going from 14% to 10% or under

[the_leprechaun]

Hey Folks,
looking for some advice on getting sub 10% bodyfat, just got myself an accumeasure and it says im 13.8%, im currently weighing 185 lbs (159lbs of lbm) and im 5 11, go jogging 3x per week and weights mon/wed/fri, lift heavy and do a standard back/biceps,chest/triceps, legs/abs routine.
i try to get in between 2000-2500 calories, keep my protein above 200g
is say ive lost about 10-14 lbs ove teh last few months, my carbs may seem low but i just find that im extremly carb intolerant, i cant eat them like a normal human being!! they make me gorge so i try to steer clear!
im currently using flavoured water to help me beats my sugar cravings, would things like this need to go to get sub 10%? or should i just continue the way im going?? ive given up alcohol too, 4 weeks and counting!
heres my fitday link, it will be a far more accurate view of my diet!
FitDay Free Calorie Counter and Diet Journal: Public Journal

my typical diet would be:

breakfast:
30g of oats
40g of protein
1 banana

snack:
tin of tuna
lettuce, tomato
3 wheat crackers(i find these keep me sane, while eating tuna)

lunch:
tin of tuna
lettuce, tomato
3 wheat crackers

dinner:
2 chicken breasts
100g basmatti rice
peppers
onions

snack:
protein shake
20g protein

before bed:
8 eggwhites
1 whole egg

any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Built]

Hey, read the link in my sig on getting started, then come back with some numbers.

 

[the_leprechaun]

sorry for the lack of macros folks! heres a typical day, it would change slightly sometimes, but i try to be pretty strict! my protein is always over 200g but sometime i let my cals slip a little low i think!

typical day:

Breakfast:
Cals Fat (g) Carbs (g) Prot (g)

oats 110 1.5 19.8 3.3
protopure protein powder 206 0.0 18.0 34.0
Banana, 121 0.4 31.1 1.5


snack:

tin of tuna 150 0.8 0.0 36.0
3x wheat cracker bread 75 0.6 14.9 2.8
grapes 172 0.4 45.2 1.8

lunch:
tin of tuna 150 0.8 0.0 36.0
3x wheat cracker bread 75 0.6 14.9 2.8
Banana, 121 0.4 31.1 1.5


dinner:
2x chicken breasts 261 5.7 0.0 49.1
50g basmati rice 174 0.2 38.5 3.5
1 onion 60 0.1 14.0 1.6
1 pepper 44 0.3 10.5 1.5
garlic
olive oil pam spray 12 1.2 0.3 0.0

snack:
8 eggwhites 137 0.4 1.9 28.7
1 whole egg 60 0.1 14.0 1.6

before bed:
protopure protein powder 206 0.0 18.0 34.0

Total 2,078 13.5 259.2 238.1

training:
mon: chest triceps shoulders
wed: back biceps
fri: legs abs

normally a 4 mile run on tue,thurs and sat with sunday off(im training for a half marathon on the 26th of september so this is why the running is in there) my diet dosent differ on either day!

any help much appreciated

 

[Built]

13.5 grams of fat???
WHY???

Please read the link in my sig on getting started, and come back with some new numbers for us, okay?

 

[the_leprechaun]

i never really thought about my fat content, i think ive been so focused on eating healthy and keeping my protein intake high ive neglected my fat intake!! if im going for .5 g of fat per pound of lbm, that would put me at about 80 g, to keep my cals in check should i take these cals away from my carb intake??? if i add half an avocado to both my tuna meals, that will bring my macros up to 2,564 58.1 285.1 244.2 and maybe some fish oil tabs to boost it up that little bit...anybody got anuy idea how many grams of fat is in a fish oil tab??

 

[the_leprechaun]

do you guys think i should begin to incorporate a refeed in once a week??

 

[bodom]

im cutting this month before summer to get to 10% too good luck man

 

[juggernaut]

you need to start adding a shitload of fats. 40g at least, if not double that.There are both psychological reasons behind this as well as physiological.

 

[juggernaut]

Built's article will get you to the next level, provided you make improvements on your diet. Hows your training look?

 

[the_leprechaun]

ill get on that straight away, i think maybe an avocado a day, plus some almonds to my tuna salad should boost my fat intake up... and 6 fish oil tabs... should i be taking these cals away from my carb intake?? any good articles you would recommend about fat intake so i know what im doing?
i think my training is pretty solid, all heavy/low reps, compound movements.

Mon:chest/triceps warm up set then,10-8-6 going as heavy as i can go on all days.

Alternate between Flat DB/BB bench press incline BB press
DB flyes
dips
CG bench press
DB military press
Lat raises

Wed: Back/biceps 10-8-6 reps

3 sets of pull ups to failure
BB rows
deadlifts
face pulls
hyper extensions
shrugs
bicep curls

Fri: legs/abs

Squats
walking lunges
SLDL
Standing Calf press
crunches
hanging leg raises
bicycle crunces

cardio: running on my off days

 

[Built]

As you lean out, consider ditching the direct arm work - focus on the heavy compounds.

A gram of fish oil is a gram of fat: 9 calories. I take 10g daily.

Pay for your fats mostly from carbs.

 

[juggernaut]

I take about three tsp a day. Does weird (but great) things for my dry skin and allergies.

Pack on the peanut butter and evoo, plus eat steak!

 

[juggernaut]

As you lean out, consider ditching the direct arm work - focus on the heavy compounds.

Good point; I'll do two sets for arm work a week. I rely heavily on undergrip rows, deads and weighted chins for biceps, standing shoulder presses (great for ab work), benches and some close grip work for tris.

 

[the_leprechaun]

ok so i got on the ball, straight away yesterday and included a whole avovado in my diet(makes tuna taste remotely interesting!) i normally switch from my chicken to steak one day a week and im going to use olive oil instead of PAM spray....plus 9 fish oil tabs! so that should hopefully get me on the right road!

 

[goldcol]

Personally I would do more cardio. When I have reduced to sub 10 it has been when doing cardio 6 days per week and weight training with heavy compound movements two days per week. The days I weight trained the cardio would be just 15mins HIT. Mixing up the cardio and keep the body guessing.

As Tom Venturo mentioned in his burn the fat feed the muscle ebook. The best way to burn the fat is cardio coupled with weight training but more emphasize needs to placed on cardio. I also found cardio with weights worked too. With bursts of 500m rows etc. Tiring but I found not doing the same workout twice helped keep my body guessing and kept reducing my BF levels

I also got good results following a TNT diet and training program another time.

 

[the_leprechaun]

thanks for the advice, im just quite conscious of losing too quickly at the moment, i dont want to loose too much muscle, i was doing cardio 6 days for a while and think it was a little over kill, my diet is in order so i think that should be enough! im also awae that my jogging training is going to increase in mileage over the next few weeks so im going to keep a close watch on my weight and BF and adjust accordingly.....would once a month be a good tiem to measure BF%???

 

[Hench]

Personally I would do more cardio. When I have reduced to sub 10 it has been when doing cardio 6 days per week and weight training with heavy compound movements two days per week. The days I weight trained the cardio would be just 15mins HIT. Mixing up the cardio and keep the body guessing.

As Tom Venturo mentioned in his burn the fat feed the muscle ebook. The best way to burn the fat is cardio coupled with weight training but more emphasize needs to placed on cardio. I also found cardio with weights worked too. With bursts of 500m rows etc. Tiring but I found not doing the same workout twice helped keep my body guessing and kept reducing my BF levels

I also got good results following a TNT diet and training program another time.

Sorry, but this isn't great advice.

Cardio 6 days a week as well as weight training on a cut? Thats over training bud, and also not a very comfortable way to lose the weight.

 

[kyoun1e]

You should take a looke at UD2 -- Ultimate Diet 2.0

It's really for those with sub-15% bf looking to get single digits. Promise is bf loss with no loss to muscle (and some actually gain muscle).

Rigorous as hell, but everyone raves about it.

I'm on my third week and the pounds are dropping off (although I started at a higher bf % than you).

Some guy juggernaut got me onto this thing. Pretty good guy

KY

 

[ironman4]

You should take a looke at UD2 -- Ultimate Diet 2.0

It's really for those with sub-15% bf looking to get single digits. Promise is bf loss with no loss to muscle (and some actually gain muscle).

Rigorous as hell, but everyone raves about it.

I'm on my third week and the pounds are dropping off (although I started at a higher bf % than you).

Some guy juggernaut got me onto this thing. Pretty good guy

KY

Cool, I think I'd better check this out!

 

[goldcol]

Moondogg, you can't say 6 days cardio and 2 days weight training is overtraining it is not that simple. A lot of the cardio I was performing was in the morning at low intensity. I never had any symptoms of overtraining and never lost muscle. I know lots of people who use this method. I never ask for any advice on cutting, I am now at 12% and will hit sub 10 not problem. If you are having enough calories and protein and fats are high with some carbs and you are performing cardio this is not a recipe to lose muscle especially at low intensity. The HITT was just to mix it up.

Also every individual is different and overtraining is based on symptoms and the point you reach these symptoms are different for each individual. I would suggest measuring your BF levels weekly and always change your training and diet, if the progress has halted then change one or all of your variables.

Good luck with holding onto your muscle whilst training for a Marathon. Hard to do!!

 

[Hench]

Moondogg, you can't say 6 days cardio and 2 days weight training is overtraining it is not that simple. A lot of the cardio I was performing was in the morning at low intensity. I never had any symptoms of overtraining and never lost muscle. I know lots of people who use this method. I never ask for any advice on cutting, I am now at 12% and will hit sub 10 not problem. If you are having enough calories and protein and fats are high with some carbs and you are performing cardio this is not a recipe to lose muscle especially at low intensity. The HITT was just to mix it up.

Well then whats the point? Why do the cardio in the first place?

 

[the_leprechaun]

thanks for the advice guys, i know personally i start to strip away muscle as the cardio increses, so im limiting it to my 3 runs a week! dont want to give these up as i love running....ive just started reading the UD 2.0 so hopefully ill have a plan made up for monday to start, so im looking forward to it!

 

[goldcol]

increases the fat burn.

 

[goldcol]

Maybe you need to read Burn the fat feed the muscle by Tom Venuto, his body fat levels have been 3.5%. His advise worked for me.

 

[Hench]

increases the fat burn.

Okay so say an hour of steady state cardio burns what, maybe 300cals. That equals about 33g of fat. Wow, that???s a lot of fat you have burned, assuming of course that you ONLY burned fat and no muscle, which you won???t. Along with this huge fat burn you have other effects, such as increased efficiency (not a good thing), risk fibre conversion (not a good thing) and other hormonal changes, increased hunger ect. Some HIIT cardio is good, but this much steady state is counterproductive really.

I don???t mean to pick on you either Goldcol, just trying to help out. Leaning down can be much easier and more comfortable for you in future.

 

[goldcol]

Fair enough Moondogg, just stating what i read and what worked for me. If it can be done easier then rock on!!