Stats:
22 years old
6’1
199.6lbs
(guessing) 12% BF
I’m trying to maintain my weight while cutting some fat. I’ve never made or followed a cutting diet as I was always thin until awhile ago. This is what I came up with. Let me know if I should change something or what you guys think? (rounded some numbers very slightly)
254.8 grams of carbs = 1019.2 36%
257.5 grams of protein = 1030 36%
86.4 grams of fats = 777.6 28%
Looks like it should work fine as a starting point. I’m not as lean as you, so take my comments for what you will.
Only things I would say are:
-Are you counting all of the macros in all of your foods? I mean, yeah, vege stirfry as a gram of protein, but that’s hardly worth counting.
-Some people advocate not taking in more than about 40g p per meal. Others think it doesn’t matter. Just throwing this out there, because it may matter.
-For meal 3, you may want to have more of a carb focus, as opposed to fat, to get some preworkout carbs.
-For meal 4, you may just want to have cereal instead of dextrose. Plenty of simple carbs and you get to eat them, feeling fuller.
[quote]1 Man Island wrote:
Looks like it should work fine as a starting point. I’m not as lean as you, so take my comments for what you will.
Only things I would say are:
-Are you counting all of the macros in all of your foods? I mean, yeah, vege stirfry as a gram of protein, but that’s hardly worth counting.
-Some people advocate not taking in more than about 40g p per meal. Others think it doesn’t matter. Just throwing this out there, because it may matter.
-For meal 3, you may want to have more of a carb focus, as opposed to fat, to get some preworkout carbs.
-For meal 4, you may just want to have cereal instead of dextrose. Plenty of simple carbs and you get to eat them, feeling fuller.[/quote]
No. I’m not going to count every macro. I just wanted to do it this once so I see exactly where I start and I can get familiar with my macros. Then after a bit I can tweak it. I’ve heard the 40g protein thing as we’ll. I wasn’t too sure about that. What would you suggest doing otherwise. And preworkout should have more of a carb focus you’re right. I just didn’t want to have the fats right after the workout.
You don’t need that much protein. I’d drop your protein to 200g; which is around your body weight, and replace those calories in the form of more carbs. More than 1g/lb of bw in protein is really only beneficial for someone on gear. Carbs themselves will be muscle sparing and are tasty and also make you perform better in the gym. If you don’t experience the desired rate of fat loss then you can drop your carbs maybe 50g a day and see if that does the trick. If that still doesn’t do it then add more activity. Low intensity being the best if you are already lifting 4+ days a week with a couple HIT sessions.
I was fat for most of my life and was very carb phobic; then with the advice of a coach I uppped my carbs and and activity level and fat just melted off and I was much better in the gym. I am no longer carb phobic. It’s really about calories in vs calories out. You can eat garbage in a calorie deficit and lose fat but you will most likely feel more hungry compared to eating whole foods and most likely will become deficient in nutrients.
As for post workout carbs. The latest studies are showing that the magic post workout carb window is much bigger than was previously touted. Your macros and calories over an extended period of time are much more important than specific timing of nutrients unless you are an endurance athlete.