Diet advice needed

[Santa Claus]

Hello. I need some diet advice.

I am currently 195 pounds, and I can see the outline of my abs (no idea of BF %). There are still some flubber left, and I am currently eating as such:

2200-2300 cals a day
25% fats
45% protein
35% carbs

The food is mostly oatmeal, eggs, cottage cheese, tuna etc, spread evenly throughout the day, with the last two meals of six being without carbs.

Is this way off? I would like to keep as much muscle as possible. I have never dieted before.

[Laura Lee]

Hello. I need some diet advice.

I am currently 195 pounds, and I can see the outline of my abs (no idea of BF %). There are still some flubber left, and I am currently eating as such:

2200-2300 cals a day
25% fats
45% protein
35% carbs

The food is mostly oatmeal, eggs, cottage cheese, tuna etc, spread evenly throughout the day, with the last two meals of six being without carbs.

Is this way off? I would like to keep as much muscle as possible. I have never dieted before.

I'd drop the carbs down a little more.  Carb sources should only be oatmeal, brown rice and fiberous carbs such as broccoli and cauliflower.  And watch your sodium and sugar % intake.

[Santa Claus]

Thank you. I started out with slightly less carbs and more fat, but my workouts sucked. Guess it comes with the territory. And I do not add salt to my food, neither do I eat anything sugary. Oatmeal and the accompanying skimmed milk as well as one slice of bread daily are my only carb sources.

[Laura Lee]

Thank you. I started out with slightly less carbs and more fat, but my workouts sucked. Guess it comes with the territory. And I do not add salt to my food, neither do I eat anything sugary. Oatmeal and the accompanying skimmed milk as well as one slice of bread daily are my only carb sources.

Everyone's body reacts differently.  Not all diets work for all people.  But bringing the carbs down will also bring the bodyfat down.  Drop them for a few days, then spike them (especially for leg day).  You'll confuse your metabolism and cause it to run constantly burning fat.  Also, although you might not "add" salt ore sugar to your meals, most foods contain sodium and sugar.  Check the labels.  Sodium will make you hold a lot of water and sugar ... well we all know what sugar does.    Opt for ezekial bread or 100% whole wheat if you have to eat bread (although I don't recommend it while dieting).

[Santa Claus]

I basically only eat those foods I listed. No processed stuff. I'll just try this out for a while then, see how it goes. I reduced the carbs somewhat, to about 150 grams a day.

[Laura Lee]

I basically only eat those foods I listed. No processed stuff. I'll just try this out for a while then, see how it goes. I reduced the carbs somewhat, to about 150 grams a day.

I would cut them in 1/2 to be truthful.

[Santa Claus]

Goddamn, how am I gonna lift? And what shall I in that case do to get the needed calories in? Up the protein accordingly? Remember that I don't care if it takes some time, I just want to keep as much muscle as possible.

[BigCypriate]

Goddamn, how am I gonna lift? And what shall I in that case do to get the needed calories in? Up the protein accordingly? Remember that I don't care if it takes some time, I just want to keep as much muscle as possible.

What Cheri is saying is great advice, but if you are not dieting for a show etc you can get away with the extra carbs.

What I will say works for me with the high protein calorie restrictuve diet, is eating brown rice carbs around 3 hours before you train, and then the oatmeal 1/2 hour before i start at the gym. I find this gives me the burst of energy needed!

[Laura Lee]

 

[Santa Claus]

I see. Thanks for the input. I must make it clear that I am not preparing for a show at all. Keeping the muscle is the number one priority, I just want to have abs for once, and see what's behind it all.

[candidate2025]

150 grams of carbs is too much. she is right..i wouldnt go more than 60grams daily.

the whole "carb cycling" thing..i am not too sure of. but laura is a competitor and has obviously dieted before; so i would listen to her about the carb spike thing.  i do it, but only every other chest day(once every ten days), and i spike my carbs up to 80 grams, from my daily 40.  the reason i do this is because i am trying to build up my chest while i diet down...(and i have to take it pretty easy o all my other body parts, so all of my tissue repair capabilities can be fast tracked to my chest.

and youe energy levels should be fine once you body gets used to the new diet...you body will start using fat as an energy source; wich is a little bit more smooth, and consistant type of energy.


another tip...if you could make 100% of your daily fat intake healthy fats, that would be amazing. youll need to supplement with a bunch of fish oil of course, but this; in my experience, works wonders.

[Santa Claus]

I see. Thanks for the advice. But again: are my calories in the ballpark? Those calories that I lose out of the diet when reducing the carbs, what should I replace them with? Protein? Fats? When it comes to the fats I am getting right now, most of them comes from the whole eggs, and that is maybe not ideal.

But goddamn, I feel like I am hardly getting any carbs now. If I cut the amount in half, that leaves very little oatmeal...

Oh well. Might as well try.

[Laura Lee]

I see. Thanks for the advice. But again: are my calories in the ballpark? Those calories that I lose out of the diet when reducing the carbs, what should I replace them with? Protein? Fats? When it comes to the fats I am getting right now, most of them comes from the whole eggs, and that is maybe not ideal.

But goddamn, I feel like I am hardly getting any carbs now. If I cut the amount in half, that leaves very little oatmeal...

Oh well. Might as well try.

To be truthful, when I diet I do not pay attention to the calories.  I concentrate on the carbs and protein.  Keep your proteins high and your carbs low.  Also get the cardio in.  This is very important when trying to drop the bodyfat.  Your abs are there...you just have to bring the bf that is covering them down.  I'm 43, had 2 kids and never thought I had abs or could ever achieve getting them, then low and behold...after dieting and training for my first contest, I almost fell over when I saw them

[candidate2025]

get the weight smart high fiber low sugar oatmeal. it has 30 grams of carbs, like 14 grams of fiber, and one gram of sugar. 8 grams of protein.


i would replace your calories with clean protein sources.



and at 195 pounds...i read somewhere that in order to lose fat, you want 15 calories per pound of body weight...but we will go with 14, just t be sure! =)

195x14= 2730 calories.

so i would say your calories are just fine..you can even eat a bit more; just make it protein, and cut down those carbs.

[SWOLETRAIN]

how about fat?

[candidate2025]

in my own personal opinion daily fat intake should be only fatty acids. i have been doign this for about 5 days...and day one i couldnt see any abs, now i can see four(well, a blurry outline of four,,,, but whateva!!). 

[Laura Lee]

how about fat?

EVOO, nuts (raw and unsalted)

[powerpack]

When it comes to fat I keep it as low as possible.
But if you are a natural a small amount of saturated fat like the stuff on steak actually helps boost T levels.
I also snack some times on nuts like almonds but I am very carefull as I find nuts addictive and more than once a snack turned into a binge.

[Laura Lee]

When it comes to fat I keep it as low as possible.
But if you are a natural a small amount of saturated fat like the stuff on steak actually helps boost T levels.
I also snack some times on nuts like almonds but I am very carefull as I find nuts addictive and more than once a snack turned into a binge.

This is true. 

[Santa Claus]

All right then. The short version would be: reduce the carbs, and eat most of them before workout (I need my brain at work, so I must have some in the morning too), only eat good fats, up the protein until the calories are alright. But if I am supposed to eat 2700 calories, that will be a hell of a lot of protein. And isn't that needed amount of calories according to bodyweight strongly dependant on BF %? And what is the opinion on the fat in egg yolks? Stay away? Right now my program tells me to get about 60-70 grams of fat a day, and that's quite a lot... It's hardest to get the fat right. More pointers?

[candidate2025]

eat a packet of oatmeal in the morning with breakfast, and a small pice of fruit before you workout. that should be all of your carbs for the day.

you dont have to get any certain amount of calories from protein...what you need to do is get 30-40 grams of protein every 2-4 hours; all day long.  dont go any higher or lower than that, and dont wait any longer, or any sooner.

i dont think you need that much fat..  i would say get 20 grams of fish oil eah day. just buy the bottles fatty acid(fish oil) pills at wal mart or somewhere like that where they are cheap.  also, i would say that you should take vitamin-e, vitamin cq-10, green tea extract, vegetable pills, a mens multi vitamin.

as far as supps go, you should have a whey shake immidietly following your weight ttraining, you should get some kre-alkalyn, and you should get a fat burner. lipo 6 is a good one.

[Santa Claus]

All right. I'll begin with lowering the carb intake, and see what happens. If nothing happens, I will reduce it even more. The thing is that I don't need to get ripped, I just want to lose most of the fat I am carrying, within reasonable limits. It doesn't even have to be fast, and I want to function normally, both in and out of the gym. I am not looking for a quick fix, far from it. Just to be clear on that.

[candidate2025]

you will be able to function perfectly fine after two or three days..the human body is amazing at how well it will adapt to changes. like i said..it will begin to start extracting energy from your protein calories, and your fat calories. something your body NEVER does when you are eating a normal diet.  its a digestive process totally isolated to this type of diet.

[Santa Claus]

All right, then. I have tried some kind of semi-extreme low-carb diet before, and it got really tiring after a week, and my brain was sluggish. Therefore I am kinda sceptical about that. Then again, maybe I did something else wrong.

[candidate2025]

well idk man. everyBODY is different, and it it doesnt work for you, i woudlnt try it.  i am not one to say that there is a cookie cutter diet that wokrs for every body. that is just what i know works for ME. and i used to be reaally overweight. so i just figured it would work for a whole lot of people.

the green tea extract, cq-10, multi vitmain all will really help with energy levels.