TDEE/Cutting ?

[trainhard82]

I am currently deployed overseas and looking to take this opportunity to cut BF% seeing as how we cant drink here and there is a lot of time to work out. I am 30 years old 6'0" and 220lbs. I would guess between 15-18% BF but thats just a guess. I used a TDEE calculator and it came up with 3327. To cut i know to subtract 500 cals and i should be gtg. The question i have is 2800 cals seems like a lot to eat for a cut. I added up my normal every day eating and i am usually around 2200. Would it be smart to eat more or should i stick with where i am at? I added up my current macros and it comes out to roughly 2200 cals/230 carbs/60 fat/215 protein. This is spread over 6 meals throughout the day. This is a big difference than how i ate back home so maybe i just need to stick with this and a good workout plan and as time goes by i will see results. Thoughts?

[trainhard82]

Also i drink a good 4 cans of Coke Zero a day. As much as these are zero calorie do you think it would be better to drop these altogether? Not sure if getting rid of soda helps with the cut or not.

[trainhard82]

Bump. Looking to start today. Weighed in this morning with my boots and uniform on at 225.6. Current plan is for 2200 cals, 220 carbs, 40 fat, 220 protein. Fat is a little low as i am waiting on my almonds and almond butter to get here and then i will adjust. Its tough here because they dont have everything you would see back home so i have to improvise. Decided to stop the soda drinking. My goal is no cheat day/meal for 12 weeks. this should take me to Sep 1. Will take a progress pic every 2 weeks as well as weight.

[Back In Black]

Pick from this buddy



I'd reduce your coke zero to one can a day personally, maximum.

How many times a week will you lift and do cardio?

[trainhard82]

I will post a pic later but based on that chart i would say 20-25% being closer to 20%.

There is nothing to do here but work out so i have been lifting every day. Chest then Back then Legs then Shoulders then rinse and repeat. So every 4 days i am back to the same body part. First time i have ever not had a day off from lifting but so far so good. Havent done any cardio because i am outside in 100+ degree heat filling sand bags, building tents, and running cable all day so i am sure i am burning calories there not to mention when i am lifting.

[Back In Black]

Ok, figured you may be 'busy' with your job

So I figure your regular TDEE is approx 2700cals. You would need to add your working 'cardio' and your lifting to that to get your real TDEE which would make 2200cals too low, in my estimation. In fact, 2700cals may be a safer figure for you to start at and adjust based on results.

If I were you I'd take a day off a week from lifting, at least. You need to rest your CNS if nothing else. 4 on one off would be a good place to start but 4 days of hard training in a row wiped me out recently. I prefer a 2 on 1 off, it gives me enough rest to train with full intensity on my lifting days.

[trainhard82]

I like 2700! I am aiming for roughly 2lbs a week loss right? Then just stick with it until the loss stops and pull out some more calories to keep it going? Wouldnt 2200 just speed up the process or would it be better to cut slower and thats why you recommend 2700? I like the idea of more calories because i can keep my strength up but the Ultimate goal right now is to drop BF% so if i get a little weaker in the process its ok. I may try the 4 on 1 off cycle you were talking about. We work 12 hour shifts and then after that there is nothing to do so i usually just go to the gym. Maybe i will just do some light cardio that day off.

[Back In Black]

I like 2700! I am aiming for roughly 2lbs a week loss right? Then just stick with it until the loss stops and pull out some more calories to keep it going? Wouldnt 2200 just speed up the process or would it be better to cut slower and thats why you recommend 2700? I like the idea of more calories because i can keep my strength up but the Ultimate goal right now is to drop BF% so if i get a little weaker in the process its ok. I may try the 4 on 1 off cycle you were talking about. We work 12 hour shifts and then after that there is nothing to do so i usually just go to the gym. Maybe i will just do some light cardio that day off.

1-2lbs a week is what you'll be aiming for max. More than that and you are looking at risking your muscle tissue. The weight loss will slow down, there are a multitude of ways to address that as and when it happens. In 12 weeks, with correct application, you will look like a new man

[trainhard82]

Perfect! I am really motivated and now is the perfect time to do it as there are no temptations like back home. Just so i heard you right. Are you saying go with 2700 as my TDEE or as my daily requirment during the cut? If 2700 is my TDEE i would be looking at doing 2200 to cut but if you are saying to do 2700 as my cut i will just need to adjust a few things. Maybe add in a meal....

[Back In Black]

Start at 2700 and go from there. 40/40/20 is a pretty good split to start. I don't like going much above 60g of fats even if that's only 15% of total but at 2700 you really won't have to worry. It ,any be that you will work better with lower(not low) carbs, it may not. You sound like you are exerting quite a bit of energy in your day job so you'll probably be ok with them at 40%. Having said all this, there's no real need to go with any more than 1.5 x LBM in the form of protein so I would look at a slight variation of the 40/40/20 and start with

300g carbs
250g pro
50-60g fats

[trainhard82]

Thanks for the advice! I will stick with that plan for now and see how it goes. i will post a pic tonight and use this thread as a semi-log for the next 12 weeks.

[trainhard82]

Here is a pic from right before i left. i plan on taking one every 2 weeks to track progress.

[trainhard82]

Diet has been going good so far. No cheat meals and no soda. I pulled a muscle in my back doing squats so i havent been able to lift the past couple days. Sucks but i am still making sure to eat right. I find I am starving all day but i keep telling myself to stick with it. My plan is to start lifting again on Monday. I am going to do HST so i will lift Mon Wed Fri and do Cardio/Abs Tue/Thu/Sat and then rest on Sunday. I think doing full body 3 times a week will be good and i did HST a year ago and liked it a lot. Interested to see where my weight comes in on Monday. I am hoping to see the scale go down so i know my diet is working. We shall see...

[trainhard82]

Weighed in this morning. 220.0 Down 5.6lbs from last Monday. I am guessing some of this is water weight but it looks like the new diet is working and kicking the soda has helped! I am hovering around 2300 cals each day. Hopefully next week is only 2lbs down as i dont want to lose too much too fast. Most days i was extrememly hungry all day but had to just chug a lot of water or think of the end goal to stick with the plan. Curious to see how next week goes. I have been lifting again now that my back feels better so it feels good to be back in the gym. Now just waiting on that reflection in the mirror to look more like I want!

[trainhard82]

Weighed in today at 217.2 Thats 2.8lbs down from last Monday. Feels good to see the scale moving down. Still no strength loss while lifting which is nice. Only thing i have noticed is every day i am starving out of my mind. Almost an hour after each meal i am hungry again. I guess i just need to deal with it but it sucks. Have been so tempted to cheat so many times but i keep reminding myself why i am doing this and then just chug some water to try and stay full. I switched to HST as far as lifting goes so i am doing total body every other day. The other days i am just doing some stretching and abs to keep my core solid and avoid injury. Macros have been roughly the following: 2300cals/230carbs/70fat/200prot

[spywizard]

ahhhh what is the primary goal?? lose fat?? not gain strength right? the reason i say that is then 200g protein is fine, your body is not getting enough rest between training sessions, so heavy routines will not yield the same growth as if you were able to rest.. yest the outside work is holding your body back significantly..

but hydration is very important too, so good luck and stay with it..

[trainhard82]

The primary goal right now is to reduce BF%. It just gets tough not seeing the weights go up but i do remind myself what the goal is. I want to get as close to 10% as possible and then reverse diet. Then i will worry about getting stronger and I will have all sorts of more questions Only 2 weeks in right now so a long way to go but so far i like the results on the scale!

[trainhard82]

I have a question on refeed days. Is this something i should be concerned with right now? Also, on refeed days should i look for a certain amount of carbs to hit or just pretty much eat heavy carbs that day? Maybe it is too soon to be thinking about this but i have been reading a lot of cutting forums and most people talk about there refeed days and I just want to make sure i am not missing out on something that is necessary to keep my metabolism going in the right direction.

[-KJ-]

I have a question on refeed days. Is this something i should be concerned with right now? Also, on refeed days should i look for a certain amount of carbs to hit or just pretty much eat heavy carbs that day? Maybe it is too soon to be thinking about this but i have been reading a lot of cutting forums and most people talk about there refeed days and I just want to make sure i am not missing out on something that is necessary to keep my metabolism going in the right direction.

What has your weight loss been like each week? Your carb in take is 230g right?

I personally don't see a need for you to refers yet. When fat loss begins to slow down you might implement a different method like carb cycling and if you do that is the time to plan refeeds.

But while you are on a straight macro split I don't see a need mate! How are you feeling in the gym?

[trainhard82]

Gym still feels good. none of my lifts are going down which is nice. First week weight loss was 5lbs and after week 2 was 2.8lbs. Aside from being starving all the time I feel fine. It is easier to stay on the straight macro split its just that i was reading a lot of people on other forums mentioning refeed days when they were talking about there cut so i wasnt sure if it was something i should implement.

[-KJ-]

Gym still feels good. none of my lifts are going down which is nice. First week weight loss was 5lbs and after week 2 was 2.8lbs. Aside from being starving all the time I feel fine. It is easier to stay on the straight macro split its just that i was reading a lot of people on other forums mentioning refeed days when they were talking about there cut so i wasnt sure if it was something i should implement.

IMO not yet mate. Everything is still well carbs are relatively high and you performance is still strong so is keep going until weight loss drops below 1lb then I would have a look at changes.

[trainhard82]

Weighed in at 215 this morning. Thats a 2.2lb loss from last week so i am happy. 10 lbs down in 3 weeks. Lifts at the gym have been feeling good. I think i am going to add 3 cardio sessions a week starting today. Seeing as how i am doing HST i only lift Mon/Wed/Fri and i have been doing core work and stretching on Tue/Thu/Sat. I figured i am going to add a 20-30min cardio session on Tue/Thu/Fri as well just to burn some more calories. Hunger pains have gone down a little but i have still had to fight the urge to snack which has been tough but i am getting used to it! Hopefully as the next 10lbs comes off the mirror starts to look more like i want which will keep the movitation going.

[trainhard82]

Weighed in today at 215.8. Thats a .8 lb increase from last week. This is very confusing to me as i kept the same macros only i added a couple cardio sessions throughout the week in which i was burning roughly 300 cals each session. I also changed to a P/P/L routine for lifting so my workouts are now 5 days a week and last roughly an hour and 15 minutes and i leave the gym pouring sweat. I feel more tight and look more lean in the mirror so i am not sure if the weight gain was muscle or not but i am not letting it stop me from continuing on. Any input/suggestions?

Macros are sitting at roughly 2150cals 250 carbs 50 fat 190 protein

The majority of my protein intake is coming from shakes as our dining hall here doesnt have lean protein and usually it is either fried or covered in grease so i typically avoid it. Here is a sample of what a typical eating say is like:

Breakfast-
Egg White Omelette
Low Fat Milk
Go Lean Crunch Cereal
V8 Drink

Early Morning Snack:
Almonds

Lunch:
Mass Shake which is 530cals 60carbs 8fat 50protein
Salad with oil and vinegar (just lettuce)

Mid Day Snack:
Protein Bar
Almond Butter

Post Workout:
1 scoop protein (been using Combat Powder by Musclepharm)
1 serving After Glow (Post workout shake which is 200cals 32carbs 20protein)

Before Bed:
1 scoop casein

[trainhard82]

Workout today was awful. Almost all my lifts went down. I felt a good pump and had a good sweat going but it sucks to be losing strength especially when the scale isnt going down. I guess this is just part of the cut but right now i am pretty demotivated

[RipOwens]

Workout today was awful. Almost all my lifts went down. I felt a good pump and had a good sweat going but it sucks to be losing strength especially when the scale isnt going down. I guess this is just part of the cut but right now i am pretty demotivated

Maybe it was just an off day, .... it happens.

[trainhard82]

Workout felt better today. I figured out a way to get My Fitness Pal to work out here so i am tracking my calories better which i think is helping. Realized i was over by about 300 then i thought i was doing so i added in some cardio to burn that off. Hopefully by the end of this week the scale will go down and the mirror will look better!

[trainhard82]

Another awful workout. Well i shouldnt say awful its just frustrating to be getting weaker. I used to bench 225 for 4 sets of 10 and today i barely got 205 for 4 sets of 8! I still feel a good pump and am making it through my whole workout but its depressing to see the weights go down and the mirror still looks the same! Still not giving up on the diet though and macros have been on point. Over a month now without a single cheat day/meal.

[trainhard82]

Weighed in at 214.6 today. So thats 1.2lbs down from last week and 11lbs in 5 weeks total so far. Not too bad. Been getting a lot of compliments this week from people saying they notice a difference which is nice to hear. Still no where near where i want to be though mirror-wise. I had my first refeed day last night. Kept my fats and protein the same but took in over 400g of carbs so we will see if that helps. Was my first time going over my deficit since this started. Going to continue with the added cardio like i was doing last week and also going to try to taper back on the shakes and try to utilize the chow hall more so i am actually eating foods as opposed to drinking my macros. Its tough to find healthy choices there but I will see how it works this week. I still have over 3 months left here so thats plenty of time. Will try to get another pic uploaded this week to track progress and get some input.

[-KJ-]

Solid bro.. good weight loss! keep it up

[starscream]

Nice work man! Keep it up!

[trainhard82]

Weighed in at 213.2 today so another 1.4lbs down. Interesting because this week i increased my daily cals to 2300 as i did a new TDEE calc and 2300 seemed like a better number instead of the 2100 i was doing. Needless to say i am happy to see the scale still going down!

[trainhard82]

213.0 this morning. so only down .2lbs which to me really doesnt even count. I may need to drop my cals to 2200 now to see changes. The good news is the weights at the gym seem to be going back up which is nice. We got a couple care packages in this week so as much as i stuck to my macros the food choices were not exactly optimal. Oh well though. Time to turn things around this week and head closer to 210!

[tarmyg]

As long as it is not plus (+) I would say you're on the right path!

Thanks
~T

---

"I stay mostly by myself, but it's OK, they know me here"
Follow my personal story here: Anabolic Steroids - Steroid.com Forums - An honest journey - Blogs

[trainhard82]

Weighed in at 212 today. another lb down! The scale i have been using is old and was the only one here but my buddy just ordered another one and it came in yesterday. Brand new out of the box it says i weigh 205.4 I am guessing this is more accurate. I am going to be basing my TDEE off of this from now on which puts me around 2900 as my maintenance. I am pretty happy at this weight and am going to take a couple months off from cutting and just eat at maintenance to try and get some strength/muscle gain back. I figure as long as i dont go over 2900 a day i should never gain weight right? I want to make sure i have this down correctly but that is my understanding of maintenance.

[trainhard82]

Been eating at maintenance for a couple weeks now. Noticed i am feeling a lot more bloated and also a lot more drained throughout the day. Decided starting tomorrow i am going back to cutting. i just liked the feeling of feeling lean and losing weight each week. Scale is back up to 210lbs which i am guessing is water weight as eating at maintenance shouldnt have made me gain 5lbs in 3 weeks. Hopefully that comes off quick once i cut again. Also going to add 30min of light cardio each morning to get in better cardio shape as well as abs everyday. I feel like my stomach is the area i need work on the most and i almost never do abs so i want to get my core in better shape.

[starscream]

Been eating at maintenance for a couple weeks now. Noticed i am feeling a lot more bloated and also a lot more drained throughout the day. Decided starting tomorrow i am going back to cutting. i just liked the feeling of feeling lean and losing weight each week. Scale is back up to 210lbs which i am guessing is water weight as eating at maintenance shouldnt have made me gain 5lbs in 3 weeks. Hopefully that comes off quick once i cut again. Also going to add 30min of light cardio each morning to get in better cardio shape as well as abs everyday. I feel like my stomach is the area i need work on the most and i almost never do abs so i want to get my core in better shape.

What's your water intake like? Not getting dehydrated out there are you? Also about how much sodium?

[trainhard82]

Water intake has been over a gallon a day. I stopped drinking soda so i am drinking about 8-10 500ml bottles a day. Some with crystal light some with protein some plain.

According to my macro tracking sodium varies between 2-3g a day. Nothing crazy.