my stab at Tdawg 2.0 -- critique please

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I am getting ready to delve into TDawg. I have read the magazine. I have used the search engine repeatedly. I have a diet log. I have a training log. I have looked at previous issues. I have read almost everything by Berardi. And yet I feel some form of smart ass comment coming at me.
But. . . . here we go.

my diet so far →
->1 scoop whey (pre HIIT. . . It has BCAAs in it and I have read that people like to take those during cardio)

HIIT

->2 Scoops protein pst HIIT

Big Breakfast →
->1/2 cup oatmeal, 5 eggwhites, 2 whole eggs, chopped veggies, 2 oz sausage, 1/4 cup FF cheese (I know dairy is a nono while on a cutting diet)

Meal #3

->5 oz chix breast (foreman style with Chef Prudhomme’s blackened redfish magic, yummy to say the least)
broiled green beans, 15-20
1 0z mixed nuts

Meal #4

->Can of Tuna
1 tbsp low fat mayo
1 tbsp pickle relish
chopped onions/peppers/celery
5 fish oil caps

pre-mid workout

->BCAAs/glutamine

post workout

->1 srv surge

Dinner

->5 oz lean grnd beef
taco seasoning
salad
balsalmic vinegrette salad dressing

prebed

1 scoop LC grow
10 fish oil caps

daily totals
296 P / 111 C / 115 F / 2663 Cal

daily reqmts as calculated by Tdawg2.0 recommendations (based on 223 lbm, at around 12-13% BF. . . I keep pinching in the 11s but I dont really believe it)

332 P / 177 F / 100 C / 3315 Cal

So I have a deficit of

36 P / 62 F / 652 cal / over by 11 C

I could easily throw another meal in there, but I wanted a critique thus far so I could effectively tweak those last cals.

Also, my supps are:

myostat (taking 1 pill 2 x daily)
hot roxx (taking 2 pills, 2 x day)
coming off Mag 10 for 2 weeks so →
tribex, 2 pills 2 x daily
M 3 pills 1 x daily
and a multi vitamin

I also have ZMA, should I save it for a bulking phase?

Thats all.

2

Wow jodgey I didn’t know you had 223 pounds of LBM… Sure that isn’t your total weight?

If so, your total weight is like 256? You must be a tall fellow.

Anyway, looks fairly good. I myself prefer to have some of the surge during workout, actually most of it, and then just a little left over at the end. Seem to have more energy that way. I have 2 scoops of it each workout.

As far as dairy goes, I guess it’s a personal issue. Some people can’t handle it, some can. I don’t seem to have an issue with it, I have lost fat just fine with cottage cheese almost daily and even some yogurt on refeed days.

3

sorry, yeah 223 TBM, 192 LBM. oops.

4

I was actually taking this stuff called ICE (by extreme formulations)for my pre and during workout supplementation. Then 2 scoops Surge afterwards.
How about the fats? I am taking 15 fish oil caps daily (1 g each). I know I should throw some flax seeds/ flax oil in there. Or olive oil.
I also saw that someone had posted a calorie deficit for Tdawg. I thought TDawg was calculated for fat loss anyway and there was no need for a cal deficit. Any thoughts?

5

Yes, you could stand to stick some more fats in the later day. You have the whole eggs/sausage in morning meal, which is odd with the oatmeal. I can see doing the whole eggs, but sausage with oatmeal seems like a mix of f+c.

Nuts in the next meal, just fine.

After that I dont see any fats, which means all your later day meals are p+c?

With tdawg 2.0 as it’s written it seems to have a 500 calorie deficit. I myself am doing that, although I honestly think you would probably gain more muscle if you upped it or didn’t have a deficit (like don’t diet). I will say I don’t seem to be noticing any drawback of the deficit, I had some continual soreness but i’m doing fine on muscle and gains.

One thing I’m not totally clear on though is the maintenance definition. Does that mean the amount of calories you need sans workout or including workout? Seems to be without workout to me. Otherwise I can’t explain my fat loss since 500 cals/day x30 days is only like 4 pounds of fat. Must be the workouts that are increasing the deficit since i’ve lost 3 times that amount.

6

Hey, there Jodgey.

The whey before and after the HIIT is fine, but the trick to protein requirements and meal timing is to take in all of what you need, but no more that what you need. At 192 pounds of LBM you’d need no more than 288g of protein per day, and that would ideally be divided into 7 meals. So you’re looking at 41g per meal, (a nice number).

I don’t really need the times of when you’re eating, but you do want to spread those 7 meals out as far as possible. You should separate your meals so that you’re eating every 2.5 to 3 hours. I’d actually like to see you eating 6 daytime meals and one middle-of-the-night protein shake.

I’m sure you know the trick about drinking a big glass of water before going to bed, getting up in the middle of the night to hit the restroom, and chugging down a pre-made shake sitting in the fridge?

I like your choice of supplements, but I’d recommend saving Myostat for when you’re bulking. And rather than Mag-10, I’d like to see you use 4-AD-EC. It’s cheaper, and you can take it for longer periods of time (up to 8 weeks).

Assumming that breakfast is 2.5 to 3 hours after your two scoops of whey, and further assuming that your goal is to eat a P+C meal, I’d nix the sausage and the cheese (because of their fat content).

In a P+C meal, you should keep fat to <5g. In a P+F meal, you should keep carbs to <10g.

Fat content should be a bit lower. Berardi recommends .5g per pound (of LBM, if I remember correctly). I use the LBM number. So you’re looking at a total of 96g of fat per day.

If you ARE doing T-Dawg and if you ARE trying to hit T-Dawg’s numbers, you can reduce your carb numbers a bit at breakfast by taking in 1/3 or 1/4 cup of oatmeal, instead of 1/2 cup. Remember that you should be taking in LESS carbs on non-workout (meaning lifting weights) days; 70g, to be exact.

There are different schools of thought, but I like to calculate caloric requirements based on LBM. 192 x 15 = 2880. A 500-calorie deficit is 2380. Heck, make it an even 2400. Adjustments should be made to that number at the beginning of Week 3, after your body settles into a new way of eating and settles down. If you’re losing weight too quickly (more than 1.5 pounds per week), add in 200 calories per day. If you’re losing weight too slowly (less than 1 pound per week), drop it 200 calories per day. Whatever you do, don’t make adjustments until you hit Week 3. Too many changes going on in your body, too many shifts.

Okay, that’s what I see off the top of my head. Hope that helps. And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

7

by the way, you kick ass. in case you forgot. Thanks TT.

8

Yup, Jodgey, I have a LOT of experience kicking ass . . . my OWN!!! (grin)

Seriously, thank you for the kind words.

One last thought, don’t forget your cheat afternoons (about 6 to 8 hours in duration). If you haven’t read up on 'em, you need to. Lots of physiological reasons for including one in on a weekly basis. It’s not just for sanity, and it’s not about rewarding yourself for being “good.” It will help keep glycogen stores at an acceptable level and keep your body from thinking it’s starving (and thus down-regulating everything and slowing fat loss).

And just quickly, I do have to say that you put together an awfully good plan (one of the best I’ve seen). There wasn’t much for me to comment on. I wish all my critiques were this easy!

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.