Am I dieting correctly?

[SouljaJoe010]

Greetings guys,

I want to get an opinion on whether I am dieting in an optimal manner or not.

6ft 200lbs @ ~19% bodyfat, 36.3" waist
Training for about 4 years

Nutrition:
1600cals, 80c, 44f, 220p

Training:
Push, pull, legs
I workout 5x per week
20mins cardio 5x per week

Recovery:
Stretching and foam rolling

Supplements:
Protein, creatine, caffeine

I am just about losing almost... 1lb per week lol at 1600 calories

[dipatel13]

Fat intake is too low. .4g/lb is the minimum.
You seem to not be working every muscle group 2x per week, is that correct?
1600 cals and losing 1lb per week would be 2100 maintenance which seems a bit low which means you might be eating more cals than you think.

[SouljaJoe010]

Idk man, 80g of fat is kind of crazy. that 44g of fat is 25% of my total calories as is. With 80g that would be 45% of my caloric intake.
Is my protein okay?

I do not work every muscle group 2x per week. Not shame to say I rather do chest twice than legs lol.

Junk keeps popping up causing me to eat over 1600 calories.

[SouljaJoe010]

Possible new workout structure?
A - leg and back
B - chest and shoulder
C - back
D - leg
E - chest and shoulders

[dipatel13]

Possible new workout structure?
A - leg and back
B - chest and shoulder
C - back
D - leg
E - chest and shoulders

Why not do a proper PPL 2x per week? Or upper/lower 2x per week? There's also a upper/lower/PPL.

Also, .4g/lb fat is actually supported by research and studies as a safe minimum for optimum hormone balance in the body. You don't need that much protein either, .8g/lb protein is sufficient, again supported by research. Don't look at macro ratios, look at the minimums. Hit your protein and fat minimums, then fill the rest as you want with c/f/p.

[SouljaJoe010]

I like the upper/lower/ppl. Gym closes on weekends(uni)

I'll redial myfitnesspal to change protein and fats and then have the remaining calories as carbs for the next set of days to find out what that produces

[SouljaJoe010]

Gee man

38c!, 75f, 170p
I went on the higher side for protein and the lower side for fat

[dipatel13]

Gee man

38c!, 75f, 170p
I went on the higher side for protein and the lower side for fat

Eating more than 1600 cals would really help.

[SouljaJoe010]

I am not really losing any weight, I just lost about 4lbs in 5 weeks

[BecomingSmaller]

I think there are two possibilities, your true weight loss is being masked somewhat by water retention, quite possible if you have changed your workout or started creatine, or you are not tracking calories as accurately as you could, in which case dropping calories is an option. If you are sure calories are being tracked accurately then just stick with it, the loss will likely improve and even if it doesn’t around 1 pound a week is ideal for maintaining muscle on the cut at your weight.

[SouljaJoe010]

I weigh myself after I wake up.

And yea, I mess up my plan at least 1 day per week

[grayguo]

Greetings guys,

I want to get an opinion on whether I am dieting in an optimal manner or not.

6ft 200lbs @ ~19% bodyfat, 36.3" waist
Training for about 4 years

Nutrition:
1600cals, 80c, 44f, 220p

Training:
Push, pull, legs
I workout 5x per week
20mins cardio 5x per week

Recovery:
Stretching and foam rolling

Supplements:
Protein, creatine, caffeine

I am just about losing almost... 1lb per week lol at 1600 calories

Hey SouljaJoe010, I'll try my best to help you out. 1600 calories is very low for a person your height and weight. A pound a week seems to be on the low end. Either you're eating more than 1600 calories, or your actual maintenance calorie is low for your current body composition. Let's try to figure this out.

Do you weigh your food or do you eye ball food? Eyeballing is easy to mess up for example 1 tsb of oil can be mistaken for 2tsb and that's a 190 calorie difference.

If you get off your diet once a week, how many calories do you eat on top of your 1600 for that week? Believe or not, that can make a huge difference to your weekly deficit and can be why you're only losing a pound a week. If you ate a couple of donuts, cookies and candy, that might be 1500 calories. You're weekly average caloric intake would be ~200 calories more.

It may be better to up your calories so you can be more consistent. You might actually eat a lower total weekly amount of calories by following a higher calorie plan, than going lower and cheating. This will help with your weight loss.

[xsquid99]

1600 calories and only losing a lb a week? My maintenance is like 2800 and I'm the same weight as you.

That can't be right...

[SouljaJoe010]

I am not home the days I go off my diet(easily over 800 calories)... which seem pretty stupid of me because I actually prepare my meals in advanced and I have tupperware containers that are unused. Its just that I keep going out with my lady friend and we tend to eat some healthy but high calorie food. I'm kind of scared to tell her that that stuff is not good for me and I don't mind her eating and I don't.

Yea, I do use a scale to measure my seasonings and meat. Using mfp I just use the set amount for skinless chicken quarters that I have saved no matter the size, this is probably bad and may be off by 5-20g of protein(0c/11f/40p).

After changing my macros, this week I will be preparing ground turkey and baked chicken quarters(without skin)

m1 - 3 eggs made with nonstick spray, greek yogurt and protein shake 16c/16f/58p
m2(post workout) - protein shake with splash of evaporated cream(non measured in weight) 7c/4f/27p
m3 - chicken quarters 11f/40p
m4 - " with salad +2f low fat dressing

This totals me to 23c/42f/165p
Remaining 15c/33f/4p

I'm probably going to fill with peanut butter and a fruit or something

[grayguo]

Hey SouljaJoe010, I didn't realize you were off one day because you were going out on dates. No, I wouldn't sacrifice eating and spending time with you're girl just to make sure you're on point for one day. It will probably cause more harm than good if you tell you're girl that you'd rather bring food and watch her eat. I'm sure she enjoys spending time with you and eating together with you, so I would not give that up just to lose some more fat. Just my humble opinion, it's up to you though.

You're diet seems on point. The standard chicken data in mfp should be close enough to the actual calorie that your diet shouldn't be compromised by it. It's strange b/c you're a big guy and you aren't losing a lot of weight with that much of a deficit.

Try measuring you're waist size too on a weekly basis. Sometimes fat loss won't show on the scale, but will on the waist. A decrease in waist size will mean that you're going in the right direction. Measure around you're belly button region without flexing your stomach in the morning.

Weekly progress photos also help, as you can also see visual differences, even if the scale doesn't move. Make sure you take in morning in the same lightening and position.

Try you're current program out and additional measurements for a month. If progress is being made keep at it. If not, you may need to drop you're calories more

Feel free to add me as a friend and DM if you want to keep me updated. Good luck!








I'm sure your girl enjoys spending time with you and eating out with you. If you don't eat meals with y

[SouljaJoe010]

Hey, weighed in today at 199.8 @ 36.5" waist. Gonna try the macros again for today and weigh in tomorrow and adjust fats lower and protein higher whilst lowering calories

PS: lifts going up

[SouljaJoe010]

I lowered calories to 1400, increased protein and lowered fats and carbs further. Currently weighing in 197 seems good

[bcradio]

Up calories and stop cheating

[Pur3p3r50n]

I lowered calories to 1400, increased protein and lowered fats and carbs further. Currently weighing in 197 seems good

Don't ask for advice and then not follow it. You should not eat less than 0.4 g fat / lb ideal bodyweight.

[unplugged]

Are you dieting correctly? Well... is your current diet bringing you closer to your present goal? (fat loss or muscle gain) Also define "correctly", do you mean in terms of results or health?

[SouljaJoe010]

I'm stallingi and getting cravings. Dieting in terms of results

[daudi81]

I'm no expert, but there's no way your eating 1600 calories per day, and only losing 1lb/week at that weight. Your tracking your calories wrong or just not being consistent (too many cheat meals perhaps?) I'm @ 170lbs and eat about 2100cals a day and losing .8-1lb per week, just for perspective.

Regardless, you shouldn't be shooting for 1600 calories a day as a 200lb male. Like, ever. Again, I'm no expert but that seems way off.

All I can say is listen to what others have said above. This is the advice I follow and it's done me well =)

[DutchTeamUltra]

I suggest you read up on this:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033492/

Long read, absolutely worth it.

I personally keep protein at 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.
And fat at at least .35 per pound of bodyweight.

So, not accounting for fat free mass and fat mass, that'll be plenty I recon.
(Lost 24 kg's -> about 52.8 pounds this way)