Question probably asked a million times....

[XIAmeRiCaNIX]

Recently I've started getting into bodybuilding seriously. Keeping track of each meal and every calorie, gram of protein, carb, and fat. This week, my daily average is around 300g protein 250g carb, and around 60g fat. I want to get lean, but im deflating........ I was around 221lbs 2 weeks ago after a nice 25lb bulk.... as of today, im 208lbs... I don't get it? I still have some residual fat I believe. I used to be a porker. my main goal is to get rid of the remaining loose skin, but I don't wanna lose my muscle in the process. Everyday I do 1 hr Cardio and around 2 hrs lifting. Any ideas on how to keep losing the fat and keep the muscle??? I workout constantly and I question all my body builder friends. Some say to cut carbs, to around 150g a day, others say to consume around 400g? I don't get it. Im not sure what body type I am, but I usually get a nice pump after eating a good steak, or a nice bowl of cereal???Idk if that has anything to do with what I should eat, but some of my friends said that is important. Lol, maybe I need carbs to get big? When I was bulking I got nice and I was eating a pretty good deal of carbs, like 300ish. Idk, but im confused about this. I'm so paranoid about getting fat, but I can't lose my muscle in the process. Please guys, I know you've probably heard this question before, and I would look for older posts, but I have a hard time finding anything when I use my phone. Listen, everything you will tell me will be appreciated and absorbed. Thanks!

[texicus]

Recently I've started getting into bodybuilding seriously. Keeping track of each meal and every calorie, gram of protein, carb, and fat. This week, my daily average is around 300g protein 250g carb, and around 60g fat. I want to get lean, but im deflating........ I was around 221lbs 2 weeks ago after a nice 25lb bulk.... as of today, im 208lbs... I don't get it? I still have some residual fat I believe. I used to be a porker. my main goal is to get rid of the remaining loose skin, but I don't wanna lose my muscle in the process. Everyday I do 1 hr Cardio and around 2 hrs lifting. Any ideas on how to keep losing the fat and keep the muscle??? I workout constantly and I question all my body builder friends. Some say to cut carbs, to around 150g a day, others say to consume around 400g? I don't get it. Im not sure what body type I am, but I usually get a nice pump after eating a good steak, or a nice bowl of cereal???Idk if that has anything to do with what I should eat, but some of my friends said that is important. Lol, maybe I need carbs to get big? When I was bulking I got nice and I was eating a pretty good deal of carbs, like 300ish. Idk, but im confused about this. I'm so paranoid about getting fat, but I can't lose my muscle in the process. Please guys, I know you've probably heard this question before, and I would look for older posts, but I have a hard time finding anything when I use my phone. Listen, everything you will tell me will be appreciated and absorbed. Thanks!

first, congrats on getting dedicated to your nutrition man, it will pay off in the long run.

As long as you keep your protein around 1 gram per every pound of LBM you have, it will be very unlikely you'll lose any muscle -- and in the context of protein intake, carb intake isn't that important for maintaining muscle, just strength and intensity in the gym.

IMO, you should read the stickies before asking anything else regarding macronutrients though. Good luck on your cut

[rand18m]

Post you TEE, your caloric intake and your current goals. If don't know your TEE then you certainly need to in order to compose a diet that will allow you to achieve your goals. You can do that here if you aren't sure.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

How often do you take a break from training?

[XIAmeRiCaNIX]

first, congrats on getting dedicated to your nutrition man, it will pay off in the long run.

As long as you keep your protein around 1 gram per every pound of LBM you have, it will be very unlikely you'll lose any muscle -- and in the context of protein intake, carb intake isn't that important for maintaining muscle, just strength and intensity in the gym.

IMO, you should read the stickies before asking anything else regarding macronutrients though. Good luck on your cut

K I definitely will read the stickies, im a Noob when it comes to the forums. And thank you, i try my butt off!!! I just look at myself and I look smaller, my arms have gotten smaller. But now that I think about it, im probably losing the fat around my arms. Thank you man, sorry for being a noob!!!

[XIAmeRiCaNIX]

Post you TEE, your caloric intake and your current goals. If don't know your TEE then you certainly need to in order to compose a diet that will allow you to achieve your goals. You can do that here if you aren't sure.



How often do you take a break from training?

3200 cals a day 300g protein, 250g carbs, 60g fat. Goals. Sub 10% bf, nice abs, and I wanna keep the muscle I have.

And the weekends I just do my 1 hr Cardio and abs, maybe additional leg work. I do Cardio everyday. 60min times 7 = 420 mins Cardio a week =\ ugh

[rand18m]

First off those macros come to 2740 kcals.

Your protein is unnecessarily high and fat is too low imo. Simply shoot for 200 grams protein and ~90 grams of fat. Fill the remainder of your calories with carbs and or additional fat and protein. (Or you could fill a larger portion of the remainder with even more protein if you just felt you needed more, but 1g/lb/bw is quite a lot, that's up to you though.)

Find your TEE, reduce by ~10-20% if you want to cut. Try not to lose more than 2lbs a week and I would recommend less in your case, more like ~1 lb.

Monitor no more than once a week and make adjustments to your caloric intake as needed, but keep the adjustments as small as possible unless you are losing drastically, as you described above.

As far as getting to sub 10, that's something a bit harder for many to do and when you get to that point someone more experienced can step in with strategies to help with that, providing you are not genetically gifted that way. If that's the case what I describe here will work well.

Oh and keep your lifting workouts intense. You can do all that cardio if you like it, but overall it's not a particularly good way to lose body fat, it is a good way to improve overall health.

When you weigh yourself do so at the same time each week, or every other week; for instance first thing Monday morning after having used the bathroom. (pissed) Also don't just use the scale, use a combination of your clothes the mirror and your scale.

Good luck!

[XIAmeRiCaNIX]

First off those macros come to 2740 kcals.

Your protein is unnecessarily high and fat is too low imo. Simply shoot for 200 grams protein and ~90 grams of fat. Fill the remainder of your calories with carbs and or additional fat and protein. (Or you could fill a larger portion of the remainder with even more protein if you just felt you needed more, but 1g/lb/bw is quite a lot, that's up to you though.)

Find your TEE, reduce by ~10-20% if you want to cut. Try not to lose more than 2lbs a week and I would recommend less in your case, more like ~1 lb.

Monitor no more than once a week and make adjustments to your caloric intake as needed, but keep the adjustments as small as possible unless you are losing drastically, as you described above.

As far as getting to sub 10, that's something a bit harder for many to do and when you get to that point someone more experienced can step in with strategies to help with that, providing you are not genetically gifted that way. If that's the case what I describe here will work well.

Oh and keep your lifting workouts intense. You can do all that cardio if you like it, but overall it's not a particularly good way to lose body fat, it is a good way to improve overall health.

When you weigh yourself do so at the same time each week, or every other week; for instance first thing Monday morning after having used the bathroom. (pissed) Also don't just use the scale, use a combination of your clothes the mirror and your scale.

Good luck!

Thanks! I have a lot of reading to do when I get home!!! (Yes!) I was always nervous about consuming too many carbs and fats. That's why I keep them so low

[XIAmeRiCaNIX]

Thanks! I have a lot of reading to do when I get home!!! (Yes!) I was always nervous about consuming too many carbs and fats. That's why I keep them so low

TDEE is 4077