aberry33

I figured I would post this here rather than my workout journal thread because this post could end up getting lost in there.

All along my goal was to get back into the gym and gain all of (and possibly a little more) the muscle that I had lost over the past 6 months of inactivity. Well I feel I'm pretty much at that point. There are certain lifts that I feel I can still improve on but on some of the lifts I'm already lifting more than I ever have. The problem is I'm doing it at 216 pounds.

My ideal weight is 195-200. I would like to get as low as 6-8% bodyfat by mid June or so. When I look at my progress pic in the journal thread I can see some muscle addition and I do not think I need to lose a ton of fat, but the scale and my lack of abs don't lie.

On the other hand I don't want to lose the muscle I've gained by cutting my ass off. I had originally planned on startin my cut March 1st but I'm pretty tired of being at this weight. Plus my spring football league is about to start and I'm sure I would be a lot quicker with a lot less fat on me.

Anyway, going off of what I've said in here and my stats and pics in the journal thread, with the bodyfat and muscle maintaining goals I have in mind, does it seem okay to start cutting now? So mid June is about 4 months away.

I plan on sticking to my same workout routine. The only thing I may change is the amount of reps I do in my sets. I typically do 8, 6, 4 and I thought about changing that up to 12, 10, 8. What do you guys think about that?

Obviously my diet would get really cleaned up. Right now I'm just making sure I get a lot of protein. I'm usually getting too much of the other two marcro's too though. I don't do anything too crazy with my diet when I start cutting. For the most part I do 6 balanced meals with clean protein and healthy carbs and fats.

Malley

Most of it is going to be in your diet. Honestly whenever I cut I try to keep my reps low. Reason is I am trying to keep all of the strength I can. And by atleast trying to maintain it this way, I have had alot of success over time. You my want to add some tri-sets and things of that nature.

Big Guns

My Opinion:
Post your Diet and don't B/S.
6 meals at no less than 250g protein / day
Carbs at no more than 250g / day.
Fat at 60g / day.

Training:
No less than 8 reps. Keep in the 8-12 HARD reps. more than 12 raise the weight, less than 6 lower the weight.
Losing 10-20 of fat will not be a cake walk but it will happen. Diet is 100% responsible for this.
Depending on your true BF. let say 12% at 200 lbs = 24lbs of fat. So now you will be at 176 at 0%. so at 6-8% you will be at 12-16lbs of fat. 195 at 6% from 216 will be tricky, but can be done w/ proeper diet and training.

aberry33

Thanks for the replies. You think I'll be okay as far as saving as much muscle as possible with no more than 250 carbs a day?

There isn't much to post about my diet at the moment. I really just try to make sure I'm getting at least 30 grams of protein in me every 3 or so hours. Other than that it is fair game what I eat. Now when I start this clean diet it will be a lot easier to track exactly how much I am eating and the calories involved.

I originally planned on starting March 1st but maybe I'll do it a week earlier and start on the 23rd.

Big Guns

put your DIET OGETHER and post it. What you "plan" to eat. Leaness doesn't "happen"

aberry33

Bedtime 10:30 PM
Wakeup 5:30 AM
6:00:
Whey protein shake in water: 30 G protein, 10 G carbs, 5 G fat
Tall glass of skim milk
Tablespoon (maybe less) of natural peanut butter
(This has been my breakfast meal in the past. It's quick and easy since I am still a zombie.)

10:00 (maybe 9:30?):
30-40 G of protein through some sort of meat. It's usually tuna or chicken
Either some fruit like a banana or a vegetable like a can of peas, corn or grean beans
Small handful of nuts

11:15 - 12:15 workout

12:30:
40 G of protein from a whey shake which also has about 12 G of carbs and 6 G of fat
Here I would either do a higher amount of fruit than my 10:00 meal or I might just buy some dextrose to mix with in my shake

2:00:
Basically a repeat of my 10:00 meal. Maybe a different type of meat or fruit/vegetable

6:00:
Repeat similar 2:00 meal.

10:00:
Usually I would do a glass of skim milk and some cottege cheese but I think I'll probably cut out the milk and just eat a little more cottege cheese.


That's it in a nutshell. I'm at work so I don't have all of the specifics in front of me but that's what I have in mind right now.

Big Guns

I would keep your protein no lower than 40g meal. I am always at 50g. I think the diet looks OK.

aberry33

Well I started today. I weighed in (fully clothed) at 222.2 before my workout on Friday. I decided that was it. I am okay with the mirror test so it's not really an issue that I think I'm putting on too much fat, but I would like to get rid of a lot of what I currently have. Plus spring sports are coming up and I imagine I'll be somewhat slower on the field if I'm carrying 10-15 more pounds than I ever have.

Big Guns

You've been at this 4 days??? It's gonna take 8-12 weeks of PROPER dieting. So hope your not in a big huury. Most diets are 12 week periods....I'm guessing yours will be the same. IF you want to maintain any of your muscle. 1 - 1.5lbs/week of fat loss is the best you will be able to do.
Have you calculated how many calories you are taking in??

aberry33

No, today is the first day of my diet. I am by no means expecting the fat to melt off. I want it to happen slowly so I preserve as much muscle as possible. I would be very happy if I were at my 195-200 goal within 12 weeks.

Big Guns

Cool....I would figure out what you cal intake is and keep track of EVERYTHING you eat throughout the day. I am dieting as well and have a daily log since Jan1. It really helps as time passes. You will be able to track how you feel and how you look.

aberry33

I'M HUNGRY!

Yesterday went well. But I can already feel the difference as far as how hungry I am. I'm not starving myself by any means but if anybody looked at my workout journal you can see I was obviously eating a decent amount by all the weight I was gaining.

Already had my protein shake and banana this morning. Got some grapes, strawberries, corn, nuts, tuna, chicken and a protein shake to eat for my next three meals before I leave work.

I'm really hoepefull that once my body adjusts that it will affect my overall energy level. I don't know if that is possible since I will hopefully always be in a slight calorie deficit but hopefully eating better overall will help that.

aberry33

So it's been 18 days since I started my cut. I was at 222.2 and I weighed in today at 215.4. It's coming off a little more quickly than I thought. I'm still eating 6 times a day and having about 2 cheat meals a week. My lifts aren't suffering too much or at all so overall I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

aberry33

It's been a a little over a month and I weighed in at 212.0 today. That's down from 222.2 on 2/20. I lost a few pounds over the weekend from being sick and throwing up so I wouldn't be surprised to see my weight get back up to 213 or maybe even 214 over the next day or two. Overall though I'm happy with the results.