getting stronger while losing some fat

[coreyb]

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on how to keep my lifts going in the 3x5 but at the same time lose some fat over time. Currently I'm eating my ass off and drinking a shit load of whole milk every day. I'm looking for little things I can do to my diet to fufill these goals.

My diet consists of about 4 meals a day. Lots of whole milk. Eggs, burgers, pasta, etc...I don't eat really clean like a bodybuilder...its the diet I've been on just to get to this weight on the 3x5.

any help is appreciated.

corey.

 

[LetsGrow]

If you want to loose some bodyfat you are definately going to have to clean up your eating...instead of whole milk, use 1% or better yet skim, use egg whites with maybe 1 or 2 eggs mixed in. Any type of wheat product should really be whole wheat, when you eat stuff like white bread or pastas you get an insulin spike which increases the amount of bodyfat you store at that point, since your not using it (the exception is actually post workout, white breads and rices etc... are good because your body is absorbing everything within the first 45-60 minutes after a workout to start repairing the muscle, so fast digesting carb like white bread and rice is good). Stay away from fast foods and bad fats and greases, just going to slow you down.

Also up the amount of meal you have during the day to about 6-7, even if its a protein shake or something, because the more often you eat, say every 2-3 hours, the faster your metabolism speeds up to compensate for the food your taking in. I would also consider doing cardio like 3 times a week either first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (or take like 10g protein in water, but thats it) or right after a workout, not before because you want your glycogen stores to be depleted from your workout so that your body starts using its stored energy (fat) as a source for fuel. Again you can take in like 10g protein right before doing the cardio to help prevent muscle breakdown during your cardio.

Hope this helps, let me know how you do.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Uh, it's pretty simple: stop "eating your ass off" and continue to train smart/hard (just stick with the 3x5 if it's still working; you might look at something based on the intermediate 5x5 if you're not able to make workout-to-workout progress anymore). You can get stronger through increases in neural efficiency, so a caloric deficit and strength gains are by no means mutually exclusive, although you'll have to be less aggressive with the weight increases than you were while eating above maintenance.

As far as the stuff mentioned by the last poster, cleaning up your diet and ensuring that your nutrient timing is good will help a bit with losing bodyfat and retaining muscle while dieting, but the main thing is just to stop haphazardly eating everything in sight and reduce your intake to the point where you're losing fat at the rate you want.

 

[gettnlarge01]

This is what works for me 450g of protein,200g of carbs and 60g of fats.This is the basis of my cutter diet and my strength stays up as I lean out.