Cutting and Diet

[edster951]

Who here, while cutting, has a really great workout, and then says "stuff the diet, lets feed this workout to grow."

Stuffs up my diet for sure, but it feels good to feed those gains for a day or so.

Maybe thats why I can't get rid of my "handles"

[TrishB]

I think diet is key when cutting. You can increase your cardio and weights all you want, but if you don't eat clean...you are not going to get the body you want.
And eating clean does not mean going hungry. So you can still feed those gains.

Just eat clean 6 days a week. And it will make a big difference.

[bb5-0]

Yes, I would say diet is about 75% of the game. I'm always surprised when I calculate my caloric intake to see how much I take even when I think I'm being very good. I started cutting about 4 weeks ago and tried to be very, very careful about my diet: enough proteins, low carbs and nothing but fibrous carbs in the pm, some good fats to keep the energy high, lots of water , more cardio and it paid off for I passed from 96kg to 92.5 kg .
But whenever I didn't have a close look at my diet, I noticed I had a tendency to up the carbs/calories, even though I watched my diet carefully. So it takes a lot of patience, motivation and determination to get rid of those love handles. Just try to be very consistent in your diet and re-calculate and adapt the diet often to get the results you want.

[Hibiscus09]

Hi Eddie!

I think, as Trish and bb5-0 have already stated, that diet is a big part of the picture. As long as you keep what you eat clean, make sure you eat enough but not way too many calories, you should be able to whittle away at the love handles. You already have a nice muscle base, so that's very helpful with keeping your metabolism high. I also think some pre-breakfast cardio is very helpful.

It is hard to eat clean all the time, however. I always give myself Saturdays to be lax and have a nice date night where I go out to eat and enjoy!!

[DanMc]

I have the same issue and have been trying to work on my diet for yrs I was on a see food diet. I need to do cardio and find additonal ways to keep busy. I am a computer geek by trade and it gets tough at times.

What is a good "clean" diet I don't mean tell me what you eat daily but rather what types of foods and when to eat them.

[Bad_Vibes]

Originally posted by DanMc


What is a good "clean" diet I don't mean tell me what you eat daily but rather what types of foods and when to eat them.

ah yes, the million dollar question. And it's harder to answer today than ever. I spent years eating as much of what I thought was clean food as I needed to feel full. And the love handles never went away. Those things I thought of as clean where whole wheat, potatoes, pasta and lean meats and fruits and vegtables. Well do to both me wanting to find something that finally works for me and familly medical issues that required it, we dropped the wheat, potatoes, pasta and refined sugar. I am the leanest I have ever been and my cardio is probably at the least I've ever done. We make our pancakes, muffins, and other stuff we used to make with flour using nut flour. Like almonds and walnuts. I am full all day long.

So what's clean for one person may not be for another.

[Hibiscus09]

I do my cardio for heart health and also know that it helps with fat burning -- I wouldn't want to give it up.

I think a balanced diet will work fine -- 40/40/20 or something like that -- eat 5 to 6 times a day and stick to lean proteins such as skinless chicken breasts, turkey, salmon, tuna, lean red meats; healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, salmon, almonds, walnuts; complex carbs such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal (not instant), whole wheat bread and pasta; fibrous vegetables, and you can even have a serving or two of fruit each day such as grapefruit, strawberries, blueberries, etc. This is only a short list -- there are many foods to choose from. Try to choose carbohydrates that are lower on the glycemic index -- you can look the glycemic index up online. Also, make sure to get your complex carbs in before early afternoon, and after that switch over to fibrous vegetables. I always try to include a lean protein, fibrous vegetable and a healthy fat in my last meal of the day.

[IPR]

Ed......I have had that feeling before, but as I do a CKD I can suppress this until the weekend when I refeed. The one workout I do eat more after is legs.