First off, I’d just like to say what an excellent resource this is. I am 19 years old, 5’10 and 160 lbs, and am trying to lower my body fat to increase muscle definition in my abs while gaining functional muscle mass. I would like to gain muscle mass but I can not jeopardize my ability to run at a good pace.
To help give a clear understanding of my current fitness level, I run 3 miles in 20:30-22 mins, can do 17 pullups, and can do 100 sit ups in 1:30. I have been doing calisthenics for months, but began a weightlifting routine last week. Nutrition is the department where I am unsure of. I currently attempt to eat a 40-40-20 diet, but often it is closer to 33-33-33.
I found a link to a BMR calculator on this site, and it determined that I need 2800 calories a day. For the past month or so since I have been tracking my diet, I have eaten 1700-2500 calories a day, with an average of about 2000. I have lost a few pounds of fat, but still have some work to do on the abs and chest. I am now worried that I may not be seeing the results I’d like, even though I am obviously coming out in the negatives on daily calories, and that the cause may be undernourishment. My calories come from oatmeal, chicken, milk, and fruits and vegetables with the odd nut or seed. I also drink at least 2 quarts of water a day. Ideally, I would like to weigh 175 while cutting my run time and increasing my pull-ups, but I am afraid that increasing my calorie level will hurt me in these areas even though the BMR shows that I am far below the recommended caloric level for my lifestyle. I know that in order to gain that weight in lean muscle I need to increase calories, but if I’m not getting increased definition at 2000 cals, I’m not sure changing to 2500 or 2800 will help. In addition, I am already at 130-170 grams of protein at 2000 calories, and modifying my diet to reach 2500 calories puts me at 196 grams of protein. I run 12-16 miles a week and now do 3 muscle targeting workouts a week plus a day devoted to calisthenics, and even with that much exercise I think 200 grams of protein will largely be converted to fat.
I realize it’s pretty broad, but what changes should I make in order to reach my goals of losing body fat to increase definition, while gaining functional muscular strength for running and tested calisthenics? I apologize for the long-winded post, but as my goals are specific I felt it would be helpful to have specific details. Thank you for any and all advice.

Generally speaking, you can either cut fat, or gain muscle. Not both at the same time. If you want to do both it is possible, but two things are important to realize. 1. You must be very careful. You have to monitor your calories in and your calories out very carefully. You have to be quite strict with your diet and your excercise. 2. It will happen very slowly. You will not see big changes quickly. If you are ok with slow changes and meticulous calculations and endurance, go for it. Most of us don't want that, so we choose to cut fat for a while, then add muscle for a while, then cut, then bulk, then cut, then bulk.

With your given info, your diet sounds pretty good, you might look at Marcus's sticky at the top of the Fat Loss forum. It's excellent. Only thing I would suggest so far, is to increase your water intake. I drink over 1 gallon each day. It will help you with water retention and keep your kidneys more healthy.

I hope this helps.

Welcome to the forums. You'll find lots of support and help here. You're already doing so much to keep yourself healthy, I'm sure you can help us tremendously -- we all help each other. Keep us posted on your progress and your goals and your methods.

with that much exercise I think 200 grams of protein will largely be converted to fat.

the BMR shows that I am far below the recommended caloric level for my lifestyle.
You've answered your own question. If you're on a calorie deficit, that protein won't make you fat. It won't all be converted to muscle (it never is). It'll be burned for energy, like most of the other food you eat. So don't worry about it.

I run 3 miles in 20:30-22 mins
I run 12-16 miles a week

7 minutes/mile * 15 miles = 105 minutes of cardio

105 minutes of cardio / 7 days in a week = 15 minutes of cardio a day

A lot of people experience a considerable boost to their fat loss by upping their cardio workouts to a minimum of 45 minutes in duration each. For some people, myself included, 20 or 30 minute cardio workouts just don't do any good.

Your cardio workouts are probably way too short, way too infrequent, or both, especially for somebody who prioritizes the ability to run fast.

And, before anybody jumps on me, weights are very important. Lift your weights. Don't do more cardio at the expense of your weight program. Do more cardio in addition to your weight program.

It's not for everybody, and you have to eat to support it, but try doing 45 minute cardio workouts 6 days a week. If you don't have time, make the time, just for a few weeks. See if you get any results.

That's my advice, anyway.

Your cardio workouts are probably way too short, way too infrequent, or both, especially for somebody who prioritizes the ability to run fast.

.

Good post. This is why you need at least 30 min when doing under 65% max HR

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5175&stc=1

Those BMR calculators are only a starting point. You will most likely have to adjust those numbers based on your "real-world" experience and results. You mentioned that you've already been able to lose a few pounds, but if you get to the point where you're having trouble losing weight, it is wishful thinking to believe that eating more calories will help. Don’t use the BMR calculation as a reason to increase your caloric intake. Even if you were taking in far too few calories, you would still lose weight, but part of it would be muscle. 1700-2500 calories at your size is far from undernourishment, provided you're getting the proper nutrients.

The replies are appreciated. To go into more detail, my cardio comes from running on an indoor track, with the initial continuous run aimed at speed, and then an interval session for 10-15 mins to make 30+ mins total. For instance, on thurs afternoon I ran 3 miles in 21:26, then did walk jog sprint lap intervals for 15 mins. I do this 3-4 times per week minimum, and now that I am lifting weights I do the cardio in the early afternoon and lift the weights in the evening or night. Once every other week I max pullups, situps, and 3 mile run speed in succession. I used to do 200 situps every night before bed, but stopped once I started going to the gym for weights. I now do 4-5 sets of incline situps with a 25lb plate on my chest, and do the sets as my rest in between sets of other exercises. I do days of shoulders/legs, back/biceps, and chest/triceps, with about 6 sets per muscle. I switched from machines to almost completely dumbell workouts, because functional strength is my goal and I feel free weights are better suited to accomplish this. I try to spend 40-50 mins in the gym total when lifting weights.

While it is probably not optimal for muscle growth, a long run once a week is important to boost endurance. 6-8 miles is good. What are your intervals like? Do you go by time or do 800 repeats or something else? A mix of longer and shorter pieces 600-1200 meters at a hard pace with resting or joggin recovery in between is a good interval workout. A good plan for improving running would be 1. a 'junk' mileage day of 3-4 miles at an easy pace. 2. One interval day. 3. a long run day at a relaxed pace. 4. the fourh day could either be another junk mileage day or a threshold workout. This might be a mile easy warmup follwed by 20 minutes at a moderately high intensity, and a mile cool-down. If you want more specifics e-mail me at jsbrook@emory.edu.

The replies are appreciated. To go into more detail, my cardio comes from running on an indoor track, with the initial continuous run aimed at speed, and then an interval session for 10-15 mins to make 30+ mins total. For instance, on thurs afternoon I ran 3 miles in 21:26, then did walk jog sprint lap intervals for 15 mins. I do this 3-4 times per week minimum, and now that I am lifting weights I do the cardio in the early afternoon and lift the weights in the evening or night. Once every other week I max pullups, situps, and 3 mile run speed in succession. I used to do 200 situps every night before bed, but stopped once I started going to the gym for weights. I now do 4-5 sets of incline situps with a 25lb plate on my chest, and do the sets as my rest in between sets of other exercises. I do days of shoulders/legs, back/biceps, and chest/triceps, with about 6 sets per muscle. I switched from machines to almost completely dumbell workouts, because functional strength is my goal and I feel free weights are better suited to accomplish this. I try to spend 40-50 mins in the gym total when lifting weights.

Interval wise, I use a 1/9 mile indoor track and walk one lap, do two laps at about 8:30 mile pace, and then go at about 90% of my max speed for two laps (short track not suitable for top speed). I repeat 3 times. Including my warmup lap, 3 mile, intervals, and cooldown walk at the end I probably spend 40 mins of continuous movement at varying degrees of effort. I intend to incorporate runs of up to 8 miles in a few months, but in the near future I will probably stay closer to six on once a week distance runs. I will probably alternate this with my trial Sundays where I max my exercises of interest.

Nutrition wise, I am using the fitday online tracking program to attempt to get near 40-40-20 for daily caloric values. This is my current plan for tomorrow:
Cals Fat Carbs Protein
Bread 400 6 84 20
Chicken, 300 4 0 60
Oatmeal 600 10 108 20
Peanut Butter 285 22 10 12
Protein Powder 210 0 3 50
Spinach, raw 13 0 2 2
Blackberries, raw 39 0 10 1
Carrots, baby, raw 38 1 8 1
Milk, skim 216 1 30 21

source grams cals %total
Total: 2102
Fat: 45 402 20%
Sat: 9 84 4%
Poly: 14 129 6%
Mono: 16 143 7%
Carbs: 255 860 43%
Fiber: 40 0 0%
Protein: 186 744 37%

I have often heard that peanut butter and milk are poor choices for fat loss, but I have had a very hard time finding foods to meet my attempt at 40-40-20. Does anything stand out as a mistake here? Any recommendations are appreciated.

Good post. This is why you need at least 30 min when doing under 65% max HR

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5175&stc=1

psuguy98:
Your chart goes a long way in describing how low intensity exercise and time effects fat loss. But, isn't it generally accepted that over 45 minutes is not recommended because you may start losing LBM?

CauseforAlarm, I am training for a 5K. My routine consists of lifting weights 3x's a week with a full body work-out rather than focus on a specific muscle group. I also focus on building core strength.

I run 4 days a week (one day on the weekend is split-cardio AM/weights PM. with endurance and speed training. I have cut 3 full minutes off my 3.1 mile time in 1 month. (I am not anywhere near as fast as you-but it will come)

I have also gained 5 pounds of muscle in the past month and lost 4 pounds of fat. It is possible to do both. I average 1800 calories a day (I am a girl-don't need as many) and about 2300 calories on my cheat day. I really starting seeing results when I went to the 40/40/20 split for weight lifting days and 40/20/40 split for cardio days. I also eat a carb snack about 2-3 hours before lifting-whole grain rice or oatmeal.

:gl:

I am off to run now....

Good luck with your training. It seems like your're doing everything right by taking a balanced approach. The program a competitive runner would follow would make it hard to gain muscle like you have gained as excessive cardio can be muscle wasting. It seems like your program is great for improving overall fitness. You can always decide to change to a more intense cardio program in the future if you want to further improve times and just maintain lean muscle rather than gain. Keep up the good work.

CauseforAlarm, I am training for a 5K. My routine consists of lifting weights 3x's a week with a full body work-out rather than focus on a specific muscle group. I also focus on building core strength.

I run 4 days a week (one day on the weekend is split-cardio AM/weights PM. with endurance and speed training. I have cut 3 full minutes off my 3.1 mile time in 1 month. (I am not anywhere near as fast as you-but it will come)

I have also gained 5 pounds of muscle in the past month and lost 4 pounds of fat. It is possible to do both. I average 1800 calories a day (I am a girl-don't need as many) and about 2300 calories on my cheat day. I really starting seeing results when I went to the 40/40/20 split for weight lifting days and 40/20/40 split for cardio days. I also eat a carb snack about 2-3 hours before lifting-whole grain rice or oatmeal.

:gl:

I am off to run now....

psuguy98:
Your chart goes a long way in describing how low intensity exercise and time effects fat loss. But, isn't it generally accepted that over 45 minutes is not recommended because you may start losing LBM?


yes, very true. cortisol starts to majorly kick in, which I don't believe this study touches on