Hey guys! I’d like your opinion on a diet im about to try. I’m starting my diet and getting in the gym starting Monday. About me first. I’m 45 years old, 6’4 and 235 pounds. I’d like to cut as much fat as possible and have overall good general health. I’ll be fasting for 20 hours and eating withing a 4 hours window of the following. Lunch at 12pm, 8oz of chicken breast, 8oz of brown rice, 3 boiled eggs, a cup of cottage cheese and half a cup of strawberries. Dinner at 4pm, 8oz of chicken breast, 8oz of brown rice, 3 boiled eggs and an apple. I’ll be in the gym around 11am before my meal and I only have 45 minutes to work with. I’ll be lifting for 30 minutes and cardio for15. Right now I’m not focusing on gaining a ton of muscle and the cardio is more for heart and lung health. I’m currently on TRT also. I’ll be in the gym 5 days a week hitting every muscle group. Again this is for over all health right now and losing some weight into I get to a good spot and start gaining muscle from there. This is all new to me so please don’t bash me lol. I’ve also included a screenshot of my calories and so on. Thanks for any advice you guys can give.
I do not foresee a 1900 calorie daily diet being sustainable for a 235lb 6’4 male that is engaging in regular exercise 5 days a week. My biggest concern would be an eventually relapse followed by a binge once a breaking point is reached.
This could be something implemented for a VERY limited window of time, but it would necessitate some sort of “escape plan” for the AFTER period, so that one doesn’t just go whole hog off the deep end.
How many calories do you think I need to hit a day for this not to happen and what are some healthy foods I could add and take on the road with me at work?
I am not a calorie counter myself. I’m not a fan of that approach to nutrition. In that regard, I could not say.
Were I to construct a healthful diet, I’d keep the eggs consider including some manner of red meat alongside/in place of the chicken breasts. Chicken tends to be pretty low in nutrients, and as a monogastric animal, depending on how it was raised, it can have a pretty poor fat profile. Opting for breasts can eliminate that, since it’s so lean…but now it’s just protein, and doesn’t afford the benefits of b vitamins and omega 3s like you could find in grassfed beef.
I like the cottage cheese. I don’t care for rice myself, but it depends on the goals of the trainee.
Thanks for the advice!
I’m the same height and weight as you and did that low of calories to prep for a fight. Can’t imagine maintaining it. I don’t count calories aside from competition prep, but fatty meats (steak, brisket, pork belly) have been great to get protein in and get calories around 2500-2800. If I’m crashing, I’ll eat a small amount of carbs after I finish meat and then rinse down with soda water.
I guess I should have added that I’m wanting to hit 220 as quick as I can then see how I feel and look. I’ll add some red meats and maybe some fruits and nuts for a few more calories. I’m just not good at calorie counting.
I’m not either. That’s why I prefer to prioritize fatty meats, then throw some carbs in after I eat them if I’m still hungry.
It’s pretty easy to roughly gauge calories in when you eat 4 eggs for breakfast, a 16oz ribeye for lunch and 16oz of brisket or ground beef for dinner. Again, if hungry, I’ll have 200 calories of rice afterwards. Last night was a good example. I ate 1lb of ground beef with a runny egg on top. Was still hungry so had a bit of rice.
I find this way of eating very maintainable and for first time in life have sustained a ‘diet’. At end of month when I begin my ‘bulking’ phase, I’ll just increase calories.
What’s special about this number? I did the same thing to hit 222, but that was for a competition with weight limits.
I just need rid of this gut and love handles. After I hit 40 is slowly started gaining. I’ve actually lost 20 pounds in the past 2 months by stopping all energy and soda drinks. Now I have coffee in the morning and about 60oz of water a day and I feel a lot better.
great work!
Totally agree here. Doing something radical to lose weight is not a great idea. Sustainability needs to be maintained.
If you know how/have the willpower to diet hard and then properly reverse out of it then that’s a different story bit most do not and end up back where they were.
This is not a good plan. You need to diet properly or we will be right back here a few months from now.
How do you currently eat?
Do you IF currently?
Do you want to make this a way of life?
For the past month I’ve eaten 2 boiled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch I eat a chicken wrap with cheese and avocado and some baked lays. Dinner is what ever the wife cooks but not eating until I feel like I’m going to bust. But yes I want to get where I feel good, look good, and have good health over all. I want to have a healthy diet and not just to lose weight but to be healthy. I lifted in my early 30s and know how to lift. I did a couple of cycles back then but didn’t know what I was doing with the cycles. I don’t want to go back down that road for now. Over all I want to have some muscle mass and be healthy from here on out. As far as calories a day, what would you recommend a day? And what’s your thoughts on the 20 hour fast? Ice read good things on it.
I have always used what I call an “idiot diet”
I never counted calories. The diet is very simple. Clean up your diet. Remove all sugars and processed carbohydrates. Eat at least 250 grams of protein a day over 5 to 6 meals. Then use a feedback system. If you are not loosing weight after the second week, drop some carbohydrates and see if you drop weight the next week. Use that logic going forward. Secondly, assure that as you drop weight that you are not getting weaker. If you are getting weaker add back some of the carbohydrates. Any idiot can follow this.
This is not a fast weight loss method. This method is to maintain as much muscle as possible while you look better.
What’s your opinion on the foods I listed in the diet but me adding some red meats?
I always like it when the scale hits 222.2
Hard to say, your currently eating 1900 or that is your plan?
IMO that is too low to start. You won’t have much room to drop cals when your fat loss stalls. Losing fat takes patience and consistancy. Take a look at my log from the last couple months. Built up to 223lbs and then started dieting a couple weeks into june. i’m at 198.8lbs this morning. Look at what i eat every day where my casl/macros are.
Consistancy in your food and cardio is what is going to lean you up. Not fad dieting or completely changing the style in which you eat.
Start logging your foods/cals/macros for a few weeks and see what your body weight does. If your not experienced in fat loss by feel you need to weigh/log your foods or you will have 0 idea what is going on.
If your not already IF then don’t start now unless you wanna make it a lifestyle. Once you stop you will rebound quickly.
Ok I’ll work on adding some good calories. I appreciate yours and everyone’s feed back and not bashing me. All I’ve ever known was.high protein and low carbs and cutting calories. But I’ve slowly been trying to make changes in my life to get to a better place mentally and physically. I’m currently on BP meds and I’d like to get off. I stopped smoking back in January and haven’t looked back .I guess I’m getting older and it’s scarying me and I want a lifestyle change for the better. I have 4.kids and I still have 3 at home I’m rising and want to stick around for them.
I like Robert Sikes phrase of “caloric runway” to describe this concept. You wanna have as long of a runway as possible when you start fat loss. If you start at 1900 calories, where can you go from there?
Crash Diet Hell