Cutting diet

[mahrousd]

Let me know what you guys think about this meal plan. Thanks

Breakfast: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protein mixed.

Mid morning snack: ostrich jerky

Mid morning meal: turkey sandwich and salad

Mid afternoon snack: apple and almonds

Lunch: Grilled chicken with brown rice and broccoli

PWO: Protein shake ( 3 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, and bananna)

Evening meal: 2 cans of tuna with turkey

Before bed: low fat cottage cheese

 

[tim290280]

How large is "a turkey sandwich"?
How much turkey does it contain?
Is it only turkey or is there something else in it?
What sort of bread is it on?




Do you get what I'm hinting at here?

 

[PrinceVegeta]

^^ exactly, our turkey sandwiches can be totally differeny, check out the the nutritional content on the back of foods to see how many kcals you are eating, makes it easier to measure and count nutrients and shit. good luck man with ur diet

 

[mahrousd]

The turkey sandwich contains 1 slice of double wheat and fiber bread 50 cal. with 5 slices of turkey 25 calories a slice.

Total calories: 1950, i think i need more calories, trying to get about 2100-2200. What do ya'll think?
Total carbs: 100g
Total protein: 285g
Total fat: about 20-25g

 

[bambam55]

I'm far from an expert on cutting diets, but I know I would lose muscle eating that little calories. But thats me and I'm 235lbs. How much do you weigh?

 

[mahrousd]

I'm 6ft 175 pounds. I want to lose some body fat but still gain some lean muscle mass. What do you guys think?

 

[mahrousd]

Also what do you guys think about the snacking in between the meals? Will that increase my metabolism and help burn fat or should i add those snacks with my meals and eat every 3 hours?

 

[tim290280]

What I think is you need to give us all the info to help.

What is you basal resting metabolism?
How active are you? (refer to the thread PrinceVegeta started about his intake calculator for these two)
What bodyfat level are you?
Is there any reason why ~60% of your calories are from protein?
Do you usually have trouble adding weight or losing it? (although I can guess this answer from your BW)
Do you keep a food diary and will you eat exactly this every day?

My comments at a glance will be countered by some of the answers. We've already gotten several important pieces of info out of you that weren't in the original post. If you want decent advice then we need a better idea of the context of the diet.

 

[Zigurd]

Tim, how do you calculate basal resting metabolism ?

 

[tim290280]

I haven't in years because I've been able to control my body weight from experience and hit weight and bodyfat goals by regulating intake.

But I did discuss it here: BMR and Questions.

Any of these calculations is merely a guide to work from. I remember calculating mine way back when I thought I was hardgainer. With a bit of tweaking I figured out that my activity levels were slightly higher than you'd think (now they are slightly lower).

 

[mahrousd]

Ok sorry for not putting enough information.
My BMR=1935
I'm currently 6ft 175 pounds. I do a full body workout 3 days a week and cardio for the other 2 days. I'm around 10% body fat, you can see my top abs but i still have some fat on the lower abs that i want to lose. I figured since i'm still trying to maintain my muscles and maybe gain some i would increase my protein intake and lower my carbs and fat so that i can lose some body fat. Also the meal plan i posted is what i stick to everyday except on weekends when i don't workout i cut out some carbs. With all that said what do you think now? Let me know if you need more info.

 

[mahrousd]

Also here is a more detailed version of my meal plan.

Breakfast: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protein mixed.

Mid morning snack: 1 ostrich jerky

Mid morning meal: turkey sandwich and salad (1 slice of double wheat and fiber bread and 5 slices of turkey)

Mid afternoon snack: apple and almonds (medium apple and 10 almonds)

Lunch: Grilled chicken with brown rice and broccoli (8oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup of rice, and cup of broccoli)

PWO: Protein shake ( 3 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, and bananna)

Evening meal: 2 cans of tuna with 4 slices of turkey

Before bed: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
__________________

 

[tim290280]

Also here is a more detailed version of my meal plan.

Breakfast: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protein mixed. Eggs & Whey?? I'd say pick one or the other, eggs would be my preference. Oatmeal is good, but you probably should have more carbs with this meal. Fruit if you like.

Mid morning snack: 1 ostrich jerky whatever floats your boat I guess. But once again carbs are good early in the day. You've also had no fruit, vege or dairy to this point......

Mid morning meal: turkey sandwich and salad (1 slice of double wheat and fiber bread and 5 slices of turkey) Good

Mid afternoon snack: apple and almonds (medium apple and 10 almonds) Good

Lunch: Grilled chicken with brown rice and broccoli (8oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup of rice, and cup of broccoli) Your first veges and not a lot at that. Aside from that fine.

PWO: Protein shake ( 3 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, and bananna) Fine but once again protein overload.

Evening meal: 2 cans of tuna with 4 slices of turkey What no carbs or veges of any sort? If you have just worked out hour or two previous then carbs aren't a bad thing. Also so far you have only had one serve of vegetables for the day. You've had two serves of fruit, which is fine, but the veges are very important especially leafy greens.

Before bed: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese good
__________________

My BMR=1935
I'm currently 6ft 175 pounds. I do a full body workout 3 days a week and cardio for the other 2 days. I'm around 10% body fat, you can see my top abs but i still have some fat on the lower abs that i want to lose.
Total calories: 1950, i think i need more calories, trying to get about 2100-2200. What do ya'll think?
Total carbs: 100g
Total protein: 285g
Total fat: about 20-25g

At 6' you don't really want to be too much lighter than 165lb. In fact 175 is still kinda light. At 10% BF you should be able to see abs, but not everyone can (I for one only get the top 4 even at 9%) but you should have very good definition in the rest of you body as a result (I noticed striations in my shoulders). If you don't then the estimate is wrong. If it is wrong then you would probably benefit more from gaining muscle on a clean bulk than leaning off at all.

By my calculation you missed the energy adjustment as it should be ~3000 cals. But these calcs are always estimates. 2500 will have you losing weight.

Your current ratio of P/C/F is not matching up with your cals and is short by 200 cals. A ratio of 65/22/13 is not particularly healthy or useful. You'd need more fats ~20% and carbs are good for energy and also the source of fibre and nutrients so 50% is usually good (less on a cut if needs be). Protein is nowhere near as important as people make out. 30% of the diet will give you more than enough for postive nitrogen balance. So currently you'd need ~130g which on your current total is 25% but from 3000cals it would be 17%.

So my advice would be to recalculate your BMR, reassess your actual intake and macros. I also can't more about food logs. Food logs are a great tool.

 

[mahrousd]

Thanks Tim for the advice. On the carbs and fat intake i'm just afraid of consuming too many and gaining any fat, that's why i try to keep them to a minimum. While on the protein i try to keep high so that i can maintain my muscles and maybe gain some. but correct me if i'm wrong. I'm not really trying to lose weight, if anything i would like to gain a few and be a solid 180-185 with a low body fat %. Also i have a question on the meal plan. What do you think about me combining those snack meals to my main meals and instead eat strictly every 2-3 hours with no snacks in between? I figured with the snacks it would keep my metabolism going at a good rate but i could be wrong. What do you think?

 

[Beau]

Eating every 2-3 hours should give you time to get in those 6-8 meals. I wouldn't call them snacks I recommend you have 6-8 similar sized meals throughout the day. Eating majority of your carbs in the am and around training then cutting back on the carbs as the day progresses.

 

[tim290280]

^^ Agree with Beau's points.

Basically Fat and Carbs are needed by people wanting to be active. If you aren't consuming enough of these you end up nutritionally starved without necessarily consuming too little calories (think reverse vegan, as they don't get enough whole protein and B vitamins).

What dictates your bodyweight and bodyfat levels is down to how much you eat. Too many calories = fat regardless of source. Now protein is good, but you still need plenty of other things that can only be found in good carbs and fats. Carbs are better around training and earlier in the day.

More meals is neither good nor bad. I have three larger meals and 3 smaller meals. But that could just as easily be 6 medium meals (although not with my work hours dictating meal breaks). So regular meals has many advantages in terms of metabolism, as eating is the biggest metabolic spike you can get (ironic isn't it). It also makes it easier to get the calories in. At a glance you are probably under consuming, especially if you want to be 10lbs heavier. But regular meals need to be put in the context that some meals will still be being digested the next time you eat, so the benefits are somewhat negated and can lead to fat partitioning. This is why it is important to be active and watch the overall caloric intake.

So short answer: 3 big and 3 small meals is fine. 6 medium is fine. 3big not as good unless slow digesting whole foods. 8 medium need to have faster digesting foods (wheys, liquids, etc).

 

[mahrousd]

So with all that said, which one do you think will benefit me more? As in help with fat loss or make my metabolism run faster. They are both the exact same just one of them has the small meals cut out.


7:30- Breakfast: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protein mixed, and green tea.

9:15- Mid morning snack: 1 ostrich jerky

10:30- Mid morning meal: turkey sandwich and salad (1 slice of double wheat and fiber bread and 5 slices of turkey)

12:00- Mid afternoon snack: apple and almonds (medium apple and 10 almonds)

1:30- Lunch: Grilled chicken with brown rice and broccoli (8oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup of rice, and cup of broccoli)

315- Workout

4:30- PWO: Protein shake ( 3 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, and bananna)

7:00- Evening meal: 2 cans of tuna with 4 slices of turkey

Before bed: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese

OR

7:30- Breakfast: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg scrambled, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protein mixed, and green tea.

10:30- Mid morning meal: turkey sandwich(1 slice of double wheat and fiber bread and 5 slices of turkey) apple, and 10 almonds

1:30- Lunch: Grilled chicken with brown rice and broccoli (8oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup of rice, and cup of broccoli)

3:15-Workout

4:30- PWO: Protein shake ( 3 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, and bananna)

7:00- Evening meal: 2 cans of tuna with 4 slices of turkey

Before bed: 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese

 

[tim290280]

I'd err on the side of more meals.

But as I said, actually keep a diary and scales of what you eat. Then it is easy to work out the calories and macros so that you can see straight away the limitations on your intake.