So let me get the straight [question] (calories in vs. calories out ****s GTFIH)

[DafarheezyRises]

I'm trying to reach 8% bf.... and I've been stuck around 12% for the last few months. It's weird because I've been training 5x a week, doing IF (eating all my meals between 2pm - 9pm), and going well below my maintainece cals (eating around 1700-2000 cals a day). I've been eating 170g of protein everyday and taking creatine everyday w/ plenty of water and yet... I'm still not gaining or losing weight, and my strength is about the same (sometimes I feel even weaker than before).

WTF is going on bro?


I think it has to do with my diet. Even though I'm staying below my maintenance calories, I think it also depends on where those calories are coming from, and I don't know much about it.


Questions:

1. How much carbs am I supposed to be eating daily? WTF is carb cycle and should I be bothered by it?
2. How 'hard' are you supposed to train? Are you supposed to go up 1 rep or go up in weight every week? Sometimes I go through 3 weeks without changing anything and i'm still pushing myself at maximum

And finally..

3. Suppose we have this scenario:

Maintenance calories is at 2000, I'm currently at 1700 and I get to chose between 1 more snack (and suppose this is repeated for months):

a cheese cake (800 cals) or chicken breast (300 cals)

Are you saying that I will build more muscle by eating the cheesecake over the chicken because I will be in excess of 500 calories? Pls go....





Please respond

[PhiSig2298]

1. How much carbs am I supposed to be eating daily? WTF is carb cycle and should I be bothered by it?

calculate protein and fat, fill the rest of calories with carbs.. Carb cycling=cycling carbs on a daily basis.


 2. How 'hard' are you supposed to train? Are you supposed to go up 1 rep or go up in weight every week? Sometimes I go through 3 weeks without changing anything and i'm still pushing myself at maximum And finally.. 

Auto-regulation.. Some days will be better than others in the gym


3. Suppose we have this scenario: Maintenance calories is at 2000, I'm currently at 1700 and I get to chose between 1 more snack (and suppose this is repeated for months):a cheese cake (800 cals) or chicken breast (300 cals)Are you saying that I will build more muscle by eating the cheesecake over the chicken because I will be in excess of 500 calories? Pls go.... 

Yeah most likely.. You'll build more muscle in a surplus than you will at maintenance (assuming macros are in check)

[FattyMcTubbs]

If you're not gaining/losing, you're eating at maintenance and I doubt your maintenance is 2000, therefore you're likely not fully tracking your calories. There's your problem.

[csb5731]

I don't get the questions, really, and really don't get cheese cake vs chicken breast. If you are already getting adequate protein (muscle building isn't going to scale linearly with protein intake except maybe where there just isn't enough) then eating more isn't going to help in other than an energetic sense, and the cheesecake is going to provide more energy and put you over maintenance. If you really think it's all about the protein, hey, why don't you stick to a protein powder diet, eat 300 grams per day (~1200 kcals), and make those gains like you seem to think.

But do you think really ANYONE here thinks macronutrient intake is not important to body composition and performance? Weight loss in general is basically about the calories though, and I am skeptical that a 175 lb guy would remain at that weight on sub-2000 calories for MONTHS. So I suspect you are eating more than that. Especially because nobody in their right minds sticks to something that A) isn't fun and B) isn't working at all.

As far as progression goes, of course you aren't going to always be able to add weight to the bar, even if bulking. If you could add only 2.5 lbs to each side of the bar every week, everyone could bench 500 lbs inside a couple years. If you have been lifting a while and have a base (and I assume 5'8" @ 12% BF and 175 lbs would have an excellent base), it's not going to be quite that easy. In general, try and progress if you can, but try and maintain if you can't. Reducing volume (number of sets) is fine. Some people don't seem to adapt all that well to IF in terms of training.

[ledwards1011]

Well first things first, no one here is perfect at counting calories,so its always good to try to be more meticulous, weighing your food, using myfitnesspal.com or alternatives to help count calories, etc. I didn't see anything about dietary fat, which is so important. Your body at this point probably stalled and has reached a "medium". Or maybe your leptin levels have fallen too low and your metabolism has slowed. Either way you're most likely gonna need to start over, eat at maintenance for a day or 2 to get your metabolism going again then re-access yourself, redo your TDEE, get your macros together and stick to them. Generally its 1g Protein per lb of lean body mass, .4g Fat per lb of lean body mass and then you can fill in the rest of your calories with carbs, more protein and/or more fat.

1. Doesn't really matter how many carbs you eat daily, it's probably the least important macro. Get your protein and fat macros first (see above). Carb cycling isn't important, hitting your macros and daily caloric mark is. Get that downpat first.
2. I'm not an expert on this one, but 3 weeks shouldn't go by without you making any gains. Me personally I try to increase every week, sometimes it takes a week and a half but thats fine. But 3 weeks, I gotta imagine something being off. (When you're a beginner)
3. I'll leave this one to someone else

[JoSmoBN]

If you're not gaining/losing, you're eating at maintenance and I doubt your maintenance is 2000, therefore you're likely not fully tracking your calories. There's your problem.

This. Do you actually weigh and measure all of your food? Do you have cheat meals/days that you aren't counting into your average?

[bs-stunting]

1. Doesn't really matter how many carbs you eat daily, it's probably the least important macro. (When you're a beginner)

Yep. The only macro your body doesn't need in fact.

[DafarheezyRises]

Thanks brahs.... reppin all u ****s ITT on r/c

If you're not gaining/losing, you're eating at maintenance and I doubt your maintenance is 2000, therefore you're likely not fully tracking your calories. There's your problem.

I'm still having trouble finding out my maintenance calories. Do you think 1600-1700 is too low for my height/weight?

I don't get the questions, really, and really don't get cheese cake vs chicken breast. If you are already getting adequate protein (muscle building isn't going to scale linearly with protein intake except maybe where there just isn't enough) then eating more isn't going to help in other than an energetic sense, and the cheesecake is going to provide more energy and put you over maintenance. If you really think it's all about the protein, hey, why don't you stick to a protein powder diet, eat 300 grams per day (~1200 kcals), and make those gains like you seem to think.

But do you think really ANYONE here thinks macronutrient intake is not important to body composition and performance? Weight loss in general is basically about the calories though, and I am skeptical that a 175 lb guy would remain at that weight on sub-2000 calories for MONTHS. So I suspect you are eating more than that. Especially because nobody in their right minds sticks to something that A) isn't fun and B) isn't working at all.

As far as progression goes, of course you aren't going to always be able to add weight to the bar, even if bulking. If you could add only 2.5 lbs to each side of the bar every week, everyone could bench 500 lbs inside a couple years. If you have been lifting a while and have a base (and I assume 5'8" @ 12% BF and 175 lbs would have an excellent base), it's not going to be quite that easy. In general, try and progress if you can, but try and maintain if you can't. Reducing volume (number of sets) is fine. Some people don't seem to adapt all that well to IF in terms of training.

I see what your saying, thanks for the info.

Well first things first, no one here is perfect at counting calories,so its always good to try to be more meticulous, weighing your food, using myfitnesspal.com or alternatives to help count calories, etc. I didn't see anything about dietary fat, which is so important. Your body at this point probably stalled and has reached a "medium". Or maybe your leptin levels have fallen too low and your metabolism has slowed. Either way you're most likely gonna need to start over, eat at maintenance for a day or 2 to get your metabolism going again then re-access yourself, redo your TDEE, get your macros together and stick to them. Generally its 1g Protein per lb of lean body mass, .4g Fat per lb of lean body mass and then you can fill in the rest of your calories with carbs, more protein and/or more fat.

1. Doesn't really matter how many carbs you eat daily, it's probably the least important macro. Get your protein and fat macros first (see above). Carb cycling isn't important, hitting your macros and daily caloric mark is. Get that downpat first.
2. I'm not an expert on this one, but 3 weeks shouldn't go by without you making any gains. Me personally I try to increase every week, sometimes it takes a week and a half but thats fine. But 3 weeks, I gotta imagine something being off. (When you're a beginner)
3. I'll leave this one to someone else

Thanks brah. When you say lean body mass, is it different from my actual weight? I just do 1g of protein per 1lb so I take around 170gs of protein everyday and try to stay around 50gs of fat per day.

Also I heard you're supposed to stay low in carbs while cutting so you can burn fat quicker?

This. Do you actually weigh and measure all of your food? Do you have cheat meals/days that you aren't counting into your average?

No, do you guys weigh your foods? I usually get food from the grocery store, like quick microwave meals from Lean Cusine and stuff and I use Myfitnesspal to scan and keep track of calories/protein/fat. But there are always some meals that I eat out where I have no idea how much calories it is. I also don't know how much calories I burn during my workouts. Am I supposed to be THAT precise with everything I eat?

[davidphillips33]

Thanks brahs.... reppin all u ****s ITT on r/c





I'm still having trouble finding out my maintenance calories. Do you think 1600-1700 is too low for my height/weight?




I see what your saying, thanks for the info.



Thanks brah. When you say lean body mass, is it different from my actual weight? I just do 1g of protein per 1lb so I take around 170gs of protein everyday and try to stay around 50gs of fat per day.

Also I heard you're supposed to stay low in carbs while cutting so you can burn fat quicker?



No, do you guys weigh your foods? I usually get food from the grocery store, like quick microwave meals from Lean Cusine and stuff and I use Myfitnesspal to scan and keep track of calories/protein/fat. But there are always some meals that I eat out where I have no idea how much calories it is. I also don't know how much calories I burn during my workouts. Am I supposed to be THAT precise with everything I eat?

1700 seems low for your stats and exercise 5x week. Your TDEE has to be higher than that...
I practice the protein and fat macro protocol followed by filling in carbs that fit...If that is considered relatively low carbs, i dunno? I think if you hit your macros then you should be successful.
MFP is a good tool to keep track of your eats. And ya, I weigh almost everything. Eye balling and measuring cups can lead to larger error in your counting. I bet if you get more strict in weighing your food you will find that 1700 is just fine for you for this cut. Don't bother accounting for your workouts. As long as you work out consistently week to week then you should be able to maintain the same average daily calories for a while. You just need to find out what you can successfully cut on. Again, you may think that you are eating 1700 but mis-measure/eye ball and actually eat significantly more over time and that is the reason you aren't losing much. As far as not knowing the macros/calories in some foods, you can try to give a good guess at it by looking up similar foods in MFP. For example, I ate lunch at a mexican joint, mom and pop style, so wasn't in MFP. I just looked up the same kinda dish that some mexican food joints list their cals/macros and used that. On The Border typically is the worst for mexican food. So...I use their numbers and I have confidence I am being conservatively high, thus, not going over my numbers for the day. GL

[ledwards1011]

Thanks brah. When you say lean body mass, is it different from my actual weight? I just do 1g of protein per 1lb so I take around 170gs of protein everyday and try to stay around 50gs of fat per day.

Also I heard you're supposed to stay low in carbs while cutting so you can burn fat quicker?



No, do you guys weigh your foods? I usually get food from the grocery store, like quick microwave meals from Lean Cusine and stuff and I use Myfitnesspal to scan and keep track of calories/protein/fat. But there are always some meals that I eat out where I have no idea how much calories it is. I also don't know how much calories I burn during my workouts. Am I supposed to be THAT precise with everything I eat?

You need to know what your body fat % is (at least a rough estimate could be sufficient) to figure out your lean body mass. My Body Space has a counter for it on the site, there are other places to find it out as well. Carbs again aren't important, have some, just don't go overboard. Remember what I said before, get your protein and fat macros worked out first, fill in the rest with carbs or whatever you choose. Its definitely a great idea to get a kitchen scale, I just bought one from amazon from 25 bucks and got it in two days. Weigh your food so you don't overbudget your calories. You can do a search for what you're eating, myfitnesspal pretty much has everything, some of it will be off of course but its better than nothing. Lean Cuisine for me personally isn't filling enough for all the calories and crap in it. Learn to bake some chicken bro and make some vegetable stir fry. That **** is win and leaves you more full for less calories.