Diet advice please help!!!

[JustinT2391]

Im currently trying to transform myself, iv lost 40 lbs so far but I need some diet advice. Im currently eating 2242 calories a day which was calculated using the guide on the forums. I'm currently 5' 9" 250lbs with a 56" shoulder width, so i have a very wide frame and endomorph body type I have met with my doctor and he said 200lbs would be and ideal weight are should be close to a 15% BF. I will post below my total calories, macros, and supplementation if you could give me any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I really need all the help I can get please and thank you in advance

Calories: 2242
Protein: 40% (224g)
Fat: 35% (87g)
Carbs: 25% (140g) low carbs since endomorphs are sensitive to them and noticed that I maintain weight is i increase

Supplements:
MP Hardcore Diesel 2x per day
MP Hardcore Gainz
MP Hardcore Wreckage
JYM ZMA
GNC Performance Multi
Fishtail 3g

Workout:

I'm usually at the gym for around 1.5-2 hours and do 200 Abs reps every other day and 10-15 mins of cardio every other day as well

Day 1: Heavy
Chest, Tri

Day 2: Heavy
Back, Bi, Traps

Day 3: Heavy
Legs, Shoulders

Rest

Day 4: Light
Chest, Tri

Day 5: Light
Back, Bi, Traps

Day 6: Light
Legs, Shoulders

Rest

Then Day 1 again

[magician27]

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/wo...novice-workout
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=156380183

do a proper routine , eat less than maintenance calories. lift heavy or rest/do cardio. dunno what light is in your terms , but lifting light is pointless. dont waste your money on that many supplements. they are useless. instead of doing 200 reps with abs , go for half an hour walk, you will burn more calories. 15 % bodyfat for a 5'9 guy will be probably around 170-180 lbs if you dont have a long lifting history. so you got long way to go , but take on step at a time . go down slow and consistent. there is no such thing as an endomorph, you got fat because you ate too many calories. if you keep calories under maintenance, carbs dont make you fat, make you retain a bit water worst case, hence the weight spike

[JustinT2391]

As I stated above Im not a beginner to lifting played football in college and high school with a very strict lifting regimen for strength rather than aesthetics, as far as light days i do higher reps 8-12 range rather than my 5x5 split for strength building. My body fat percentage is not extremely high and even at my current weight I have very good arm, chest, back, and leg definition, so don't just assume I'm fat simply by the measurement on the scale. I just need diet advice so don't just blatantly assume someone is fat because there weight is above the so called norm on some sort of graph that is probably outdated and from the 70s which assumes everyone of the same high has the same body structure and muscle density. The calories you see have been calculated using the forums and double checked by a dietitian and doctor. I weigh all my food and monitor my intake using a log just wondering and need a second opinion if my macros need tuning and decided to ask on here before consulting a dietitian/trainer.

BTW I have hyperthyroid if that helps at all

[JustinT2391]

Ohh and the 200 ab exercises in a circuit is to build a strong core to increase overall strength, since a strong core will allow all your lifts to increase and is the base to all lifts to also prevent injury

[koweanguy]

Congrats on the weight loss thus far. .

Have you plateaued??

[gbullock32]

NUTRITION

This is the largest factor in your success, learn the basics to get started and then move into more advanced if needed.

BASICS

Spoiler!

Calculate calorie needs: First get your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), then multiply by an activity factor to get your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

BMR= 370 + (21.6 x LBM (Lean Body Mass), Where LBM = [Total Weight (KG) x (100 - Body Fat %)] /100

Next take that number and use an activity factor to get TDEE (more active, use a higher number and lower number for less active) but remember this accounts for all activity and not just exercise (busy job/active life, choose a higher value)-
1.2- Sedentary (desk job and little exercise/activity)
1.3-1.4- Lightly Active Light daily activity, light exercise 1-3 times per week)
1.5-1.6- Moderately Active (Moderately active, moderate exercise 3-5 times per week)
1.7-1.8- Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle, hard exercise 5-7 times per week)
1.9-2.2- Extremely Active (Endurance athlete, very hard physical job)

Now that you have the TDEE, get your macro-nutrient needs (fat, protein, and carb needs). Fat has 9 calories per gram, and protein/carbs have 4 calories per gram, alcohol is 7 calories per gram count it as a carb when fitting it into your macros).

Protein- .8 grams per pound
Fat- .4 grams per pound

Meet those MINIMUMS and then fill out remaining calories as you want with carbs, or more protein and fat, or any combination. Remember to track properly too, use a food scale (measuring cups can be very inaccurate due to density); track everything, each little bit adds up (sauces can be quite calorie dense).

Next decide your goal and eat at a 10-20% caloric deficit or surplus, deficit to lose weight and surplus to gain. For gaining go for ~.5-1 pound per week and when losing aim for 1-2 pounds per week. Reach your macro needs with mostly whole foods and a wide variety to ensure enough vitamins and mineral, but remember to practice common sense and moderation- enjoy life.

Sources and More Information

Spoiler!

Nutrition-
Calculating Calories
Pre, During, and Postworkout Nutrition
How To Ask For Diet Critique
Discretionary Calorie Allowance
Macro/Micro Nutrients Explained
Why 'Clean Eating' Is a Myth
Clean Eating Myth 2
Insulin and Fat Loss
Insulin and Fat Loss 2

Protein-
Protein Needs
Protein Needs 2
Protein Timing

Fat-
Fat Needs
Fat and Testosterone

Meal Timing-
Meal Timing 1
Meal Timing 2

Micro-Nutrient Guide-
Micro-Nutrient Guide

TRAINING

Start with a solid beginner routine, these are designed to get the most for you; they are designed by professionals and use progressive overload. Read through them and pick the one you like most, follow it as it is written.

Why You Should Not Make Your Own Routine
How To Perform Basic Lifts

Routines
Starting Strength
BabyLover's Starting Strength
AllPro's Beginner Routine
StrongLifts 5x5
IceCream Fitness 5x5
Fierce 5
Coolcicada's Push Pull Legs

Calisthenics routines

Spoiler!

Push Day:
- Pushups: 5x15
- Chest Dips: 4x12
- Triceps Extensions: 3x20
- Bench Dips: 3x15
- HSPU: 5x5
- Hindu Pushups: 3x12

Pull Day:
- Pull-ups: 5x8
- Inverted Rows: 3x12
- Back bridges: 4x10
- One-arm Assisted Chin-ups: 4x5
- One-arm Inverted Rows: 3x8
- Chins Isometric Holds: 3xFailure

Legs Day:
- Suqats: 5x20
- Jumping Squats: 4x15
- Lunges: 3x30
- Sprints: 4x20sec
- Box Jumps: 3x10
- Hanging Leg Raises: 3xfailure

Or-

Upper Day:
- Pullups: 5x6
- One-arm Inverted Rows: 3x8
- Inverted Rows: 3x18
- Back bridges: 4x10
- Pushups: 4x12
- Dips: 3x15
- HSPU: 3x5
- Decline Crunches: 4x12
- Russian Decline Twist: 3x12

Lower Day:
- Jumping Squats: 8x12
- Pistol Squats: 4x10
- Step Ups: 3x10
- GHR: 3x12
- Sprints: 5x15sec
- Calf Raises: 10x10 "Burnout".
- Hanging Leg Raises: 4x12
- Planks: 3x1min

SUPPLEMENTS

Remember one thing, supplements are only that; they supplement something and are never meant to be replacements. A multivitamin will not replace fruits and vegetables, a fat burner will not replace a caloric deficit, and a meal replacement is not meant to be your only source of calories.

This is a brief run down of the 'basics', for further breakdowns of specific ingredients (like Yohimbe, Forskolin, Glycerol, ect) more research on your part would be needed.

Protein

Spoiler!

Protein supplements are mostly derived from either Milk, Animal, Egg, or Plant sources. They are a powdered food item, made to be convenient to take. Their main purpose is to help you reach your minimum daily needs for protein if you cannot do so with whole foods, outside of that they provide no special benefit to muscle growth and are by no means 'required'.

Types
Whey- The most common, derived from milk and comes in either a concentrate or isolate. It is the cheapest and has a very high bio-availability, good stuff all around. Concentrate is the most common you will see since it requires less processing than an isolate. It is great and just fine for the majority of people. Isolates are another variety, they tend to have a few less carbs and fat, but cost more. They are best for people who have lactose issues.

Animal- Meat based protein, most come from the hooves and other parts that are not used in food; mostly collagen sources. These are usually not the best for bio-availability and are costly compared to a whey protein. They have the benefit of not being an issue to the lactose intolerant, but most prefer other sources for their protein needs.

Egg- From eggs, most are egg white powders. Again these cost more but have good bio-availability and do not aggravate lactose.

Plant- Best for the vegetarian/vegan, and those with very severe lactose intolerance (who still get issues even from isolate). These are sources from pea, soy, hemp, rice, and other plants. They often have multiple sources to form a complete protein source. Most cost more because of the processing involved.

Multi-Vitamins

Spoiler!

Multi-Vitamins are a good way to cover any gaps your nutrition may leave, they are not meant to (and never will be) a replacement for a wide variety of whole foods. Think of them as the spackle of the supplement world, great for covering imperfections, but you would not try and build a house from it.

Fish Oil

Spoiler!

Fish Oil is a good supplement for most, mainly because many do not eat enough fish to reach the minimum recommendation for EPA/DHA. For the most part you do not need to over complicate this one, just find a cheap and reliable brand and go for a dosage that covers your daily needs. These recommendations are 3 grams of EPA/DHA per day.

Creatine

Spoiler!

Creatine Monohydrate is the cheapest form of creatine and the most proven/studied. 3-5 grams a day, taken at any time with any liquid is all it takes and you do not need to load or cycle nor do you need to take it with sugar. Many types of creatine exist but just go with a plain mono- do not expect miracles though, creatine will barely have any noticeable effect, it may give you an extra rep or 2 but that is about it.

Bloating with creatine is actually very minimal, if it occurs at all, and usually only happens to those who load it (which is not needed). Creatine works by saturation, pulling water into the muscles and providing more endurance.

BCAAs

Spoiler!

BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids) are said to prevent muscle breakdown and aid in recovery- this is true but you know what already has BCAAs in it? Food, any source of protein has and is comprised of branch chain amino acids. Assuming you reach protein sufficiency in your day a BCAA supplement would do nothing to aid you. BCAA supplements may be beneficial if you take pre/intra workout only if you train in a fasted state, or taken between meals if you go 4-6 hours without food. If you do not fit either of those categories they are not needed at all, save the money.

Fat Burners

Spoiler!

Fat Burners primarily do 2 things, suppress appetite and provide energy and focus. They cannot and will not replace a calorie deficit or a proper nutrition plan. Some have other additions, such as Forskolin or Yohimbe which may aid in actual fat loss though, but again the end success of weight/fat loss is proper diet. Work on getting that in order and then, if needed, you may want to look into a fat burner for the final push you need.

Pre-Workouts

Spoiler!

These are designed to provide energy, focus, pump, and endurance; they do so most often with caffeine and other ingredients though there are also non-stimm pre-workouts for those who do not want the caffeine rush. These can aid you if the extra energy is needed but they are not required; if you are fine without them than you can just save your money.

Meal Replacements/Mass Gainer

Spoiler!

These are often little more than a protein supplement with a lot of cheap carbs added in to jack up the calories. Really, just eat more; make a homemade gainer from whole foods: Whole Milk, Oats, Honey, Ice Cream, Whey, Peanut Butter, Fruit; all can be blended up to make a far more nutritious and cheaper gainer than anything you could buy in a tub.

CLA

Spoiler!

CLA is useless, really... Unless you are obese and even then the effects are minimal at best.

Glutamine

Spoiler!

Glutamine is pretty much useless, save your money.

[koweanguy]

As I stated above Im not a beginner to lifting played football in college and high school with a very strict lifting regimen for strength rather than aesthetics, as far as light days i do higher reps 8-12 range rather than my 5x5 split for strength building. My body fat percentage is not extremely high and even at my current weight I have very good arm, chest, back, and leg definition, so don't just assume I'm fat simply by the measurement on the scale. I just need diet advice so don't just blatantly assume someone is fat because there weight is above the so called norm on some sort of graph that is probably outdated and from the 70s which assumes everyone of the same high has the same body structure and muscle density. The calories you see have been calculated using the forums and double checked by a dietitian and doctor. I weigh all my food and monitor my intake using a log just wondering and need a second opinion if my macros need tuning and decided to ask on here before consulting a dietitian/trainer.

BTW I have hyperthyroid if that helps at all

What are your lifts for Bench, Deadlfit, and Squat. . using full range of motion & proper form?
And are you continuously progressing on them?

[gibbss]

Ohh and the 200 ab exercises in a circuit is to build a strong core to increase overall strength, since a strong core will allow all your lifts to increase and is the base to all lifts to also prevent injury

Personally i think you Kcals are a bit low esspecially because you have your ''Heavy days" ( heavy training load in general )
instead off decreasing the Kcal i would up your workload
Do some HIIT training etc..

i mean find the balance in terms of reaching your goals while eating as many Kcal possible

+
dooing a lot of repp work on abdominal excersizes will increase core strenght for sure but...
* The best way to increase core strenght is to do the basic movements without a belt or etc.. ( ''Ed Coan )

And some things that may help :

- Standing dumbell/ barbel schoulder presses ( Bill Kasmaier)
- Zydrunas press ( Zydrunas Savickas )
- Standing static ab crunches with pulldown bar ( Louie simmons " west side Barbel )
- Walking with barbell in stretched position overhead ( Misha koklyaev )

[JustinT2391]

I'm not sure if i plateaued or not it just seems like I'm not losing anymore fat and that im not tightening up anymore.

I lift all muscle groups twice per week to maximize results, I would like to build muscle while remaining on a calorie deficit which I know counteracts each other and makes both process slower but I'm willing to put in the work and wait to see the results. Plus I think it will be better to help me fill out while i lose fat.

I was a lot stronger before the calorie and carbs deficit but this is my current lifts

5X5 Lifts if i can get a extra rep ill push for it and then try to increase weight every 3 weeks
Bench: 270-285lbs depending on the day
Dead lift: 320-325 depending on the day
Squat: 230-240 a knee injury so currently starting low to get good form and strengthen the ligament
Barbell Curl: 100
Leg Press: 705 Also low to reduce injury to my knee until ligament is strengthens

[JustinT2391]

@Gibbss thanks I will defiantly be doing some HIT to balance the weight lose rather than decreasing my KCal. Also all my lifts are done with out a belt to help increase overall core strength, my ab cycle involves some of the items you listed while including some high rep excessive also such as leg lifts and abdominal raises and weighted side pulls (Obliques)