with a clean slow burning carb source. Brown rice is another option.
As for this meal, 2 scoops of whey is fine, add carbs here (now that we've dropped carbs in meal 2 there's room for them here) i'd suggest another 1/2 cup oats. Most of us just dump them right into the shake raw, shake, drink, chew, repeat
-Meal 5- 1/2 Bag Salad, 2 Tbsp +/- Low Cal Dressing, 80/3/15/3
This is not a meal, there is no protein source at all. Fine if you want to have this (salad better be good greens, not iceberg lettuce) but add some grilled chicken breast or lean steak. I'd
-Meal 6- Lean Meat Source (For Cal Count Purpose, Say 2- 8oz Chix), Bag of Veggies, 695/111/25/13
2-8oz? that's a huge variation. Make it at least 4oz, no more then 6. Same about the veggies - make sure they're good acceptable fiberious veggies - asparagus, spinach, brussell sprouts, green beans, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, etc
-Meal 7- 1.5 Cup Egg Whites, 6 Slice Turkey Bacon, (Love This, and needed more cal's without late night carbs) 330/48/6/9
This is not a good bedtime meal. Eggs absorb relatively fast and won't do much for you overnight. Better choice would be full fat cottage cheese, even better would be lean steak. For convenience sake, a casein shake would be acceptable here
-Anytime Snack During Day- Yogurt and 2x String Cheese- 250/20/17/12
Do you just snack at will? If you're going to eat yogurt, go with nonfat plain greek yogurt. Sweeten with splenda. The flavored yogurt has a ton of sugar in it. Careful with the string cheese as well
TOTAL- 2490 / 328(little high?) / 153 / 54(little low?)
Here's the good news - if you eat 2500 calories/day (what I think your TDEE is) and have a really dialed in cardio regimen, you stand to lose bodyfat and maintain (if not add some new) LBM. That said, protein is a bit high but not insane. Fats can probably come up just a tad, so maybe drop 25-50g protein and replace with healthy fats
I'll Save ya on my tuesdays and thursdays, Basicallys same thing only in different order, About Same Totals, Maybe Less Protein.
Supplements-
Glutamine
Fish Oil
Multi
Whey
Creatine
NO XPlode
BCAA's
Cardio- Thinking about 2-3 times a week doing AM Fasting LIGHT Intensity Cardio. Maybe Tredmill 3.5 Mph, 5% incline for 30 min. Worth it? Should I take a supp before doing this? I've read maybe Glutamine or Bcaa's.
Then also HITT 2-3 times a week for 30 min, and maybe a mountain bike ride or two, mostly for fun.
Do fasted cardio everyday, or take 1 day off if you want but 2-3 a week isn't enough, ESPECIALLY if you're eating right around your maintenance (which is better then a huge caloric deficit). Definitely do BCAA's before and after fasted cardio. Save the HIIT for PWO.
Lifting- Back(15 sets) /Bi (10 Sets), Chest (15 sets) / Tri (12 Sets), Legs (Light, 16 sets) / Shoulders (12 sets) , Abs (6-10 sets) and Forearms (6 sets) I Hit every other time I'm in the Gym. Switching to High Rep's, 15-20.
Not enough info here to comment or advise
MY Questions-
AM Cardio?
Yes, fasted
Diet OK for goals?
It'll be alot better if you implement my changes =)
Should I add a weight loss supp?
Not necessary, but if placebo effect helps you, knock yourself out
Could CLEN help me along here?
I wouldn't bother at this point. Learn how to diet first, introduce other compounds later
Are my Goals Reasonable?
Yes, and attainable
Once this is finished, if I'm down around 200-210, could I then look forward to a clen cycle?
Possibly
Finally Pictures! All Current:
Haven't seen them yet, will look as soon as i'm through commenting
I've been looking at other peoples diet questions and I hope I gave you guys all the info you needed, I truely appreciate the help that is offered on this site and I feel like its a different and good group of guys on here. Thank You ahead of time for the time you'll take to look this over.
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Originally Posted by Hempfieldhunter
