Curious If What I Think Im Doing Is What Im Actually Doing
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jdholland5508
Posts: 162 Member
So this is going to be kind of a random post with a vague question so im sorry. Basically I have been trying to cut some lbs slowly the last month and a half. My ultimate goal is to have a low body fat and large amount of muscle. I find myself having 2 days in which my intake is low followed by 1 day where I eat a large amount of food(This is not planned just lose control mostly). I have been slowly losing about .5 to 1 lb a day and have been noticing changes in the mirror. People at the gym have been remarking that I have been looking a lot more muscular lately. Is it possible that I actually am cutting (during low days) and gaining muscle (high days) at the same time or is that a pipe dream that I am having and people just think i look more defined? Also do you find what im doing something that will cause me problems in the future? Am i just functioning with an eating disorder of binging every few days? Mostly I am worried that on my low days my fat might be to low?
1) What's your current intake of calories, on average? This is TOTAL CALORIES EATEN so this would include anything you eat for exercise calories. In other words, how much are you eating?
This is the main reason for my question. I basically have two different eating plans. In general I eat at about 1800kcals-2000kcals for 2 days. Then about 3000kcals-3500kcals for one day. So it looks like two low days followed by a high day.
2) What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams?
I hit more that 180grams of protein every day and 50g's fat on low days and about 90g's on high days. Carbs fill in the rest
3) Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
No to food scale but do use measuring cups.
4) Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
On my low days I track everything. On high days I try to get in the ballpark
5) Do you take cheat days or days off?
High days resemble cheat days.
6) How much weight have you lost so far?
first cut I dropped 60lbs, tried a bulk put on 15 and recently lost about 10 of that (read not a good job bulking)
7) What is your activity like, both exercise and non-exercise? (big difference between a construction worker and a desk job) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months. If so, what changed.
I have a desk job so not a lot of moving. I lift for about an hour 6 days a week. Have been doing this for about a year.
8) How long have you eaten at your previous amount and what happened in that time frame?
I have been doing this for about 30 days.
9) What's your height, current weight and if you know it, bodyfat%?
Im 6ft 181lbs and the hand held scale and step on scale measure me at 10.4% I would say I look closer to 12-13.
10) If you're stalled, for how long and is it a complete stall (zero change in weight)?
Not really stalled just wondering what im doing.
1) What's your current intake of calories, on average? This is TOTAL CALORIES EATEN so this would include anything you eat for exercise calories. In other words, how much are you eating?
This is the main reason for my question. I basically have two different eating plans. In general I eat at about 1800kcals-2000kcals for 2 days. Then about 3000kcals-3500kcals for one day. So it looks like two low days followed by a high day.
2) What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams?
I hit more that 180grams of protein every day and 50g's fat on low days and about 90g's on high days. Carbs fill in the rest
3) Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
No to food scale but do use measuring cups.
4) Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
On my low days I track everything. On high days I try to get in the ballpark
5) Do you take cheat days or days off?
High days resemble cheat days.
6) How much weight have you lost so far?
first cut I dropped 60lbs, tried a bulk put on 15 and recently lost about 10 of that (read not a good job bulking)
7) What is your activity like, both exercise and non-exercise? (big difference between a construction worker and a desk job) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months. If so, what changed.
I have a desk job so not a lot of moving. I lift for about an hour 6 days a week. Have been doing this for about a year.
8) How long have you eaten at your previous amount and what happened in that time frame?
I have been doing this for about 30 days.
9) What's your height, current weight and if you know it, bodyfat%?
Im 6ft 181lbs and the hand held scale and step on scale measure me at 10.4% I would say I look closer to 12-13.
10) If you're stalled, for how long and is it a complete stall (zero change in weight)?
Not really stalled just wondering what im doing.
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Replies
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Just tagging to make sure either myself or SideSteel responds.0
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Bumping because I've wondered about this too.0
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There are some diet programs that cycle calories like that. I have not tried any personally but from everything I have read they are very slow and not very efficient at losing body fat or gaining muscle.
Here is the deal. In a month and a half the average male can expect to gain about 2-3 lbs of muscle under optimum conditions. This would be with a good workout program, enough rest, sufficient nutrients and consistently eating in a surplus. The odds of you gaining enough new muscle mass to be visibly noticeable on a cycling calorie diet are very slim in that amount of time.
More than likely you are creating enough of a deficit to make up for the binge days to lose body fat. This with some swelling in the muscle tissue can have the effect of appearing larger.
I hope you get the binging under control as it is usually a sign of a problem. IMO that should be your priority above losing or gaining.0 -
I hope you get the binging under control as it is usually a sign of a problem. IMO that should be your priority above losing or gaining.
Can't say that I disagree with you on this.0 -
Sorry for the delay in responding
Do you feel that your 'binges' are totally out of control eating or more 'eff it, I want some cheesecake'.? The reason I ask, is if its the latter, you may as well make it 'work' for you by calorie cycle, or it may be better to be less restrictive so you don't feel the urge to say 'eff it'. If it's the former cause for the high days, then the underlying cause should be looked at.
It is possible to gain muscle this way, if you are eating at a surplus on lifting days...but it is a very slow and inefficient process. However, calorie cycling for gym performance is something that can be beneficial.
If you can get back to us re the question, we can come up with a suggested intake level0 -
It's more of the second. Just eff it. I also make sure that the days. I'm high that I really push myself hard at the gym. I would love to hear your suggestion for intake. Also wondering about having only 50g fat on low days if that is detrimental. Thanks sara0
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I think we all have eff it days, and you do the best thing with it and use it to your advantage! Thanks for the additional information. It helps coming up with a suggestion - not re weight loss but re adherence and gym performance.0
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bump for sara and sidesteel0
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bump for sara and sidesteel
oop and thanks ;-)0 -
Are you looking to cut or bulk right now, if you had to choose one?0
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Think I need to cut about 4 more lbs of pure fat (AVI not recent). However from post you can see that consistent low cal days have been hard to come by due to hunger and cravings. Trying to find something that will help with consistency and fat loss.0
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Sidesteel and myself are 'chatting' about alternatives - hopefully we will come back with a suggestion tomorrow (well, today now I suppose).0
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So, my suggestion, as I alluded to already, would be to calorie cycle for adherence reasons.
You would have 5 'low' days and 2 'high' days (refeeds).
On you low days, eat to a target of 2,100 and on high days eat to a target of 3,000. It is pretty similar to what you are doing - just more controlled and a little less extreme. I would also suggest you try to be a bit more accurate with tracking (including weighing your food).
I would also try to time the high days with heavier lifting days.
On both types of days you should set your macros at:
Protein: 158g
Fats: 64g
Treat the above as minimums and the balance wherever, based on personal preference.
Let us know if this is something you can stick with. You do not have much to lose and so hopefully you can be done with a deficit soon. Also, let us know if your weight loss is not on track and we can tweak with your intake.0 -
Okay that sounds like a pretty good plan. I think if I know I have a refeed coming I can stick to a lower target more regularly. My main concern is the fat intake. I know what foods to eat to get that up however I have a difficult time staying full with a high amount of fat. I read in one of your other post a while back that the only issue with low fat diets is if they are sustained for a long time. would it be okay if I just tried to average 64g of fat for the week?0
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Re fats - averaging is fine imo as long as you don't go super low on any day. Protein is more of a daily minimum.0
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Sweet! Thanks a lot for your careful consideration.0
