Thread: revised cutting diet

if your cutting, i would honestly remove the walnuts from the diet, and the milk (better to have skim than anything anyway).

it actually looks pretty good otherwise, and if you have been maintaining at 2400-2600 calories, then being at 2200 to start is good, for what your doing, your macros are fine actually. the fat is good, that is all essential oils too which makes it even better, but you may want to switch the protein and carbs around (ie, 260g protein, 200g carbs) if your gonna cut, you dont want to have carbs higher than protein, even a 40,40,20 would work though, (protein,carbs,fat ratio)

sorry that is skim milk i`m using...and emma told me to put in some walnuts for more healthy fat so it had to be done lol
my carbs are that high because i do boxing training for my cardio and it is very high intensity so i`m confused now....to change or not to change
also would it be best to drink meal 2 slowly between meal 1 and 3 so as to keep my body fuelled ALL the time here since i`d be able to do it??

the walnuts are fine, and add in some fish-oil in the last meal. Overall, looks like a pretty good diet.

Originally Posted by the_leprechaun

Well about me:
Im 5 11
189 pounds
And a 20 yr old male
around 14-15%BF(i think)
full bodyworkout(because im a newbie) 3 days a week and cardio
in between workout days

I`ve read all the stickies so here goes
The macro breakdown is cals protein carbs fat

Looks better....

Meal 1:
4 egg whites 66 14 1 0
1 whole egg 75 6 1 5
1 cup of oats 303 13 52 5

This is good. I would maybe suggest 1-2 more whites.

Meal 2:
A shake made of:

.5 cup of oats 150 7 26 3
1 serving of p.powder 82 17 1 1
1 cup of low fat milk 86 8 12 0
.5 cup of berries 22 0 5 0
3 fish oil caps

This is good - don't forget to count the fish oils as fats (3g)

Meal 3:

Tin of tuna 150 36 0 1
Lettuce 18 2 3 0
1 apple 81 0 21 0
Some walnuts (not sure how many)

This is good - I would have 0.5 oz of walnuts (15g).

Meal 4:
(pre WO)
.5 cup brown rice 344 7 72 3
1 chicken breasts 229 43 0 5
1 cup of brocalli 51 6 10 0
2 fish oil caps

Ok - 0.5 cups cooked rice = half that - so is that rice cooked or raw?? If it is cooked then change the macros but if it is raw then I suggest you cut it back a little (go for 0.66 to 0.75 cups COOKED instead).

Meal 5:
(PWO)
2 serving of p. powder 164 34 2 2
1 cup of oats 303 13 52 5

Good. Although, if you were not going to cut down your carbs in meal 4 then I would decrease the oats to 0.75 cups.

Meal 6:
.5 cup of c.cheese 82 14 3 1

Add a little more protein here - 0.75 to 1 cup. Add fats as well (0.5 oz walnuts).

total cals 2206(at the moment)w/o walnuts
total protein 200
Total carbs 262
Total fat 31

If you make some of the suggestions above, that will take your carb count down to 1.3-1.5 x lean body mass (~210 to 245g) and I would then increase your protein too (1.3 1.5 x lean body mass as well). It will also give you those fats (~45-50g if you add the two servings of walnuts) - which will give you a total of ~0.3 x lean mass - which is far healthier.

booya emma is great. and for the boxing training, thats a great hiit workout in itself, so you shouldnt have to worry about carbs or anything at first, keep your normal routines for boxing and all, and watch how much you lose if any at all, if you dont lose anything at all, just switch the macros a little bit more to give you a higher protein/carb ratio, its the best way to go when cutting, and keeping your essential oils as your fats at the essential level is also very good (yes i know the walnuts are good, and are something you need, but if you are going to keep them and cut [still good on a cut] you need to get rid of something else to make up for the added calories.

thanks for the help guys....that brown rice is raw but i`lll reduce it .30 cup of raw brown rice that should bring my carbs down around the 230g mark...
and the added cottage cheese should bring up my protein count up..and the walnuts should fix my fat intake....
once again thanks for the help....
LETS GET CUTTING!!!

Originally Posted by the_leprechaun

Meal 1:
4 egg whites 66 14 1 0
1 whole egg 75 6 1 5
1 cup of oats 303 13 52 5


Meal 2:
A shake made of:

.5 cup of oats 150 7 26 3
1 serving of p.powder 82 17 1 1
1 cup of low fat milk 86 8 12 0
.5 cup of berries 22 0 5 0
3 fish oil caps


Meal 3:

Tin of tuna 150 36 0 1
Lettuce 18 2 3 0
1 apple 81 0 21 0
Some walnuts (not sure how many)

I just make lettuce wraps here

Meal 4:
(pre WO)
.5 cup brown rice 344 7 72 3
1 chicken breasts 229 43 0 5
1 cup of brocalli 51 6 10 0
2 fish oil caps

Meal 5:
(PWO)
2 serving of p. powder 164 34 2 2
1 cup of oats 303 13 52 5

Meal 6:
.5 cup of c.cheese 82 14 3 1

total cals 2206(at the moment)w/o walnuts
total protein 200
Total carbs 262
Total fat 31

Okay...seems like this is a pretty good diet with the feedback from this thread. Two questions...do you think it is the right diet for me? I am 5'11", 30 year old male, 180 lbs., & approx. 23% body fat. So I guess my goal is to lose some of this body fat before I attempt to bulk. Second question, are all the oat measurements pre-cooked or cooked. Because I cooked one cup of steel cut oats this morning and wow! Do they really expand! I was lucky to eat half the batch.

seems like your of a similar size me...and i`m on on cut and with 23% BF i think a cut would be in order....
yeah those oats are amazing!!!! its like a workout trying to eat a cup full in itself!!!!! but they are raw measurements... it seems like alot but maybe that wil help the whole psychological aspect of cutting as you will feel like your not undereating......

oh yea and good luck with your cut!!

One last concern...with a little modifications and suggestions from Emma-Leigh, my diet turns out the be the following:

(Cals/Fat/Carbs/Protein)

Meal 1:
5 Egg whites (82/0/2/17)
1 whole Egg (101/7/1/7)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)

Total: (483/11/55/32)

Meal 2:
2 servings protein (240/3/10/46)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)
.5 Cup of berries (22/0/5/0)
3 Fish Caps

Total: (562/7/67/54)

Meal 3:
Can of tuna (194/1/0/43)
1 small apple (63/0/16/0)
1 tablespoon mayo (99/11/0/0)
7 (.5 Ounces) Walnut halves (93/9/2/2)

Total: (449/21/18/45)

Meal 4:
2 servings protein (240/3/10/46)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)

Total: (540/7/62/54)

Meal 5:
1 small chicken breast (313/12/0/47)
1 cup broccoli (25/0/5/3)
.33 cup of brown rice (205/2/43/4)
2 fish caps
1 multi-vitamin

Total: (543/14/48/54)

Meal 6:
.75 Cup cottage cheese (160/6/4/20)
7 (.5 ounces) Walnut halves (93/9/2/2)

Total: (253/15/6/22)

Daily Total: (2839/77/261/262)

I got these totals from Fitday which leads to a ratio of about (Protein/Carbs/Fat) 40/34/26. Is this an okay ratio?

the ratio seems fine to begin with...you could gradually decrease carbs and increase protein as your cut progresses..
also i think your cals are too high(im only a newbie too) but i think 2300-2500 cals would be a good starting point for your cut..
my cals aint that high because i`m using regular oats which have less cals than steel cut....so maybe use regular oats or reduce your amounts to bring your cals down.......but i`d wait for someone like emma to confirm this!!!

Hey - Ok, so you are 30yrs, 5'11, 180# and 23% BF right?

What is your activity level like? How much exercise are you doing? How much cardio? What is your daily job?

Basically - the diet looks good.... but I would think about a few things:
1. You only have ~140 pounds of lean mass on your body - so you might not want to straight out 'diet' - rather, think about a moderate recomposition (not too low in calories - rather focus on gaining lean mass AS you cut off some fat mass). If you just focused on cutting you would end up too skinny (for 5'11 you do not want to weight much less than you are now).

2. You are probably eating too many calories from this diet if you wanted to just lose fat at a moderate pace. It is a good diet - but with your lean mass, if you were moderately active, then this would be somewhat closer to a maintainence type diet... I would aim for something closer to ~2500 cals and work from there.

3. You probably do not need that much protein... With a lean mass of only 140 pounds 260g is a bit high.

If I were you, with those stats, I'd try starting with something like:
protein ~210g (140 x 1.5)
fats ~65g (140 x 0.45)
total carbs ~260g (140 x 1.75)
With ~ 50g of this being fibre (therefore net carbs at ~1.5g x 140)

This comes to ~2450 cals

This would mean you want about 35g protein per meal...

So, to look at this diet:

Originally Posted by Sacto95827

Meal 1:
5 Egg whites (82/0/2/17)
1 whole Egg (101/7/1/7)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)

Total: (483/11/55/32)

This looks good. I would add 1 more egg white.

Meal 2:
2 servings protein (240/3/10/46)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)
.5 Cup of berries (22/0/5/0)
3 Fish Caps

Total: (562/7/67/54)

You don't need that much protein powder - cut it down to 1.5 serves. I would also consider decreasing carbs a little - so cut your oats to 0.33 cups.

Meal 3:
Can of tuna (194/1/0/43)
1 small apple (63/0/16/0)
1 tablespoon mayo (99/11/0/0)
7 (.5 Ounces) Walnut halves (93/9/2/2)

Total: (449/21/18/45)

Looks ok - I would drop the mayo and just have the walnuts OR at least decrease the mayo to 0.5 tbs.

Meal 4:
2 servings protein (240/3/10/46)
.5 Cup Steel Cut Oats (300/4/52/8)

Total: (540/7/62/54)

Once again, decrease the protein to 1.5 serves (you don't need 54g in one sitting). I would also add some fish oils to this meal (unless pre or post WO) and I would add some vegetables too.

Meal 5:
1 small chicken breast (313/12/0/47)
1 cup broccoli (25/0/5/3)
.33 cup of brown rice (205/2/43/4)
2 fish caps
1 multi-vitamin

Total: (543/14/48/54)

Ok - where are you getting that 0.33 cups of brown rice is that much? That is 1 cup of COOKED brown rice. I would suggest you get 0.75 cooked.

Otherwise looks great.

Meal 6:
.75 Cup cottage cheese (160/6/4/20)
7 (.5 ounces) Walnut halves (93/9/2/2)

Total: (253/15/6/22)

Looks good to me.

Daily Total: (2839/77/261/262)

As I said - this is a good maintainence level for you (although the protein is a little high - I would go for 2800 cals, 75g fat, ~210-220g protein and ~300g carbs (total - with ~ 40g of this being fibre).

I would also consider swapping some of the oats for higher fibre carb sources (legumes are great).

But otherwise it looks great!

I got these totals from Fitday which leads to a ratio of about (Protein/Carbs/Fat) 40/34/26. Is this an okay ratio?

That ratio is not too bad at all - and if you want you can stick to a similar ratio - personally, I like fats to be closer to the 20ish% mark and instead that the carbs/fibre to be slightly higher (which is what I have suggested) but many prefer more of an iso-calorific type diet.

Thanks Emma...you rock

Question: How long should I continue my diet before I drop calories if I don't see any change in bf%? And I would assume I drop calories from all my meals equally, correct? And as of now, I am training 4x a week and doing cardio 2x a week. Should I add another cardio day?

Originally Posted by Sacto95827

Question: How long should I continue my diet before I drop calories if I don't see any change in bf%? And I would assume I drop calories from all my meals equally, correct? And as of now, I am training 4x a week and doing cardio 2x a week. Should I add another cardio day?

I would give it 2 to 3 weeks to start with. If you do not get weight and/or BF% by then decrease your overall calories by 5-10%. I doesn't really matter how evenly you drop them from your meals (although you should try to keep your calorie intake across the day how you need it - so if you are really active early, have more early)... I would also add another day or two of cardio in if progress stalls (you could drop cals first, then when you next stall add a day of cardio, then drop cals then add another day... etc).