Diet

[mez2020]

Diet got away from me last cycle with holidays. 215, 23% bf is the final result. Want to get that bf down to around 15 before thinking of next run. Gym several times a week, cardio and weights so I am good there.

Here is the dumb question. On cruising dose. Need to be at a caloric deficit to burn fat. Various recommendations of 1-1.5g per pound of weight, daily, in protein, for maintenance. This is putting me out of wack when it comes to staying in a caloric deficit. Is over body weight in daily protein still needed when cruising since cruising is supposed to help preserve against muscle loss? Trying to minimize any loss in gains while dealing with the body fat.

 

[Thehulk75]

Sticking to the old 1 gram per lb of bodyweight should work fine. You’re at a high bf% so muscle loss isn’t even a concern rn. Get under 10% tho and it’s a different story

 

[EpicFlash]

Don’t confuse loss of mass with being flat or actually losing muscle. Cruising especially in a deficit is going to result in looking smaller and flat. You just have to focus on the goal of dropping BF… I find it easier to cruise with a deficit with higher protein and lower carbs but that leaves the body glycogen depleted and looking flat. I would shoot for 250 G of protein and then make up your deficit with fats and as little carbs as needed to still have enough energy to train… Plus protein for me is the most satiating and allow me to deficit without a whole lot of hunger.

 

[Aoi_611]

@mez2020

As mentioned above, I’d personally stick with the 1gr protein/per lb of body weight. You could in fact go to .8gr but the thing to do is watch the scale and dial in your macros by the week, depending on how things are moving or not moving.

You don’t have to short change yourself on fats or carbs but you can use them strategically. I like to have my first couple of meals of the day sorta heavy on fats (pb, nuts, mct, etc) for the sake of energy then backload what carbs I have post training. Sleep is better and I have all the nutrients needed for the recovery process into the next day.

That’s all personal preference though.

 

[TreyJames]

I’ve noticed that keeping protein higher allows me to cut carbs down significantly. I shed fat when my carb intake is 20% of my daily intake total. I do 1.8g protein per lb of body weight. I get that some people will say “you don’t need that much and your body can’t process it” but I don’t do it thinking i need that much to grow or maintain, I simply do it because my body holds onto fat when my carbs are moderate to high, on a high protein diet I lose a lot of fat and I never worry about hitting my protein goal. Also other benefits, I don’t feel tired after I eat, I’m never bloated, and 20% carbs is still enough for recovery.