Thread: Diet Advice

Greetings all,

I’m about to start my first cycle and I wanted to get some feedback on my nutrition. I want to make sure I have everything dialed in before I start.

I’m on a lean bulk, eating about 200 calories over maintenance. I take my body fat once a month and it bounces between 10% and 12%. I feel like I have a pretty clean and consistent diet, but I still hold a little fat in my love handle area. It’s odd because I’m lean everywhere else and I have a 6 pack. Any thoughts or guidance would be most appreciated!

My stats and normal day of eating are below.

Age: 36
Weight: 153
Height: 5’ 6”
Body Fat: 11.6%
Years training: 5
Diet: 200 calories above maintenance
Training: 5 days lifting, 1 day cardio, 1 day total rest

All measurements relaxed:
Chest: 38”
Bicep: 13.5”
Forearm: 10”
Waist: 30.5”
Thigh: 23”
Calf: 18”

Wake up 6:30am
Protein shake 7:00am
Meal 1 8:00am = 5oz of 90/10 ground beef with 2oz veggies
Meal 2 11:00am = 7oz beef, 5oz sweet potatoes and 2oz veggies
Meal 3 2:00pm = 2 whole eggs, 2oz chicken jerky and 1oz quinoa
Meal 4 5:00pm = 7oz chicken breast, 3oz brown rice and 2oz veggies
Post workout shake 7:30pm
Meal 5 8:30pm = 7oz chicken breast, 3oz brown rice and 2oz veggies
Before bed snack 10:30pm = 2 tbsp. peanut butter
Before bed protein shake 11:00pm
Sleeping by 11:30pm

I just realized I posted in the wrong forum. Can a mod please move it to the sub-forum below.?

https://brotherhoodofpain.com/forum29/

Thanks in advance!

That's a pretty damn strict diet dude. Sometimes to get those stubborn fat areas you need to just bust your ass and cut more carbs (although there's not much for you to cut) and pick up the cardio. However I'd say that if you did anything much more drastic it wouldn't be sustainable for that long anyway

Originally Posted by bulk_cut

You need to put all that in an app like my fitness pal and figure out what the Macro split is. You're under fed and you need to start making some adjustments - adding in more carbs and especially good fats but need to see exactly how much of each to begin with then dial them in for your specific needs based on your metabolism.

I'm afraid that if you do your first cycle now your not going to get as close to as good results as you should and will be very disappointed. And 200 calories would above maintenance would not be a lean bulk for you at all. You should be shooting for 500-600 calories above maintenance and adjusting that upwards every 3 - 5 weeks along with readjusting your macro split.

Thank you for the reply.

My "maintenance" is supposedly 2400 calories. I eat approximately 2600. 240 protein, 200 carbs and 90 fat. I notice if I increase my carbs my abs slowly disappear. I apologize if my lean bulk terminology was incorrect. The way it was explained to me was a lean bulk is a couple hundred clean calories about ones maintenance.

Just so I understand; you’re suggesting upping my total calories, carbs specifically, and I should see my body fat decrease? If you schedule permits, could you please explain how this would work? It seems to contradict the things I’ve read.

I know every person’s body is different, but what would you suggest by looking at my stats? As you can see I am fairly lean already. What would be the best macro split to gain lean muscle and keep body fat to a minimum on cycle?

Thanks for your time and guidance!

Originally Posted by Fancycat69

That's a pretty damn strict diet dude. Sometimes to get those stubborn fat areas you need to just bust your ass and cut more carbs (although there's not much for you to cut) and pick up the cardio. However I'd say that if you did anything much more drastic it wouldn't be sustainable for that long anyway

That’s my biggest problem. If I do more cardio, I lose muscle. If I up my calories, carbs primarily, my midsection suffers. It’s a catch 22…

My current diet lets me keep my abs, but also lets me build muscle. Although the gains are VERY slow.

Originally Posted by One Hairy SOB

That’s my biggest problem. If I do more cardio, I lose muscle. If I up my calories, carbs primarily, my midsection suffers. It’s a catch 22…

My current diet lets me keep my abs, but also lets me build muscle. Although the gains are VERY slow.

If this is the case I would encourage to first increase your protein intake , then increase your fats


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Originally Posted by One Hairy SOB

That’s my biggest problem. If I do more cardio, I lose muscle. If I up my calories, carbs primarily, my midsection suffers. It’s a catch 22…

My current diet lets me keep my abs, but also lets me build muscle. Although the gains are VERY slow.

Your metabolism could be jacked as well if you've been on low cal or yo yo'ing for a while. Higher calories with a solid macro spread for a length of time will not only help you put on size and strength, but will get your metabolism into high gear again. Then you can slowly start cutting back on the calories and watch the fat melt without losing as much of the muscle you gained.

Thanks for the replies!

Originally Posted by joko123

If this is the case I would encourage to first increase your protein intake , then increase your fats


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My protein is already 1.5g per pound. You're suggesting I shoot for 2g per pound?

Originally Posted by Xtreme4Life

Your metabolism could be jacked as well if you've been on low cal or yo yo'ing for a while. Higher calories with a solid macro spread for a length of time will not only help you put on size and strength, but will get your metabolism into high gear again. Then you can slowly start cutting back on the calories and watch the fat melt without losing as much of the muscle you gained.

I've been on a steady 2600 calorie diet for about a year now. Before that I was doing the bulk, cut, maintenance, repeat method, which I absolutely hated.

Originally Posted by One Hairy SOB

Thanks for the replies!





My protein is already 1.5g per pound. You're suggesting I shoot for 2g per pound?




I've been on a steady 2600 calorie diet for about a year now. Before that I was doing the bulk, cut, maintenance, repeat method, which I absolutely hated.

Just slowly add more protein in , don't worry about 1.5 your body weight or whatever , if you add in more meals , increase frequency your metabolism will change

I was taking in 550g of protein at 210lbs , 100c , ~80 of fat and dropping weight there is no magical ratio that generates results


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