Could use some dieting suggestions ...

[purbeast0]

So the past 5-6 weeks or so I've started cutting. Before I started, I weight myself at the gym and I was about 216-218 w/my typical gym gear on, minus the shoes.

Come today I weighed myself and am between 206-208.

I've had a few people at the gym tell me that I look like I lost weight, and most of them say it's in my core area. They can also see it in my face, as that's typically the first place people in general tell me they can see me losing weight.

Since then I also stopped taking celltech. I'm on normal creatine now though, so I figure somewhat of the weight I lost is due to me stopping on that and losing water weight initially.

My eating habits during the week has pretty much consisted of the following.

- Wake up and have protein shake before work.
- Around noon I eat a ham sandwich (w/like 4 slices of deli meat + slice of provolone) and a yogurt.
- Around 4pm I eat a turkey sandwich (w/like 4 slices of deli meat + slice of provolone) and another yogurt.
- When I get home from the gym (or work if its an off day) I have protein shake + creatine.
- Dinner is usually close after, and consists of either 1 1/2lb turkey burger on wheat bun w/ketchup and mustard or some chicken breasts that I cooked in olive oil w/a little marinate of lemon juice and spices, and a can of green beans.
- Before I go to bed I have another protein shake.

I also have been drinking pretty much 1/2 gallon of skim milk/day.

On the weekends I will cheat slightly and sometimes only get 2 protein shakes in, but I try to get atleast the same amount of total food intake if not more, and possibly some alcohol consumption.

I guess my main area of advice I'm looking for is where can I add in some more to eat if I get hungry? My main problem is I don't want to lose weight too fast, which has typically been my problem when cutting up. I have noticed a slight strength loss at the gym when doing my normal routine w/my chest and shoulders pretty much, and slightly w/my biceps and triceps. I started a new back workout so its still pretty new to me, and my leg workout has pretty much stayed the same.

Before I was cutting I could bench 255lbs 8x on my first heavy set. Last week I struggled to get 245lbs 8x and could only do 7x (possibly 8 if I had a spot, didnt want to get stuck). Today for shoulder presses I could only do 80x6 for 3 sets, whereas before I started cutting I got the 85lb dumbells up 8x on my 2nd set.

My strength going down slightly and some people telling me I look thinner is starting to get to my head, and I just wanted to know where I could add in some clean calories if I see myself losing too much weight. (Sometimes after dinner before my protein shake I would have a bowl of cereal like raisin bran or some special K.) I somewhat feel like my clothes and shirts are a LITTLE looser around my arms and chest, but it could also just be in my head.

I really wish I took some before pics before I started to lean, but I am definitely noticing my abs starting to come back into play and they are definitely a lot more visible now than they were a month ago.

For cardio I had been running either a mile on the track or doing some HIIT 3x a week, and then playing football on Saturdays, but I had a hamstring injury a few weeks ago and did light cardio last week. This week I've decided to completely cut out cardio and see if I lose any weight at all w/my normal eating habits.

My main goal was to get my abs visible again but to not get any lighter than 200, with 200 being the lowest I want to get. I had put on over 30lbs since last July and I don't want to lose what I've worked to put on.

So any advice on where I can add some more calories would be appreciated, thanks for reading

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Well, you're cutting so you could actually find something else to eat instead of those protein shakes. You should try to cut most of the protein shakes out and replace them with stuff like tuna salad, chicken breast, lean beef, etc. It is a bit more expensive, but it also leaves you fuller. On top of that, you should be eating some vegetables (or trying to eat some sort of fibrous food item) with each meal. That'll help keep you literally full and you'll get the awesome antioxidants too.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, you're cutting so you could actually find something else to eat instead of those protein shakes. You should try to cut most of the protein shakes out and replace them with stuff like tuna salad, chicken breast, lean beef, etc. It is a bit more expensive, but it also leaves you fuller. On top of that, you should be eating some vegetables (or trying to eat some sort of fibrous food item) with each meal. That'll help keep you literally full and you'll get the awesome antioxidants too.

well yea i've been eating a can of beans with my dinner every night, i thought that was enough veggies

also, it's not that i'm hungry all the time, i'm actually never starving w/my current eating habits which is pretty new for me when i've been cutting.

i'm just wondering where i could add some more calories so that i don't lose too much weight too quickly.

i had never heard about cutting out shakes when cutting, why is that recommended?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, you're cutting so you could actually find something else to eat instead of those protein shakes. You should try to cut most of the protein shakes out and replace them with stuff like tuna salad, chicken breast, lean beef, etc. It is a bit more expensive, but it also leaves you fuller. On top of that, you should be eating some vegetables (or trying to eat some sort of fibrous food item) with each meal. That'll help keep you literally full and you'll get the awesome antioxidants too.

well yea i've been eating a can of beans with my dinner every night, i thought that was enough veggies

also, it's not that i'm hungry all the time, i'm actually never starving w/my current eating habits which is pretty new for me when i've been cutting.

i'm just wondering where i could add some more calories so that i don't lose too much weight too quickly.

i had never heard about cutting out shakes when cutting, why is that recommended?

Shakes are liquid calories. Liquid calories usually aren't very satisfying in the fact that the liquid is processed quickly and leaves your stomach empty again. Fibrous veggies, etc (oats, rice to name a couple) actually keep something in your stomach for a while. This prevents you from actually getting hungry. Also, what's your age and height? Or rather, what's your BMR and how many calories are you taking in?

 

[gramboh]

I'll second eating more fresh colorful veggies, not canned stuff.

 

[purbeast0]

well my BMR is 2068.05.

I'm 5'11, 205lbs, 26 years old.

I would say each of my protein shakes has about 300 calories (so thats 900 calories in protein shakes/day).

Then each sandwich has about 4 slices of deli meat (about a quarter pound of turkey or ham) and a slice of provolone cheese. I would guess they each have about 500ish calories in them.

I've also been eating a yogurt w/them which has about 140 calories, so that's 280 calories w/that.

Then my dinners will consist of a turkey burger (probably 400 - 500 calories) and a can of beans or so (which is like 80 calories).

I also drink a lot of milk, which has been like almost 1/2 gallon a day, but some of that is in my protein shakes. I would say the excess milk I drink is probably 300 - 400 calories.

Then at work I'll also snack on some of these 100 calorie snacks that we have in the free food area or a bag of sun chips or something.

So I would say my total is around ... 3000 - 3500 a day.