Cutting diet advice/opinion

[bambam]

I have been lifting for 4 years and want to start taking my nutrition more serious. I am currently trying to cut up and get down to a body fat level that will uncover my abs and have read allot of threads regarding the subject. I just wanted to see if everyone thinks the diet i have devised will help me get achieve my goal ...........

I am 6 ft 91kg and roughly 18%bf

The diet i have started is

8am 1/2 cup of oats with 2 dried apricots with a protein shake or boiled egg whites..

10am apple with a protein shake

1230pm a can of tuna or chicken with a salad and 2 slices of wholegrain toast

3pm a portion of cottage cheese and an apple or veges with some almonds

7pm usually chicken or some red meat with veges with a small amount of brown rice or a kumura

10pm a protein shake

roughly

Cal - 2100

carb - 189

protein - 210

Also trying to retain as much muscle as possible....

I take a multi vitamin and omega 3

I allow myself one cheat meal a week and i usually take this on a night where i go out..... I am still planing to drink a small amount (im a student and its kind of hard to avoid) but will be drinking diet mixer... im hoping planning this to be in conjunction with my cheat meal it will reduce the set back.

I am lifting 5 days a week and have started adding 30mins cardio 3-4 times a week.

To much food... not enough..... ?

Recommend using fat burners or just stick to nutrition....

any opinions or advice would be much appreciated...

[Andrew van Lent]

Looks like a sound starting point, If anything I would drop the dried fruit and make breakfast a full cup of oats eaten raw, with the shake. Swap out the bread for some rice or kumera/potato. And up the portion sizes of protein by about 25%

Would not bother with fat burners at this stage

Good luck with your goals.

Andrew

[bambam]

Cheers Andrew will make those little changes. As its my first time having a good crack at Cutting im really keen to see some results.. sick of being the big guy with little definition

[Laver]

I'm not trying to give you advice but just something to think about;

About 6 months ago after having trained casually for 6 months with a very average diet I went onto a cutting phase,

It was rather unproductive, I wasn't taking in very many calories and doing quite a bit of cardio but weight just wasn't comming off very fast.

Having been on a strength / mass building phase for a few months now (about 180% of what I was injesting for my previous cutting phase) I have started cutting a week ago, I've only dropped off about 10-18% of my cals and have started running daily and getting good results, much faster than last time.

So just thought you MIGHT run into a similar situation, it definitly pays to go on a good clean mass building diet for a little while then cut after that.

[bambam]

I see your point... However over the past 2 years i have gone from 72kg lean to 92kg allot of which is muscle so am pritty confident i will see decent results from cutting.. my ideal would wieght i think would be roughly 85- 87kg cut

[Laver]

I see your point... However over the past 2 years i have gone from 72kg lean to 92kg allot of which is muscle so am pritty confident i will see decent results from cutting.. my ideal would wieght i think would be roughly 85- 87kg cut

Sounds like it should be all good then !

[Lowfat]

Keep up a good intake of water(try at least 4 litres a day), best fatburner out there, and its free :pfft: This is so underrated.

As Andrew said, thermo's a waste of money, unless ur diet is 100% switched on and ur in pre-contest mode. Even then they don't work for everyone. Like everything else, trial and error :nod:

[bambam]

For sure the waters up heaps... also drinking lots of green tea. Has anyone had any luck with Fat metabolisers like L carnitine ...

Not considering any fat burners unless i hit a serious plateau down the track.

Down 1.5 kg so far ( started last monday) No strength loss, in fact i feel stronger and have more energy

[ripsta]

try drink a good amount of real green tea (not that lipton shit) a day.

also try get a bit of caffeine in your diet.

there both good to help assist in weight loss

[bambam]

Also forgot to mention that i am about halfway through a container of san fierce which if been really pleased with that has a pritty large dose of caffine in it (honestly preferr) kre alkyline tho.

[BALANCE_30%off]

when u finish ur protein try balance ultra lean - it is to end WPI with lots of thermo's fat mobilisers (carnatine) and caffine and added ingredients to prevent muscle loss.

also ur night time protein shake should be a casein protein - not whey.

your diet seems similair to mine im going for 2250 cals a day im 6ft 86kg - you can lean up really fast on this cal intake. Id say 180g carb is a lil low tho especially at 91kgs :oops: try 225 +225 +64. Otherwise you may start to crave carbs.

[Laver]

I think Balance30 means you can lose lots of muscle and a bit of fat by starving yourself with those cals

[goinhard]

I dont believe much muscle will be lost at 2100 or 2250 calories provided protein intake is adequate and cardio isnt excessive.

[Laver]

True, I don't actually know what cal intake he was on when Bulking so ~2200 cals might be fine, If however he was at 3500Cals when bulking might be bit too much of a drop!

[Optimass]

You won't lose any muscle sticking to your suggested plan (taking into consideration Andrews suggestion).

lowfat is right - make sure your getting enough water. 4L minimum ... but increase if you are taking in tea or caffine. 250 - 500mls per cup.

I'd eat a higher sodium protein source ... Tuna/Fish especially (Brine - water will work to flush it out and cause you to look leaner).

Assume you are having a shake straight after training - best with water as it will move through your system quicker - follow up with a solid meal 45min - 1 hour later.

[bambam]

Yup have taken andrews suggestion and increased the protein. I am defiantly taking a whey protein after working out and following up an hour later with the next planed meal (beauty of eating every 3 hours.... the next meals never far away). I am having tuna atleast once a day.. when i get some more cash flow i will invest in some slower release protein to have before bed ... whey will have to do for the time being

[Laver]

Lite Cottage cheese instead of Casein powder before bed in the mean time then!

[4banger]

i read an article saying you should not be exceeding calorie deficit by more than 500-750 per day. - at 92 kg and with both morning cardio and weight training you are definatly burning 3000-3500cals a day.

i would seriously reccomend upping the cals to 2250-2500 at least for a few weeks - if your not losing weight you can always drop.

calorie balance is definatly important to retain mucle mass - especially since i note you arent taking glutamine or HMB.

the balance ultra lean prior recommended is a good choice for cutters since it has thermos, caffeine, and muscle saving - ie catabolisim reducing factors. Since most gym rats aren't supplementing with more specialised supplements (HMB glut etc) they can definatly benifit.