+ 1 Criticize my maintanance diet
I am currently 200 lbs and 6ft, around 10-11% bodyfat, my aim is to maintain my weight, and possibly cut some fat, so lean massing. Regardless here goes the diet, based on carb cycling. I workout 7 days a week so my TDEE is quite high.
Total calories - 3300
Monday - 125 grams carbs - 372 grams protein - 147 grams fat
Tuesday - 125 grams carbs - 372 grams protein - 147 grams fat
Wednesday - 250 grams carbs - 372 grams protein - 92 grams fat
Thursday - 125 grams carbs - 372 grams protein - 147 grams fat
Friday - 125 grams carbs - 372 grams protein - 147 grams fat
Saturday (Refeed) - 415 grams carbs - 331 grams protein - 37 grams fat
Please let me know if you would change something, the aim of the diet as I said is to maintain, and possibly lose some fat and gain some muscle.
Here is a current picture of me:
http://imgur.com/yKtSXPb
Thanks in advanced
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Looking good brotha, I also agree with pericu on the protein intake. I used to think the more protein I take in the more lbm im gonna get but Ive found that the type of carbs and timing of eating them is what really led my carb cycling to new levels not the near 500g of protein I would be trying to take in. Im currently trying to maintain as well. Don't feel like getting any bigger or leaner as that would make me feel unhealthy. +1 keep up the good work and stay motivated.
CarlFitThanks for the positive advice and motivation, wish the same to you
Can you please get into why you're eating that much protein?
Other than that, weigh yourself every single morning under the same conditions. If your weight stays the same, raise your carbs or fats by 2-5% each week until you see your a marginal weight change. Stay at those macros a while and try it again. Typical structure of a Reverse diet and trying to maximize your metabolism.
I guess you still have room to push it a bit more. I maintain my weight on the same caloric intake and I'm lighter and fatter than you are and I don't train 7 days a week.
CarlFitYeah but you probably have a faster metabolism, everyone is different.
But why would I want to increase carbs or fats, like I want to find my maintance and stay there, is that not the point of lean massing, you stay at the same weight, but burn some fat and build some muscle, even if the process is slower.
I weighted myself yesterday at 89.7kg, this morning I was 90.05kg. So a small change there, probably just water, I ll only know in a week because water weight fluctuates so much.
Also why do you think that is a lot of protein, its around 1.85g/lb for me, some guys here recommend 2g/lb. What would you rather change then, less protein and more fat on low carb days?
Regards
Ok, I see. Let's go then^^
Alright, first off, of course everyones metabolism is different and believe me, my metabolism wasn't great and still isn't. I was a fat chubby kid, then I turned into a skinny fat guy who destroyed his metabolism over the course of years by eating only 1400kcal per day and now we get to what I suggested with raising carbs or fats by 2-5% per week. First off, it's a small increase but what we're doing here is an approach from "Reverse dieting". It's what most bodybuilders do post contest, expect the ones who start binge eating and regain lots of fats in a short timespan. So why are we raising fat or carbs every week then? We want adapt your metabolism slowly to a higher caloric intake. Some will stagnate earlier then others but some respond really well to this system which makes 1. pretty effecient. The more calories you eat without gaining weight, the better the nutrition is beeing used. This leads to a better G-Flux. 2. If you then want to diet down again, you're able to start off higher, thus making it easier to diet. 3. making it more flexible. The more calories you're able to eat, the less you need to stress about gaining fat.
Let's get to "lean massing". I quote what you said and really think about the logic behind it.
Wrong, it's called "Recomping" what you're after. Lean massing is gaining LBM while keeping fat gains as small as possible. Still you'll be in a caloric surplus.
Weighing: Yeah, dependant on many factors, weight fluctations are common and can be massive. This is why we want to weigh ourself every morning under the same conditions. After 7 days we take our average which gives us a good idea if we're actually gaining or losing actual bodyweight.
Lots and lots of research has shown that there's no real benefit in eating more protein. If people like, I can post plenty of studies leading to it.
It's sufficient enough eating about 1gr./lbs. If you're cutting I'd recommend a higher intake and on a bulk you can even go as low as 0.7gr/lbs with all the benefits too it. Further it must be said that the leaner you're the more you need, but this doesn't mean you need to get enormous amounts of it. For me personally I only eat more protein because it satiates me more and I love foods with proteins.
Hope this helps
CarlFitAlright, I really like this approach, and the logic seems to make sense, I will start at where I am off now, 3.3k and let you know in 5-6 days how I am reacting to this, depending on that I will either increase/maintain or decrease my calories. Thanks for writing a detailed answer, helped me understand it a lot better. And yes you are completely right, what I am after is indeed recomping, I find both bulking and cutting frustrating and taxing that is why I have opted for this option, I am not afraid of gaining a small amount of fat, but I would like to stay at a high end low single digit body fat number if it was possible, 9 - 10% would be ideal, as I like being lean all year round.
I am aware that more protein is not beneficial, have also read similar articles, but as you said I do enjoy eating it in my meals (meat, fish etc..), and does indeed make me a lot fuller. So I think I will keep it where its at for the moment, and some days I may just eat more fats/carbs instead of protein.
Overall I think this diet will work really well for me because I am not in a rush of putting a ton of size, or shredding a lot of fat since I am satisfied with both, but I am sure over the course of 3-4 months I will manage to decrease some fat and gain some more size with this diet.
In terms of my refeed day, what do you reckon, is 450g carbs too much, would you have a different approach?
I will always have my refeed the day before legs or back, because hgiher intensity workouts will have a biger impact on glycogen storages right? so refeeding the day before will fill them up more and i l have more energy?
Regards
+1
Totally get you! There's no point in bulking or cutting if both of these approaches don't fit you and your lifestyle. Consistency is much more important then doing what's the norm. If you couldn't bare any of cutting or bulking, what's the point in doing it then. Rather do something that fits you. You're not the first one I met you rather recomp due to reasons of not feeling well on cutting or bulking. Go for it, you got a pretty good base already which makes recomping an even more valid option for you!
When recomping, you can be a bit flexible about your diet. Ie. you can kind of "Autoregulate" the diet even more and listen to your body. What's important to mention is, that the scale is only a tool on recomping so are the others. Take several things to see if you made improvements or not, cause it can be hard to see visible changes on a weekly basis. I always recommend people who're either recomping or really advanced bodybuilders, to take the progression in the gym as a guideline. If you're progressing in any way and the weight stays the same, there's a high chance that LBM is increasing, thus BF% is going down.
Legit as well. I just wanted to make sure you're aware of it. In the end, no matter what any of us says, it's up to you how you're going to distribute your macros and if you feel most satisfied with this method, stick with it
Agree, as mentioned. You got a good base already. Just keep track and make progress in the gym and with the time the changes will come.
It always depends on what you prefer. You can handle refeeds in different kind of ways. Currently I'm on a cut and my refeed days look like that I increase my carbs until my kcal hits maintenance, which is for me around 500gr. which is the most common approach and the way you did it as well. A refeed with as much carbs as possible is always an advantage because the Thyriod and Leptin are most sensitive to carbs. So, stick with it, it's cool :-)
Not necessarily but I guess there's nothing wrong with it. This is something Mike Israetel is recommending for Carb intake. You can see if your leg and back sessions are falling into those categories, but, it's only a recommendation. If you feel better and more energetic, there's nothing wrong with continueing that way;
some good points +3
Thanks mate. You know it, here to help, learn and discuss different topics :-)
A quick google search puts you all over the internet with that picture............. what are you looking for from eroids?
That image can be linked and traced.............. be careful young man.
CarlFitIm sorry how can I edit my post?
Just looking for advice nothing more, I know there is a lot of veterans here who have far more knowledge and experience that I do.
Swap the picture for something that you havnt used anywhere else bro........ i mean i traced you to 6/7 other websites from a 5 second search, read all the comments you have written on them and whatnot.
Security in mind bro........... thats all!
CarlFitThanks for the advice, completely agree
ok bro........ we are cool
As long as you track your diet you will know if it is working or not. Need to track it though and no winging it. I haven't ran the numbers but if that is what your TDEE you should be able to maintain but remember that is a starting point and just a number and not real life so tracking your cals/macros will let you know if you need to tweak that number. Any reason why you are just trying to maintain and not make any gains?
CarlFitI have already run this calories for over a week and my weight stayed pretty much the same, I am completely sure this is my maintanance. I know it isnt just a number, the calculator actually gave me 3100 calories, but I feel like I was still losing then.
I track my diet everyday with mfp but its the first time I wanted to try carb cycling. I want to make gains, I am sure I can still make gains with this diet, I just dont want to bulk anymore because it does not fit my goals, I am aiming for a look similar to jeff seid or lazar angelov, they are around 205 lbs at 7%.