Where to cut calories?

[eLJaKo]

Im cutting, My diet as of right now is below. The weight is coming off at the moment but it wont be long before it stops and I will need to cut calories lower and lower. The lowest I will go is about 2100 per day. The question is, where should I cut calories from.

Every food I eat each day is listed here, right down to the PAM I spray the pan with. Tell me exactly what foods I would leave out (or partially leave out / find replacements for) in order to cut out ~400 calories from this. Thanks!


calories/fats/carbs/protein

Breakfast:
Oats, raw 187 3 33 8
Egg, white only 83 0 2 17
Egg, whole 75 5 1 6
Blueberries 15 0 4 0
Raspberries, 7 0 2 0
Skim Milk 114 0 16 11
pepper, black 3 0 1 0
Canola oil 12 1 0 0
Totals 495 10 58 43

Snack:
Cottage Cheese 200 3 14 32
Yogurt 50 0 8 4
Apple, raw 81 0 21 0
Totals 331 3 43 36

Lunch (pre wo):
ezekiel bun 170 2 34 9
fat free chs 35 0 2 5
chicken brst 149 3 1 29
lettuce 2 0 0 0
pepper, black 3 0 1 0
Totals 359 5 38 43

during workout:
extend 42 0 0 11

Post workout:
gatorade 140 0 35 0
nectar whey 145 0 0 36
Totals 285 0 35 36

Dinner:
Brown Rice 181 3 33 4
Broccoli 27 0 5 3
Chicken, breast 169 3 1 32
pepper, black 3 0 1 0
Totals 380 6 41 39

Snack:
Ground beef 227 11 0 30
Grapefruit, raw 82 0 21 2
hot pepper sauce 14 0 4 1
Totals 323 12 24 32

Bedtime:
Cottage Cheese 200 3 14 32
Flaxseed oil 40 4 0 0
Peanut Butter 70 6 2 3
Whey Protein 60 1 1 12
Totals 370 14 17 46

DAY TOTALS 2585 50 256 286
cals fat carb protein

[eLJaKo]

forgot to mention. I lift every day for about 35-40 minutes, and I do cardio on 2 days right now, by the end it will be everyday. Instead of doing 2 bodyparts per day 3 or 4 days a week I just workout mon-fri one bodypart per day, and take the weekends off. Seems to be working well for me, more effort in the gym.

On the weekends the diet is a little different but I try to loosen up a bit and eat a few foods I want to eat, the macros stay the same (minus the pwo cals) and I still eat pretty clean.

[dbx]

Without trying to figure out which food to cut, I would suggest using cheat meals to help you when you start to stop losing. They are hard to predict when it's the right time, but they can be very effective for what you're trying to do. If you're not already using them, try eating some good junk food for 2 days in a row, then go back on track and see what happens. Do this every week for a few weeks and see what results you get. Everyone is so different, it's hard to predict, but people honestly underestimate the power of cheat meals.

[eLJaKo]

also I forgot, im 6 foot, 187.0 lbs and about 16-17% bf (was away from the gym for a month and ate horribly, leave me alone, lol)

[Crunchbar]

I think 2500 cals isnt that much over if at all how much u should be eating. calculate ur maintence and then subtract 200-500 cals

also 50g fat seems sorta low to me...

[eLJaKo]

yea 25-2600 is working for now, but it will stop working soon enough. Ill try a cheat now and then, see what that does. I hate eating less and less to be honest.

As for the 50g fat, youre right its less than 20% of my calories. Maybe I should add some almonds in there somewhere. The problem is what do I remove to fit it in?

[eLJaKo]

by the way, when I asked what foods I should cut to remove 400 calories or so. It was just to be prepared. First I will drop 200 then another 200 but when the times comes thatb I need to do this, I want to know what im doing.

[luckee001]

I'm pretty sure Xtned doesn't have calories. The BCAA's contribute apparently only 1 calorie per gram because they are not complete. That's what a dietician told me.

[eLJaKo]

Ive never heard of that, but it could be true. I find it hard to see how 1gram of protein could be 1 calorie though...any1 else heard of this?

[elitejp]

That looks like a real solid diet. So i dont think you need to cut any one thing but just resize all the portions. Also i would personally switch your last snack meal with your last meal and then throw in some veggies if your still really hungry. If im hungry I cant sleep, so thats why I say that. Otherwise your next option is to not change anything but just up the cardio and deplete the calories that way. That is my preffered method especcially when your dipping under the 2000 mark that just starts getting low for most athletes.

[eLJaKo]

Originally Posted by elitejp

That looks like a real solid diet. So i dont think you need to cut any one thing but just resize all the portions. Also i would personally switch your last snack meal with your last meal and then throw in some veggies if your still really hungry. If im hungry I cant sleep, so thats why I say that. Otherwise your next option is to not change anything but just up the cardio and deplete the calories that way. That is my preffered method especcially when your dipping under the 2000 mark that just starts getting low for most athletes.

You mean switch the chicken/rice with the ground beef / grapefruit? or ground beef/grapefruit with bedtime meal?

Thankfully, im not usually hungry on this diet. Veggies are a good idea if I do get hungry tho, I would probably make a salad with lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms, etc but that doesnt happen often anyway like I said.

[eLJaKo]

Originally Posted by dbx

Without trying to figure out which food to cut, I would suggest using cheat meals to help you when you start to stop losing. They are hard to predict when it's the right time, but they can be very effective for what you're trying to do. If you're not already using them, try eating some good junk food for 2 days in a row, then go back on track and see what happens. Do this every week for a few weeks and see what results you get. Everyone is so different, it's hard to predict, but people honestly underestimate the power of cheat meals.

What kind of cheat meal are you talking about. Like 3 lbs of oats and 2 pounds of steak, or more like pizza and chocolate with a milkshake?

[eLJaKo]

Originally Posted by Crunchbar

I think 2500 cals isnt that much over if at all how much u should be eating. calculate ur maintence and then subtract 200-500 cals

also 50g fat seems sorta low to me...

Maybe to add some fat I could kill the whey protein at bedtime, and kill half the grapefruit for my 2nd last meal, then add 100 calories of almonds with my ground beef and half grapefruit?

[paraclesus]

The gatorade is a bit of a waste of calories if you ask me. Get your carbs from an apple of something like that instead of gatorade.

[elitejp]

Ground beef with the bedtime meal. Just because it has less calories.

[eLJaKo]

Originally Posted by paraclesus

The gatorade is a bit of a waste of calories if you ask me. Get your carbs from an apple of something like that instead of gatorade.

I thought about that before, but something makes me feel like my post workout meal should be liquid. What are everyone elses thoughts on whey + an apple or something like that?

[Kevie Kev]

Originally Posted by eLJaKo

I thought about that before, but something makes me feel like my post workout meal should be liquid. What are everyone elses thoughts on whey + an apple or something like that?

Why not whey with some dextrose?

[eLJaKo]

bump

[dbx]

Originally Posted by eLJaKo

What kind of cheat meal are you talking about. Like 3 lbs of oats and 2 pounds of steak, or more like pizza and chocolate with a milkshake?

The latter.

[eLJaKo]

Originally Posted by dbx

The latter.

Well last night I ate an entire medium dominos pizza...about 2200 calories according to their website...

Today my workout was awesome, most lifts went up a rep or 2 which doesnt happen often for me on a cut. As for the weight...I guess ill see saturday morning