Diet Check Before Journal

[RegularBro]

What's up y'all.
I'm 5'10", 21 years old, 193 lbs, aprox. 16-17% BF. I'm trying to cut down to 10-12% by the end of the summer, of course I'd like to keep as much muscle as possible. Currently maintenance is around 2,900 cal. I aim for a 40/40/20 split but usually end up going about 40% protein, 35% carb and 25% fat @ 2,200 cal. I lose track of calories some days because of taking customers out to lunch for work (I still do my best to stick to about my macros).

I am about to start taking Albut with Keto. When I do, I will start a journal and I want to make sure my diet is looking good.

My workout is an 45-60 minutes every morning, moderate intensity. Chest/Back, shoulders/calves/abs, bis/tris, legs and HIIT for 20 min twice a week.

Preworkout at 5:45 am:
.5 XL eggwhite
1 XL whole eggs
2 oz of lean turkey breakfast sausage or 2 oz eye of round steak
1 HEB whole wheat tortilla (100 cal; 2g fat; 18g carb; 3g protein)

Postworkout at 9:00 am:
.5 XL eggwhite
1 XL whole eggs
2 oz of lean turkey breakfast sausage or 2 oz eye of round steak
1 HEB whole wheat tortilla (100 cal; 2g fat; 18g carb; 3g protein)

Lunch at 12:00 pm
1 cup brown rice
8 oz boneless skinless grilled chicken tenders

After this point my diet varies.

Snack at 2:30 pm
Quest bar or Apple

Dinner at 6:00
1 cup brown rice or 1 medium sweet potato
10 oz boneless skinless grilled chicken tenders or 10 oz of extremely lean steak
85g steamed brocoli

So any thoughts/suggestions/ideas/tweaks?

[RegularBro]

Any suggestions?
Like lower carbs/raise protein..?

[tarmyg]

Hi,

You have not totaled up your macros so its a bit hard to say so I'll give you some advice that have worked for me.

Think of dieting like climbing a ladder. You start with the most basic thing, which in your case would be to better keep track of your diet. Set the diet to maintenance and keep it there for a few weeks and see where you stand. You now have a good baseline. From here cut some calories off but change absolutely nothing else (Remember the ladder). As long as you keep losing fat change nothing else. Once you stall, change one thing i.e. add cardio or drop calories or increase intensity in your workouts. Each time you stall you change one single thing and keep that for a few weeks to see if it worked. Once you have tried pretty much everything you add the compounds you mentioned but this should be at the very end of your cut because trust me, at around 11-12% you will be constantly hungry no matter what you do.

That is my advice anyhow!

[RegularBro]

I'll definitely keep that advice in mind.
And for the macros...
With both the snacks I mentioned, and both rice and sweet potato for dinner it has me at 219 g of protein (40%) 214g of carbs (39%) and 50 grams of fat (21%)

[oldnsedentary]

at 219 g of protein (40%) 214g of carbs (39%) and 50 grams of fat (21%)

I would drop those carbs down every two or three days to below 50 grams, then go back to 214 grams.

[RegularBro]

After using TR's calculator and adding some tweaks. My target now sits at 263 G protein (50%), 168 g carbs (30%) and 49 g fat (20%).
Would you still suggest dropping the carbs to under 50 g's every two or three days?

[Times Roman]

After using TR's calculator and adding some tweaks. My target now sits at 263 G protein (50%), 168 g carbs (30%) and 49 g fat (20%).
Would you still suggest dropping the carbs to under 50 g's every two or three days?

There you go mate. I was going to suggest not going below 242 grams of protein per day. But it looks like you are on it. The rest of the ratios you will need to employ a "trial and error" technique, as some can handle much lower levels of carb intake than others. Go with the ratios you have, and if you feel lethargic, or lose intensity in the gym, then bump your carbs with an offset to fat. When your energy levels improve, you know you've found your sweet spot.

Good luck!
---Roman

[oldnsedentary]

After using TR's calculator and adding some tweaks. My target now sits at 263 G protein (50%), 168 g carbs (30%) and 49 g fat (20%).
Would you still suggest dropping the carbs to under 50 g's every two or three days?

Having a day where carbs are in the zero to 30 range will pull your calories down severely for that day, but since you jump right back to hundreds of carbs the next day, your metabolism will not slow.

I do a high carb day followed by a low carb day followed by a no carb day. On no carb day, my only carbs come from fibrous vegetables, like broccoli, asparagus, and spinach.

The very next morning, however, I am sitting down to two heaping bowls of oatmeal and a slice of toast with my eggs, so my body has no time to adjust by slowing down.

Hi carb, lo carb, no carb, repeat.

Seems to be working for now.

You need to lose about 14 pounds to meet your goal.

As for losing track of calories, sign up for My Fitness Pal and just plug in whatever you eat at those client lunches. That is what I do. It works.