Trying to lose/cut while working out
 

I'm currently wanting to reduce my weight from about 185 to at least 170 in order to get rid of my gut, get a four-or-six-pack, and to increase my vascularity. Second, I'm working out in the gym with weights about 3-4 times a week and riding the exercise bike regularly.

I've worked out off and on for 30 years, so although I took off several years, I have great "muscle memory" and it comes back really fast. I'm not trying to build a Schwarzenegger body at this point in my life. I just want to have some nice muscle shape that's nicely defined, and (at least once in my life past my teen years) less than 10% bodyfat.

My current concern is getting enough protein to my muscles while I'm in a calorie deficit. Through tedious trial-and-error, I've determined that I slowly lose weight at around 1600 calories a day. If I go above that, I stall. If I go below 1600 calories, I lose faster, but I'm more apt to binge on cr*p when I get too hungry. At 1600/day I find myself eating almost solely protein in order to get enough to repair my muscles after a hard workout. My muscles would benefit from more regular protein feedings, but if I up my intake and add more calories/protein, my weight loss will stop.

Any suggestions? It's a delicate balancing act.

It sounds like you are on the right track. I have always read and heard that (unless you are really a beginner) gaining muscle mass and fat loss at the same time is nearly impossible. Most bodybuilders and such seem to have a "bulk" phase, and a "cut" phase. I think it's inevitable that you'll lose a little muscle with a cut and gain a little fat with a bulk- the trick is to make the muscle loss/fat gain as minimal as possible.

I eat around 1500 calories a day and am able to get 1g or protein per pound of body weight- which in my experience- works best for me when trying to lose fat & maintain muscle.

I would never be able to hot my protein intake goals if I didn't use a lot of whey protein supplements- if I add those in (2 a day, usually) and cut most carbs- I lose fat and maintain muscle for the most part.

Cans of tuna and chicken breasts are they go-tos for me.

How much protein are you aiming for each day?

Honestly, I haven't kept track of daily protein. I've been so focused on calories. I try and eat as much protein as my calorie-budget will allow. I'd rather be short on protein than go into a calorie surplus, since losing fat to me right now is more of a priority than getting the maximum amount of protein. If I'm at my calorie limit and I'm still short on protein for the day, I figure there's nothing I can do about it. However, I'd rather do both if possible.

I may look into getting protein through whey protein, but if I have to add milk, the calorie difference between that and just eating chicken would probably be negligible, and I'd save on having to buy a cannister of whey. I used to have some, but I'm sure it's been thrown out by now. But if you're able to keep things at 1500/day while ingesting enough protein, I'd be curious to see what your daily diet looks like.

It's hard when you weigh more to get 1g protein per pound of body weight!

Some of my go-to protein fixes:

Fage 2% plain Greek yogurt is 20g protein per 150 calories.
Low sodium canned albacore in water is almost 32g protein for under 150 calories (pretty mediocre flavor-wise so mix it with something).
Chicken breast is really good protein per calorie ratio too.
High protein tofu and tempeh are good too, especially tempeh.

I'd go with protein shakes. I do one in the morning (as my breakfast) that has 38g of protein in one 12oz glass. That's about 1/3 of my daily protein requirement with not a lot of calories and in not too big a package.

Its actually 1 gram protein per 1 KG body weight...
so OP is looking to need APPROX 100 grams protein/day ~

That said, in order to lose fat/build muscle/body recomp at this stage in your game, you need to consider and look into doing shorter span carb/calorie cycling.

High carb/high cals on weighttraining days, as low as you can go on off days kinda thing. There IS an exact science to it all.
Also, im still not sure if the OP is male or female?
But if female, a LOT of more recent research is showing the value (ESPECIALLY WHEN DEALING WITH BODYRECOMP AND FATLOSS) in timing a lot of training and higher calories AROUND the luteal phase of your cycle..in order to minimize hormonal disturbance, prevent plateauing/metabolic adaptation/promote fatloss, and more

I do not believe at this point you will achieve any significant recomp with just "fatloss" alone (ie, low cals) nor do i believe you will achieve much fatloss doing a purely weight training/bulking program either.

I follow the Leangains method of IF and it worked for me. I was able to lose body fat and keep the LBM I had. If you google "leangains" you will see lots of blogs that talk about this method of eating to lean out while maintaining muscle. I don't know if this exactly answered your question or not but that's been what has worked for me.

Here is a pretty typical day for me:

Breakfast: 5 egg whites with as many veggies thrown in as I can get, a coffee, and some fruit OR oatmeal (250 cal, 21g protein)

Snack: Homemade protein bar (made with whey and almond flour: 250 cal, 36 g protein)

Lunch: 2 cans of tuna/8 oz chicken breast (250 cal, 40 g protein)

Snack: Whey Protein Shake made with almond milk (160 cal 27 g protein)

Dinner: varies- usually Chicken/Turkey/Pork with some kind of veggie (usually 500 calories or so and 30-40 g protein

Snack: always different- usually something small 100-200 calories

Sometimes this gets really bland- but its the best plan for me to lose weight. I also take a multi vitamin and fiber supplement- because obviously this plan is lacking in several ways.

Could I eat this way for the rest of my life?? probably not- but its how I got down to MY ideal weight, and I can add some more fruit and vegetables when I am at goal and eat closer to 2000 calories per day. I never really eat bread anyways- and moderation with treats is close to impossible for me (the reason Ive gained 8lbs back and hang around the "chicks in control" board a lot.

hopefully that sparks some ideas for you!

(PS- almond milk has quite a few less calories than regular milk if you are interested, it works great in protein shakes)

Love your "sweat" tag. :D

Very interesting diet. I need to snack on protein, for sure, in order to repair my muscles, so I'm going to see how I can adapt your diet for myself. Is this a menu that you stuck to every day for the length of your weight loss?

Where does one buy almond milk? I'm not sure I've heard of it before. Is it expensive? I see you make protein shakes with your almond milk and whey. What kind of whey do you use, and is it flavored? I love chicken, but I don't think I could do white breast meat; it's sooo dry. I'd rather eat dark meat at 50-cal./oz. than white mean at 30-cal./oz.

Oh, and congrats on your progress. Well done. :bravo:

Hey thanks! :) I don't eat EXACTLY that every day, and only for a few weeks at a time when I feel like I need to kick it up a notch and really cut down on body fat- like in the weeks before an audition or beach vacation... Or (right now) when I've gone crazy and gained holiday weight :P

I actually get my whey protein from wal-mart. It's called "body-fortress" and they have chocolate, peanut butter, vanilla... I like to put extracts in them sometimes- like peppermint extract in the chocolate or caramel extract in the vanilla-

You can buy almond milk at most grocery stores but it is quite a bit more expensive.