Going on a Cut...?

[Primal]

Hi all, before I get into the topic, I just really want to say thanks to all of the people who have been helping and answering my questions on the forums. I know that I post a ton of pretty obvious topics and questions but I do really appreciate all the help I've been getting. It's made a big difference in the way I train and eat! I will definitely be buying some supplements and such from the sponsors to help the site! Anyways, onto the topic.

So a little background history, I am 18 yrs old, 6'4 and EXTREMELY ectomorphic. I started last year at about 153 lbs (yes at about 6'3. I'll let your mind in-vision how skinny I was) and started training and eating really bad. At the moment right now, I'm roughly 205 lbs and I still am vascular. The problem I see, is that I've packed on a lot of visceral fat and I think I have to be around 15% body fat or so. I know a lot of you guys will ask for my diet and to be honest I'm not keeping track of it at the moment. I'm in University and my food status isn't very stable at the moment. I eat at different places all the time. I do however really try and limit my intake of carbs (because of the nausea) and I eat really healthy still (lots of protein, good veggies, and clean carbs like potatoes). I have planned into the future and am just letting you all know that starting in the summer, I will be able to keep track of my food stability for the rest of the years to come, it's only right now at the moment.

That being said, I still really want to cut. I don't want to go any lower that my maintenance level however. I just want to cut from where I am now to whatever it takes to maintain my body (I think it's called a Calorie calculator that I can use, but I just want to make sure that it is the most accurate to calculate my maintenance level). I will do my best to monitor my food intake with my body but I understand there are a few things that I can do, like cardio, that will help with the slimming down process. I know I could look at any person on the internet right now who did a cut and emulate them but I am really interested any tips or suggestions that you guys can offer me (they call you guys 'pros' for a reason).

Wow, this was a long one... Thanks you all for reading!

-Primal :)

[Sean Summers]

Record 3 days worth of your diet. Track it on Fitday or CalorieKing. Post it up so that we can take a look at it.

[Primal]

Record 3 days worth of your diet. Track it on Fitday or CalorieKing. Post it up so that we can take a look at it.

Uhm... Well like I said, every day is a different depending on what I have to do. For instance today I will be eating a bunch at home so I'll be able to track that. But tomorrow I'm at school all day and have to resort to cafeteria food. Problem with that is, I don't know the macros on what I eat in the caf and I eat there quite a bit. I will try my best to record it though but the human error is going to be great. Do you guys want me to track the weight of the food or the macros the food has in general... or both?

Thanks, will try the apps out too!

[rickerred]

if you use fitday like SS mentioned it should give you a good idea of what you are taking in for macros.

[Primal]

if you use fitday like SS mentioned it should give you a good idea of what you are taking in for macros.

I tried looking for fitday and calorieking on the play store (I have an android phone). I couldn't find either of them. I do have my fitness pal though. Unsure if that'll work with whatever you guys are thinking of.

[Sean Summers]

www.fitday.com

www.calorieking.com

You mentioned that everyday was different. That's why I suggested to recorded THREE days so that we can get an AVERAGE.

[Primal]

www.fitday.com

www.calorieking.com

You mentioned that everyday was different. That's why I suggested to recorded THREE days so that we can get an AVERAGE.

Whoops! Sorry, I'll get right on that right away. I've recorded all of yesterday's meals so I won't need to start today.

[IronRobi]

But tomorrow I'm at school all day and have to resort to cafeteria food. Problem with that is, I don't know the macros on what I eat in the caf and I eat there quite a bit. I will try my best to record it though but the human error is going to be great.
This is going to be your first issue right here. In order to diet properly, you need to at least have an idea of what you're eating and how much. Refer back to the IIFYM thread and think of the quality of the food. Most school cafeteria food is processed garbage. If you really want to be serious about it, you're going to have to brown bag it. Bring your meals from home so you can prepare them, cook them, weigh them, etc. etc. Grab yourself one of the new six pack bags backpacks. Holds 6 meals, your protein cups and I'm sure a book or 2 will fit as well :)

[Primal]

This is going to be your first issue right here. In order to diet properly, you need to at least have an idea of what you're eating and how much. Refer back to the IIFYM thread and think of the quality of the food. Most school cafeteria food is processed garbage. If you really want to be serious about it, you're going to have to brown bag it. Bring your meals from home so you can prepare them, cook them, weigh them, etc. etc. Grab yourself one of the new six pack bags backpacks. Holds 6 meals, your protein cups and I'm sure a book or 2 will fit as well :)

Thanks Robi, will look into the 6 bag backpacks. The cafeteria at my university isn't actually as bad as I think you guys think it is. They have food ready at all times around the clock. It has a fruit stand full of pineapple squares, watermelon, oranges, apples e.t.c. They also have wraps and pita's which I put tomatoes, hummus, cucumbers e.t.c in. I'ts a great post workout and preworkout in my opinion (has some nice carbs from high fiber pita and I throw chicken in). Last night they were serving up swiss steaks with green beans and carrots too. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the food is crap food in there, but I like to think that I'm making the best choices I can with what I've got. By the way, when I said in my first post that I had the following years figured out food wise, I meant that I was going to start bringing stuff from home (like I should be doing). It's only this year and to the start of the summer. Then I can finally track my foods accurately.

I know to you guys it may seem like I'm being careless with my macros (I am) but I'm trying with what I got. Thanks for all the help though. My meals will be up soon enough, I just need to get tomorrow's in.

-Primal

[Praetorian]

I would really suggest just trying to eat balanced meals, get in your training and concentrate on your studies. Cutting on the foods you mentioned is not going to work all that well and you will stagnate real quick. Once you are finished school in the spring and have more control over your diet and more time you can create a more efficient cutting plan.

P

[Primal]

I would really suggest just trying to eat balanced meals, get in your training and concentrate on your studies. Cutting on the foods you mentioned is not going to work all that well and you will stagnate real quick. Once you are finished school in the spring and have more control over your diet and more time you can create a more efficient cutting plan.

P

Ok but what if I start replacing the regular foods I eat now with more fruits and veggies? It'll still be good for me, and the fruits and veggies will have lower calories so I will gradually lower my caloric intake... What do you think of this? I was also going to start cardio next week but... if you think it's more important for me to cut in the spring then I will hold off on it for a bit. Please remember when I mean cut, I just want to get to my maintenance level, nothing below.

Thanks!

[Praetorian]

I am all for eating a more healthy diet yes. So more veggies and fruits to some degree...be careful with fruits as they are natures candy and are full of antioxidants etc but are basically a form of sugar. Your calorie intake may lower slightly but your body will adapt to that very quickly and you will not see progressive weight loss. You may see an initial loss but as I stated before it will tend to stagnate over time.

Eat as healthy as possible, limit junk intake, train hard, get adequate sleep and concentrate on your studies...there will be all kinds of time to diet when you are able to put more of a concentrated effort into it.

P

[Primal]

I am all for eating a more healthy diet yes. So more veggies and fruits to some degree...be careful with fruits as they are natures candy and are full of antioxidants etc but are basically a form of sugar. Your calorie intake may lower slightly but your body will adapt to that very quickly and you will not see progressive weight loss. You may see an initial loss but as I stated before it will tend to stagnate over time.

Eat as healthy as possible, limit junk intake, train hard, get adequate sleep and concentrate on your studies...there will be all kinds of time to diet when you are able to put more of a concentrated effort into it.

P

:( ok... I was really looking forward to cutting but you're the big guy. I'll leave it off till classes are done. Thanks

-Primal