Burning fat while building muscle!!

Visible and comes down to lower body fat and adequate lean mass. If you're gaining weight on your current calorie intake you're going the opposite direction to see your abs. If you're losing weight you're likely not gaining much if any lean mass. If you're maintaining weight your goal will likely just take time because recomposition is slow. Having that high of a protein intake isn't going to give any added benefits beyond what a more reasonable inake would.

millertime1026 wrote: »

I lost about 30 pounds in the last six months but that was because I stopped drinking alcohol! Now I'm 170 and maintaining there!! I usually hit about 2700 calories everyday! And I'm very active! What would a more reasonable protein intake be! And for that matter how about all of my macros!

If you're maintaining weight, you're possibly doing recomp! This means you will slowly lose fat whilst slowly gaining muscle! If this is what you're doing, you'll get more defined abs eventually! If you want more defined abs more quickly you'll have to eat at a deficit! This will mean that you will unlikely be gaining muscle though! Take your pick!

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

millertime1026 wrote: »

The recomp sounds more of what I'm looking for!! I'm looking for long term goals! So I'm not really looking for a quick fix! I know this will take time and hard work! Once I get my ideal image I would then like to maintain my abs plus a low (healthy) body fat percentage! I really like the cut up lean look! But also with adequate muscle size!

Getting lean and staying lean is not a quick fix! It requires dedication to diet long term! Bulking and cutting is a long term goal too! It takes many cycles to build up decent muscle, especially as a natural lifter! Both require different focus!

This is great advice.. !

millertime1026 wrote: »

Yes, I have been not eating as much protien (over 200gs) seemed a lil excessive! I was trying to stay about 1.2xs my body weight!! Thanks for the input!! Any suggestions on how much cardio would be ideal! I've been doing a lot of HIIT on my off days for about 20-30 mins! About 3 days a week!!? Whatcha think?

OP: You state in the initial post that you were eating only about 2480 cals a day (220g/880/35.5% cal protein, 220g/880/35.5% cal carbs and 80g/720/29% cals fat).

That's actually a very balanced diet of about 1/3 each of P/C/F.

There's NO problem with that and don't let the people here tell you otherwise. There's a prejudice on MFP against "high protein" diets but your ratio of protein is by no means "high" nor "excessive." The ratio is even less (at 32.6% -29.3%) if you are eating 2700-3000 cals/day as you say you do elsewhere.

There are actually good reasons to be on a high protein diet if you are trying to lose or maintain weight. Won't go into that here but it is addressed elsewhere on the forum and the Net. I'll simply let my experience serve as proof of that.

FYI, I've been in recomp and have remained w/in 2.5# of 160# for the past 7 months (down from 196 in prior 5 months) and, based on hydrostatic testing), I reduced my BF from 16.9% to 10.1% (by reducing the weight of my BF and increasing the weight of my LBM by 12.1# over the past 5 months).

I did this on a diet of just below 1900 cals a day based on a macro "goal" of 40P/40C/20F but the average of my macros over the past year actually has been 33%P/39%C/28%F (or about 165gP/194gC/63gF per day. That is a ratio of about 1.03g P/# BW or 1.16g P/#LBM.

These numbers are NOT much different that what you've reported for yourself. So, I wouldn't change anything that you are already doing in this regard.

In addition to maintaining with this diet, I do strength training 4 days a week -- just BP, OHP, SQT and DL -- plus a pushup/pullup/dip routine on SQT/DL days and moderate (non-intensive) rowing for 20 mins on BP/OHP. I do not lift or exercise for increasing strength; just for maintenance which is all that is necessary for recomp and/or maintenance.

In other words, I don't push the weights up constantly (I actually cycle bet high/low weight at relative low reps/sets) and I don't go for high reps or duration in my body weight exercises and rowing). Just enough to stay "in shape" without losing the strength that I've already developed.

As a result of this, I've got defined muscle definition and visible abs. My measurements are: 5'8", 42C-33W-37H. I'm not bulked out or skinny. Just right IMO.

I've been asked if I was interested in engaging in a seniors (I'm 66) physique competition by the person who does my hydrostatic testing. I'm not interested in doing that but I took the question as a compliment from a person who should know what a fit body looks like.

If you want to read about the details of my recomp journey, you can find it in my "Ready to Recomp" thread here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10462715/ready-to-recomp/p1

Recomp isn't as difficult as people make it out to be but it does take time, patience, dedication and determination to stick with the "program."

Daily weighing and food logging plus BF testing by means of DXA or hydrostatic testing at least quarterly is also essential IMO to track progress accurately.

Good luck!