I am currently at 183 lbs with 16% body fat. I want to gain weight but lower my bf%. I am doing hitt ( on the treadmill) in the am 3 days a week and weights 5 days a week (one body part per day + legs). I am taking in around 1400 (mostly protein) cals per day. I have hit a few plateu's ... should I increase my cals to lose weight and gain muscle? What type of meal plan would you guy's suggest? I do eat six "meals" a day startiing after the gym at 6:30 AM.

Go and read these threads:

Gravityhomers Fat Loss Guide (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=19229)

Marcus' - My Guide To Nutrition For Weight Loss (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=1222)

Formulate a plan, and then come back here :)

I let some of the experts chime in, but I think 1400 calories is too low for your height and weight. Let the calories and lifting feed the muscles and the HIIT burn the fat. Find your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and eat that over many meals. Let your activity create the caloric deficit. It sounds to me like you are eating way too low for the amount of activity you are doing. I think you should be at at least 2000 calories. How old are you?

You've possibly been brainwashed by the supplement/bodybuilding industry if you think diet is mostly about protein consumption when it comes to body composition goals.

See how your body reacts to a diet closer to your natural maintenance point if you're aiming for a goal of recomposition with fat loss/muscle gain. Age, training experience, and genetics are going to play big roles here, so don't be surprised in the least if you end up needing to concentrate on one over the other.

We'd need to see the full details, but I'd guess you're working against your bodies metabolism and fat loss ability when you combine your diet and training volume.

I let some of the experts chime in, but I think 1400 calories is too low for your height and weight. Let the calories and lifting feed the muscles and the HIIT burn the fat. Find your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and eat that over many meals. Let your activity create the caloric deficit. It sounds to me like you are eating way too low for the amount of activity you are doing. I think you should be at at least 2000 calories. How old are you?

You need more than your BMR for your caloric intake. Alone, this wouldn't factor in the energy you need to go about your daily life much less a workout routine. I think you were referring to something closer to your TDEE, possibly without the expenditure from exercise factored in, which is where your deficit would come from.

Not trying to be anal. Just don't want the OP to use a BMR estimating calculator and think they should be eating something like 1650 calories instead of 1400.

You need more than your BMR for your caloric intake. Alone, this wouldn't factor in the energy you need to go about your daily life much less a workout routine. I think you were referring to something closer to your TDEE, possibly without the expenditure from exercise factored in, which is where your deficit would come from.

Not trying to be anal. Just don't want the OP to use a BMR estimating calculator and think they should be eating something like 1650 calories instead of 1400.

Point taken. I was just trying to advocate eating more than the 1400 and thought that his BMR was something for him to look at.

Thanks guys
I will read those articles and I am changing my daily meal schedule:
6am oatmeal and egg beaters. snack protein shake,lunch salad or wrap tuna or chicken(breast),snack turkey and low fat cheese on whole wheat bread, dinner lean and green, final snack low fat/no sugar pudding.
I am 5' 11" 183lbs 35 in waist.