Cutting diet is stalling out. Need help!

[hammer21]

I have been on this exact diet for the last 10 weeks.
Meal #1- 2scoops whey, 1tbs. flax-390 cals(10gr carbs-41gr prot-19gr fat)
Meal #2- 5oz chick breast, 1 whole grain tortilla, 1/8 cup cheese-386 cals(13gr carbs- 55gr prot- 13gr fat)
meal #3- Same as #2
meal #4- 5oz chik breast, 1/8 cup cheese, 2tbls sour cream-336 cals-(0gr carbs-48gr prot-14.5gr fat)
meal #5- same as #4
meal #6- same as #1

Cals-2224-46gr carbs-288gr prot-93gr fat
Ilift weights 4 days a week with 30 min of cardio on three of those days and 45 min on my 2 days off of the weights. No training on Sunday- cheat day.

I am 34 yr old.
5'9"
197lbs.
10-12% bf
I started this diet at 224lbs and 17-18% bf
I eat this menu 6 days a week and on Sunday I have a free for all.
In the past month and a half this carb depletion for 6 days and then carb load on Sunday has been effective. I drop 8-9 lbs during the week and gain 6-7 back on Sunday, for a net loss of 2lbs per week on average. But now I am feeling weak and tired and I gained a pound last Sunday. Should I end this diet and go back to maint. cals for a while? If so then how do I go from my current 2200 cals to 3000 without gaining back 10 lbs? If not then what do I need to do to get to my goal of 6-7 %bf? I don't think I can stand to restrict cals anymore than I am. I am starving all the time. I wanted to get as lean as possible before starting a clean bulk this winter. I am the leanest I have been in my entire adult life and I am loving being able to see my top 4 abs, but I really want to get shredded now. Three years ago I was 270 and 30% plus bf. I was wearing a size 42 pants, now I am loose in a 32. Plan on cycling this winter again to get as heavy as I can while maintaining no more than 10% bf, which is why I want to get to 6-7% before I go back on. My long term goal is to be 220 lbs with a visible 6-pack. Hopefully by next summer. Any suggestions?

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

Without preaching to much this is why I do not like NO CARB Diets....There is no manipulation as you have no where to go since they are already none.

You have a couple options in my opinon--

Lower your Fat intake to about 70 - 75g / up your protein intake to about 325g Also Every 3rd or 4th Day go with a High Carb Meal (NOT DAY). Get rid of you Sunday All day cheat. This High Carb Meal should be upwards of 200g- (So total for that day is about 250g) other days 50g.

I would also back off cardio to 30 min of Cardio (5x / week) until you see how your react. Then you can Slowly add back in.

OR

You can go back to eating maint kcals----Probably your best bet.

Your going to gain some weight back....you just won't go from restricting kcals to eating more without gaining. Your body has probably been in starvation mode and will look to increase fat and muscle.

However you will be in a better position to cut once your body levels out again.

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

Also congrats on such a great transformation.....

I want to ask did you have any loose skin problems with such a large weight reduction.

 

[Popichulo]

I agree with Dirk I stalled out on my diet which was a CKD style after 8 weeks. I took 7-10 days off at 200cal Below maint (to accomidate any metabolic slow down due to lengthy dieting periods), I kept carbs at approx 150-200g ED and lowers the fat intake. So after the time off I stared back up again and have since dropped an extra 6lbs.

 

[hammer21]

Thanks for the input. I will wait til this sundays weigh-in to see what the scale says and then make a decision. One of my likely alternatives was to have a cheat meal every time I make a new low on the scale. I hadn't considered dropping the fat however. And yes I had a fair amount of stretch-marked and loose skin on my stomach after the initial drop from 270 to 230lbs. But that was from 2003 to 2004 and over the last 2 years of refining my diet and training to get these last 30 lbs off, that loose skin has all but dissappeared. Don't know how or why. Anymore opinions would be welcome and I will let you know what I decide to do after this Sunday.

 

[hammer21]

Also I will post my before and after pics from 2003 and today if anyone is interested. I would also like to say that is has been forums and boards like this one that made it possible for me to accomplish what I have thus far. I wish more people would put in the effort to just research diet and training and nutrition so that they can help themselves. Unfortunately all I seem to find are people who want to know what magical thing I did or took to look this way after being in as bad of shape as I was. Then they want to know how to eat and what to do in the gym and they just want all of this handed to them without any re-search or effort of their own. Now when someone says "you look great what have you been doing to get into such good shape?" I say eating dry cat food and wearing a sauna suit for 16.5 hours every day. But really to all of you willing to help those of us willing to help ourselves, Thank you for sharing your knowledge. By the way please don't think that I don't jump at the chance to make up a diet or go to the gym with anyone who shows me that they are willing to be committed.

 

[Eat it or Beat it!!!]

never really been a fan of low carb diets. i like to start with high carbs and simply take out 50 or so grams a week. when u go straight to a low carb like this it doesnt give u much to tweak with like dirk has stated

 

[biotekguy]

Without preaching to much this is why I do not like NO CARB Diets....There is no manipulation as you have no where to go since they are already none.

You have a couple options in my opinon--

Lower your Fat intake to about 70 - 75g / up your protein intake to about 325g Also Every 3rd or 4th Day go with a High Carb Meal (NOT DAY). Get rid of you Sunday All day cheat. This High Carb Meal should be upwards of 200g- (So total for that day is about 250g) other days 50g.

I would also back off cardio to 30 min of Cardio (5x / week) until you see how your react. Then you can Slowly add back in.

OR

You can go back to eating maint kcals----Probably your best bet.

Your going to gain some weight back....you just won't go from restricting kcals to eating more without gaining. Your body has probably been in starvation mode and will look to increase fat and muscle.

However you will be in a better position to cut once your body levels out again.

Dirk, excellent post. Almost exactly what I was going to say. I do low carbs (~90g ED) for 3 days straight, then Day 4 is "high" carb...~180-200g. Repeat. I'm 5'8", 195lbs, ~10% bf. I do cardio about 5x/wk (running and power-walking) and lift ~4-5x/wk.

My intake: (low-carb days): D 1-3: Cals: 2,000; Prot: 330g protein; Carbs: 90g; Fat: 36g.
(high-carb days): same except carbs are upped to ~180g-200g complex

Don't forget that if you want to keep losing weight, one of the better approaches is to not decrease your cals, but to increase your cardio! Ya, it sux, but the benefits of a sick 6-pack is worth it! GOOD luck and great job on your gains...errr...loses so far!

 

[hammer21]

Good advice!

I decided to go to maint. cals. Since 8/15 I have been at 2900 cals a day with a 40-40-20 split. I bumped up from 195 lbs at my lightest, to 200 lbs. and I have continued to cheat on sunday. Weight jumped to 200 the first day of maint cals and has stayed there for 3 weeks now. I feel bigger and stronger and more energetic during my workouts. My abs arent as visible as they were when I was carb depleted, probably understandable. It is amazing to me that I feel bordeline fat at 200 right now just because i can remember feeling leaner when i was 195. But what about when i was 270 and 30 plus % bf? It is like i cant even picture that guy anymore. I made one of those 270 pics into my desktop background so i could see that reminder everyday. Anyway I will continue maint cals for Sept. and then decide what to do. I am thingking of running tren and Anavar (var) for a 6 weeker then coming off for 12 weeks til mar 1st and starting 12 weeks of enanthate and eq at 500mg wk each then transitioning to tren and Anavar (var) and prop for weeks 13 to 18 which should put me into mid june in pretty good shape.

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

Good luck and keep us posted on your success.