Hate On My 6-Pack Diet

[BobbyNelson]

Hey guys, hopefully you guys can give me some constructive feedback on the diet I've been using for the past 2 months to try cut. The ultimate goal is a 6 pack, I have a faint 6-pack now, and my body fat is 10-12% (bioelectrical impedance testing). I'm slightly over 6 feet. I do heavy lifting 3 times a week, and HITT with running and jump rope 2-3 times per week. Pretty confident I'm doing things in the training side of things.

Here's a typical day:

8AM: (Pre-workout)
40 grams of Whey Protein Isolate mixed with Skim Milk and a scoop of organic Peanut Butter(with 0 carbs, 0 fat)

10AM: (Post-Workout)
2-3 whole eggs, mixed with egg whites (about the same quantity of eggs as egg whites, half and half).
- I used to mix some lentils with the eggs, but I recently took those out
- I also used to experiment with "good" carbs like good, natural (non-packaged, cooked on a stove) Oatmeal. Noticed some weight gain after a few weeks, so I cut it.

1AM:
Grassfed Ground Beef OR 8 ounces of Chicken, mixed in a bowl with lettuce, black beans, guacamole, and 2% cottage cheese.
- For the past 2 weeks, I've taken out the black beans, cottage cheese, and guacamole, and replaced it with a little bit of pico de gallo (no difference yet)

4PM:
Tuna Mixed with a small amount of cottage cheese, and flax seed powder OR 40 Grams of Whey Protein Isolate mixed with Skim Milk with a scoop of Organic Peanut Butter (and sometimes a handful of almonds).

7PM:
10-12 Ounces of Chicken, Tilapia, or Salmon with a TON of green vegetables. Sometimes I add calabaza squash, which I worry about because it's not green.

10PM: 40 grams of Whey Isolate + Scoop of Peanut + Handful of Almonds (sometimes)

Supplements: NO-Xplode before workouts, Alpha Lipoic Acid with 2-3 meals


I'm plateauing, and can't lose the last 4-5 pounds of fat that I want to REALLY get those abs out. I know it gets harder as you go along, so I'm looking forward to hear what you guys have to say about the last few pounds.

I've thought of experimenting with an ECA stack (I've had success with that in the past but I HATE the jittery feeling), but I'd like to avoid that if I can.

Thanks in advance!

[chitownhoker]

If this has been your exact diet for the last two months, your plateauing could be related to your lack of variety.

As far as the ECA stack, that is what it is most useful at doing is losing those last few pounds. You may experience a problem with keeping those last few pounds off once you stop taking it though.

How has your weight been? still dropping, if so you are cutting muscle so hopefully thats not the case.

I also don't see nearly enough carbs in this diet? Do you have cheat days? your body could be carb rebound, where your body is soaking carbs at every second.....your metabolism is also prolly shot, how's your energy?

[slfmade]

Hey Bobby...Most of us on the forums will want to see your macro breakdown for each meal as well as your daily totals. You're macros are the total calories, fat, carbs, and protein for each meal. This way we can look and see if you're getting too much or too little for each meal/day. If you could go back and calculate that info. It will get you a lot more replies and advice on your diet. Remember, calculate each meal, and your daily total. Ex. 2500cal, 250g Pro, 200g Carb, 78g fat would be an example of your daily total. Look forward to seeing the updated post.

[BobbyNelson]

Nice.. I'm going to get an exact calculation of everything I eat tomorrow (got a scale to weigh some stuff out too) and crunch those #s.

Cheat day is every 7-10 days. Weight hasn't dropped for the past 3 weeks. That's why I got hardcore about cutting out the "good carbs" in the Beans and Lentils. The other carbs, that were previously a part of my diet, were oatmeal to start the day, and I allowed myself to eat wheat bread within 30 minutes after resistance training. But I cut those out after I started plateauing. Was that an overreaction?

[slfmade]

Hard to say until we get those macros. Right now...without doing a lot of calculations (which I'm too tired to do) I have no idea how many carbs you're getting per day as is, or what you're total calories are. Another thing that could help us is google "BMR calculator" and figure your BMR and TDEE...that'll go a long way in helping figure out what the problem is. It's pretty easy to do, but again I'm not in the mood to do calculations today. Put up those figures and some macro's and I'll try to point you in the right direction - Hopefully some of the diet guru's will take a look and get back to you as well.

[gbrice75]

How was your progress over the 2 months before you started plateauing? Keep in mind that as your body composition changes, so will your caloric requirements. You may need to simply adjust calories and/or macros, or your cardio routine.