I’m eating five cans of tuna a day, with 6 tbsps of mayo. I’m 5’10" 174 pounds @ around 14-15% bodyfat, and this gives me 163 gms of protein daily, with a calorie count of around 1300. I also take surge post workout, so this puts me at around 12*Bodyweight-500. I’m also using Vitex and MD6 (just came off of T2, combined with MD6). I take one scoop of citrucel (for regularity) in the mornings. I’m doing GVT2000 at the moment, but I’m really not seeing much in the way of fat loss. I’ve been doing this for approx 4 weeks, and I’ve lost 5-6 pounds, but it appears that my body composition is about the same (According to calipers). I’m planning on starting Ian King’s upper body and limping series next week, and I’ve already added in a saturday session of cardio. Have I missed something blatantly obvious? I don’t want to whittle away equal parts muscle to fat… that obviously won’t give me the look I’m going for.
I’ll be trying Methoxy-7 as soon as I get it.
Any thoughts?
You’re losing about a pound/week, which is okay and probably a reflection of your total calorie intake, which might be close to where you want it. Losing fat and keeping muscle is tricky…you have to mix things up and try to trick your metabolism. Eating the same exact thing every day…only one protein source and one fat source (plus surge) probably isn’t smart. Not only are you limiting your intake of other nutrients, you are not forcing your body to change. Looks like simplicity is a priority for you, so I would replace three cans of tuna with a different protein source (salmon, chicken, or a protein shakes…maybe one of each of these). Then add some better fats like Udo’s choice or any other flax/fish oil supplement. If keeping carbs to just 50 grams/day is important, than don’t change your carb intake. Personally, I would throw some kind of carbs in there-oatmeal, fruit, whatever…and I’d do that early in the day and taper off carbs later in the day…but everyone has a different opinion about carbs and everyone has a different response to carbs, so that’s up to you. If you’re planning on doing Ian’s upper body AND limping series on just 1650 calories and 50gm carbs a day, let us know where you live and we’ll try to get someone over there with a shovel to scrape your limp, lifeless body off the ground. Just kidding. But seriously, you obviously have great discipline so you might as well do it right.
yes you blatantly missed the fact that when dieting you are supposed to cut down the volume (and the intensity somewhat) in your training.
Thanks for the advice. Once the school year starts up, my main choices for protein will be the grilled chicken they slap into sandwiches (minus the bun for me) or the hamburger they… well, you know. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to add some spicy little chicken wings in right now, as well as some AP. But if I keep my protein at about the same level, how can I add in carbs and still lose weight? I’m perfectly happy w/ using some oatmeal or fruit (are the flavored quaker oats packets ok, does anyone know?), but I don’t want to impede whatever meager progress I’m making by increasing my calories too close to my maintenance level.
If Ian King's programs are too tough to do at 1650 kcal, what should I increase to? Is it even possible to cut w/ his programs? I can't do German Body Comp, since my school's benches are on a different flight than the squat rack and the other lower body stuff. Even running up the steps, I couldn't set the weight and start a lower body excercise even close to the specified time between sets, and if I had to wait for someone... oy. Not a good match for me.
Thanks again!
Two things…your daily caloric level is way to low. up it to about 2500 cal/day. The majority should be in protein and fat, some carbs (maybe 100-200 grams/day), and no sugar. Second, do more cardio. Most on this board believe that it is possible to keep BF below 10% with little or no cardio…merely strict adherence to diet. That may be true for 5-10% of us; and being on top of your diet 100% of the time…which isn’t true for most of us. I am 5’10", 37 years old, 11%Bf, bench 390, squat 450 and deadlift 500. I do 30-40 minutes of cardio 5X/week at an intensity level of 70-80%. To me…cardio is a must to keep BF low. It does not strip as much muscle as most think.
I know my calories are low, but I have a slow metabolism, so my maintenance level should be 2088 calories, unless I screwed up the formula.
Even at 5x a week, 30 min of cardio at 300 calories a session, that only averages out to 214 calories per day reduction… which means at 2500 calories, I’d still be looking at 2286 calories in, on average. This is quite a bit above my maintenence level, so I’m not sure how I would be able to burn any fat that way. I’m sure I’m must be missing something, so please clear it up for me.
I’m definitely willing to do cardio, but 5 days a week at 30 minutes per session would be way more than my schedule can handle (especially if it’s done post workout)… I’m an engineering major, fer chrissakes! 
I don’t know exactly what your metabolism is like or if it’s been slowed down because of a consistently low calorie intake, but like I said…I think you’re probably in the ballpark. Everyone is different, but I’m a little bit bigger than you (6’, 190) and I’ve been doing this shit for a while, and I usually stick at around 2000 while cutting. I’d adjust the other variables I spoke of and keep calories the same for a while to see what happens. As for GBC or GVT or Ian King…if you’re trying to cut fat quickly and maintain muscle, I don’t think which training style you employ is as important as your diet. You should be okay as long as you keep your workouts intense and work the muscles enough to keep forcing your body to recover. As for the added carbs…without getting into the math for you, you can probably find a way to do it without going over your calorie limit. Okay, let’s do the math then: about 170 g protein is 680 cal. 2 servings mayo (if, for example, I convinced you to cut back to 2 cans tuna) is 200 more…we’re at 880. A couple of servings of added good fats…maybe 300 more calories, that’s 1180. You have about 500 cals left over to spend on carbs. That’s roughly a 40/30/30 I think. I also agree that cardio will help, but since you’re at 14-15%, I’d let diet do the work until you hit a plateau, then throw the cardio in.
Cardio dude. As much as we all hate it, it’s really the only way to get really lean. First thing in the morning on an empty stomach is best (no glycogen to burn just fat). Second choice would be immediatley after training. I also just recently read that split cardio sessions may work better than one long session but practicality reigns in my world so unless I was getting ready for a physique competition I probably wouldn’t expect that you’d want to do this. Of course you were doing GVT2000 on limited calories so you may just be a sucker for punishment…
Rosheem, I’ll take your advice, and go up to 2000 calories starting next week, with the ratios you recommend. My metabolism probably is pretty well shot, considering I yo-yo’ed last year… last summer I was at 155, 10% BF, and dieted the absolutely wrong way (tried to cut to 1000 calories to quickly get to 7% before the beach). I then progressively ballooned up during the school year to around 185.
I just got my methoxy today, and it tastes GREAT, btw. So I’ll stick to 2000 cal, MD6, the Ian King workouts, and around a 40/30/30 ratio (though that’ll be a little off due to not knowing exactly how lean College Park’s meat is). I’ll just take a scale to school with me :). Many thanks! One more time, though… does anyone know what the quality is of the Quaker flavored oatmeals? Is it like non-natural peanut butter?
Thanks!
Whoops, I meant 1700 calories (give or take) not 2000. 
The reason for the cardio is not so much to burn calories…but to “step up” your metabolism; so you burn more calories post-workout. Forget counting calories…if you are eating 2500-3000 quality calories/day, then that is not too much for yor weight. Everyone I know thinks they have a slow metabolism. As for “time” for cardio, you need to fit it in somehow…early AM, weekends for longer duration etc…
Drop the tuna in favor of whey+casein. Drop the mayo in favor of flax and/or fish oil. The keto diet might not work for you.
I believe that Quaker Oatmeal in the instant packets may have as much sugar as a can of soda.
I like the regular instant oatmeal in the big cannister and use honey to sweeten it. (natural and an antioxidant) It’s way cheaper than the flavored stuff too. if you have to take it with you to a class or something, just put a dry serving into a tupperware container and then you could just add water and use it as a bowl too.
Let’s say it all together now - Prepackaged processed food is BAAAADDDDD.