Help with a Diet for Recomp:

[qza]

Wanted some help/advice on a 3 month plan I was trying to put together. My stats are as follows:

Age: 32
Weight: 206lbs (93.4kg)
Height: 5'11
BF%: ~18% (I used fat calipers, average of Jackson/Pollock 7, 3, and 4 method)

My goals are to lose fat while gaining muscle, or at least not losing muscle while I lose fat. I started about 8 months ago at 240lbs and am down about 35lbs on diet and exercise alone. The last 6-8 weeks I haven't lost much weight but my body fat % has dropped between 2-3%. Ideally I'd like to get down to about 12% body fat and go from there.

For the last few months my diet is about 1900 cals, and the only macro I really tracked is protein. I know I should be eating at least 200g/day but I've been lucky if I hit 150g/day.

My plan looks like this:

Daily Macros: 45prot/30carb/25fat
~BMR 2050cals
I work out between 3 or 4 times a week. I do a push day (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders), pull day (Biceps, Back, Traps) and 2 leg days. I do 20 mins of cardio with each workout at a pretty intense pace.

Meal plan is: (apologize for formatting)

cal/prot/carb/fat
Meal 1 1 cup Chili 247 22 22 9
2 whole eggs 148 12 1 10
coffee 97 4 14 2
TOTALS 492 38 37 21

cal/prot/carb/fat
Meal 2 Protein Drink 115 27 1 0
TOTALS 115 27 1 0

cals protein carb fat
Meal 3 4oz Chicken Breast 120 30 0 4
1/4 cup basmati rice 160 4 35 1
1 cup spinach 7 1 1 0
1/2 tomato 13 0 3 0
Zesty Italian Dressing 50 0 2 5
TOTALS 350 35 41 10


cals protein carb fat
Meal 4 Pure Protein Bar - Choc Deluxe 180 21 17 5
TOTALS 180 21 17 5

cals protein carb fat
Meal 5 6oz chicken breast 180 45 0 6
1/4 cup basmati rice 160 4 35 1
1 cup spinach 7 1 1 0
1 cup 2% milk 130 9 12 5
Zesty Italian Dressing 50 0 2 5
TOTALS 477 59 48 12

Meal 6 cals protein carb fat
1 can clover leaf tuna 120 30 0 1
1 tbsp habenero aoli 90 4 1 9
TOTALS 210 34 1 10

GOAL CALS PROTEIN CARB FAT
1900 217g 145g 54g
45% 30% 25%


DIET TOTALS CALS PROTEIN CARB FAT
1824 214 144 58

Any suggestions from the vets? How am I looking?

 

[Milton]

Welcome to the boards! Thanks for the good info. Feel free to ask 3J for some free advice on this as well

 

[qza]

Welcome to the boards! Thanks for the good info. Feel free to ask 3J for some free advice on this as well

Thank you sir! I've read a lot of 3Js stuff. He's certainly a fountain of knowledge. Having him throw down some advice would be an honor!

 

[3J]

thanks for the kind words..

i see a lot wrong with this diet.. you have a goal of building muscle while losing fat.. yet youre eating at the caloric intake i put my female clients on for a cut..

you got your bmr, but not your tdee... and youre eating below your bmr..

do you understand the difference between bmr and tdee?

 

[qza]

thanks for the kind words..

i see a lot wrong with this diet.. you have a goal of building muscle while losing fat.. yet youre eating at the caloric intake i put my female clients on for a cut..

you got your bmr, but not your tdee... and youre eating below your bmr..

do you understand the difference between bmr and tdee?

Hmm, no I had never really looked it up. Based on a calculator I found (Light activity moderately intense workouts 3-4x a week) my TDEE is closer to 2500.

 

[qza]

After about 3 weeks eating the above diet (about 90% adherence, one beer and pizza night) I lost about 3lbs. You'd expect I'd lose more, but I just started a new job and was only able to work out twice a week. Bummed about that.

I've also been getting frequent, minor headaches. Might be that I increased my coffee intake to deal with the new job or it could be I'm drinking less water. I've heard that eating a lot of protein can cause headaches too.

I might add a bit more carbs and fat to the diet to try and hit closer to 2050cals.

Edit: New macros:

Calories 2050
Carbohydrates 154 g 30 %
Fat 68 g 30 %
Protein 205 g 40 %

Eating about 20% below TDEE for now until my bf% gets closer to 12-14%.