# Cheat meals on cut? How much food intake? Keeping the muscle, losing the fat.



## pask3r (Dec 31, 2010)

Hey bros.

I'm at about... ehh.. 16% BF right now.. it's probably closer to 12ish but I'm going to be hard on myself and play it safe.

Anyway, I want to get to sub 10, and want to shed all of the fat on my body.

I need some advice from people who have successfully gotten there, not random ass losers who want to get there and think they know what they're talking about.

Obviously the gear is helping us all, but everyone knows you can't be an average joe, eat what you want, not work out, take gear, and get to your goals. So this question is not gear related, rather diet related.

I'm 6'5'' 235lbs, and I want to stay there. I actually want to gain weight (healthy weight, MUSCLE. ), and shed the fat.

I play sports. Size and weight are something scouts/agents/blah blah fucking blah look at. So, I want to loose this fat, and get myself to 250 with gear, workouts, and a strong diet.

Now.. I read everywhere that I should be taking in a gram of protein per pound. So.. I'm at 235.. that means 235g of protein a day. Do you guys realize how much f***ing food that takes? That's a s**t ton of meat, and a s**t ton of protein shakes. A s**t ton of food to burn off.

So it's a tough balancing act for me. How do you bro's out there who are 220+ keep the muscle, and keep the 6 packs and flat stomachs. S**t aint easy. I can tell you that. Some of you are warriors.

I know it's going to take time for me. I used to be about 20% BF just a few months ago.

On to the question. I want bro's 220+ with some abs and sub 10% BF to answer this.. seriously.

What does your diet look like?

How do you take in the needed protein?

How do you not "over-do" it, and take in your needed protein?

Can we cheat at all?

What if you have a slow metabolism, do you really need to watch what you do? Mine is fairly slow but working out has sped it up real nice.

Here's what my workouts look like.

Upperbody is done 3 days on, 1 off.

Lowerbody is every other day.

Core work (700 weighted crunches, 300 side dips) every day.

Cardio (8mins HIIT) 3 days a week.

I'm seeing results, and I'm cheating. I know I'm going to get there, I just want to see how others have done it, and learn from the "pros".

Thanks guys.

Rock on.


----------



## vortrit (Jan 2, 2011)

For one thing I'd post your whole workout routine in the training section. There are a lot of people there who will help you out with that. From what I can tell it look horrible. As far as your diet goes people are going to need to know your diet before they can help, but I will post my last diet. On a cut cheat meals are about once a week, I'd say. It just depends.


----------



## vortrit (Jan 2, 2011)

Meal 1:
1 whole egg
4 egg whites
2 slices of sprouted grain bread
1 multi vitamin
2 Fish Oils 
Green Tea

Meal 2:
1 banana or 1 cup sugar free apple sauce
2 scoops of whey
½ cup oats
2 fish oils

Meal 3:
½ can of tuna
½ cup Oats
4 fish oils

Meal 4:
½ can of tuna
2 slices of sprouted grain bread
1 cup of brown rice
1 cucumber
2 fish oils

Pre Workout:

Meal Replacement Shake (Usually Muscle Milk)


Post Workout

2 scoops of whey
½ cup of pineapple
½ cup of yogurt
½ cup of oat bran

Meal 5:

Chicken Breast
1 cup of broccoli
1 cup of whole wheat whole grain pasta
1 serving olive oil

Meal 6:

1 cup Cottage Cheese
1 serving natural peanut or almond butter 

Total Calories = 3208
Fats = 83 g / 24%
Carbs = 330 g / 38%
Protein = 289 g / 38%


----------



## Retlaw (Jan 2, 2011)

• Meal #1: 8 oz. top sirloin or 8 whole eggs, plus 1 cup of oatmeal

					• Meal #2: 3 scoops Real Gains combined with 1 scoop Ultra Iso Whey plus 5 grams of creatine and 5 grams of glutamine

					• Meal #3: 8 oz. chicken breast, 10 oz yam

					• Meal #4: 3 scoops Real Gains combined with 1 scoop Ultra Iso Whey plus 5 grams of creatine and 5 grams of glutamine

					• Meal #5: 8 oz. chicken breast, 10 oz yam

• Meal #6: Eat about 75 grams worth of protein and 75 grams of carbs. Keep the fat down and add a salad. You have flexibility with this meal.

Im turning into a monster !


----------



## Beejis60 (Jan 2, 2011)

Quickly browsing through your extremely long post, 8mins HIIT three times a week is NOT enough cardio.


----------



## vortrit (Jan 2, 2011)

Beejis60 said:


> Quickly browsing through your extremely long post, 8mins HIIT three times a week is NOT enough cardio.



Yeah wow. And all of those crunches are a waste of time. Lifte weights and do a lot of compound lifts and most importantly clean up your diet if you want ab visibility. There was a period I was doing a lot of core work but it was to strengthen my core. I could care less about ab visibility.


----------



## Built (Jan 2, 2011)

I'm a middle aged woman who weighs 145 lbs soaking wet and I eat more than 200g protein daily. Most of us here aim for over a gram per pound LEAN MASS, not per pound bodyweight. You're carrying about 200 lbs lean mass, so your protein needs to be at least 200g daily - and quite frankly, while cutting, I'd aim for at least 300g daily. 

What calories are you running currently? How many grams of protein, carb and fat to you take in? And for your workouts, what kinds of lifts do you perform, what rep ranges and what kinds of weights are we looking at?


----------



## bigbeef (Jan 2, 2011)

try adding in Need2slin to your supplements. Will help youlean out and on cheat days


----------



## Beejis60 (Jan 2, 2011)

vortrit said:


> Yeah wow. And all of those crunches are a waste of time. Lifte weights and do a lot of compound lifts and most importantly clean up your diet if you want ab visibility. There was a period I was doing a lot of core work but it was to strengthen my core. I could care less about ab visibility.



Ya, that's my absolute favorite is when someone thinks doing crunches will make you ripped :facepalm:
That means my chest, quads, and back should be pretty ripped from all the benching, squatting, and chins/pulldowns I do....  Moreso than my goddamn abs


----------



## pask3r (Jan 5, 2011)

Built said:


> I'm a middle aged woman who weighs 145 lbs soaking wet and I eat more than 200g protein daily. Most of us here aim for over a gram per pound LEAN MASS, not per pound bodyweight. You're carrying about 200 lbs lean mass, so your protein needs to be at least 200g daily - and quite frankly, while cutting, I'd aim for at least 300g daily.
> 
> What calories are you running currently? How many grams of protein, carb and fat to you take in? And for your workouts, what kinds of lifts do you perform, what rep ranges and what kinds of weights are we looking at?


 
I'd say.. a rough estimate.. between 2000-2800 calories a day.

I try to get at least 200g of protein a day. I don't watch carbs,  although I should. Honestly, I'm not educated enough on carbohydrates to know what I'd be watching for.

I focus on triceps, forearms, chest, bi's and back. 

I can hammer curl 100lb dumbells, I can skullcrush around 140 on a straight bar, can bench around 315, my tricep pressdown is at around 200lbs right now max, my row is at about.. ehh, 300 on a machine, mabey 315

Everything I just mentioned (hammer curls, skullscrushers, and bench) I do 5x5.. 

I like to curl 12x4, 12 reps, 4 sets to get cut up.. Some days I'll throw in 5x5 for size.. I curl around 140 max when I'm going for strength (5x5)

I also do some wrist/reverse wrist curls 25x4 for vascularity

andd.. I like to do high rep low wieght on the decline and incline bench for definition.

Lowerbody I squat every three days (5x5), and max out at about 315.. I'm 6'5'' so don't hate!!!

I'm actually doing 4-5 days of HITT and it varies between 8-14mins. Sorry for the false statement above.

I'm doing the crunches strictly to burn fat off my stomach, and it's working for me.

I also do high weighted cruches (45lb plate) for core strength.


----------



## Life (Jan 5, 2011)

pask3r said:


> I focus on triceps, forearms, chest, bi's and back.
> 
> andd.. I like to do high rep low wieght on the decline and incline bench for definition.
> 
> ...



If you're going to focus then focus on back, legs, chest and shoulders. Focusing on bi's and forearms is a waste of time.

Incline and decline won't build definition. Cutting fat builds definition. Overstressing your chest isn't doing anything but maybe cutting gains.

Don't use height as an excuse! A bad craftsman blames the tools, a good craftsman blames himself when things go awry. 

Crunches aren't going to "burn fat" anymore than walking would. If you want to burn fat do HIIT and focus on deads, squats, presses. Oh and diet of course


----------



## awhites1 (Jan 5, 2011)

pask3r said:


> I'm at about... ehh.. 16% BF right now.. it's probably closer to 12ish but I'm going to be hard on myself and play it safe.



just as an experiance about guestimating... i thought for the longest time i was around 17-18% bf and just found out recently im packing a awesome 24%. i knew i was a little on the chubby side but not near that. 

Maybe you should actually get it checked


----------



## Built (Jan 5, 2011)

Tall like you are, a 5x5 squats with 315 lbs is not at all shabby - long levers do indeed make this exercise a real bitch for tall guys. 

Your workouts and your diet appear to be working for you, at least for now, so how about this: start tracking your intake on FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal, and weigh yourself daily. When your weight starts to plateau, post up your average intake (fitday lets you run an average) and your current stats and we'll help you from there. 

The ab work won't cut up your abs, but it won't hurt you either so ignore the haters and keep doing what you're doing. I will offer a small suggestion of reducing your training volume a bit while you cut (if you don't, you'll get smaller muscles and you don't want that) and make sure you add deadlifts to your routine. I'm very glad to see the squats in there three times a week. You could easily add deads in there twice a week as well. Maybe conventional one day, and RDLs on another. Keep your cutting workout volume low - for example, perhaps two 5x5 heavy compounds and two 3x8 concentration movements per workout. Follow this with the HIIT you're doing, and a 20-minute walk at the end while you sip a post workout shake could be a nice way to do it. 

Good luck.


----------



## SloppyJ (Jan 5, 2011)

5x5 hammer curls with 100lbs in each hand? That sounds interesting to say the least.


----------



## Life (Jan 5, 2011)

Built said:


> The ab work won't cut up your abs, but it won't hurt you either so ignore the haters and keep doing what you're doing.


  Saying abs won't cut him up doesn't make me a hater.


----------



## Built (Jan 5, 2011)

LOL no it doesn't. Buddy here just needs to understand what he's doing - most of his protocol is good, but he needs to tweak it a bit. You have to understand what you're doing before you can tweak it - and he's not there yet.


----------

