Protein

towens00

TDEE - 20% 1480
BMR 1346
BF% 30 per calipers

My main goal is fat loss, secondary goal is not to lose what LBM I have. Lots of definition showed at 140 lbs, not as dramatic diff @ 145. I hit my goal weight of 145 in May. Lost 5 more (really liked the way i was starting to look, other than belly) Went on maintenance, immediately gained it back. My body seems to really like 145, I do not as I have a lot of belly fat. I "think"I need to lose 10 more & then try to build more LBM. I would love to have a flat stomach, but my ultimate goal is to be at a healthy body fat & increase my strength.

SL 5x5 3 x a week (just finished week 1) have been strength training for 19 months
Cardio 2 x week (no more than hour ea & not high intensity)
IF 16/8 to 20/4 daily

On days where I hit my calorie goal, I know how to hit my protein / fat / carb goals.
I'm trying to hit weekly targets whenI know I am going to have a day that will not (day trip to NY, no idea what will be eating, family functions, unplanned eating)
If I have a crap day, I know how to fix so I still hit my weekly calorie goals. My concern is my protein intake suffers on the days I try to make up for the bad day. Low cals usually = low protein for me. I don't want to lose any LBM I may be building by not getting my protein in, but not sure how to get extra protein in otherwise on them low calorie days. Sorry for the,rambling, but I feel like I almost have this figured out except for the protein piece. Am concentrating on the wrong things? Again, main goal is fat loss, I can deal with number on scale if I like how I look (scale still scares crap out of me)
Thanks,
Terry

Sarauk2sf

What do you average out to and how low do you go on protein on your low days?

towens00

I'll get that info together ASAP. Been in a tailspin for last 2 months, trying to figure out how to get back to 140, so diary has been a train wreck, but lots of consistency to be found. Get right back to you.

towens00

I actually hit goal weight of 145 in Feb, hit 140 in May. Average protein was 95g.

Went on maintenance in May, weight crept up & fluctuated around 145 mark. Been up & down ever since. Avg protein from May til yesterday 88g. Low days average 46g.

towens00

I also made my diary public, if you wouldn't mind checking my macros for my goals. I promise to follow any & all recommendations, but will prob whine over carbs

Sarauk2sf

Thanks - we will get back you soon.

I am already whining over my carb intake that I am set to when I start cutting next week. There will possibly some tears next week as well.

towens00

Bump, 48hrs

DopeItUp

This is Sara and SS's forum so take my thoughts as they are, not as a substitute for what they post.

Just a couple notes that stood out to me:

You mention having "bad" days where you go over, and then "fixing" them with lower intake afterwards to compensate. This might work for some people, but it does not work for me. I find it turns into a vicious cycle, going something like this:

Day 1: Bad day, over my calories
Day 2: Lower calorie goal to accommodate previous bad day. End up tired, miserable, hungry. End up struggling to hit new lower goal. Gym performance also sucks because I restricted myself further than normal. Frustration over poor gym performance. Hangry due to lack of food. Bad.
Day 3: End up going over again because I starved myself previous day.
Day 4: Repeat.

I quit doing that. If I go over one day, no matter how much, I just write it off. Going over one day does not mean that I magically need less calories the next day unfortunately (especially if I want my gym routine to not suck). I just chalk it up to an "oh well" moment and move on. I have had MUCH better luck doing this. Just something to think about.

Another thing, your protein intake. Looks like you have it set around 130. I will let Sara/SS be the authority on this, but it is generally recommended to eat around 1g per 1lb of LBM you have. If you weigh around 140 I'm guessing your LBM is not 130, probably ~100. Might be easier to hit ~100 instead of 130. Not that there's anything wrong with 130, it's just that if you're getting frustrated trying to hit 130, it might be a little too lofty of a goal. I think I saw that you averaged something like 95g. Basically perfect, IMO. Again, food for thought.

One last thing...you mentioned hitting 140 but going back up to 145 upon moving to maintenance. This is pretty normal. Higher food intake (and generally carb intake) will generally increase water weight and undigested-food-weight, naturally. So you'll gain a few pounds upon entering maintenance, almost guaranteed. Suddenly increasing calories to maintenance can also result in a little fat gain as well, it is generally recommended to "reverse diet" up to maintenance. Such as, adding 100 calories/day for a week at a time until you reach maintenance. Helps minimize this effect. Again, just something to think about.

Also, one last thing (for real this time), I don't think one low protein day is anything to panic about. I typically have a low protein day on Sundays almost every week. My carbs tend to be sky-high that day as a result. I don't sweat it, I consider it a carb refeed for a new week of workouts. Doesn't seem to have affected my LBM or my weightloss any either (LBM has been consistent for over 2 years of dieting).

Dope

towens00

Thank you for your help. I def don't have 130 lb LBM, 101 per calipers. Playing damage control after the fact is definitely a pattern I have followed for a long time & doesn't work. I will try for 100g protein as minimum & count rest as bonus if I exceed that. Other than eating at a deficit & weight training, anything I'm missing or can add that could help with lowering my BF%?

DopeItUp

Thank you for your help. I def don't have 130 lb LBM, 101 per calipers. Playing damage control after the fact is definitely a pattern I have followed for a long time & doesn't work. I will try for 100g protein as minimum & count rest as bonus if I exceed that. Other than eating at a deficit & weight training, anything I'm missing or can add that could help with lowering my BF%?

Hate to say it, but that's pretty much all it is. It just takes time, and it can be excruciatingly slow the closer you get to your goal. I lost 2lbs/week in the beginning and now I barely lose .5lb/week. These last 20lbs will take me closer to a year to get off!

I personally like to recommend rest a lot. Good sleeping patterns are important, stress can affect your weight loss efforts. Rest days are important between your workouts for recovery. Even taking short breaks from your cutting attempts can be good from a physical and mental standpoint. I eat at maintenance once or twice a week, and usually take a week off once a quarter as well. Different people have different opinions of this but I think it's important for long term success. Helps prevent burn-out. It works for me anyway.

Sarauk2sf

SideSteel and I plan to get through all the outstanding threads this weekend. One of us will also add our thoughts.

towens00

Thank you!

towens00

Bump 48

Sarauk2sf

Sorry for the delay in responding.

As Dope says, when you go to maintenance, you can gain a few pounds just from food and water weight, I know I did.

With regard to your protein, I had a look at your diary but it is a little hard to see exactly what is going on as logging is a bit patchy (which is fine if you are maintaining well).

If you are eating at maintenance, protein requirements decrease. However, they increase as we get older (I am not far behind ) so I think trying to get the 1g/lb/lbm is reasonable as you appear to be wanting only a slight deficit and there is 'wiggle room' in the 1g/lb/lbm recommendation.

I think trying to get 100g is a good target and you do appear to be easily hitting this number. I generally recommend to make the protein a daily minimum and the fats an average weekly minimum, so if you are trying to even out the week and have a low day, I would manipulate fats and carbs and keep the protein up. I would try to average fats at about 50g as a minimum. You may also want to try limiting carbs a bit (sorry :flowerforyou: ) to help nudge along the weight loss.

You look like you have a good plan however re fat loss - eating at a slight deficit, strength training and paying attention to protein.

towens00

I want to try to get to 135lbs, which means 10-12lb loss depending on the day. Don't care about the number as much as lowering BF%. Could I increase my deficit to TDEE - 30? I'm going back to lifting 4x a week & cardio 2x a week. Will redo by BMR & TDEE to make sure of my numbers. Will make my protein priority each day, the rest weekly (thank you!). I've always resorted to severe calorie restriction which I don't want to do any longer, so if I need to be more patient, I can stay at TDEE - 20%. Definitely trying to get my carbs lower especially on non lifting days. Can I supplement with whey protein everyday? (Usually only do on lifting days).

Thanks so much for the help!

Sarauk2sf

I want to try to get to 135lbs, which means 10-12lb loss depending on the day. Don't care about the number as much as lowering BF%. Could I increase my deficit to TDEE - 30? I'm going back to lifting 4x a week & cardio 2x a week. Will redo by BMR & TDEE to make sure of my numbers. Will make my protein priority each day, the rest weekly (thank you!). I've always resorted to severe calorie restriction which I don't want to do any longer, so if I need to be more patient, I can stay at TDEE - 20%. Definitely trying to get my carbs lower especially on non lifting days. Can I supplement with whey protein everyday? (Usually only do on lifting days).

Thanks so much for the help!

I would not recommend going down to that much of a deficit at all. See here for a discussion of large deficits. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1042802-general-question-risks-of-aggressive-deficit

I would actually recommend a TDEE - 15% for you.

If you are having anything more than a very small deficit, I would actually recommend getting nearer g per lb of bodyweight in protein.

You can use whey protein whenever you need to get your protein up.

towens00

Thank you! Will follow to the letter

Sarauk2sf

Locking so we can keep better track of active threads. Please feel free to PM either myself or SideSteel if you have further questions or comments, including a link to this thread, and we will unlock.