Do I still need to be SUPER careful with my diet while trying to cut?

[bizzyb]

This may be a noob question so forgive me if it is. Let me start by giving you a little bit of background information and my goals. Before starting college 2 and a half years ago, i was bigger than I am now, (im a small guy either way) but I kind of stopped working out as much and eventually quit all together (studying computer engineering is draining enough) Eating fast food and a lot of junk never really did anything to me. I would stay the same weight and I gained fat very slowly. Over the three years It has become a lot more noticable to me which has motivated me to start working out again beginning with cutting. Again my goals is to lose fat. Especially in my stomach!

I play pickup games (basketball) 5 days a week for about 1-3 hours and have gotten back into shape endurance wise. I feel like I did when i played ball in highschool again. I feel like I am losing fat but I do know that by not lifting weights I will be losing muscle instead of fat (correct me if im wrong). So I started lifting weights three days a week on top of the pickup games I play every week. There is no way i will stop playing ball any day of the week because basketball is a very important part of my life!

So here are my questions.... Am I over training by adding weights three days a week? Also, I know that I am burning a lot more calories then I would doing anything other form including hiit especially when I play for about three hours.
And I also know I have to eat less calories than I burn to cut fat. By weight training and playing basketball, do i have to have a SUPER clean diet since I am burning a huge chunk doing both activites. Keep in mind that I am also taking an EC stack which I believe also burns calories. Should I eat a little bit more throughout the day since I am burning so much in calories? And is what I eat as important since I am burling so much. I am not saying i am going to eat all junk but I dont think i can follow some of the diet plans I have seen on this site like I used to in highschool. I don't have a specific diet plan but I have tried to cut down on what I eat. I have also stopped drinking pop and eating fast food which was a daily thing for me.

Sorry for such a long post but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Martinogdenbsx]

well

Keep it super clean yes
Keep calories 1-200 below maintainence first then drop accordingly
You won't loose muscle mass as long as you loose about 1-2 lbs per week,if your loosing 5lbs a week its mostly loosing muscle

 

[GFR]

If you are playing 15 hours of basketball a week you will gain little or no muscle mass

 

[bizzyb]

Im am not trying to gain muscle mass at the moment. Im trying not to lose it while cutting fat.

 

[GFR]

Im am not trying to gain muscle mass at the moment. Im trying not to lose it while cutting fat.

If you play ball Mon-Fri on a average of 2 hours I would just do a total body workout once or twice a week.

 

[msunid83]

to answer your question about being really careful with you diet....

That depends on you and your appetite. If you just eat clean and "eye" it when choosing how much to eat, you might be in a caloric deficit. Remember, what matters most is that you are taking in less calories than you burn. So notbody can answer that question for you. You might be able to casually diet and loose weight, you might not. I would be careful and count calories to be safe, that is your best bet at a successful cut and the only way you can be sure.

 

[bizzyb]

I think I will give the total body workout once or twice a week. I almost positive that I am on a calorie deficit. Do you guys think drinking a gatorade would be horrible after playing ball? Water is great, but nothing makes me feel better than gatorade. I pretty much kill myself on the court playing defense on the guys that I play with. My assumption was that after cutting out fast food and pop which was a daily part of my diet before i starting working out again would have a significant impact on cutting body fat even if i didnt play ball 5 days a week.

The EC takes care of my appetite problems. I love steaks, and home cooked burgars on the forman grill. That is my dinner every night after playing ball. I usually drink a protein shake before playing ball. The rest of my meals I just play by ear depending on how much time I have.

Thanks for your help guys and any more input is welcome

 

[msunid83]

that's cool that you are pretty sure that you are in a deficit, but remember that you have not reason to complain about your results unless you put in the effort to actually measure you food intake and progress. All you questions about is gatorade okay or a protein shake...the answer is simple. As long as you are still at the caloric level you need to be then it is fine. That is the most important part of any way of eating.

 

[juggernaut]

try using cow jism to maintain muscle mass.

 

[the nut]

try using cow jism to maintain muscle mass.

Do recommend the oral or anal version?

 

[juggernaut]

i prefer through injection and/or the pancreas.