Starting a 15 Week Cut Monday

Teddy057 · December 3, 2010, 10:53pm

Hey guys, I’ll be starting my 15 week cut Monday. The show I want to do is April 2nd. I want to compete in the Lightweight division, and this will be my first show. I’m 5’9 173lbs, 15 weeks sounds good for a 25+ lb drop.I have some questions about the cutting diet I’m going to be doing. Here it is:

Meal 1- 5 whole eggs (make sure to buy OMEGA-3 EGGS from the supermarket. They contain virtually NO saturated fat and tons of good OMEGA-3 fats); add another 4 egg whites to this (they donâ??t need to be the Omega-3 ones; you can use liquid egg whites).

Meal 2 - 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoon of All Natural Peanut butter (no sugar).

Meal 3 -8oz chicken with 1/2-cup cashew nuts (almonds, or walnuts).

Meal 4 - 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoons of All Natural Peanut butter (no sugar added).

Meal 5- 8oz Salmon, Swordfish, or red meat with a green salad (no tomatoes, carrots, or red peppers) with 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil or Macadamia nut oil and vinegar.

Meal 6 - 50g Whey protein with 1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter or 4 whole (Omega-3) eggs and 4 extra whites

This is Palumbo’s diet I found online by the way. So, for my questions:
-is it okay to substitute in whole foods for the whey protein? such as 8oz chicken, or fish?

-For the once a week cheat meal, would you all suggest 1 “Re Feed” day, (High carbs, low fat, moderate protein), or just 1 cheat meal with high carbs? Granted I would keep both clean, and wouldn’t be downing an entire pizza or anything like that.

Any insight people can give me would be greatly appreciated.

LiquidMercury · December 3, 2010, 10:58pm

Why are you doing this show?
Why are you dropping 25 lbs for this show?
Why are you dropping 25 lbs for this show when you don’t have enough muscle as is? At 5’9" going down to 154 you’ll just look annorexic.

Insight: Don’t do the show. Spend the next year adding size, get up over 200, see how you look and if you still want to do a show go from there.

Nikki9591 · December 3, 2010, 11:18pm

I don’t see why he can’t do a show. Granted he’s small, but he’s young, and getting experience with doing a show will be nice. So then he already knows what to expect when he does get bigger.

I like to do a high carb meal for my cheats, for the leptin level increase and I feel that my body comp is better the next day.
I don’t like refeed days, and figure that if I do well with a cheat meal, why change it? But it’s just what works for me.

Teddy057 · December 3, 2010, 11:24pm

Liquid, I’m just curious but have you ever done a show? Why am I doing a show? Because, I want to. Are you saying the Lightweight division is only for people under let’s say 5’5? I picked the lightweight division because that’s where I would feel the most comfortable.

Blaze_108 · December 3, 2010, 11:27pm

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:

Why are you doing this show?
Why are you dropping 25 lbs for this show?
Why are you dropping 25 lbs for this show when you don’t have enough muscle as is? At 5’9" going down to 154 you’ll just look annorexic.

Insight: Don’t do the show. Spend the next year adding size, get up over 200, see how you look and if you still want to do a show go from there.[/quote]

Have you seen the pics from sloh’s thread? His stats are around what this guy’s contest goal is and he looks really solid at this point.
That being said, without pictures this guy may be nowhere near where sloh was starting at muscle-wise (he’s starting around 30lbs lighter).
My point is just that without pictures we can’t shut down the option that he could compete and do well(however unlikely).

OP-this means post pictures.

The_Mighty_Stu · December 4, 2010, 1:04am

my thoughts…

-Food is always preferable to liquid during a cut because your body will actually have to process it. You will not only benefit more from the caloric expenditure of digestion, but you will be fuller, which is definitely a plus.

-Not the biggest fan of keto diets, especially for natties prepping for shows. Yes, I know people have had success with them, but too many of the top competitors I know agree that carbs have their place when you need to maintain muscle mass. You may not need a ton of carbs, but intelligent planning will allow you to use a sparse amount at specific times of the day.

-5’9 and 50 lbs onstage is quite small. I’m 5’8, and I compete at 173-175 lbs

S

Blaze_108 · December 4, 2010, 1:06am

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
my thoughts…

-Food is always preferable to liquid during a cut because your body will actually have to process it. You will not only benefit more from the caloric expenditure of digestion, but you will be fuller, which is definitely a plus.

-Not the biggest fan of keto diets, especially for natties prepping for shows. Yes, I know people have had success with them, but too many of the top competitors I know agree that carbs have their place when you need to maintain muscle mass. You may not need a ton of carbs, but intelligent planning will allow you to use a sparse amount at specific times of the day.

-5’9 and 50 lbs onstage is quite small. I’m 5’8, and I compete at 173-175 lbs

S[/quote]

Stu, out of curiosity, what weight were you at for your first competition?

Teddy057 · December 4, 2010, 3:09am

It sounds like you all should start a petition to remove the Lightweight division. Yeah, 145-154.5 isn’t much weight. But, I want to do a show, and then build back up. What’s the worst that can happen?

dnlcdstn · December 4, 2010, 4:18pm

Do the show. You’re gonna learn things that you need to know. You don’t have to win your first show. It will give you a good idea of what you need to do in order to compete and win.

riverhawk23 · December 4, 2010, 4:40pm

[quote]Teddy057 wrote:

This is Palumbo’s diet I found online by the way. So, for my questions:
-is it okay to substitute in whole foods for the whey protein? such as 8oz chicken, or fish?

-For the once a week cheat meal, would you all suggest 1 “Re Feed” day, (High carbs, low fat, moderate protein), or just 1 cheat meal with high carbs? Granted I would keep both clean, and wouldn’t be downing an entire pizza or anything like that.

Any insight people can give me would be greatly appreciated. [/quote]

My first concern is I know exactly what the diet is and it is for a man cutting from 200+ pounds. Run it for a week and assess the situation. You may have to cut back a lot from these amounts to get the fat loss you’re looking for.

Secondly I wouldn’t worry about how much weight you need to lose but rather what weight you look best at. You could lose 25+ pounds and look like shit or you could lose 15 and look amazing do not get caught up in the numbers on the scale. The once a week weekly cheat meal starts your second week and it’s ONE meal not the whole day. Have whatever but try not to binge and mess up the next weeks progress.

As for substituting whole foods in place of liquid I say do whatever floats your boat. I think he put those in there for convenience. Remember though to keep those choices lean like chicken turkey white fish, nothing like steak or salmon for those meals when substituting.

If you stall out I’d look at Shelby Starnes book VLCD. You can tailor the diet better to your body.

LiquidMercury · December 4, 2010, 5:15pm

[quote]Teddy057 wrote:
Liquid, I’m just curious but have you ever done a show? Why am I doing a show? Because, I want to. Are you saying the Lightweight division is only for people under let’s say 5’5? I picked the lightweight division because that’s where I would feel the most comfortable. [/quote]

No I have no intention of doing so. That being said I’ve trained people who have, and helped with their nutrition. If you’re already planning on losing 25 lbs in a cut, and at 5’9" (my height) I am just imagining what you’d look like at 154 lbs. I know I personally would look sickly and not like I should be stepping on stage.

[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:

Have you seen the pics from sloh’s thread? His stats are around what this guy’s contest goal is and he looks really solid at this point.
That being said, without pictures this guy may be nowhere near where sloh was starting at muscle-wise (he’s starting around 30lbs lighter).
My point is just that without pictures we can’t shut down the option that he could compete and do well(however unlikely).

OP-this means post pictures.[/quote]

Yes I’ve seen Sloh’s thread, and his stats aren’t anywhere close to this guy’s. Sloh has a helluva lot more size to him to start with. That makes a huge difference.

Professor_X · December 4, 2010, 5:36pm

[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:

Have you seen the pics from sloh’s thread? His stats are around what this guy’s contest goal is and he looks really solid at this point. [/quote]

?

Sloh isn’t 5’9". Why do some of you ignore height?

Professor_X · December 4, 2010, 5:37pm

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
Do the show. You’re gonna learn things that you need to know. You don’t have to win your first show. It will give you a good idea of what you need to do in order to compete and win. [/quote]

Most of these guys don’t ever gain the mass needed because they get stuck on this “must compete” routine too early. i agree with others, why would someone jump on stage for bodybuilding before they build their body up? That makes as much sense as NOT dieting for a show.

Professor_X · December 4, 2010, 5:39pm

[quote]Teddy057 wrote:
It sounds like you all should start a petition to remove the Lightweight division. Yeah, 145-154.5 isn’t much weight. But, I want to do a show, and then build back up. What’s the worst that can happen? [/quote]

You mean besides losing any gains made up to this point and shocking your body by dieting drastically before you ever actually gain a solid base of muscle?

If putting that size on was so easy for you, you would be bigger by now. Considering most people don’t even have the genetics to do well at this, jumping on stage before you even see if you have the potential is strange.

Ct_Rockula · December 4, 2010, 6:00pm

I have no input except to say good luck.

Teddy057 · December 4, 2010, 6:11pm

Okay, clearly I need to post pictures so you all can better assess my body. I’ll do this later, I need to write a huge paper for finals next week =/

dnlcdstn · December 4, 2010, 6:18pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
Do the show. You’re gonna learn things that you need to know. You don’t have to win your first show. It will give you a good idea of what you need to do in order to compete and win. [/quote]

Most of these guys don’t ever gain the mass needed because they get stuck on this “must compete” routine too early. i agree with others, why would someone jump on stage for bodybuilding before they build their body up? That makes as much sense as NOT dieting for a show.[/quote]

While this is true I think it would benefit him to jump on stage and see guys much bigger than him in his class. Then he’ll know what kind of package he needs to bring in order to compete. Also, he is gonna gain some knowledge that he otherwise wouldn’t.

I see what you’re saying and he’s probably not going to place, but what’s it gonna hurt. He will only be better for doing it.

WestCoast7 · December 4, 2010, 6:20pm

[quote]Teddy057 wrote:
Hey guys, I’ll be starting my 15 week cut Monday. The show I want to do is April 2nd. I want to compete in the Lightweight division, and this will be my first show. I’m 5’9 173lbs, 15 weeks sounds good for a 25+ lb drop.I have some questions about the cutting diet I’m going to be doing. Here it is:

Meal 1- 5 whole eggs (make sure to buy OMEGA-3 EGGS from the supermarket. They contain virtually NO saturated fat and tons of good OMEGA-3 fats); add another 4 egg whites to this (they donÃ¢??t need to be the Omega-3 ones; you can use liquid egg whites).