Nutrition Help + Cardio, good or bad?

[EatMoar]

This question is half nutrition and half fat loss, errr probably should be in the weight loss forum but its diet related too. Anyway....

So recently I found out i have been eating way to below my maintenance , im 5 foot 8 , 166 lbs, and was eating 1700 cals . So I jumped that up to 2400 cals a day. Im eating around 150g + protein , 200g carbs, and 50g of fat . Am I eating to many carbs? Im not looking to do a full on bulk nor am I trying to do a full on cut. I just want to lose a little bit more of my body fat . So what is the macro ratio/grams of each macro should I be eating a day?

Also is cardio bad? I freaking love sprinting/running and hate when I cant do cardio. I try to do it after my workouts or in the morning/night. Usually I run 2 miles or do 45 minutes of sprints (with rest of course!). Im curious, is this detrimental to my mass gains?

My main "fear" is that if I stop doing cardio but keep my diet going ill still gain some body fat which I dont want. But instead of cutting cardio, should I lower the amount i do? Right now its been about anywhere from 3-5 times a week. Im thinking I could train 5-6 days and do cardio on my off days , if that would work better.

Let me hear some input AA!

Thanks again!

 

[jimbuick]

This question is half nutrition and half fat loss, errr probably should be in the weight loss forum but its diet related too. Anyway....

So recently I found out i have been eating way to below my maintenance , im 5 foot 8 , 166 lbs, and was eating 1700 cals . So I jumped that up to 2400 cals a day. Im eating around 150g + protein , 200g carbs, and 50g of fat . Am I eating to many carbs? Im not looking to do a full on bulk nor am I trying to do a full on cut. I just want to lose a little bit more of my body fat . So what is the macro ratio/grams of each macro should I be eating a day?

Also is cardio bad? I freaking love sprinting/running and hate when I cant do cardio. I try to do it after my workouts or in the morning/night. Usually I run 2 miles or do 45 minutes of sprints (with rest of course!). Im curious, is this detrimental to my mass gains?

My main "fear" is that if I stop doing cardio but keep my diet going ill still gain some body fat which I dont want. But instead of cutting cardio, should I lower the amount i do? Right now its been about anywhere from 3-5 times a week. Im thinking I could train 5-6 days and do cardio on my off days , if that would work better.

Let me hear some input AA!

Thanks again!

I wouldn't be too afraid of carbs. What I do recommend is higher fats though, I eat about 120g from fat everyday. Along with 400g carbs.

If you want to build muscle you need to eat an excess which means you'll have to gain a little fat, if you can't stand the idea of that then you will never gain appreciable mass. The sprints/runs shouldn't be a big deal as long as you eat enough to fuel your body, I weight 165 at 5'9" and eat around 3600 a day but I also run every morning along with my afternoon lifts. I actually may bump depending on mirror/weight.

 

[EatMoar]

I wouldn't be too afraid of carbs. What I do recommend is higher fats though, I eat about 120g from fat everyday. Along with 400g carbs.

If you want to build muscle you need to eat an excess which means you'll have to gain a little fat, if you can't stand the idea of that then you will never gain appreciable mass. The sprints/runs shouldn't be a big deal as long as you eat enough to fuel your body, I weight 165 at 5'9" and eat around 3600 a day but I also run every morning along with my afternoon lifts. I actually may bump depending on mirror/weight.

I have a bit of an anxiety about it . I used to be real over weight but now im pretty much slimmed down to a pretty low BF %. But thats more of a pretty decent bulk you got going on there. 120g of fat and 400g of carbs + 3600 cals, pretty above my maintenance. If I ate that way id already know id gain a lot of body fat for sure.

 

[lumipz]

Calories In/Calories Out. Stuff like IF and fasted cardio works for some people as well.

Carb intake can depend on your body type. Do you handle carbs well?

Sprints can also burn a lot of Glycogen as well. IF you deplete your body too bad in a combination of lifting/sprints then it COULD be detrimental to your workouts.

Like a lot of people will say, you need to have excess calories to build muscle, its the only way.

 

[EatMoar]

okay i understand a calorie surplus is needed, but if you ate even 100 cals below maintenance you wouldnt gain weight? Also need a macro ratio. Im not sure how my body really responds to carbs, ive honestly never thought about that.

 

[jimbuick]

okay i understand a calorie surplus is needed, but if you ate even 100 cals below maintenance you wouldnt gain weight? Also need a macro ratio. Im not sure how my body really responds to carbs, ive honestly never thought about that.

If you have a truly significant amount of fat and were eating that low below your maintenance it "could" be possible to use calories from fat stores to build muscle. But the chances of weight gain are slim to none, that is assuming you are truly eating below maintenance consistently. You may trade that fat for muscle, recomp, but your weight will stay very similar.

Also it is worth noting that most recomps are done with a zigzag of calories being a couple hundred above on lift days followed by low carbs on rest days, or vice versa. And they take a lot longer with no noticeable improvements over a lean bulk and mild cut cycles in the long run. (And most likely short run as well)

 

[Jiigzz]

okay i understand a calorie surplus is needed, but if you ate even 100 cals below maintenance you wouldnt gain weight? Also need a macro ratio. Im not sure how my body really responds to carbs, ive honestly never thought about that.

Short answer, no. Because you are not in excess. Maintainece caloires are the caloires needed to sustain life (i.e. kidney function, respiratory and so on) as well as the energy your muscles use for daily activity (including workout routines etc.) so eating below this is technically a cut. You can't gain weight when your body is chewing up the calories.

This has worked well for me so far; its sort of like a recomp. On lifting days and cardio days I eat above maintainece (I aim to increase overall mass by 1 pound p/w or less) but I lower my carb intake, usually to about 100-150g of carbs per day just to sustain my lifting routine. As I do alot of LISS instead of HIIT I draw alot of energy from fat as opposed to glycogen, so I limit my carbs. On rest days I carb up like crazy (~300+ g of carbs) but eat below maintainece (only by 200 or so calories) then do my leg routine (the most energy taxing of all my routines).

Im only doing this until I drop bf% and when i do, i'll go back to bulking on all days.

But I suggest either bulking or cutting; unless your very strict

 

[EatMoar]

Short answer, no. Because you are not in excess. Maintainece caloires are the caloires needed to sustain life (i.e. kidney function, respiratory and so on) as well as the energy your muscles use for daily activity (including workout routines etc.) so eating below this is technically a cut. You can't gain weight when your body is chewing up the calories.

This has worked well for me so far; its sort of like a recomp. On lifting days and cardio days I eat above maintainece (I aim to increase overall mass by 1 pound p/w or less) but I lower my carb intake, usually to about 100-150g of carbs per day just to sustain my lifting routine. As I do alot of LISS instead of HIIT I draw alot of energy from fat as opposed to glycogen, so I limit my carbs. On rest days I carb up like crazy (~300+ g of carbs) but eat below maintainece (only by 200 or so calories) then do my leg routine (the most energy taxing of all my routines).

Im only doing this until I drop bf% and when i do, i'll go back to bulking on all days.

But I suggest either bulking or cutting; unless your very strict

I always thought maintenance was to maintain your current weight. So you do kind of like a mini carb cycle? Low carbs on lifting daysa and high carbs on rest days. I find it hard to keep my carbs low, all you can really eat is chicken, turkey, or fish (ill have to go shopping ).

Thanks for the help guys. I think im gonna run a 50/25/25 split between macros on lifting days and on off days increase the carbs. Well Im still trying to get rid of some of my body fat so I guess cutting it is! Unless you can keep ab definition while bulking , i just got em and I dont want them to leave haha.

 

[Jiigzz]

I always thought maintenance was to maintain your current weight. So you do kind of like a mini carb cycle? Low carbs on lifting daysa and high carbs on rest days. I find it hard to keep my carbs low, all you can really eat is chicken, turkey, or fish (ill have to go shopping ).

Thanks for the help guys. I think im gonna run a 50/25/25 split between macros on lifting days and on off days increase the carbs. Well Im still trying to get rid of some of my body fat so I guess cutting it is! Unless you can keep ab definition while bulking , i just got em and I dont want them to leave haha.

It is, I just explained it the hard way haha. Also, my routine works for me as it helps me drop bf% alot faster when I drop carbs while maintaining scale weight. You can cut by eating high carbs but you'd have to be in deficit

 

[jimbuick]

I always thought maintenance was to maintain your current weight. So you do kind of like a mini carb cycle? Low carbs on lifting daysa and high carbs on rest days. I find it hard to keep my carbs low, all you can really eat is chicken, turkey, or fish (ill have to go shopping ).

Thanks for the help guys. I think im gonna run a 50/25/25 split between macros on lifting days and on off days increase the carbs. Well Im still trying to get rid of some of my body fat so I guess cutting it is! Unless you can keep ab definition while bulking , i just got em and I dont want them to leave haha.

That's the problem most skinny (er) guys have. (Not necessarily directing this at you as I do not know you). Everyone always seems to be afraid to temporarily lose their "six pack" to build a significant amount of muscle. Once they gain the weight they will look significantly better even with a higher bf%. And you can always cut back down. That's why I believe that "hardgainer" is not a body type but a mentality. I say this from experience as I always had that problem in HS.

 

[EatMoar]

That's the problem most skinny (er) guys have. (Not necessarily directing this at you as I do not know you). Everyone always seems to be afraid to temporarily lose their "six pack" to build a significant amount of muscle. Once they gain the weight they will look significantly better even with a higher bf%. And you can always cut back down. That's why I believe that "hardgainer" is not a body type but a mentality. I say this from experience as I always had that problem in HS.

I mean, lean bulk would work to keep some type of ab definition. I just hate getting bigger in the gut area because 1. I feel like ****. 2. I look like ****. and 3. None of my clothes look right . Kinda sucks thats why I never went hard core bulking in any time of my life. At a higher BF% you look fat though. Not really much definition.

I feel a little tired and bloated if I eat over 250g of carbs for whatever reason, so i try to keep em low. But carb cycling looks interesting ill have to look into it

 

[loganchristop]

Anything you do will still gain you a little bodyfat on the way to muscle gains.

If you want to get more muscle, be contented with some fat gain