Need help dieting

[Alex_4444]

Hi peeps im new to this so bare with me

Im about 220 pounds with a b/f of about 12% ive worked hard for about 2 years when i was 175 pounds and obviously with muscle mass comes unwanted fat, i weight train 4 times a week and do cardio about 2-3 times a week. Im now fininding it really hard to lose the fat but keep the muscle. I dont know what or when to eat, ive spent so much time bulking up it feels like anything else other than a bulking up diet is wrong. I have slashed my diet but im not sure if i have enough. I never cheat and genrally dont eat heavy carbs after 6 ish.
Can anyone give me tips on how to eat and train? Would really appriciate any help.

 

[EZ_E]

Hi peeps im new to this so bare with me

Im about 220 pounds with a b/f of about 12% ive worked hard for about 2 years when i was 175 pounds and obviously with muscle mass comes unwanted fat, i weight train 4 times a week and do cardio about 2-3 times a week. Im now fininding it really hard to lose the fat but keep the muscle. I dont know what or when to eat, ive spent so much time bulking up it feels like anything else other than a bulking up diet is wrong. I have slashed my diet but im not sure if i have enough. I never cheat and genrally dont eat heavy carbs after 6 ish.
Can anyone give me tips on how to eat and train? Would really appriciate any help.

What's up brotha, welcome to EF

The best way to start here is to post what you eat in a average day...and I mean be VERY VERY VERY specific: what the food is, how much, the time you ate it, how it was prepared, etc...

The do the same for your average week of training...

We got this..

~EZ

 

[Alex_4444]

Cheers for the tip,

My average day is:

i get up at 6am do 30 mins of cardio on a punch bag, along with pull ups and push ups, then straight after i have a shake (70g of maltodextrin, 30g of protein) with water.

8:30, 2 tomatoes, 2 slices of whole meal toast and a small portion of beans.

A peace of fruit an hour later

12:00 i have a grilled chicken wholemeal Baguette with lettuce, cucumber, and chopped tomato.

14:30 i have a chicken salad, loads of grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, a table spoon of coleslaw, and potato salad.

16:00 a 30g protein shake with milk, and creatine.

16:30 train for about 60mins heavy weights depending on the day chest or back or legs etc.

17:30 finished training. Shake, 70g of maltodextrin, 30g of protein and 5g of creatine with water.

19:00 evening meal, spagetti bolognesse

22:00 30g protein shake before bed

23:00 bed

Is this a good diet to lean up? when i was bulking i was eating bigger portions and small things like fruit or cereal bars inbetween.
Have i cut my diet enough or is it still to much?
I think my problem is i eat as soon as i get a little hungry because in my head i think when i get hungry my body is feeding off my muscles.

 

[EarthRider]

Do hitt cardio

 

[EZ_E]

Cheers for the tip,

My average day is:

i get up at 6am do 30 mins of cardio on a punch bag, along with pull ups and push ups, then straight after i have a shake (70g of maltodextrin, 30g of protein) with water.

8:30, 2 tomatoes, 2 slices of whole meal toast and a small portion of beans.

A peace of fruit an hour later

12:00 i have a grilled chicken wholemeal Baguette with lettuce, cucumber, and chopped tomato.

14:30 i have a chicken salad, loads of grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, a table spoon of coleslaw, and potato salad.

16:00 a 30g protein shake with milk, and creatine.

16:30 train for about 60mins heavy weights depending on the day chest or back or legs etc.

17:30 finished training. Shake, 70g of maltodextrin, 30g of protein and 5g of creatine with water.

19:00 evening meal, spagetti bolognesse

22:00 30g protein shake before bed

23:00 bed

Is this a good diet to lean up? when i was bulking i was eating bigger portions and small things like fruit or cereal bars inbetween.
Have i cut my diet enough or is it still to much?
I think my problem is i eat as soon as i get a little hungry because in my head i think when i get hungry my body is feeding off my muscles.

I'd add in a meal in between the 8:30 and 12:00 meals and the
7pm meal should be another portion of lean meat, ditch the pasta but you should have some good carbs in the rotation...

If you're looking @ getting lean; smart move on cardio in the AM without eating....but, you gotta change up your training routine....no more heavy weights, moderate weight/high reps/supersets and/or interval training...

~EZ

 

[Alex_4444]

I'd add in a meal in between the 8:30 and 12:00 meals and the
7pm meal should be another portion of lean meat, ditch the pasta but you should have some good carbs in the rotation...

If you're looking @ getting lean; smart move on cardio in the AM without eating....but, you gotta change up your training routine....no more heavy weights, moderate weight/high reps/supersets and/or interval training...

~EZ

Thanks man. What would you recommend to eat before bed?

 

[EZ_E]

Thanks man. What would you recommend to eat before bed?

My last meal is egg whites and almonds...the egg whites are a slow digesting protein & the good fat from the almonds helps slow the digestion even more...

Other guys like a shake with cassein protein...



~EZ

 

[red head]

I'd add in a meal in between the 8:30 and 12:00 meals and the
7pm meal should be another portion of lean meat, ditch the pasta but you should have some good carbs in the rotation...

If you're looking @ getting lean; smart move on cardio in the AM without eating....but, you gotta change up your training routine....no more heavy weights, moderate weight/high reps/supersets and/or interval training...

~EZ

i disagree the op should keep his training the same and keep the weight on the bar the same , lightening up on the load while dieting is garaunteed to cause muscle loss

 

[kagenical]

I might get flamed for this here, but having been in a very similar situation, I started doing intermittent fasting during the daytime hours. Basically, from sleep (say, 11pm) until 2pm I eat nothing but black coffee. I have a large tuna melt sandwich at 2pm (40g Protein if made with a good quality bread) and some other lean protein sources (often skim milk, unfortunately, as dairy isn't the best - but at work, I have few options) every hour on the hour until my workout at 6pm. Typically at this point, I'll have consumed around 700Kcal and 80g protein, which means, post workout (between say, 7pm and 11pm bedtime) I'm to consume 1.2kKcal and another 120g protein. I have had fantastic results by biasing my food intake to the hours around my workout. An added bonus is that I'm more alert during the fasting period, and I even managed to put on a pound or two of lean mass.

You need to count your calories. Determine your TDEE, eat 500Kcal under it for modestly fast weight loss. Never be afraid to round down your caloric expenditure and round up your intake, fudging the math for a few hundred Kcal daily adds up over a month.

As stated above, you should also try explosive type cardio training, such as HIIT... And graduate to Tabata sprints if you have the balls. And finally, I also agree that lowering the weights isn't going to help you much. I reduce my volume by around 20%, but keep the weight the same. You will likely never increase your weights during caloric restriction, unless you're on gear, or are just starting to lift. An EC stack isn't a poor alternative either, but willpower is still king of this arena.

 

[75th]

I might get flamed for this here, but having been in a very similar situation, I started doing intermittent fasting during the daytime hours. Basically, from sleep (say, 11pm) until 2pm I eat nothing but black coffee. I have a large tuna melt sandwich at 2pm (40g Protein if made with a good quality bread) and some other lean protein sources (often skim milk, unfortunately, as dairy isn't the best - but at work, I have few options) every hour on the hour until my workout at 6pm. Typically at this point, I'll have consumed around 700Kcal and 80g protein, which means, post workout (between say, 7pm and 11pm bedtime) I'm to consume 1.2kKcal and another 120g protein. I have had fantastic results by biasing my food intake to the hours around my workout. An added bonus is that I'm more alert during the fasting period, and I even managed to put on a pound or two of lean mass.

You need to count your calories. Determine your TDEE, eat 500Kcal under it for modestly fast weight loss. Never be afraid to round down your caloric expenditure and round up your intake, fudging the math for a few hundred Kcal daily adds up over a month.

I can also vouch for intermittent fasting.

If its not your cup of tea, though, at least get rid of that malodextrin shit as a start. Completely useless.

Log all your food into a program like Caloriecount or Fitday. Make sure you're getting 1g per lb of protein and, as said above, that your calls are 500kcal lower than your maintenance.