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Diet Check..!

Cappy

New member
Okay guys so here's the deal. I'm a 30yr old male who's been working out for around 5yrs now. During the winter months (Nov - Feb) I was at 175 - 178lbs and started cutting in March; which I dropped to 165...

My goal is to get my abs cut. My entire body has leaned out since dropping the extra 10lbs but, I still can only see my abs slightly. I'm not getting the results I'd like and because I've dropped weight it feels like my lifts have gone down slightly. I feel like my diet is pretty clean but, I think it's time to ask for assistance...

Here's what I eat...

  • Meal #1: 1 cup total cereal, 8 egg whites and 1 whole egg
  • Meal #2: Whey protein shake w/ poseidon, bcaa's, creatine and some almonds
  • Meal #3: 1 Chicken breast, 1 - 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pasta, some fruit
  • Meal #4: Tuna or Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread
  • Meal #5: Protein Bar or Whey protein shake w/ poseidon
  • Meal #6: 1 Chicken breast, some veggies, some fruit
  • Meal #7: Whey protein shake w/poseidon, 2 table spoons of natty pb

Also I just started taking RPM (Pre-workout) and JW (Meal #1, Meal #3, Meal#6)...

Talk to me. What am I doing wrong...
 
Your diet looks pretty good to me. It depends on a lot of factors. How tall are you? What % bodyfat are you? How much cardio are you doing? Are you lifting heavy and on a regular basis? Are you getting enough rest? (overtraining can dramatically affect fat loss goals). Are you doing too much cardio?

If your losing strength, than I believe you could be overtraining. Remember to keep your carbs up to avoid losing strength and wasting muscle tissue. you MUST have a certain amount of carbs in your diet to maintain muscle. Extra protein will NOT keep your muscles from getting weaker and smaller in the cutting phase. Keep your carbs at no less than 40% of total calories. My advice is to cut one of those meals out and up your carbs a bit to keep your strength up. And...if your not doing cardio everyday...you should! Limit it to 20 minutes on lifting days and 30-45 on non-lifting days. But don't over do it! You need rest. Your body will let you know
 
Thanks for the reply...

I train on a regular basis. Here's my split; as you'll see i'm only doing cardio two days at 45 minutes each day...

Friday - morning - lift
Saturday - morning - lift
Sunday - morning - lift
Monday - morning - cardio
- afternoon - lift
Tuesday - morning - cardio
- afternoon - lift
Wednesday - off
Thursday - off

I'm 5`9...

As for my carbs. Does it look like i'm lacking in your opinion in carbs. If so, what would you add/change..?
 
From just a quick glance, you may be getting 150 g carbs per day or less. You and I are the same height, and for our height we need roughly 2200-2600 kcals for weight maintenance at our ideal body weight, which is 160#. Subtract 500 kcals from that and you have a rough estimate of how many kcals you need a day to lose 1 pound per week, 1700-2100 kcals/day.

And that's without burning any kcals in the gym. It's easier to burn 250 every day through exercise and eat 250 less per day to be in a 500 kcal deficit. Cutting 250 kcals can be as easy as omitting a handfult of nuts and a piece of fruit. If you did this you would need and estimated 1950-2350 kcals/day to lose one pound of fat per week. My advice is to get no less than 40% kcals from carbohydrates to keep your strength up in the gym. Carbohydrates will fuel your weight sessions and without enough carbs your muscle mass will suffer. 40% kcals from carbohydrates will between roughly 200-235 g carbs per day. Start counting them or just simply add an extra serving at main meals and cut back on the protein. Too much protein will not help you see those abs, it's about total kcal intake vs. output, all while maintaining muscle which will stem from ADEQUATE protein intake and keeping enough carbs in your diet to fuel your workouts.
 
Right now..it's pretty much whatever I want in moderation, as I'm focusing solely on gaining mass.

I try to consume 60% kcals from carbs, with protein and fat split down the middle at 20% each. I don't really count total kcals/day, as it gets tedious and sometimes difficult. Instead I count kcals at meals. I'm consuming right at 3,000 kcals/day right now split into 3 meals and 2 snacks/day. I try to consume about 750 kcals at main meals and 350 kcals at snack times. Eating 5 "main meals" per day is too much work for me, plus I feel better eating more at main meals.

My second snack is high in sugar and moderate in easily digestible protein (whey) with minimal fat because it's right after my workout. When I try to get lean, I basically just cut out all the "non-essential" foods or high calorie, low nutrient dense foods (junk!). Usually I just replace those foods with vegetables and it works pretty well for me. I have a high metabolism and if I eat too clean I lose muslce mass rather quickly. It takes years to perfect a diet and even then it's rarely perfected to suit your body's needs and personal goals. Keep experimenting and you will find the right one.
 
One great rule of thumb is to picture half of your meals coming from some type of complex carbohydrate with fat and protein split equally for the remaining half of your calories. If half of my plate is brown rice then a quarter will be from protein such as chicken, lean beef, fish, etc.; and the other quarter will be either from a fat source itself or come from adding it to my other foods (margarine, olive oil, etc.)

Just remember to keep your portions right to help meet your calorie goals for each meal.
 
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