Hey guys. I've been reading many of these posts for over a year now and have been learning a lot. I'm 19 5'9'' natural and currently around 195 pounds and leaning out. Not exactly sure what my bf is but I'd say somewhere in the mid teens as of now. I've been lifting since I was 15 but started pursuing it seriously around two years ago with bodybuilding in mind. I kind of went crazy last fall/winter and put on a lot of mass and got up to 265. Needless to say I got pretty bulky and fat. I've been cutting since February, mainly at first just cutting calories and carbs. In June I started the basic outline of Dave Palumbo's keto cutting diet (high protein and healthy fats) and I have lost a lot of fat and kept my strength and most of my muscle. Right now I'm on 2285 calories on training days and around 2000 on nontraining days. One cheat meal a week with carbs. I do low intensity cardio twice a day- 30 mins after weights and 40 mins at night at around 3.3 on the treadmill. My question I guess is all of this good or what should I change? I am wondering if my calories are too low, whether I should lower them further, whether cardio is the right amount, etc. My training has been pretty high volume and as of late I am feeling a little burned out and can't help but notice I am pretty flat towards the end of the week. I've been doing this all on my own so I figured I'd finally seek out others' opinions who know a lot more than I do. I want to get down to at least 8% bf before doing a slow and controlled bulk next year. Thanks guys.
been quietly reading for awhile...question on current cutting diet
- Thread starter cmeis90
- Start date
Larrybird
New member
Man, it sounds like you're putting your body under a lot of stress. Cardio twice a day? Some of us are lucky to get it twice a WEEK.
Ok, so are you stalling? I couldn't really tell what the problem you're having is. Other than being pretty flat towards the end of the week. Also, when's the last time you took a good week or two off from your training? I mean not exercising at all!
It sounds like to me that you're definitely under eating. You're probably burning 1200 or so calories a day with all the exercise you're doing. I'd say cut out the twice a day cardio crap. That's only going to hinder your gains. Sounds to me that you're trying to get to 8% too fast, or whatever % you want.
Try just doing cardio 3 or 4x a week at the most for 45 minutes, and throw weight training in 3-5 times a week as well.
You need to listen to your body! If you're tired, there is a reason for it!
You're over doing it brother.
Ok, so are you stalling? I couldn't really tell what the problem you're having is. Other than being pretty flat towards the end of the week. Also, when's the last time you took a good week or two off from your training? I mean not exercising at all!
It sounds like to me that you're definitely under eating. You're probably burning 1200 or so calories a day with all the exercise you're doing. I'd say cut out the twice a day cardio crap. That's only going to hinder your gains. Sounds to me that you're trying to get to 8% too fast, or whatever % you want.
Try just doing cardio 3 or 4x a week at the most for 45 minutes, and throw weight training in 3-5 times a week as well.
You need to listen to your body! If you're tired, there is a reason for it!
You're over doing it brother.
Hey thanks for the reply. Not really stalling, I'm still losing fat but I'm just trying to figure out if and when I need to adjust anything. I always like to know what I'm going to do two steps ahead and right now I'm not too sure.
If I had to I could probably ride it out a few more months at the pace I'm going, but any more cardio or severe calorie cuts would be hard and my training would surely suffer. I've worked up to this as two months ago I was only doing cardio 20 min. 4 days a week and calories were a little higher. I've tweaked things to keep the fat loss going.
Pretty much I just want to get this done as efficiently as possible. I'm not preparing for a contest or anything like that yet but at the same time I know any dieting is not supposed to be easy. I just don't want to do a bunch of work and feel tired all the time and then end up losing muscle. Whatever I need to do I'll do it- I just don't want to go backwards at all.
(BTW last time I took time off was the beginning of the summer for a week in Florida. Did a lot of walking but no weights or planned cardio.)
If I had to I could probably ride it out a few more months at the pace I'm going, but any more cardio or severe calorie cuts would be hard and my training would surely suffer. I've worked up to this as two months ago I was only doing cardio 20 min. 4 days a week and calories were a little higher. I've tweaked things to keep the fat loss going.
Pretty much I just want to get this done as efficiently as possible. I'm not preparing for a contest or anything like that yet but at the same time I know any dieting is not supposed to be easy. I just don't want to do a bunch of work and feel tired all the time and then end up losing muscle. Whatever I need to do I'll do it- I just don't want to go backwards at all.
(BTW last time I took time off was the beginning of the summer for a week in Florida. Did a lot of walking but no weights or planned cardio.)
