My story is I was painfully skinny as a child. When I started lifting weights I was 5'10 125lbs at age 19. I consider my self basically to be an ectomorph somotype. I basically taught my self how to lift and with out knowing anything about nutrition I got up to a lean 150lbs (10-12%fat) in a couple of years. I have slowly over the years got bigger and stronger using mainly compound lifts lifting 3-4 days a week rarely missing a workout. The only thing I ever did with my diet was eat more when I got plateued. I would eat anything from the fear of ever being skinny again. Mostly junk food, soda, high carb and fat.
I am now 32 5'10 and and peaked at 190lbs. Flexed right arm 16 1/4 cold flexed left arm 15 3/4, chest relaxed cold 44 inches, thighs 25 inches. but waist is 37 inches fully let out a the biggest point. I think I look pretty good and you can see my abs when flexed through the fat because they are pretty developed.
About a month ago I have drastically changed my diet. I use http://www.fitday.com/ to moniter my calories and macros. I have been consistantly been eating 2500 calories on non workout days and around 3000 on w/o days. Eating protein in every meal, good fats, slow digesting carbs, 2-3 servings of veggies and 2 servings of fruit every 2-3 waking hours. Im doing this as a starting point since I have no idea how many calories I was eating before. I am now 185 naked in the morning. I have never done cardio and still dont. I dont want to drop my calories too low since I already have muscle and seem to lose it easily. I want to lose fat while keepin as much muscle as possible. I was thinkin of doing HIIT twice a week on the days im not lifting. I now lift 3 days a week. Mostly weighted pull ups, bench press, full squats, and deadlifts.
I would like some advice from experienced people that have succesfully lowered their bodyfat and built or maintained muscle.
Remember I seem to be an ectomorph so muscle doesnt come easy for me. I have heard ectomorphs produce more T3 making it hard to build muscle and if they do gain fat and try to loose it they end up burning of much more muscle than fat and end up becoming skinny fat, my biggest nightmare! I dont know if this is all true though.

If you dont feel like reading my long post, basically I am guy who has been lifting weights and building muscle religeously for 11 years but have never paid much attention to nutrition other than eating dirty to gain weight. Never did cardio either. I now would like to shed bodyfat without loosing muscle so I can see the muscles I have built.

I am striving for my macros to be 50% "good" carbs, 30% protein, and 20% good fats. If my macros at the end of the day are around these numbers but higher in fats and carbs earlier in the day for example is this ok?:eat:

Also how about sprints twice a week on my days off from lifting?

Well, don't stress too much about the loss of muscle. You can safely lose 1-2 lbs a week without risking muscle loss. I would, personally, recommend more cardio. Granted, it isn't necessary at all, it definately speeds up a cut. Your macros seem fine, just make sure your good carbs consist of wheat bread, brown rice, oats, etc. Keep the fats good, such as olive oil, fish oils, flax. I would recommend a little cardio after your weight training sessions, while your heart rate is still up (just maybe 10 minutes worth), and try intervals/sprints once or twice a week. You really arent going to lose much muscle unless you negate the lifting and focus on running your ass off everyday. Can you post what you want your diet to be..in terms of what you're eating, as well as maybe some beginning pictures?

Good luck, you seem like you'll be able to tackle this easily with your previous history

Brian

Here is an example of what i have been eating lately(eat every 2-3 hours):

Meal 1: 2 egg whole, 2 whites, 1 serving quick oats w/ 1 tsp sugar
1 serving whey with 8 ounces of 1% milk

Meal 2: 28 almonds, 1 cup greek yogert w/fruit

Meal 3: marinated chicken breast on 2 slices wheat bread w/salsa,
1 serving mixxed veggies OR chicken with one serving of quinoa, brown rice, or a sweet potatoe and salad with 1 serving of croutons/french dressing. If I have a carb side I dont have the wheat bread.

(workout):bb:

Meal4: 1 serving whey and 1 gatorade right after lifting

Meal 5: 1/2 cup black beans w/ 1 serving corn and salsa mixed up, light sprinkle of cheese on top.

meal 6: 1 level tablespoon mayo, 1 marinated chicken breast, 1 serving veggies OR salad .

Been eating like this for almost a month.
No cheat meals really, I am enjoying eating like this.

Take out meal 4 on days off from lifting.
I will post pictures when I can figure out how to do that.
2700 calories on lifting days
2500 calories on days off

I would also like to add I experienced substantial weight loss in 06 from being a full time driver for UPS for a year. The job was very rigorous and high stress. I went down to 155lbs loosing muscle and fat. I ate what ever I wanted mostly crap but didnt eat much because there was rarely any time to eat. Also UPS is like doing cardio 8-10 hours a day 5 days a week. Also I could only lift once a week but I was so tired and sore from UPS I got weaker and weaker. I was getting skinny fat and depressed:bang:. My waist size went down to 30 inches let out but I wasnt ripped. When I quit I gained my muscle and fat back eating too much and lifting weights. I now have more belly fat and muscle than I ever had.

Before UPS I was a personal trainer for 7 years but I specialized in weight training. Most of my clients were rich so if they wanted fat loss I refered them to a nutitionist while I worked with them on resistance training.

Sorry to be anal but it's "lose" not "loose".

For example, when you lose weight, your trousers will become loose.

It's a pet hate of mine and this thread almost made my brain explode! I might start a thread to name and shame people. :confused:

Sorry to be anal but it's "lose" not "loose".

For example, when you lose weight, your trousers will become loose.

It's a pet hate of mine and this thread almost made my brain explode! I might start a thread to name and shame people. :confused:
I am well aware of the spelling difference and meanings between loose and lose, was just typing too fast causing a typo. :doh:

180 views and all I get is a spelling lesson?:tucool:

I dont know how to post pictures up but that is me in my avatar when I worked at ups, I weighed around 170 there.

It's the 11 years of experience thing that is throwing me, and possibly others.

It sounds like you need to trust yourself more. Even without specific cutting experience, surely you're somewhat intune with your body, know how it performs in the gym, and you wouldn't let this go in the tank while dieting just to get your weight down.

Okay, so you had a bad experience following what sounds like a bad plan, don't do that again. :)

Set your strength indicators (single set mentality on a handful of core exercises), take body measurements, take pictures, and see how things adjust to your dieting phase, and the training approach you take during.

Depending on what you're normal training pattern is, maybe you bring volume down a bit, but keep intensity up with weight on the bar. So 3 sets might become 2, and overalapping exercises might be reduced/eliminated. Priority is to maintain muscle.

Thanks for the reply Goonie, you are right, I am very experienced and knowledgeable about weight training and consider my self a very good personal trainer as far as helping others. I have no experience in trying to loose subcutaneous fat in my own body. I am new toeating this healthy. I always ate whatever I want. I am seeking advice from people that have had true experience in fat loss while maintaining muscle naturaly. I want to be careful, muscle doesnt come easy for me, so I am looking for the best avenue. I do plan to back off on sets and excercises but keep it fairly heavy doing mostly compound moves. Does what Im eating look clean enough?

Read the stickies in the beginner/introduction forum.

I don't really like to evaluate food choices for general purposes, because I prefer to leave this up to the individual, and I'm wary of turning things into a game of let's try to turn your diet into my diet.

Nothing jumps out at me from what you listed as being terribly "wrong".

There's an aspect of managing what you're willing to take on both mentally and physically when it comes to calorie deficits, so it's hard to make specific recommendations here.

Your approach appears to be about taking on a very minimal deficit, and seeing where this gets you. If this fits your style and expectations, perfectly valid as far as I'm concerned. If you're not dropping fat, obviously you'll recognize you need to cut back some more.

How active are you outside of training in your current job?

I don't really like to evaluate food choices for general purposes, because I prefer to leave this up to the individual, and I'm wary of turning things into a game of let's try to turn your diet into my diet.

Nothing jumps out at me from what you listed as being terribly "wrong".

There's an aspect of managing what you're willing to take on both mentally and physically when it comes to calorie deficits, so it's hard to make specific recommendations here.

Your approach appears to be about taking on a very minimal deficit, and seeing where this gets you. If this fits your style and expectations, perfectly valid as far as I'm concerned. If you're not dropping fat, obviously you'll recognize you need to cut back some more.

How active are you outside of training in your current job?
Not very active. Im a truck driver (not UPS anymore) where I mostly sit in a truck all day. I pretty much sit around the house when Im off.

Read the stickies in the beginner/introduction forum.
Have read them. Hope your not implying Im still a beginner :nono: This may sound arrogant but I could write a fitness book with all of the knowledge I have accrued over the years reserching, training, and training myself.
Fitness is my passion.
Its actually hard to find info on people in my situation. You need as much muscle on your frame as possible when trying to burn fat. But when your an ectomorph its very hard to build muscle. When you store extra fat and try to lose it using the general ways of fat loss that work for most people you end up burning way more muscle than fat and end end up "skinny fat":nope: Its a viscious cicle. So I guess Im looking for people that have been in a similar situation as me. Sorry for typing so much on this thread, I am horrible at getting my point across. If I had bulked clean before I wouldnt have been in this predicament.

So I guess Im looking for people that have been in a similar situation as me. Sorry for typing so much on this thread, I am horrible at getting my point across. If I had bulked clean before I wouldnt have been in this predicament.

I think you should talk to mastover. :)