Start cutting? Way too much fat.

[RESmonkey]

College has put on some good pounds, and some bad pounds. How can I cut without losing any/much strength and muscle mass?

I can workout 3-4 days a week. I want to keep one of those workouts an olympic weightlifting one (strength), and the rest can be HIIT-type interval cardio (still done with barbell/weights because it works for me).

I eat dorm food so I am not always informed on the healthiness of what I'm eating, but I can sorta tell. Problem is, I'm used to eating quite a bit. I get hungry way too fast. I'm hungry right now as I type this and I ate like 35 minutes ago. D:

I weight 186 pounds (5' 6"), probably 20% bodyfat. I want to know how many calories I should get per day, and how many grams of protein. I'm thinking 40/40/20 carbs protein fat (percentages), and try to get over 200 grams of protein. Again, want to retain as much muscle as possible. :hmm:

Realistically, I'll probably deviate away from the ideal diet a few days because It'll be midnight and I'll be studying and get hungry, and options at those times are very unhealthy.:\

edit = Also, any supplements geared towards fat burning? I'm told there is an advantage.

 

[brikis98]

Start by reading the fat loss sticky. Come back here if you have more questions.

 

[Atty]

Tip: Been cutting for about two weeks now, trying to lose the little bit of lower back fat that has crept its way onto me. I used to be hungry all the time, like you say you are, but adding a few cardio sessions throughout the day has seemed to calm my appetite.

 

[rcpratt]

The biggest thing that has helped me with my first cut (27.2 pounds in 72 days so far) is drinking lots of water. Drink a big bottle of water before every meal. And then more with your meal. Every time you want a snack, drink some more water.

There's more to it of course, most of which is in the sticky. That's just one thing that has helped me that I don't think is in there.

Of course, today I somehow lost control and snacked far more than I should have. Couldn't stop thinking about food all day long. Who knows why, just one of those days I guess.

 

[RESmonkey]

Read the sticky;

question:

So low rep/heavy weight lifting is optimal to preserve muscle mass? Wouldn't high (8-12) rep be hypertrophy range and be the muscle mass gainer, which would be better then the low rep?

edit = I'm just guessing, I don't know the science behind it or anything

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Read the sticky;

question:

So low rep/heavy weight lifting is optimal to preserve muscle mass? Wouldn't high (8-12) rep be hypertrophy range and be the muscle mass gainer, which would be better then the low rep?

edit = I'm just guessing, I don't know the science behind it or anything

Why would 8-12 reps be any better? That induces more metabolic stress. More metabolic stress actually inhibits hypertrophy. You're looking for the most loading on the muscles with the least metabolic stress. Reps between 1 and 5 do that. You aren't a highly experienced lifter so training with heavy reps of 1 is a bad idea. Start relatively light and do the sets of 5. Plus, reps between 8 and 12 typically induce sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, not true muscular hypertrophy. Just stick to reps of 5 for now.

 

[RESmonkey]

Hmm, so my gym coach was wrong about hypertrophy. He used to claim low reps = strength, high reps = hypertrophy = muscle gain.

Hah, I've been doing it wrong this whole time

So you say 1-5 is good? Is this why people who generally push 225+ pounds on the bench only do a few reps and just keep adding weight?

 

[mchammer187]

Hmm, so my gym coach was wrong about hypertrophy. He used to claim low reps = strength, high reps = hypertrophy = muscle gain.

Hah, I've been doing it wrong this whole time

So you say 1-5 is good? Is this why people who generally push 225+ pounds on the bench only do a few reps and just keep adding weight?

That is right low reps = strength
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3LOSMp8vg0o/SN-TtDgZ7DI/AAAAAAAAAM8/c4cT748bx3A/s1600-h/Rep+range.JPG
there are two kinds of hypertrophy

one that will actually increase your your strength and the other kind just increases endurance somewhat

 

[RKS]

... and try to get over 200 grams of protein. Again, want to retain as much muscle as possible. :hmm:

Realistically, I'll probably deviate away from the ideal diet a few days because It'll be midnight and I'll be studying and get hungry, and options at those times are very unhealthy.:\

edit = Also, any supplements geared towards fat burning? I'm told there is an advantage.

I think your RDA for protein is about 50 grams. I wonder if consuming 200 grams would cause ketosis related issues.

 

[Whisper]

I think your RDA for protein is about 50 grams. I wonder if consuming 200 grams would cause ketosis related issues.

50 grams is generally far too low for anyone wanting to build and/or maintain significant levels of muscle mass. As far as I know, excess protein is basically just excreted from the body via urine.

 

[alkemyst]

I think your RDA for protein is about 50 grams. I wonder if consuming 200 grams would cause ketosis related issues.

RDA's are worthless to those that do any training...I don't buy them even for those that don't.

1g of protein is the minimum per day a serious training individual should consider if they want to gain muscle.

I personally figure that, then 10% of my calories in fat and make up the rest with good carbs.

There are plenty of daily calorie calculators out there. When I use them I only target the lean body mass I am shooting for. Fuck feeding the fat.

 

[alkemyst]

50 grams is generally far too low for anyone wanting to build and/or maintain significant levels of muscle mass. As far as I know, excess protein is basically just excreted from the body via urine.

Too much of anything can cause issues. Too much protein does have a lot of problems...if you are training you are going to be using it to rebuild.

Also keep in mind you can't just down it all in one setting. I can't remember the exact number, but anything over about 40g in one three hour period is probably too much. This is another reason you almost have to get in 5-6 meals a day, rather than RDA style 3.

 

[Whisper]

Too much of anything can cause issues. Too much protein does have a lot of problems...if you are training you are going to be using it to rebuild.

Also keep in mind you can't just down it all in one setting. I can't remember the exact number, but anything over about 40g in one three hour period is probably too much. This is another reason you almost have to get in 5-6 meals a day, rather than RDA style 3.

Yeah, I was going to edit in an addendum saying as much, but figured I'd leave it be. Good point, though.

Too much protein can indeed be harmful, especially if you're diabetic or have kidney problems; so long as you keep it at about 30% of your total caloric/energy intake, you should be fine. Anything much more than that risks becoming unhealthy and unnecessary, even in athletes.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Yeah, I was going to edit in an addendum saying as much, but figured I'd leave it be. Good point, though.

Too much protein can indeed be harmful, especially if you're diabetic or have kidney problems; so long as you keep it at about 30% of your total caloric/energy intake, you should be fine. Anything much more than that risks becoming unhealthy and unnecessary, even in athletes.

Too much protein is pretty much exclusively a problem for the pathological. An individual can eat 300g of protein per day, but if he eats them in small 50g meals, he will have no negative effects. If he eats 100g per meal, then he may get kidney stones over a prolonged period. However, you can get far more than 30% of your calories from protein and be perfectly fine.

 

[RESmonkey]

This might seem like a stupid question but I'm told when dieting like this, you lose some fat/tissue in the brain that is essential to living. This isn't true, right?

 

[alkemyst]

This might seem like a stupid question but I'm told when dieting like this, you lose some fat/tissue in the brain that is essential to living. This isn't true, right?

dieting like what? OP's macro breakdown is fine.

If you starve yourself enough the body's organs will all shrink, your body starts consuming itself.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

This might seem like a stupid question but I'm told when dieting like this, you lose some fat/tissue in the brain that is essential to living. This isn't true, right?

Lol, no this is not true. Who told you this? The brain is always the number one priority in the body. If you don't have enough access to certain fatty acids required for myelination of neurons in the brain, your body will access diet, body fat, muscle, and glycogen stores to create these compounds before anything else.

 

[Whisper]

Lol, no this is not true. Who told you this? The brain is always the number one priority in the body. If you don't have enough access to certain fatty acids required for myelination of neurons in the brain, your body will access dietary, fat, muscle, and glycogen stores to create these compounds before anything else.

This. When it comes to diet, or just about any other function of life, the brain is generally first in line for receipt of goods.

There are plenty of ways you may pickle your CNS throughout life, but diet likely won't be one of them.