Hey everyone,
I just started a cutting phase and I'm just looking for some input. I'm 6'2", 190 lbs, so I calculated my BMR to be 2825.6 and I'd like to cut 2 lbs/wk. I figure around 1800-2000 calories per day should be good. I'm going to try 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat. I just started last week and I don't have my whey protein yet so getting 30% protein has been tough, but it should be easy once I receive it. Here is a sample day's diet:
6am: 1 cup oatmeal, with a "dash" of brown sugar, milk 2%, and cinnamon. I'm going to try to cut the brown sugar and use raisins or apple instead.
1 cup of green tea with honey, cinnamon.
9am: Apple or banana on break at work.
12pm: 1-2 sandwiches. Whole wheat bread, turkey breast or ham(will try to get off this, but had some in the fridge), cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard(is mustard an ok condiment? how bout ketchup?), mayo(should I cut this altogether? I've reduced the quantity a lot)
4:30 pm: 1 cup of fat free cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of canned chunks of pineapple.
7pm: Can of soup(minestrone, roasted veggies and chicken, chicken noodle, or chili). Is canned soup/chili a good thing to be eating?

This last week was sort of a test week. I was trying to get a feel for what I liked and how my calories would add up, and unfortunately I didn't really do any actual cooking. Yesterday I had a tuna sandwich(canned tuna, lettuce, mustard, bread), so I think found a good way to eat the tuna, and I actually like cottage cheese, but its a lot better with the pineapple. Might get some almonds and raisins and mix them together for a snack at breaktime at work, as that used to be a favorite snack from my childhood. I'm also gonna get some Boca burgers, cuz my mom used to have them and I liked them. For dinner I'll pick up some chicken breasts and hopefully some fish. I'm also gonna start making salads. What do you guys think of malt o'meal or cream of wheat as opposed to oatmeal? I was eating cup of noodle for lunch sometimes, but I doubt they are very healthy. This week I am going to plan out each day ahead of time using fitday. I did notice myself being hungry later in the day, so I just tried to eat something healthy. And I did keep the calories right around 2000 all week. Is it a problem varying 100-200 calories/day(from 1800-2000)? Anyways, that's pretty much it for diet for now.

As far as exercise goes, I started running last weekend in the morning on an emtpy stomach, but I haven't been able to during the week as I have to get up for work at 5:30am and this is a major adjustment for me(I used to stay up to 2-3am and sleep 10-12 hrs). I hope eventually I'll be able to do this every morning. Right now I'm only running for 15 minutes as I am really out of shape. I'd like to do HIIT, but I don't see getting to the gym in the morning a reality so I may do it after work, or try 30 second intervals running at 50%, then 90%, but at this point just running at a steady pace for 15 minutes is tough enough. I did my first weight training on thursday and will head back today and tomorrow. I'm shooting for 4 times per week, with less cardio on those days. I did legs thursday, probably chest/triceps today, back tomorrow, and biceps/abs on tuesday. I'm going to be using the Max OT program, so this first week I'll be figuring out what weight I should be shooting for and what exercise I like for each muscle group. I'll probably work out around 6pm about an hour after eating after getting off work. Should I be getting protein after workouts? I've also heard I should minimize carb intake after about 4pm and that cottage cheese is good before bed. Any input is good.

This morning I woke up and my left hamstring is really sore, so I'm mad at myself for not properly stretching it. I hope this doesn't put a damper on my cardio. We'll see. Let me know what you guys think. I know everythings a little sketchy right now, but I'm still trying to get a feel for everything. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone,
I just started a cutting phase and I'm just looking for some input. I'm 6'2", 190 lbs, so I calculated my BMR to be 2825.6 and I'd like to cut 2 lbs/wk. I figure around 1800-2000 calories per day should be good. I'm going to try 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat. I just started last week and I don't have my whey protein yet so getting 30% protein has been tough, but it should be easy once I receive it. Here is a sample day's diet:
6am: 1 cup oatmeal, with a "dash" of brown sugar, milk 2%, and cinnamon. I'm going to try to cut the brown sugar and use raisins or apple instead.
1 cup of green tea with honey, cinnamon.
9am: Apple or banana on break at work.
12pm: 1-2 sandwiches. Whole wheat bread, turkey breast or ham(will try to get off this, but had some in the fridge), cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard(is mustard an ok condiment? how bout ketchup?), mayo(should I cut this altogether? I've reduced the quantity a lot)
4:30 pm: 1 cup of fat free cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of canned chunks of pineapple.
7pm: Can of soup(minestrone, roasted veggies and chicken, chicken noodle, or chili). Is canned soup/chili a good thing to be eating?

This last week was sort of a test week. I was trying to get a feel for what I liked and how my calories would add up, and unfortunately I didn't really do any actual cooking. Yesterday I had a tuna sandwich(canned tuna, lettuce, mustard, bread), so I think found a good way to eat the tuna, and I actually like cottage cheese, but its a lot better with the pineapple. Might get some almonds and raisins and mix them together for a snack at breaktime at work, as that used to be a favorite snack from my childhood. I'm also gonna get some Boca burgers, cuz my mom used to have them and I liked them. For dinner I'll pick up some chicken breasts and hopefully some fish. I'm also gonna start making salads. What do you guys think of malt o'meal or cream of wheat as opposed to oatmeal? I was eating cup of noodle for lunch sometimes, but I doubt they are very healthy. This week I am going to plan out each day ahead of time using fitday. I did notice myself being hungry later in the day, so I just tried to eat something healthy. And I did keep the calories right around 2000 all week. Is it a problem varying 100-200 calories/day(from 1800-2000)? Anyways, that's pretty much it for diet for now.

As far as exercise goes, I started running last weekend in the morning on an emtpy stomach, but I haven't been able to during the week as I have to get up for work at 5:30am and this is a major adjustment for me(I used to stay up to 2-3am and sleep 10-12 hrs). I hope eventually I'll be able to do this every morning. Right now I'm only running for 15 minutes as I am really out of shape. I'd like to do HIIT, but I don't see getting to the gym in the morning a reality so I may do it after work, or try 30 second intervals running at 50%, then 90%, but at this point just running at a steady pace for 15 minutes is tough enough. I did my first weight training on thursday and will head back today and tomorrow. I'm shooting for 4 times per week, with less cardio on those days. I did legs thursday, probably chest/triceps today, back tomorrow, and biceps/abs on tuesday. I'm going to be using the Max OT program, so this first week I'll be figuring out what weight I should be shooting for and what exercise I like for each muscle group. I'll probably work out around 6pm about an hour after eating after getting off work. Should I be getting protein after workouts? I've also heard I should minimize carb intake after about 4pm and that cottage cheese is good before bed. Any input is good.

This morning I woke up and my left hamstring is really sore, so I'm mad at myself for not properly stretching it. I hope this doesn't put a damper on my cardio. We'll see. Let me know what you guys think. I know everythings a little sketchy right now, but I'm still trying to get a feel for everything. Thanks in advance.


Try getting 1200 mg of Calcium from dairy products and cut your calories to around 2250, studies have shown that dairy actually aids in weight loss, specifically calcium, apparently your body works harder to process the dairy, thus resulting in a raised metabolism (More cals burned!)

I would eat the cottage cheese one hour prior to bed, minus the pineapple though, because the casein in cottage cheese is slow digesting, meaning it'll keep your body from catabolizing during sleep.

If you're trying to shed excess fat, it's been proven that a lower carb diet speeds up that process, so try shooting for a 40/30/30 ratio (p/c/f), the more good fats you eat, the more your body will be using it's own fat stores for energy and fuel, so don't cut your fat intake too low.

If you're going to experiment with Max-OT for the first time, be careful, it's something that should be broken into slowly, not head strong.

One last thing, don't count on protein shakes too much, they often leave you hungry, so use them to supplement your food intake before and after workouts are fine, but never use them as a replacement meal, try to get your protein from solid foods, it'll leave you much more satisfied, and more likely to stick to your plan. :gl: