diet for maintaining muscle mass and promoting fat loss

[jamesmp4289]

I weight-lift and do cardio 5 days a week, as well as work full time in fast food where I am on my feet most of the shift (each shift is about 8 hours). My rest days will be saturdays and sundays.

Mon-Friday I planned on having an eating window from 11 am after my workout to about 4 or 5 pm, allowing a 5-6 hour eating window. During this time I plan to drink only water, black coffee, or brewed tea with no sugar

Upon waking up, I'll drink an 8 oz cup of water with 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper powder, 1/2 squeezed lemon, and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

Before falling asleep, I'll drink mixture of 1/2 a cucumber, 1/2 squeezed lemon, 1 squeezed lime, 1 tbsp of ginger, 1 tbsp of ground turmeric, then the rest parsely and cilantro or kale greens (mixed with water to make about 8-12 oz)

Meal 1:
4 eggs microwave cooked with 3 TBSP of coconut oil, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup of broc**** and 1/2 tbsp of white sea salt

Calories: 875
Fat: ~82 grams
Carbs: ~2.5 Grams (Net)
Protein: ~39 grams

Meal 2:
1 4 oz pork chop center cut, 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 cup of broc****, 1 tbsp of white sea salt, 1 tbsp of black pepper
Calories: 274
Fat: ~18 grams
Carbs: ~4.6 grams (Net)
Protein: ~22 grams

Meal 3:
8 oz baked chicken breast, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1/2 cup of broc****, 2 tbsp of white sea salt, 2 tbsp buffalo ranch dressing
Calories: 515
Fat: ~32 grams
Carbs: ~5.6 (Net)
Protein: ~44 grams

Total daily calories: ~1664
Total daily fats: ~132 grams
Total daily carbs: ~12.7 grams (Net)
Total daily protein: ~105 grams

I was aiming to try and go for something similar to a low carb or keto diet, but, admittedly I'm not too experienced in dieting and what not. I've heard you need almost 200 g of fat at 75-80% of caloric intake, in which case I could up my fat intake, and I've also heard you DON'T need that much and that using less causes your body to use its own fat more. So, I'm not sure, and I just tried to come up with something based on what I know I can afford currently. Saturdays and Sundays I had considered fasting. Any advice would be amazing, thank you.

[bearjewcometh]

First of all you could completely omit your drink things and it wouldn't really make a lick of difference but if you like a hit of acidic spice water in the morning go to town. otherwise your macros seem to be alright depending on what your body weight is, and no you don't NEED that much fat but it does make you feel a hell of a lot better if you aren't relying so heavily on bodyfat.

[jamesmp4289]

First of all you could completely omit your drink things and it wouldn't really make a lick of difference but if you like a hit of acidic spice water in the morning go to town. otherwise your macros seem to be alright depending on what your body weight is, and no you don't NEED that much fat but it does make you feel a hell of a lot better if you aren't relying so heavily on bodyfat.

My bad, I should've thought to include that. I'm 256 pounds with about 29% body fat so about 182 pounds lean mass. Thanks for your input

[Mikeez0]

My bad, I should've thought to include that. I'm 256 pounds with about 29% body fat so about 182 pounds lean mass. Thanks for your input

tbh, 182 LBM is almost genetical potential for a natural bb-r. And to maintain that muscle mass, you need a lot more than 100grams of protein a day. What is your strength stats?

[jamesmp4289]

Tbh, I'm new into the whole weight-lifting scene and I started light about a month and a half ago, just doing light-weight lifting to try and make sure my form is together. Over the last 4 weeks I've trained heavier and I just checked up today on my flat bench, deadlift, and squat maxes. Squat is 245 and deadlift is 275 1 rep max, no spotter, no knee wraps or belts etc etc, and it's been a few hours and I don't have any back pain besides the soreness from a normal back workout, so that's good I guess? My bench press I had a spotter for and I could only pull off 145. I need to work on my upper body strength, but I think a bit of it might've been nerves because I had hurt my shoulder a bit before doing bench presses a while back. Idk. Still, though, current 1RM is 245 squat, 275 deadlift, 145 flat bench. Not sure if that's a normal amount/spread of how much my body can do starting or what, though. How much protein would you recommend? (I'm assuming by strength stats you meant what I said but please let me know if otherwise).

[bearjewcometh]

Tbh, I'm new into the whole weight-lifting scene .

I'm not entirely sure why he asked for where your stats are at but given that you consider yourself a newb when it comes to lifting id reckon those numbers are actually pretty decent.
now as for the protein its one of those points of contention. one study will say we need far less protein if you're keeping it keto while traditional bodybuilding wisdom will tell you between 1 and 3 grams per pound of lean mass. I personally consume protein in a slightly higher than average macro breakdown for ketosis, start with a 1 gram to one pound ratio and play around with it till you find what works for you.

[DipsManiac]

I don't know what other people do but I start my day with lots of coffee to wake up...I use only sweet N Low in it.. For breakfast I make eggs with some kind of meat with it like bacon or sausage...That's it until lunch...Then I make a giant salad with fresh veges, always containing olives or avocados for good fats. Also, the salad has grilled chicken , fish, or beef in it. This is dressed with a vinegar and olive oil....I graze on the salad the rest of the day and night drinking water...I do my my workouts keeping my metabolism high. That's it. My BF is under 7 % and I spare muscle to boot because of the workouts , a bit more protein , and decent fats for energy.

KETO works but you must be disciplined and very regimented.