
Originally Posted by
Atomini
My protein intake used to be extremely high in the past. I used to intake between 300-400g of protein per day. I then realized that I was eating too much protein, even for being on-cycle. The body can only use so much protein before excess is either excreted or stored as fat. I found that when cutting, I wouldn't be able to lose fat very effectively because there was just too much protein. Also, the truth is that muscle is not mostly protein, it is made up of mostly water (much like the rest of our body). Within our muscles, as you already know, we have glycogen which is what the carbs we eat are synthesized into within our muscles. Now, for every 1 gram of glycogen in muscle, it holds 3-4 grams of water.
So, basing my re-vamping of my diet a couple years back on these principles, I lowered my protein intake to around 180 - 200g protein and I haven't had an issue at all with gaining mass on a bulking cycle, or cutting fat when I cut. Occasionally here and there the numbers will fluctuate. Sometimes i'll bring the protein macros up to 300, but often times no less than 180 - 200g. Remember, i'm trying to get the majority of my protein from whole foods, and 130g of lean beef or chicken is quite a bit to eat alongside 180g or more of sweet potato, for several meals out of the day.
My current stats are:
5'10"
208 lbs.
15% bodyfat
I'm trying to get back to where I was in early 2009, I was 225 at just under 10%. Unfortunately I lost it all due to unfortunate life circumstances getting in the way but now i'm trying to work my way back to that point.