Advice? Critique my plan please?

toshie333

So following reading some threads in the last few week and posting a few, i have made the following changes. If im honest, i have lost half a pound on the scale in the past 3 weeks and maybe feel a little better but its early days.
Most of the folowing i have been doing for 3 weeks now however the final tweaks i have made in the last 4-5 days.

Stats - female, 129.5lb, 24, 5.4"

Gym 4 times a week - 20-25min Hiit with weight training (heavy) 2 x deadlift sessions, 1 x legs, 1 x upper body.

Nutrition :
Calorie cycling 1400 cals (should give me a 500 cal defecit a day over the course of the week)
Macros as 40/30/30
No carbs after lunch except veg eg salad etc
3+ litres of water per day
Only a shake after the Gym (when i exercise at night 2 times a week as i get home after 9pm)
training fasted 2 days a week
taking 2 proteinshakes a day.
no processed food etc.

Is there anything else you would suggest to cut/lose fat?
Thank you in advance!!

(I posted this elsewhere but thought it was in this forum...)

abadvat

With the stats given and the activity level - you are not eating enough to achieve your goals.
If you set your TDEE @ 1900 and cutting 500 cals it means you are on a 30% cut overall... considering you HIIT and compound heavy you are way below targets and need to eat more. If you want to spare muscles and loose weight go down gradually and slowly - 10% cut max IMO (or at least this is how it works best for me!

Macros 40/30/30 - why? your body doesn't work on set ratios - you calculate your nutrition based on goals.

No carbs. after lunch except veg eg salad etc: why? you lift heavy - you need carbs before and after your workout. If you scared that eating carbs in the evening will make you fat - rest reassured - it is complete and utter BS.

Only a shake after the Gym (when i exercise at night 2 times a week as i get home after 9pm): so no solid food beside a shake? if this is the case you are not maximizing your workout. A shake straight after fine but when you reach home get some food - out o which carbs - before and after a workout out carbs are important - cut on the fat if you really have to cut something after a workout.

Training fasted 2 days a week: cannibalizing your muscles! Counter productive for both muscle growth / maintenance and fat loss.

taking 2 protein shakes a day: no way to replace it with real food?

no processed food etc. : not sure what's the big deal with processed food but will not get there...

TavistockToad

yep, still not eating enough... you dont need such a big calorie deificit to lose a bit of fat...

fidesfit

Alright, you're at like 22% BF? give or take a couple percent? Not sure how much you're trying to cut but you don't have far to go considering 15% BF is -insanely- shredded for a female.

You've lost half a pound in 3 weeks, this is a clear sign that this diet setup isn't getting you to your goals. Not I'm not sure how long you've been dieting but half a pound in 3 weeks for as much work as you seem to be putting in isn't really worth it IMO.

Without the calories burned from the HIIT it's hard to say where you should be but you're definitely eating too little, I would consider this calorie range (when calculating your exercise deficit in) to be a crash diet which has it's own host of physical and psychological issues especially metabolic damage.

Protein shakes, these are only really for the days when you either A) can't get your protein in through whole foods or are post workout, have an equal amount of fast absorbing carbs or are being using to mask other things that taste downright awful ie Creatine, BCAA's or LBA's. Not only are protein shakes not going to help you build muscle in the way you're using them (like a supplement) but it's counterproductive as your body (being carb starved half the day) is most likely just converting the protein into carbs anyway.

Despite what anyone may say fasted training does not "cannibalize your muscle" you won't go catabolic in the gym if you're eating enough, which you aren't, again. Eat more. I'm sure someone will disagree with me here but I know plenty of people that are doing intermittent fasting and are making gains in the gym, which they would be unable to do if they were catabolic.

Your macros seem good, since you're eating no processed foods and it sounds like you're eating lots of vegetables I'm sure your fiber and micronutrient intake is fine.

Carbs, you need to balance your carbs better packing your 110 grams or so before lunch isn't ideal. You'll get more from them if they're spread out more throughout the day and especially after you workout, don't be afraid of carbs before bed, this is a myth I'm not going to go into the whole biological reason why but it really only applies to people that are obese or don't generally watch their caloric intake.

This is just what I see here off the top of my head with a limited amount of information, if you really wanted to get into specifics drop me a mail. Good luck!