I’ve been reading…and reading, and reading. Absorbing information for months!
I’m definitely a student of training and while I’ve only been lifting (with goals of swapping the fat for muscle and leaning out) for 6mths now, my work is paying off.
Feb 09 = 232lbs
Dec 09 = 191lbs
Nate, Chad, Alan, Thibs, Tate, Shugart…and a list of others have all contributed to my work in progress as I’ve learned little bits from each. My main question, at this stage is this:
I wanted to know if dropping too low in calories (although my protein intake is still high @ 1g/1lb) will cause my body to stop burning at a certain rate. Bare in mind I do feed it every 2-3hrs with protein (chicken, tuna, or a shake) and I ensure I get around 20g-30g per 2-3hr window but my carbs come in only around 50g for the day and fats are around 40g/day (flaxseed oils around 10 caps) and Superfood serving for veggies/fruit upkeep.
I track my calories on livestrong.com and I usually come in around 1,600-1,800/day.
your body’s metabolism WILL slow down. There is no reason for it not to. Low cal diets are for quick fatloss assaults ususally pre planned with, strategic refeeds incorporated or they are used at the end of a long lengthy fatloss diet to help shed the last few pounds. I wouldn’t suggest them for a long period of time without any plan on trying to spark your metabolism periodically.
I agree with what elusive said, however if “your work is paying off” and fat loss has not stalled (assuming that’s your goal), then I wouldn’t change anything. Dropping your calories too low and training hard is probably hazardous to your immune system, joints, sanity. When you stall and are only eating ~10 X’s BW in cals, then I’d recommend a refeed day. Plenty of information is available here and publicly on the webz.
Refeed day? Ahh yes. Maybe that’s something I am missing, as I feel I am dipping too low right now on the caloric scale (though I am not light headed, nor have headaches, nor am I hungry from meal to meal) as I do eat every 2-3hrs, but the intake might only be 250-300 cals at a time, but I do get 20g protein during those 2-3hr meals, consistently.
I will review the refeed day and tweak my nutrition habits slightly and see how that works out.
On top of what has already been said, I would also throw in 4 servings of BCAA’s spread evenly throughout the day on your low calorie days to help preserve your lean tissue.
Your fat consumption is too low. You should be getting at least as many calories from fats as protein while on a low-carb diet. At 200+ pounds 1g/lb of protein gives you 800-1000 kcal out of 1600-1800 total. That means your fat intake can’t be more than 600-800 calories from fat.
You need to add at least 500 calories from fat to your diet.
Edit: The other responses were correct in recommending refeeds.
Read this for more info on how to plan a fat loss diet.