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Help Me Cut Down!

post #1 of 11
8/31/11 at 7:51pm
Thread Starter 
I know this isn't BB (thank god) but figured I'd post what I'm doing here and see if anyone here has any tips for me, as I know a few people on here are into lifting/recomping and maybe also have some trainers on here.

I'm 24, 188 lbs as of Monday, 5'7. My goal is to lose 20-30 lbs which should have me cut down enough for a pretty nice six pack (last time I had a six pack was at like 155-160 but I've put on a bunch of muscle since then). I'm motivated enough to put as much effort into this as possible to get the fastest/best results that I can so I can move on to a bulk ASAP. The mantra is 1-2 lbs per week but fuck that I can do better.

Right now I'm doing:
-Morning cardio M-F: 30 minutes on the elliptical.
-I lift MWF after work. I'm only doing SS but considering adding in more lifts or going to a 5 day split for more resistance work. This is followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical.
-TR evenings I do an hour on the elliptical.

My maintenance level is ~2500 kCals so I've designed a diet around ~2000 kCals with the appropriate macros (low fat, high protein, some carbs - don't remember the percentages off the top of my head as I'm writing this post). My diet is basically:

3 eggs
1/2 cup oats
(multivitamin, calcium, fish oil, green tea capsules)

2 sandwiches (4 slices bread, deli turkey, yellow mustard, veggies)

PWO Shake (60g protein, 30g dextrose, 5g whey)

1 chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

1 chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

I only drink water and green tea.

So I think my diet's pretty solid for now. All I can really think of doing to maximize this cutting phase is:
-Increasing cardio somehow (maybe 1 hr every morning?)
-Going to a 5 day split so I'm lifting more and hitting more muscle groups (will definitely be looking into this further this weekend, as it will also help against muscle consumption)
-Taking 1 rest day instead of the entire weekend (on saturday do cardio morning/evening or something)
-Throwing in a fat burning stack like E/C or something

I'm guessing with the diet restriction and all this cardio/lifting that I'm running a pretty significant deficit, but I'm never hungry and I haven't seen any decrease in strength in the gym. IMO as long as I'm not hungry or losing strength I should be good regardless of the size of the deficit.

Any opinions on this? Can anyone here make any recommendations? I'm surprised I haven't seen that many threads like this in this forum - I guess everyone's too worried about making pompadours and getting rid of black heads n shit.
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post #2 of 11
8/31/11 at 11:55pm
I'd suggest dropping SS and taking up something like 531 or SPBR, which work better imo for a cut. There's also no need to jump the gun on the cardio, only increase if you're stalling with your progress. EC or clen is probably a good idea if you're not opposed to taking those.

You're doing a shitload of cardio, but if that's how you want to play it fine. It'll probably fuck with your lifts and recovery but if those are not your priority then nvm.

Also, there actually IS a thread about this: http://www.styleforum.net/t/251827/the-official-how-to-lose-fat-aka-how-to-get-a-6-pack-thread
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post #3 of 11
9/1/11 at 4:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrH 
531 or SPBR

Wanna clarify these and/or provide some links? I haven't heard of SPBR before and don't know what 531 is.
Quote:
EC or clen is probably a good idea if you're not opposed to taking those.

I know EC but what is clen? Could you make some recs?
Quote:
You're doing a shitload of cardio, but if that's how you want to play it fine. It'll probably fuck with your lifts and recovery but if those are not your priority then nvm.

It hasn't yet. I've gone up 100 lbs on my squat in the past 3 months based on SS principles (200 to 300 - then again I don't know what my 1rm is so I might've just started light). Besides I'm interested in just maintaining muscle and not really building it so you're right it's not my priority.

As for recovery, hasn't been a huge problem yet considering I take 5g creatine in the morning, 5g PWO and have increased my potassium intake with coconut water while also limiting my sodium intake. I'm also getting more sleep now and pound water/green tea all day.
Quote:
Also, there actually IS a thread about this: http://www.styleforum.net/t/251827/the-official-how-to-lose-fat-aka-how-to-get-a-6-pack-thread

O well too late now.
Edited by Khayembii Communique - 9/1/11 at 5:18am
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post #4 of 11
9/1/11 at 5:31am
Continue eating what you're eating, but less.

1500 cals/day will suffice (I adapted to 1200-1400 for three months and had huge losses)
Replace the boring half hour of cardio with 15-20mins of elliptical HIIT (45 secs slow pace- low resistance, then 15 secs full force- higher resistance)
Fat burners aren't necessary, but you can look into them if you want maximum effect. HIIT is a huge winner in the deficit department, though
Dropping the sandwiches in favor of pure, complex carbs could be a better approach. Look into lentils, or oatmeal for mid-day energy
Also, definitely skip the "deli turkey" unless you sliced it yourself. Most of that shit, expensive or otherwise, is ranging from 400-700mg sodium/2oz
In general, I think you're over-thinking the physical part of losing weight. As most-anyone will tell you, it's 90% kitchen and 10% workout
Don't overwork your body, especially with a deficit. Unless you're lifting light weights in an effort to retain muscle mass, you're doing it wrong
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post #5 of 11
9/1/11 at 5:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Khayembii Communique View Post


Wanna clarify these and/or provide some links? I haven't heard of SPBR before and don't know what 531 is.

531 = Jim Wendler's program 5/3/1, google it and you'll find out what you need to. Basically a 4-lift program that works quite well.
SPBR = Simple Power-Based Routine, found on ironaddicts forums, lots of folks training with that too on the random h&et threak,very good
Quote:
Originally Posted by Khayembii Communique View Post

I know EC but what is clen? Could you make some recs?

If you don't know what I'm talking about , then disregard my last. In fact, it might've been better if I'd not mentioned anything at all.. stick with EC if you've done it, other than that I'm not going to give out any advice on gear.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Khayembii Communique View Post

As for recovery, hasn't been a huge problem yet considering I take 5g creatine in the morning, 5g PWO and have increased my potassium intake with coconut water while also limiting my sodium intake. I'm also getting more sleep now and pound water/green tea all day.

Limiting sodium is pretty much unnecessary, more important is to maintain your potassium/sodium ratio, as in get enough potassium if you're sweating a lot (which, based on your training frequency you may be).
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post #6 of 11
9/1/11 at 6:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Erenoth 
Continue eating what you're eating, but less.

I'm going over my cals/macros this weekend because I actually haven't done a count of that yet, this diet sort of morphed from a planned diet I had before. I'll also be cutting down kCal intake slowly to hit the sweet spot of maximum diet deficit without losing strength or being hungry.
Quote:
Fat burners aren't necessary, but you can look into them if you want maximum effect. HIIT is a huge winner in the deficit department, though

HIIT prioritizes the utilization of glycogen as an energy source which tends more towards muscle consumption than LISS, so the benefits of HIIT (increased metabolism, higher kCal consumption) are offset by muscle consumption. Also, the ellipticals at my gym max out and slow you down (SNAP Fitness blows) so HIIT on the elliptical isn't an option for me.
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Dropping the sandwiches in favor of pure, complex carbs could be a better approach. Look into lentils, or oatmeal for mid-day energy
Also, definitely skip the "deli turkey" unless you sliced it yourself. Most of that shit, expensive or otherwise, is ranging from 400-700mg sodium/2oz

Yeah, that's my main source of sodium right now, I'll look into cutting that out when I do my diet this weekend, thanks.
Quote:
If you don't know what I'm talking about , then disregard my last. In fact, it might've been better if I'd not mentioned anything at all.. stick with EC if you've done it, other than that I'm not going to give out any advice on gear.

I haven't done EC before, but I might this time around. Last time I cut down ~25 lbs I did a stack with I think Lean Xtreme and Alpha T2. I might do that again or just do EC, I'm not sure. I've actually heard of clen, just remembered, but I don't know much about it. Might be better to stick to EC or LX/T2 stack.
Quote:
Limiting sodium is pretty much unnecessary, more important is to maintain your potassium/sodium ratio, as in get enough potassium if you're sweating a lot (which, based on your training frequency you may be).

I keep my potassium levels high, that mean I don't need to worry about sodium as long as I'm good on the ratio? I'm trying to prevent water retention (only thing right now that is causing it in my diet is creatine, which I might cut out until I start bulking, it's really only in my diet for recovery purposes).

Thanks for the tips guys I really appreciate it
Edited by Khayembii Communique - 9/1/11 at 6:50am
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post #7 of 11
9/1/11 at 6:53am
If you're doing HIIT the way it's supposed to be done, something like 4 x wk lifting + 20min HIIT ED is a no go. You'll fuck yourself up in so many ways it's just not worth it. And you guessed correctly, do not fret about sodium. The only water retention that happens is when sodium levels change radically, otherwise your body is more than capable of reaching homeostasis. You have 20-30lbs to cut, sodium isn't really a problem at this stage.

Things would probably be different if you would be at 3% bf, ready to hit a bodybuilding stage in a couple of wks, where sodium manipulation might be necessary - but since you're not, don't worry.

Get your diet in gear, lift and do the amount of cardio you think you can handle. If shit tanks straight away, you know something is going wrong. It's all about knowing what you're doing and making adjustments when necessary.

e. typos
Edited by Lagrangian - 9/1/11 at 7:11am
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post #8 of 11
9/1/11 at 7:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Get your diet in gear, lift and do the amount of cardio you think you can handle. If shit tanks straight away, you know something is going wrong. It's all about knowing what you're doing and making adjustments when necessary.

Yeah, okay.

I know you said you don't make recs on gear but I'm guessing that was just regarding EC/clen? Do you know anything about LeanXtreme/Alpha-T2 and stacking them? Seemed to work for me last time but I don't remember how I set it up.

As for water weight, you're right, I think any retention I'm having is due to creatine and not sodium so I'm going to try to phase creatine out of my diet completely and see if I have any recovery issues.
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post #9 of 11
9/2/11 at 6:45pm
I'd cut out any rice, oats, bread, alcohol, and up the raw veggies- carrots, broccoli, spinach. You'll cut down calories, have lower glycemic index foods instead and feel very full still. Your diet already looks pretty clean. This helped me cut down 10 lbs of fat in 2 months.
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post #10 of 11
9/3/11 at 5:36am

Thank you for sharing, very helpful to me.


Edited by Valeray - 9/3/11 at 5:49am
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post #11 of 11
9/5/11 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
I've changed my diet to:

3 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal

3oz chicken
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

3oz chicken
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

PWO Shake

3oz beef
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

3oz beef
1/2 cup brown rice
veggies

Today was my one week weigh-in and I'm down 4 lbs without any noticeable strength decrease! I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing; I've got an Alpha-T2/LeanXtreme stack coming in the mail which I should be able to start week 3 and so I'm hoping to maintain around 3lb/week of fat loss.
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