Spinning my wheels...

[Weenzanar23]

Hey guys, first of all, thanks for viewing my post and providing any insight you may have.

I've been reading threads here for a long time and I'm confident in my diet knowledge. In fact, I have helped friends with diets based on what I've learned here and watched them drop to 10% bf in one case. In my case however, I can't seem to get ripped/lean. I've been at the same bf% for months now. I've listed stats below but my BMR seems to be well below that figure. I lost a ton of weight quickly this summer and have been training/dieting like crazy ever since. I've watched 20 lbs. of muscle come onto my body and my frame change. However, my midsection is still fat. I don't do cardio as much as I should but should it really matter? I've been eating low-carb/high protein/moderate-fat diet for a long time now. I do a carb refeed once per week. It's not a keto diet, carbs like 150g on an average day. Mainly just breakfast and pre/post workout, all before the evening. Minus my refeed day, and very rare slip-ups (dates, birthday parties, snowed in and forced to eat what the family is, etc...) I eat at a steady deficit of like 300-700 cals. I don't drink alcohol, soda, or anything but water. I don't eat sugar or dairy. I've even run an eca stack sporadically. I still look horrible shirtless. FML.

All that said, my stats are posted below as well as a pic. Any suggestions you may have are appreciated. These are my main questions however -

1- Is it possible i have a freakishly bad BMR and must simply eat way less? I'll risk some catabolism.

2- Am I not meant to be thin? I can't say anyone in my family has a nice body.

3- Could I be sabotoging myself by eating a diet high in fat? A lot of natural nut butter, flax oil, evoo, avocados, etc. Like i said, I always have a caloric deficit usually but due to no carbs in the evening, I eat a lot of pro/fat meals.

Stats
Age - 27
Height - 6'1"
Weight - 220
Training - 1 year
BMR - 2120
TDEE - 3285
BF % - estimated at 19%, calculated bmr accordingly. Attached pic, please correct me if you think it's a different number.

[mg1228]

Don't understand how u gained 20lb of muscle eating at a deficit at all. I would think u had to b eating over. Even if u were new to training.

[Phate]

my bet would be that you are overestimating your BMR or TDEE(most people do)

could we see your diet in detail?

[Weenzanar23]

Meal 1/9:00 AM: 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites, 1/2 cup oats
- 43/27/13/440

Meal 2/12:00 PM: 6 oz. Grilled chicken, 2 slices ezekiel bread.
- 54/30/5/380

Meal 3/2:30 PM - Pre-workout: 6 oz. lean ground beef and 1 medium sweet potato.
-40/30/12/430

WORKOUT

Meal 4/5:30 PM: PWO shake and 1/2 cup oats.
-60/34/6/420

Meal 5/6:00 PM/When I get home from gym: 6 oz. Grilled chicken with 2 cups green beans/brocolli and tbspn. evoo.
-49/16/18/310

Meal 6/9:00 PM: 2 Tilapia fillets with 1 cup green beans/brocolli and 1 oz. cashews
-57/12/20/450

Meal 7/Bedtime: 2 scoops casein powder in water w/ 2 tbspn. Natty PB.
-56/11/19/408

Totals
pro- 356
carb- 160
fat- 93
cal- 2831

[Weenzanar23]

Also, don't get me wrong, I have lost weight with the above diet. It's just that the weight loss stopped several months ago. Especially with my lifts going up, you'd think slowly but surely, I'd be lean by now.

[Damienm05]

Meal 1/9:00 AM: 2 whole eggs, 8 egg whites, 1/2 cup oats
- 43/27/13/440

Meal 2/12:00 PM: 6 oz. Grilled chicken, 2 slices ezekiel bread.
- 54/30/5/380

Meal 3/2:30 PM - Pre-workout: 6 oz. lean ground beef and 1 medium sweet potato.
-40/30/12/430

WORKOUT

Meal 4/5:30 PM: PWO shake and 1/2 cup oats.
-60/34/6/420

Meal 5/6:00 PM/When I get home from gym: 6 oz. Grilled chicken with 2 cups green beans/brocolli and tbspn. evoo.
-49/16/18/310

Meal 6/9:00 PM: 2 Tilapia fillets with 1 cup green beans/brocolli and 1 oz. cashews
-57/12/20/450

Meal 7/Bedtime: 2 scoops casein powder in water w/ 2 tbspn. Natty PB.
-56/11/19/408

Totals
pro- 356
carb- 160
fat- 93
cal- 2831

I like your diet. The thing is, especially if you've over-estimated your TDEE, a small cheat here and there will hinder weight loss completely at such a small deficit. If you're not doing cardio that is. If you were doing regular cardio, you'd be where you wanna be. Just my $.02

[NVR2BIG1]

3- Could I be sabotoging myself by eating a diet high in fat? A lot of natural nut butter, flax oil, evoo, avocados, etc. Like i said, I always have a caloric deficit usually but due to no carbs in the evening, I eat a lot of pro/fat meals.

Bingo

[Damienm05]

Bingo

Wait, if he's eating at a deficit, why should the % of cals via healthy fat sources even be relevent? I mean, assuming he's not eating most of his cals via fat. But even then - a deficit is a deficit, right?

[Phate]

Wait, if he's eating at a deficit, why should the % of cals via healthy fat sources even be relevent? I mean, assuming he's not eating most of his cals via fat. But even then - a deficit is a deficit, right?

no, if that were true you could cut on ice cream and cookies as long as you stayed in a deficit, dieting goes way beyond that, you have to realize that when you eat something thousands upon thousands of reactions start to take place, which in turn trigger more and more reactions depending on the composition of the food you ate

[NVR2BIG1]

Wait, if he's eating at a deficit, why should the % of cals via healthy fat sources even be relevent? I mean, assuming he's not eating most of his cals via fat. But even then - a deficit is a deficit, right?

no, I've seen this before several times. There can come a point when carbs can be too low for too long, causing the metabolism to slow down. If your never hungry on a low carb diet, low carbs is not for you. In that case, I'd go the other route and go moderate carbs and super low on the fats. I'm like that myself, I dont do any peanut butter, flax oil, almonds, none of that shit when I diet. The only fat in my diet is from lean steaks which I try and eat at least once/day. Obviously something is off with his body chemistry, therefore I'd change the diet

[Weenzanar23]

no, I've seen this before several times. There can come a point when carbs can be too low for too long, causing the metabolism to slow down. If your never hungry on a low carb diet, low carbs is not for you. In that case, I'd go the other route and go moderate carbs and super low on the fats. I'm like that myself, I dont do any peanut butter, flax oil, almonds, none of that shit when I diet. The only fat in my diet is from lean steaks which I try and eat at least once/day. Obviously something is off with his body chemistry, therefore I'd change the diet

If I cut out my added fat (nuts, oils other than what i cook in) would I burn through muscle? Eating carbs late in the day is what got me fat in the first place, so thats out. I was also thinkin about trying the CKD but I can see that going horribly wrong.

[Phate]

no, I've seen this before several times. There can come a point when carbs can be too low for too long, causing the metabolism to slow down. If your never hungry on a low carb diet, low carbs is not for you. In that case, I'd go the other route and go moderate carbs and super low on the fats. I'm like that myself, I dont do any peanut butter, flax oil, almonds, none of that shit when I diet. The only fat in my diet is from lean steaks which I try and eat at least once/day. Obviously something is off with his body chemistry, therefore I'd change the diet

i was just thinking that, if we make some changes and he still oesn't react he might want to get checked for hypothyroidism

[Weenzanar23]

I dunno if this helps but I have a huge appetite and am always hungry.

[NVR2BIG1]

you need to be honest with yourself, did you get fat from just eating carbs or did you get fat from eating shitty foods and/or eating too much. Big difference right there

[Weenzanar23]

I ate indiscriminately but as an athlete, I've always had habits 100x healthier than most. Never drank alcohol, ate lots of sweets, or drank anything but water. Never ate fast food. That said, pizza and things like mashed potatoes, fettuccine Alfredo, etc were consumed. I guess what I'm saying is my metabolism sucks. I was never sedentary or had a "horrible" diet.

[mg1228]

if u lost alot of weight on that diet u had to b eating those cals for a while right? well my opinion is u have a new tdee--the calculators dont matter at this point--theyre just a starting point anyway---at this point u are eating at tdee and u think it is a deficit---it was but it aint no more---


secondly u asked if cardio really mattered anyway if u ate at a deficit---the answer is heeellll yes it matters---get ur no cardio assss on the treadmill, lol---u will see a diff in 2 weeks---do 4-5 times a week---low intensity when u wake up on a empty stomach----



u lost the easy weight---now its cardio time

[Weenzanar23]

I have minimal cardio knowledge. I own an elliptical and i dunno how one would do LIT on one. Is 30 mins of somewhat-intense cardio ok?

[mg1228]

no---do 45 min at 65% of ur max heart rate------200-ur age=___x65%=what u want ur hr to be----so if ur 34yo it would b 120-130bpm----dont even change ur diet yet---just do this 3-4 days a week at least