Very Important Question, Need Answer! :)
 

Hi everyone.. im currently weighing in at 144lbs, and a height of 5'9, and im male.. so here it goes.. im starting this good workout routine this week, along with a lower carb diet.. not any one in particular.. but this is my plan, workout 3 times a week ( 30-40 mins each time ) and do cardio 4 times a week ( 30-40 mins each time ). And for my diet.. im going to try to get 1 gm of protein / lb of mass, so thas about 144 gram of protein, im trying to keep the amount of calories from fat pretty low ( since i want to lose a lil bit of body fat, and help 'tone' or 'cut' my muscles ) and i was planning to keep my carbs as low as possible ( below 50 gm a day ). And the only carbs that i do eat would come from veggies ect.. One of my biggest concerns following this plan would be, its too low in calories! i made up an average day, and i'll only consume around 1000 cals, which is way to low.. so what foods can i eat that are high in protein, low in fat, low in carbs, but high in calories??

So can anyone tell me if im going about this the right way, and what some foods are i can look at.. and if this sounds like a plan that will get my to my real goal... which is to cut my body and show off my muscle :) basically i want to lose body fat and gain muscle mass :).. So please resond asap! :) thanx in advance!

Well, if one of your primary goals is to build muscle mass, I would *definetely* not recommend going low-carb. I am currently following a CDK diet (no carb/high fat 5 1/2 days a week, with a carb-load on the weekends - with the goal being to shed fat while retaining muscle). But for muscle gain, I would recommend Body-for-Life eating - are you familiar with the program? Basically, a meal every 3-4 hours consisting of a palm-sized portion of protein, fist sized portion of clean carbs (whole grains, potatoes, rice, etc., etc). Additionally, if you are limiting both fat *and* carbs, you're not going to have any energy for all of those workouts you've planned for. Just my .02 :-)

Colleen

Defcon -

Yeah, I've got to second what Colleen just said. There are lots of good plans out there to help you build your lean muscle mass, and none of them are low carb. Good complex carbs will help you meet your goals both in terms of your workouts and your fat loss/muscle gain.

Clean eating is half the equation, hard lifting is the other half. I suggest you check out any one of the numerous weight training books at your local library and follow one for a little while until you get to know your body enough to start tweaking it for personal results.

IMO you're doing too much cardio, too. Don't try to freestyle a program until you've had more experience knowing how your body will respond to various nutrition/exercise plans.

BethO