Why can't I get ripped/lean out?

[alan007912]

Stats:
27 years old
6 foot flat
185-190 (my weight fluctuates easily)
BF% 20%(? maybe, I did it once, but I don't think I got the measurements right?)

Average Day:
8am wake up
Go for a 4k run on empty stomach (thinking about having a banana before the run)
1 hour of Muay Thai training (like kickboxing, punching bags, hitting pads, drills)

Small chocolate milk as recovery drink.
Breakfast - 1/2 cup of white rice and some kind of veg or fish dish.

Rest or nap, chill for a few hours.

2pm - 3 bananas with peanut butter

4pm - Skip rope 10-15min.
- Lift weights (chest and tris or back and bis or shoulders or legs - different muscle group each day)
- Run another 4k, this time with hand weights for added resistance

Small chocolate milk as recovery drink
Dinner - 1/2 cup of white rice and some kind of veg or fish dish.

Before bed/late night snack (occasionally) - Small bag of peanuts.

*A note on the nutrition: I'm at a muay thai camp in Thailand and my food options are limited. I'd like to get brown rice, but that's just not an option here. As for the veg or fish dishes, usually it's a Thai dish, maybe stir fry or boiled. I don't have many food options. The meals are cooked by the kitchen here at the gym. If I don't like what they have that day I just mix a can of tuna in with the rice.

*Supplements are hard to get here and thus expensive. At night I just take a multi vitamin pack and a fish oil.

I've attached a few pictures. Theres are from Monday morning just after workout. Usually I'm leaner by Friday after a week of days like above, but this is what I have for now.


To explain, I'm not trying to bulk up and get huge. I'd like to add a little muscle, but it's not my main goal. I want to trim down and lean out. I want a 6 pack! I'm going for a lean and cut up fitness model type. Think Men's Health, not Muscle and Fitness.

Any advice?

[PhiSig2298]

Can you list your macros and calories?

[alan007912]

Can you list your macros and calories?

I don't know what macros are. Calories have got to be pretty low based on what I listed above. I do take one cheat day on weekends though. Usually it's a pizza or burger and fries. I've read a one meal a week calorie spike is actually good for you. Truth or not, it does make me feel better and motivates me to work it off come Monday morning

[PhiSig2298]

I don't know what macros are. Calories have got to be pretty low based on what I listed above. I do take one cheat day on weekends though. Usually it's a pizza or burger and fries. I've read a one meal a week calorie spike is actually good for you. Truth or not, it does make me feel better and motivates me to work it off come Monday morning

Macros are the grams of Fat/Protein/Carbs you consume

[jaklcrow]

you are INSANELY low on protein/fat. Also dont worry about not getting brown rice, that makes 0 diff. You need 1-.1.5g of protein per lb if you really want to put on some muscle, or lean out properly. So much cardio is hindering it as well

[alan007912]

Macros are the grams of Fat/Protein/Carbs you consume

Oh. Man, there's no way to tell. Like I said I'm at a fight camp in Thailand and they prepare all our meals for us, so I have no real way of knowing. It's all traditional Thai dishes, so it's like fish or pork and loads of veg. And supplements are too expensive and too much trouble to get through customs here.

[PhiSig2298]

Oh. Man, there's no way to tell. Like I said I'm at a fight camp in Thailand and they prepare all our meals for us, so I have no real way of knowing. It's all traditional Thai dishes, so it's like fish or pork and loads of veg. And supplements are too expensive and too much trouble to get through customs here.

Hmmm... I don't know what to tell you man. Can you talk to the cook? Ask what type of fish, how they prepare the meals (if they use any oils and about how much). Like the other poster said, your calories are pretty low for THAT much exercise and if cals are low, your macros are going to be off as well.

Getting your diet in check will help more than anything... I know it sounds like a hassle to ask the cook, but it's all about "how bad do you want to look the way you want to look"! I remember in college asking my house mom to keep all of the packaging around so I could read the labels before she threw them away. I felt bad but she didn't mind at all and once I got the hang of it and wrote stuff down, I didn't have to go reading labels or asked how she cooked things. Just read my logs and went from there!

[BbyHues99]

Stats:
27 years old
6 foot flat
185-190 (my weight fluctuates easily)
BF% 20%(? maybe, I did it once, but I don't think I got the measurements right?)

Average Day:
8am wake up
Go for a 4k run on empty stomach (thinking about having a banana before the run)
1 hour of Muay Thai training (like kickboxing, punching bags, hitting pads, drills)

Small chocolate milk as recovery drink.
Breakfast - 1/2 cup of white rice and some kind of veg or fish dish.

Rest or nap, chill for a few hours.

2pm - 3 bananas with peanut butter

4pm - Skip rope 10-15min.
- Lift weights (chest and tris or back and bis or shoulders or legs - different muscle group each day)
- Run another 4k, this time with hand weights for added resistance

Small chocolate milk as recovery drink
Dinner - 1/2 cup of white rice and some kind of veg or fish dish.

Before bed/late night snack (occasionally) - Small bag of peanuts.

*A note on the nutrition: I'm at a muay thai camp in Thailand and my food options are limited. I'd like to get brown rice, but that's just not an option here. As for the veg or fish dishes, usually it's a Thai dish, maybe stir fry or boiled. I don't have many food options. The meals are cooked by the kitchen here at the gym. If I don't like what they have that day I just mix a can of tuna in with the rice.

*Supplements are hard to get here and thus expensive. At night I just take a multi vitamin pack and a fish oil.

I've attached a few pictures. Theres are from Monday morning just after workout. Usually I'm leaner by Friday after a week of days like above, but this is what I have for now.


To explain, I'm not trying to bulk up and get huge. I'd like to add a little muscle, but it's not my main goal. I want to trim down and lean out. I want a 6 pack! I'm going for a lean and cut up fitness model type. Think Men's Health, not Muscle and Fitness.

Any advice?

IMO by the look of your diet and training its less about being lean than it is your lack of muscle mass. If you cut down and lose weight your not going to be happy due to the lack of muscle mass you have in your base. Id be more concerned in gaining muscle so that at your weight or if your cut weight your going to have a more solid base so you "look ripped".

[JakeByrd]

I say eat more peanut butter/fish and amp up your weightlifting sessions. Once you build more muscle, you'll burn fat easier. Either work each muscle group twice a week, or add more volume to your current workouts depending on the time available and your goals. You seem to get plenty of cardio each day, I wouldn't increase cardio becuase that won't help you gain muscle or get ripped at this stage in the game.

[shreddies]

I used to have the exact same body type as you. You gotta lower your carbs, but when you do eat carbs, make sure theyre fibre rich. Beans are great for these, plus they have protein in them. I would focus entirely on your diet and make sure you are training as hard as you can. Load up on water and protein.

[Lackeos]

Eat more protein and lift heavy (in the 5-rep range with 80-85% of your 1RM). Protein consumption and lifting heavy both have a muscle-sparing effect when you are losing weight. Normally, if someone is having trouble losing weight / fat, they would need to eat fewer calories, but it seems like you eat 1500 calories a day at most (unless you're really pigging out on peanut butter, eating more fish than I would estimate, or eating other foods that you're failing to mention), so I wouldn't suggest cutting calories in your case unless I had more specific details. Make sure to study good lifting form so you don't injure yourself.

Btw, are you doing all of this cardio with the intent of burning fat, or is it for Muay Thai? Doing loads and loads of cardio isn't a magic bullet for fat loss. If you get on a full-body routine, lifting heavy weight every other day, focusing on compound movements, this will be good. The heavier weight you lift, the more muscle the body retains in a caloric deficit.

[alan007912]

I used to have the exact same body type as you. You gotta lower your carbs, but when you do eat carbs, make sure theyre fibre rich. Beans are great for these, plus they have protein in them. I would focus entirely on your diet and make sure you are training as hard as you can. Load up on water and protein.

It makes me nervous to think of cutting back what little carbs I get. I tried cutting my second rice portion before and I was moving at a sloth's pace at training. I had no gas in the tank at all the next day.

How about replacing types of carbs instead of cutting them?

[alan007912]

Eat more protein and lift heavy (in the 5-rep range with 80-85% of your 1RM). Protein consumption and lifting heavy both have a muscle-sparing effect when you are losing weight. Normally, if someone is having trouble losing weight / fat, they would need to eat fewer calories, but it seems like you eat 1500 calories a day at most (unless you're really pigging out on peanut butter, eating more fish than I would estimate, or eating other foods that you're failing to mention), so I wouldn't suggest cutting calories in your case unless I had more specific details. Make sure to study good lifting form so you don't injure yourself.

Btw, are you doing all of this cardio with the intent of burning fat, or is it for Muay Thai? Doing loads and loads of cardio isn't a magic bullet for fat loss. If you get on a full-body routine, lifting heavy weight every other day, focusing on compound movements, this will be good. The heavier weight you lift, the more muscle the body retains in a caloric deficit.

No my diet I listed above is basically it. I probably throw in the odd piece of fruit (apple, melon, water melon) in the middle of the day, but that's basically it.

All the cardio is part of Muay Thai training. It's the goal of the trainers to get us to go full speed for 5 3-minute rounds when our fight time arrives. I figured if I could cut this last 10 or 15 lbs, it might help out my stamina since there will be less of me to carry around. I'm trying to incorporate more and more weight training, but I'm limited on weights and frankly, I'm dog arse tired.

[SuffolkPunch]

It makes me nervous to think of cutting back what little carbs I get. I tried cutting my second rice portion before and I was moving at a sloth's pace at training. I had no gas in the tank at all the next day.

How about replacing types of carbs instead of cutting them?

And so you should be, you need carbs for energy. It doesn't matter if your calories come from carbs or fat - or what kind of carbs they are - if you are running a caloric defecit, you will lose weight. If your defecit is too high you will be lacking energy and may lose muscle tissue.

Most 'normal' foods have both carbs and fat in them. Personally, if your diet is not crazy, you can do well just by counting calories and grams of protein and not worrying about the carb/fat balance. Just make sure your food choices don't skew too far one way or the other.

Low carb diets can be made to work but you must have high carb refeeds to avoid hormone downregulation problems. Best not to mess with it - you don't need to of your stats are correct.

[AndyLegacy]

you are INSANELY low on protein/fat. Also dont worry about not getting brown rice, that makes 0 diff. You need 1-.1.5g of protein per lb if you really want to put on some muscle, or lean out properly. So much cardio is hindering it as well

this

[Determinednoob]

If you wanna necro threads, surely you can go back farther than 2 years