Help With Cutting Plateau

[musclestack]

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've posted on here and, when I did, it was usually ME critiquing other's diets lol! Anyway, I would like some advice on where I'm going wrong, if at all, on my diet/cardio plan. I seem to have stalled on my cutting phase.

I just finished an 18-month bulking phase 3 weeks ago. During that time, I managed to go from 164lbs. to 196lbs. (about a 32 pound gain). I did put on a bit of fat while running a 4,000 calorie diet during that time. My goal is to get down to single digits within the next 13 weeks. Btw, my stats are: 5'8", 190lbs (after I lost the water weight after the first week of cutting), 14%bf, 29 years old.

So, I weighed in and took all measurements (chest, arms, waist, shoulders, legs) before I started my cut, then one week into the cut, and again yesterday. I lost 6 pounds in the first week (water weight), but these past 2 weeks I have stayed the exact same (same measurements as 2 weeks ago also).

Here is my diet:

Meal 1 (9:30am)
65g whey P-49, C-4, F-1.4
100g oats P-12, C-52, F-9
1 tbsp natty PB P-4.5, C-2.5, F-7

Meal 2 (1:00pm)
8oz. chicken breast P-48, C-0, F-2
1tbsp EVOO P-0, C-0, F-14

Meal 3 (5:00pm)
8 oz. chicken breast P-48, C-0, F-2
100g rice P-7.6, C-78, F-1.5

Meal 4 (pwo) (8:30PM)
65g whey P-49, C-4, F-1.4
100g oats P-12, C-52, F-9
1 tbsp natty PB P-4.5, C-2.5, F-7

Meal 5 (10:30PM)
8 oz. chicken breast P-48, C-0, F-2
1 tbsp EVOO P-0, C-0, F-14


Totals:
Protein: 283
Carbs: 195
Fats: 70
Calories: 2,542
Split: 45/31/25

I train weights at 6:30 for about 45 minutes, then off to do cardio for 45 minutes afterwards (I would like to do cardio in the morning, but my schedule does not allow it). My cardio consists of 45 minutes on the treadmill at low-intensity (5mph). I feel like I'm getting a great cardio workout in, as I always need to peel my shirt off and ring out the sweat that drips to the ground by the gallon before I get in my car and drive home lol.

I am also cycling clen at 80mcg/day; 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.
On my 2 weeks off of clen, I am running 2 weeks of a product called f*ck off fat. It is a product mainly found in South Africa for those who are unfamiliar with it. Its main fat-burning component is Yohimbe, and it has excellent reviews from both online sources as well as people I know who have run it.

I would imagine that some of you may feel my calories are too high. I am basically just trying to eat at a maintenance level (which I calculated by taking my lean body mass x 15), and using training/cardio to create the deficit, as I am not prepared to sacrifice ANY of my hard-earned muscle by eating too little.

So, any advice on anything you think I should change up? Or am I being too impatient since I've only been dieting for 3 weeks? All thoughts are welcome!

If I left anything out, and you need more info, please feel free to ask.

Thank you.
MS

[baseline_9]

Personally I think your protein and fats are a little high....

But it really doesn't matter.... All u need to do is stick with a plan, hit ur macros and watch the scale....

U need to break your goal down into manageable weekly goals.... U basically want to loose 5% BF in 13 weeks....

5% of 190 = approx 10 lbs....

So approx 10lbs of fat loss.... I'd allow for maybe a total weight loss of around 15-16 lbs of total weight....

Ur looking at around about 1.2lbs weight loss each week.... Which is approx 600 calls under mtnce....

Just hit ur macros and watch the scale.... Get logging ur macros on myfitnesspal....

[baseline_9]

As far as cardio I'd opt to do cardio at a higher intensity if you can hack it.... You should feel completely spent after a 45 min session....

Work as hard as u can and focus on burning calories and not your heart rate

[lucabratzi]

As far as cardio I'd opt to do cardio at a higher intensity if you can hack it.... You should feel completely spent after a 45 min session....

Work as hard as u can and focus on burning calories and not your heart rate

From my understanding you should stay within a certain heart rate range. If u go way over ur ideal fat burning range ur body starts pulling energy from your muscles. You would break your plateau but in the end it doesn't matter what the scale says it matters what u look like.

Unless I'm missing something and there's different study's that show different.

Diet looks pretty solid. Maybe drop your carbs by 20 and fat by 15.

[baseline_9]

From my understanding you should stay within a certain heart rate range. If u go way over ur ideal fat burning range ur body starts pulling energy from your muscles. You would break your plateau but in the end it doesn't matter what the scale says it matters what u look like.

Unless I'm missing something and there's different study's that show different.

Diet looks pretty solid. Maybe drop your carbs by 20 and fat by 15.

Yes you are missing something....

First off if your talking about extreme heart rates then that is not valid since you won't be able to keep it up for extended periods...

Secondly even if you could it would make little difference since fuel burned makes little difference overall as far as total fat loss...

Burning energy is the goal overall

[musclestack]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Base-I understand everything you're saying. I will try to increase the intensity of my cardio bit by bit. But I am also looking for a critique in my diet. You mentioned you think fats are too high....given my stats, where do you think they should be at? How about my overall amount of calorie-intake? Too high? If I'm calculating my maintenance by multiplying my LBM x 15, it comes to just over 2,400 cals, so I suppose I could come down a bit.

I'm also not too sure what you mean by allowing a 15-16lb. overall loss of weight. Are you implying that I will lose some muscle too? Because that is the exact reason why I kept cals a bit high. I am, in no way, prepared to lose ANY muscle. I would even rather extend my cutting phase longer and lose fat slower than sacrifice my muscle. So, given what I've said, what would you change about my diet? And also, again considering I don't want to lose any muscle, exactly how intense should my cardio be? I know you said don't worry about the heart rate, but if it helps, I stay at a constant 5mph (12 minute mile), and my heart rate stays around 155-160.

[musclestack]

Do you think by increasing my level of intensity too much would start eating away at my muscle?

[musclestack]

Base? Anyone?

[bethdoth]

I am no expert but, I also plateaued for a few weeks. I broke it by doing two 24 hour fasts (2 days apart) with some HIIT at the end of the fast, then 8 hour feed and lift heavy. Lost another 1/2 off my waist and 2 pounds. Will have my BF% checked on Wednesday to see how the last month went.

[musclestack]

Thanks, Rhoag. Not a fan of the idea of intermittent fasting, but if all else fails, I may give it a shot. In the meantime, I've reduced calories by reducing protein to 260grams and fat to 50grams, along with increasing the intensity of my cardio a bit. We'll see how it goes!