Hello everybody!

Long story short: Started weight lifting in 2005. Have always been following the HST program. Went from 270 lbs to 200 lbs in two years. Ate too little and did to much cardio, so was thin, but with little muscle. 2007 I also did HST, but started drinking heavily and eating a lot of processed food as I studied abroad. Am today, 24.2.2008, again 253 lbs (115 kg), but with a lot more muscle than in 2005.

Therefore I will start a cutting plan lasting 13 weeks.

DATA:
253 lbs
190 cm tall
BMR: 2455
BF%: 20% perhaps, haven't checked, but it's fat there!
I am a "Endomorph". Gain and lose weight easily, given the right diet and activity.
Have wide shoulders and naturally big legs. Thinking of training more arms and upper body, but don't know if this is a good idea...

DIET:

* ~2000KCAL/day 5 times a week - should I cycle the carbs?
* 5 meals, where one is bigger than the other four (dinner)
* Supplements: Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein Gold Standard, protein bars, hydroxycut hardcore (have bought is, but don't know how I will use it in my diet and if I should :|) and fat capsules (ensures enough EPA/DHA/GLA/CLA/Omega3-6-9.
* A lot of water
* Good, clean, bodybuilder food
* Friday or saturday is cheat day. Taco or beer f.instance.

TRAINING:
* 2x6 weeks HST training with one week off in between, full body (WO-WED-FRI). Compound exercies: Squats, deadlifts, DB Benchpress, Arnhold press, dips and so forth. Also some isolation exercises for my arms (they are not that impressive!). Will try to swap some exercies from time to time for variation.
* Starting at 12-15 reps the first weeks, then gradually decrease in reps with heavier weights. I will do this beeing a bit creative, as I know how much weight I can do for the different rep ranges.
* Cardio three times a week: Slow jogging 20-30 minutes, but thinking of tryiing HIIT aswell (TI-THUR-SATURDAY/SUNDAY)

DIET - EXAMPLE DAY:

Breakfest: Protein and bread with light cheese.
M2: Chicken and potatoes (or rice)
M3: Proteinshake (at training days 30g whey before and 60g after)
M4: Steak and potatoes (or rice)
M5: Proteinshake and cashew nuts.

Servings so that I get these values: 2024KCAL, 28gFat, 200gCarbs (40%), 230gProtein (45%). This will change a little from day to day, but I will keep track of what I eat and make adjustments so I eat a lot of protein, less slow carbs and then some fat. And also not more than 2000KCAL I will be taking the fat pills to get enough CLA, Omega369 and so forth. I may replace chicken or steak with fish or other good meat depending on what I got.

Hope my english is understandable and that you with more experience can point to weaknesses and areas of improvement in my plan.

Hello everybody!

Long story short: Started weight lifting in 2005. Have always been following the HST program. Went from 270 lbs to 200 lbs in two years. Ate too little and did to much cardio, so was thin, but with little muscle. 2007 I also did HST, but started drinking heavily and eating a lot of processed food as I studied abroad. Am today, 24.2.2008, again 253 lbs (115 kg), but with a lot more muscle than in 2005.

Therefore I will start a cutting plan lasting 13 weeks.

DATA:
253 lbs
190 cm tall
BMR: 2455
BF%: 20% perhaps, haven't checked, but it's fat there!
I am a "Endomorph". Gain and lose weight easily, given the right diet and activity.
Have wide shoulders and naturally big legs. Thinking of training more arms and upper body, but don't know if this is a good idea...

DIET:

* ~2000KCAL/day 5 times a week - should I cycle the carbs?
* 5 meals, where one is bigger than the other four (dinner)
* Supplements: Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein Gold Standard, protein bars, hydroxycut hardcore (have bought is, but don't know how I will use it in my diet and if I should :|) and fat capsules (ensures enough EPA/DHA/GLA/CLA/Omega3-6-9.
* A lot of water
* Good, clean, bodybuilder food
* Friday or saturday is cheat day. Taco or beer f.instance.

TRAINING:
* 2x6 weeks HST training with one week off in between, full body (WO-WED-FRI). Compound exercies: Squats, deadlifts, DB Benchpress, Arnhold press, dips and so forth. Also some isolation exercises for my arms (they are not that impressive!). Will try to swap some exercies from time to time for variation.
* Starting at 12-15 reps the first weeks, then gradually decrease in reps with heavier weights. I will do this beeing a bit creative, as I know how much weight I can do for the different rep ranges.
* Cardio three times a week: Slow jogging 20-30 minutes, but thinking of tryiing HIIT aswell (TI-THUR-SATURDAY/SUNDAY)

DIET - EXAMPLE DAY:

Breakfest: Protein and bread with light cheese.
M2: Chicken and potatoes (or rice)
M3: Proteinshake (at training days 30g whey before and 60g after)
M4: Steak and potatoes (or rice)
M5: Proteinshake and cashew nuts.

Servings so that I get these values: 2024KCAL, 28gFat, 200gCarbs (40%), 230gProtein (45%). This will change a little from day to day, but I will keep track of what I eat and make adjustments so I eat a lot of protein, less slow carbs and then some fat. And also not more than 2000KCAL I will be taking the fat pills to get enough CLA, Omega369 and so forth. I may replace chicken or steak with fish or other good meat depending on what I got.

Hope my english is understandable and that you with more experience can point to weaknesses and areas of improvement in my plan.
Vegetables?

Have wide shoulders and naturally big legs. Thinking of training more arms and upper body, but don't know if this is a good idea...

Keep on training the legs - the squats and deads you mentioned in your plan will help you add mass all over the body, amongst many other benefits. :nod:

Too much whey. Not enough vegetables.

Potatoes and rice are not ideal carb sources.

Cashews are okay, but walnuts or almonds would be better.

Will ad vegetables!

What carb sources should I use? What are ideal ones.

Thanks for the replies so far!

Will ad vegetables!

What carb sources should I use? What are ideal ones.

Thanks for the replies so far!
Oats are the ideal carb.

Also good ones: brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, barley, sweet potatoes.

The best vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussels sprouts, cabbage, tomatoes, and pumpkin. :eat:

DIET - EXAMPLE DAY:

Breakfest: Protein and bread with light cheese.
M2: Chicken and potatoes (or rice)
M3: Proteinshake (at training days 30g whey before and 60g after)
M4: Steak and potatoes (or rice)
M5: Proteinshake and cashew nuts.

M1: What protein? I would get rid of the bread and replace with some like oats or brown rice. You could go with the general advice: egg whites and oats; I personally have changed this up to turkey and brown rice. Also get rid of the cheese.

M2: I would make this a protein/fat meal; keep the chicken and add in some healthy fats; almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, olive oil. Also add in some broccoli or other fibrous vegetable.

M3: Don't quite understand here. Do you mean you have a shake pre and post workout? If so, keep the post workout shake, but make the pre workout shake a protein/carb meal.

M4: Swap the potatoes for brown rice, yams, wholegrain pasta. Make sure the steak is as lean as possible; Eye of Round, Sirloin etc.

M5: If this is before bed, take out the protein shake, unless its casein based. If its normal whey, swap for some egg whites or meat. Add in some healthy fats too. Also add in some broccoli or other fibrous vegetable.

A good start; better than what most beginners post up. :)

Foley: At M1 Protein is just simply the protein shake.

Will try the changes! Thanks!

Foley: At M1 Protein is just simply the protein shake.

Will try the changes! Thanks!
In the morning, I like to do a protein shake and a solid protein; e.g. chicken. This is so that I can get some protein into my system quickly and have some that takes a bit longer.

Best advice I can give ya is to READ, READ, READ.