Trying to get cut in three to four months.

[armandorios]

Hey guys!

In the past I had used the Body Space app on my phone to track some workouts but I never really put much effort into it. This new year I've decided that I wan't to look at myself at the mirror and be able to say "damn". I've decided to adopt a new lifestyle and get as cut as I can. Here's what I'm doing to achieve my goals:

- I've adopted a better diet. I didn't go to a doctor or downloaded one from the internet, I just decided to cut on carbs and I've been doing the following: Breakfast, three whole eggs, with turkey breast and cheese. Some other times I'll do Whole Wheat Bread and Peanut Butter. For Meals I usually eat 200g of meat and some carbs, mashed potatoes, rice, pasta. I try to keep the carbs below the amount of protein I consume. How ever, I'm begging to take Super Quad Protein: Lean Muscle Series for meals because that's when I finish my workouts. And for dinners I usually do cereal or meat again.

- My workouts got more intense. I hit the gym for an hour and a half, training back/biceps two days a week, chest/triceps two days a week, and on Wednesdays I do legs/shoulders. I also pack in about 15-25 minutes of abs from the exercises I know. After the gym I play soccer for an hour three times a day, the day's I don't I jump rope for about 15 minutes after weight training and abs.

- I've been taking Anadrox Pumb and Burn for a while now, bottle's almost empty and don't plan on picking it up again. I think I've had good results but I believe I can achieve the same results if I adapt my lifestyle a bit better. I have the Super Quad Protein I mentioned above and like I said, I'll be taking it once a day as a meal with milk. I also have Natrol's CLA to help me burn/reduce fat, although I haven't opened the bottle yet.

I've always trained on my own, looking up routines online and asking around, but I think it's time I take it a step further and get help from people who know what they're doing.

I'm 19 years old, about 5' 11" tall and my weight is around 211 pounds last time I checked. I can't tell my body fat because I go to the gym on my college campus and they don't have the tools for that. I'll leave a picture of myself so that you guys can tell me what you think.

So, my main goal? Burning fat, getting cut. I believe my muscles are big enough and now I'd like to focus on my core a lot more, without letting the rest of my body unattended.

Every tip and recommendation is welcomed!

Thanks,

Armando.

[Calarian]

If you do it correctly you could lose 1-2 lbs a week healthly, thatd put you at 24lbs, would that make you slimmer yes, would you be happy that's for you to decide. I don't think 3 months is long enough for you to cut given your pictures (but then again i dont knwo your goals). I want to put you in between 20-25% BF, Have you calculated your TDEE? Are you eating below it? What is your goal Body fat %? Honestly i think weight loss supplements are a waste of money and i think you'd be better off doing it naturally.

[Zevias]

I had pretty much the same stats as you when I first started cutting
Hate to break it to you, but it took me 9 months to get down to 155 (which is the weight where my abs are starting to become visble)

[bigmacwings]

Don't see any vegetables in your diet plan. I'm trying to cut down too, and there is absolutely no way I'd be able to hit my goal deficit if I was eating more cheese, peanut butter and bread than veggies. I'm hoping to get to 170lbs and then re-evaluate my goals. I've tried this before and not stuck with it. One thing I've learned is it helps me to have short term goals so that I can check progress. Feels good reaching a goal every week or two, and also flags up any bad trends.
Good luck.

[armandorios]

Don't see any vegetables in your diet plan. I'm trying to cut down too, and there is absolutely no way I'd be able to hit my goal deficit if I was eating more cheese, peanut butter and bread than veggies. I'm hoping to get to 170lbs and then re-evaluate my goals. I've tried this before and not stuck with it. One thing I've learned is it helps me to have short term goals so that I can check progress. Feels good reaching a goal every week or two, and also flags up any bad trends.
Good luck.

Thanks for the luck, I'm pretty motivated so I'll put all my effort into this. My plan is to take snaps of myself every week, weighting in and if I can, measuring my BF%. I know there's no veggies, but being a college student makes it hard for me. I don't really have the time to cook them myself and I'm pretty sure the frozen ones you can get at Walmart, etc are not the best bet.

What do you recommend?

[bigmacwings]

Thanks for the luck, I'm pretty motivated so I'll put all my effort into this. My plan is to take snaps of myself every week, weighting in and if I can, measuring my BF%. I know there's no veggies, but being a college student makes it hard for me. I don't really have the time to cook them myself and I'm pretty sure the frozen ones you can get at Walmart, etc are not the best bet.

What do you recommend?

Take it you aren't living in a dorm based on your meals. So frozen vegetables are OK if that's the only way you're going to get them. Even canned is better than nothing, imo. Tons of resources here if you do the reading you'll learn a lot. Any question you have has been asked before, but if you do your homework and still have Qs there are knowledgeable people who are more than happy to help.

Emma-Leigh is the nutrition goddess around here. Here's a reply she gave to a college student asking about how he can clean up his diet to drop some fat. Keep in mind he was in a dorm so won't have much raw foods.

"Some cheap things that you can keep in your room without it being a problem -

Proteins:
Cans of tuna and salmon
Skim milk powder
Protein powders
Cans of evaporated milk
Long - life skim milk

Carbs:
Low GI fruit (apples, pears)
Bread (pumpernickel, sourdough or wholegrain mixed grain breads)
Cans of legumes (chick-peas, mixed beans etc)
Cans of vegetables
Oatmeal or other whole grains (rice, rye, wheat, etc)

Fats:
Nuts (walnuts, almonds)
Avocados can stay in the cupboard for a while too


Do you have a fridge or freezer you could store milk, eggs, cottage cheese, frozen vegetables in? Because if so - add milk, eggs, cottage cheese and frozen vegetables to the list.

I am not sure if you have access to a food hall or if you have a store close by.... But if you are going to be eating most of your meals from your room you could try something like this:

Breakfast - Oatmeal, cooked in microwave with water and skim milk powder, and top with with a scoop protein powder.

Morning - Can of tuna and a can of legumes

Lunch - Cook some whole grains in the microwave (add 2 cups water to 1 cup of kibbled rye or bulgar or basmati rice) and.... tuna.... Egg whites or chicken could be cooked in the microwave as well if you can get your hands on these. And a peice of low GI fruit.

Afternoon - Can of tuna, 2 slices bread.

Dinner - Can of salmon and microwaved vegetables. You should also be adding some fats here.. So some walnuts or avocado would be a good idea.

Before Bed - Almonds... Not sure what you could do here. Milk and a protein powder (not whey) would be ok if you had nothing else."

[fwwe]

^^^All I see in that is canned/packaged food besides some fruit. Enjoy that ish.

[Tommy W.]

You have 25 to 30 lbs to take off and you'll have a lot less muscle than you think when you get there. 6 months minimum for you I'm estimating.

[Luclin999]

In all seriousness.

You have 4-6 months of dieting, followed by 6-12 months of heavy lifting/bulking followed by (hopefully) just another 3 months of cutting to get to where you probably want to be.

[chasedaviis]

You'll look and feel a lot better after 3 months tho. After that u can re-evaluate. Good luck n don't give up. You'll get there

[armandorios]

Seems fair, a friend of mine who competes as a body builder is going to pass on a diet plan for me to follow. I know this won't happen over night, I know it might not happen within 3 - 4 months, I was trying to get tips apart from the things I know that would help me meet my goals. In all honesty, sounds scary, and like a **** load of work, but hard work pays off. Let today be day 1 of my progress and within a month or two I might post some progress.

Thanks for all the criticism and advice!

[Tommy W.]

Seems fair, a friend of mine who competes as a body builder is going to pass on a diet plan for me to follow. I know this won't happen over night, I know it might not happen within 3 - 4 months, I was trying to get tips apart from the things I know that would help me meet my goals. In all honesty, sounds scary, and like a **** load of work, but hard work pays off. Let today be day 1 of my progress and within a month or two I might post some progress.

Thanks for all the criticism and advice!

Just don't get discouraged when you plateau from time to time. weightloss isn't linear. Take your time.

[GunnersAFC]

There's nothing wrong with frozen fruits or vegetables.

I highly recommend tracking your calories with myfitnesspal. It makes life so much simpler and you won't have to follow a strict meal plan day to day.

As a college student and with morning classes, overnight oats are awesome. It takes 5mins to make, put it in the fridge, and it's ready to eat in the morning.

A scoop or scoop and half of cookies and cream whey(I use mts whey, flavors are awesome and the man behind the product is awesome), tablespoon of cocoa powder, a serving or serving and half of old fashion oats, and a cup of unsweetened Almond milk into a glass mug or jar.... Amazing stuff that that can be anywhere from 350-510 calories depending on ingredients with awesome macros.

Look up simple recipes so you don't get bored of eating the exact same thing everyday.

Best of luck with your cut.

[armandorios]

There's nothing wrong with frozen fruits or vegetables.

I highly recommend tracking your calories with myfitnesspal. It makes life so much simpler and you won't have to follow a strict meal plan day to day.

As a college student and with morning classes, overnight oats are awesome. It takes 5mins to make, put it in the fridge, and it's ready to eat in the morning.

A scoop or scoop and half of cookies and cream whey(I use mts whey, flavors are awesome and the man behind the product is awesome), tablespoon of cocoa powder, a serving or serving and half of old fashion oats, and a cup of unsweetened Almond milk into a glass mug or jar.... Amazing stuff that that can be anywhere from 350-510 calories depending on ingredients with awesome macros.

Look up simple recipes so you don't get bored of eating the exact same thing everyday.

Best of luck with your cut.

Thanks man! I just began using my fitness pal. My TDEE, from what iifym says is 3318 calories. Obviously I'm not going to be eating that much. Today I did 1,193 calories. I felt good throughout the day and didn't feel hungry, weak or tired. Do you recommend I cap the calories I eat each day, for example if I can eat 2,200, should I get there or should I just balance my meals and keep track as long as I feel satisfied?

[SocksOfEinstein]

You sound very determined, but i honestly don't think you need more than 200g meat (protein) per day, and especially bot all at once, the body can only process a fairly small amount of protein at once, the rest gets converted to glucose. Low carbs is really hard, but, you csn do it, make sure you get eniugh calories from fat since carbs aren't an option and protein is an insufficient energy source (not to mention expensive and hard on kidneys.) Good luck though.

[Tommy W.]

You sound very determined, but i honestly don't think you need more than 200g meat (protein) per day, and especially bot all at once, the body can only process a fairly small amount of protein at once, the rest gets converted to glucose. Low carbs is really hard, but, you csn do it, make sure you get eniugh calories from fat since carbs aren't an option and protein is an insufficient energy source (not to mention expensive and hard on kidneys.) Good luck though.

Ouch.....

[armandorios]

Here's the diet plan a friend of mine sent me:

10 egg whites,
3 nopal tortillas,
1 iced tea.

2 servings of protein,
1 apple.

250 grs of chicken,
3 nopal tortillas,
1 serving of salad,
1 grapefruit.

2 servings of protein,
1 cup of rice,
1 cup of strawberries.

250 grs of chicken or turkey breast,
3 nopal tortilas,
1 serving of salad,
1 apple.

He's been building for a while and this is what got him into it, told me it worked wonders for him, let's see what it can do for me. What do you guys think?

[armandorios]

You sound very determined, but i honestly don't think you need more than 200g meat (protein) per day, and especially bot all at once, the body can only process a fairly small amount of protein at once, the rest gets converted to glucose. Low carbs is really hard, but, you csn do it, make sure you get eniugh calories from fat since carbs aren't an option and protein is an insufficient energy source (not to mention expensive and hard on kidneys.) Good luck though.

So, what do you recommend for fat intake?

[chewbrahca91]

You can get cut in 3-4 months with a pretty "big" deficit but my $0.02 is you don't have enough muscle to cut down to.
~25lb to lose I'd say.

[RPAYNE509]

Your bodybuilding buddy gave you a complete bro diet. Not to say it wont work but your best bet is to learn why it will work and form your own diet.

Please read this - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=156380183

If you want to be one of the few people who start out on this path every January that actually make it and change themselves you need to commit and make a true lifestyle change. You will likely hear that a lot and probably won't really understand until you get there. Its much more effective to learn how your body works and develop your own cutting plan. It will be much more effective and you're more likely to stick to it.

Good luck

Also 1100 cals is not enough for you and is counter productive.

[armandorios]

Your bodybuilding buddy gave you a complete bro diet. Not to say it wont work but your best bet is to learn why it will work and form your own diet.

Please read this - (removed)

If you want to be one of the few people who start out on this path every January that actually make it and change themselves you need to commit and make a true lifestyle change. You will likely hear that a lot and probably won't really understand until you get there. Its much more effective to learn how your body works and develop your own cutting plan. It will be much more effective and you're more likely to stick to it.

Good luck

Also 1100 cals is not enough for you and is counter productive.

Thanks man, went over the article and it sure helped me understand this a lot.

I came up with the following conclusions:

My TDEE is at 2,820 cals/day. Since my goal is losing weight I took away a 20%, just like the article recommends. I took away the maximum amount so that I can aim for the lowest and if I go over by a little bit, I know I'm still in the safe zone.

I also used the formulas to calculate Protein, Fats and Carbs intake. This is what I got as a result.

Protein: 236.25g

Fats: 141.3g

Carbs: 9.825g

I'm a little on the edge on the carbs, I know they're not good for cutting purposes but I also don't think they're supposed to be that low. This is the formula I used: remaining cals = Total cal needs - ([protein grams x 4] + [fat grams x 9])
grams carbs = (remaining cals)/ 4 [I'm also using myfitnesspal to count cals, and with the info on Protein and Fats, I get 83g of Carbs per day]

So, I guess with all this info I can just go to the supermarket and buy meals according to this? I've never really worked a meal plan my self so I don't know how to start other than looking at the nutritional value of products.

Any idea on where to start? Which foods are good for Prot/Fats/Low Carbs? I guess the diet I was handed is fine, but maybe I can tweak it to fit my body better.

[RPAYNE509]

That macro nutrient split is more like a keto approach. I personally don't perform well in the gym on low carbs and even at the lowest point of my last cut (1750 cals) was around 100-120g.

Your Protein is higher than needed. 1g per lb is accepted as more than adequate by most people and the 1.5 they put in the article is really for true competition bodybuilders and even they are starting to realize that much is not needed. Layne Norton recommends 1g per lb and Alan Aragon recommends 1g per ideal bodyweight. So if your goal is to weigh 170 he believes 170g of protein is fine. Fats are also higher than necessary if your not trying to go low carb.

For Reference Im 5'11 156 on my last cust and just under 170lbs now on a bulk

Current macors 2600 cals
188P
85F
270C

cutting I was around 1750 - 1900 cal
175 P
60-65F
120-150C

The biggest thing is to keep learning and to try things and to try things and find what works for YOU, everyone is different.

[RPAYNE509]

And personally I eat alot of chicken, its cheap and you can make lots of stuff with it.

Also
Ground meat - Also lots of options
Tuna or Tilapia
Cottage Cheese or Greek Yogurt.
Eggs
I Love Cereal - special K Protein & lucky Charms are my go to's for dem gainz

eat what you like in reason and use myfitness pal to track and you will get the hang of hitting your macros and a base of foods that work for you. Your on the right track.

[armandorios]

And personally I eat alot of chicken, its cheap and you can make lots of stuff with it.

Also
Ground meat - Also lots of options
Tuna or Tilapia
Cottage Cheese or Greek Yogurt.
Eggs
I Love Cereal - special K Protein & lucky Charms are my go to's for dem gainz

eat what you like in reason and use myfitness pal to track and you will get the hang of hitting your macros and a base of foods that work for you. Your on the right track.

Thanks man! Definitely been more than helpful. With the article and myfitnesspal I think I'll stick to:

Carbs: 81g
Prot: 215g
Fat: 108g

I can't go lower on protein without getting a higher fat/carb intake.

Egg whites will do great for breakfast, chicken for meals, and perhaps from yogurt and cereal for dinner. How ever, what do you think I should pack between meals? Protein maybe, twice a day? Bananas, Apples, Peanut Butter?

[Beerculez]

Please don't do a keto or low carb diet, it doesn't have any proven advantages when it comes to weight loss compared to a moderate carbohydrate diet unless you have extreme insulin resistance or something. In most studies the thing that matters is calories taken in for total weight loss, not the % of carbs or fat.

If I were you I'd change those macros to something like 200g protein, 180g carbs, 80g fat. Honestly I'd lower the protein a bit more than that as well and add some more carbs, probably eat 200g carbs and 180g protein instead. Much more balanced than doing a super strict low carb diet for no reason.

Just read the sticky posted here at the top of the fat loss section. 1g protein per g of lean mass bw, 0.45g fat per lb bw (a lot of people go a bit lower than this, to 0.3-04g), then use the remaining calories for carbs.

[armandorios]

Please don't do a keto or low carb diet, it doesn't have any proven advantages when it comes to weight loss compared to a moderate carbohydrate diet unless you have extreme insulin resistance or something. In most studies the thing that matters is calories taken in for total weight loss, not the % of carbs or fat.

If I were you I'd change those macros to something like 200g protein, 180g carbs, 80g fat. Honestly I'd lower the protein a bit more than that as well and add some more carbs, probably eat 200g carbs and 180g protein instead. Much more balanced than doing a super strict low carb diet for no reason.

Just read the sticky posted here at the top of the fat loss section. 1g protein per g of lean mass bw, 0.45g fat per lb bw (a lot of people go a bit lower than this, to 0.3-04g), then use the remaining calories for carbs.

Alright, so looking over things a bit, this would be better?

Prot: 180g
Fat: 91.4g
Carbs 177.45g

[RPAYNE509]

Looks good to me, and if you find it difficult to hit that fat/carb ratio or feel your gym performance has dropped you can play with the carb/fats ratio. As long as protein is high enough and you hit the minimum fat amount the rest is your preference on what you feel the best on.

As for meals I usually have 2-3 when cutting with dinner being the largest, other people like to spread that out into 4-6 meals snacks throughout the day but I found I was much hungrier doing that.

Losing weight is simple eat at a deficit, but how you do it has a lot of room to adapt to you

[armandorios]

Looks good to me, and if you find it difficult to hit that fat/carb ratio or feel your gym performance has dropped you can play with the carb/fats ratio. As long as protein is high enough and you hit the minimum fat amount the rest is your preference on what you feel the best on.

As for meals I usually have 2-3 when cutting with dinner being the largest, other people like to spread that out into 4-6 meals snacks throughout the day but I found I was much hungrier doing that.

Losing weight is simple eat at a deficit, but how you do it has a lot of room to adapt to you

Yeah, today I was off my 2,200 cals for 500. I guess I still have to eat more because my TDEE is at 2,800, at least hit the 2,200 cal mark. Didn't have much for breakfast so I did 2 scoops of protein after my workout. Ate about 200g of chicken and half a cup of mashed potatoes. Went back to the gym for some cardio and had 2 more scoops of my protein shake. Ended the day with 200g of chicken, 1/2 cup of rice and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to hit my macros. Still gotta top off the calories I suppose, so I'll pack in a better breakfast tomorrow.

I've got to admit, I'm really happy about the changes I'm making and in all fairness, I don't feel like I'm starving through out the day. I go to bed looking forward for tomorrow's workout and meals, so I guess I'm off to a great start.

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to help/encourage me!

[Beerculez]

Alright, so looking over things a bit, this would be better?

Prot: 180g
Fat: 91.4g
Carbs 177.45g

Yes much better imo, this would allow you to have some fruit/potatoes/oatmeal or whatever carb source you want throughout the day, makes your diet a little less boring. Plus carbs are good for energy in the gym, I like to have some carbs post and pre workout, even if it's just a banana or something I find that it helps when you've been cutting for a while.

[nondualism]

I don't see a calorie count or protein macros in the OP.

We don't need to know everything you eat, but we need to know (or at least know that YOU know) your maintenance calories, total daily intake (or cut from maintenance), and protein intake to have any idea how to help you.