Advice on cutting / getting shredded!

Advice on cutting / getting shredded!

Author
Discussion

torqueofthedevil

Original Poster:

2,068 posts

176 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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I've been training on and off for years and when I want to I can put on some decent size, however cutting has always just seemed like a dark art to me! I've tried dieting and attempted cutting but always just felt I was either over dieting and losing too much size or just not loosing any fat!

Any good exercise regimes to follow / websites to read - and more importantly decent diet plans to follow?

I'm currently eating healthily and probably at a calorie deficit. Had 5 months to get beach body sorted - I'm 2.5 months in, 2.5 to go.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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I think the trick is to get a calorie deficit whilst keeping protein intake up and continuing to lift.

Melchett

809 posts

185 months

Friday 7th March 2014
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Hoofy, would you also recommend intense cardio or just stick with the weights?

Didn't mean to jack the thread but I'm going to try cutting soon.

toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Friday 7th March 2014
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I know a guy in the North East who runs a get shredded program. It definately works. It's a 6 week program but to get real results you need to continue on after that and then adopt the learnings into your lifestyle. It's 3 days a week in a gym doing high intensity work with abs then you need to go to the gym another 2 days yourself. He has his own diet plan including cook book. It's basic butchers meat and veg, no pasta, rice, bread, alcohol, etc. and avoid anything with artificial additives. He's doing pretty well for himself and has a couple of the Geordie Shore lads on his program.

He does bio signatures every week. I lost over a stone in 6 weeks but to be honest, unless you love the gym lifestyle (and I don't) then it's not sustainable. I know a lot of people who did it and like the gym and they look incredible now.

Edited to add... I'm not sure what cutting is, not heard the term before but he also does an adding mass program.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Friday 7th March 2014
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Melchett said:
Hoofy, would you also recommend intense cardio or just stick with the weights?
Goldblum (PHer) insists you have to run and thinks anyone who suggests you don't need to exercise is wrong.

The poster above said cut out carbs.

MyFitnessPal forum users say reduce calories to a little under your TDEE.

They can't all be right... can they? biggrin

FatSumo

15,077 posts

168 months

Friday 7th March 2014
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http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

This is another option smile


torqueofthedevil

Original Poster:

2,068 posts

176 months

Tuesday 18th March 2014
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Decided to make a spreadsheet with the nutritional info of all the food I eat - not massively varied so hadn't been too difficult to put together so far.

I've done this because I'm never completely sure what I'm eating in terms of carbs : protein : fat - specifically what ratios I'm getting them in.

Doing this had proved my suspicions - that despite a healthy diet - my ratios are way off what they should be, I.e probably have 3x more carbs than I do protein. Where's that should be more like 2x more protein than carbs (for a cutting diet) I believe.

Typical food for the day is peanut butter on whole grain toast, bran flakes mid morning, soup and slice of bread, chicken and avacado salad, chicken and cous cous.

Rarely eating processed food, no sugary drinks etc, plenty of fruit and veg. But just can't get ratios right.

Any suggestions for decent meals / websites with recipes?

Digger

14,591 posts

190 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Join MFP and get a polar HRM (to roughly monitor calorie expenditure whilst training/cardio). Log MFP food calorie intake and calorie expenditure for a month or so, so you can ensure a deficit.

Well, that's what I did (still doing, started three months ago) and it's working a treat, plus the cardio and HIIT I'm doing are all going towards transforming my fitness and shape.yes I'm also throwing metal around (12-15 reps per set).

goldblum

10,272 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Hoofy said:
Goldblum (PHer) insists you have to run and thinks anyone who suggests you don't need to exercise is wrong.
*cough*

You don't have to run, but any decent amount of exercise will burn more calories and have exponential health benefits far in excess of sitting on your arse and eating a few less calories. And if you do weights and manage to buck the broscience by gaining muscle whilst losing adipose tissue then you will actually burn more calories just sitting still.




M3Driver

171 posts

163 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Check out Scott Baptie at FoodforFitness.co.uk

He really knows his stuff. Basically his recipe is work out your TDEE, then reduce by 500 cals if you want to lose 0.5 kg per week, or 1000 cals if you want to lose 1kg per week.

Basically he recommends 2 g protein per kg of bodyweight, 1 g protein per kg of bodyweight, and make up the rest of your calorie requirement from green veg carbs etc.

Easier said than done though. Even though I lift sporadically and know all the theory, I find most of it is linked to emotion and how you're feeling. If you feel like He-Man and you're having a good day, you don't mind eating well. If you feel like sh*te and everything is getting you down, I turn to pizza and ice cream.

Really really really wish I could get it sorted though.

smashy

3,030 posts

157 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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While your doing this stuff please try one thing you will be surprised i promise do not let one slice of bread between your lips.....(oh and no baked potatoes ,instant glucose messus up your blood sugar,)

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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HD Balancing Cardio and Caloric Intake Part Two(Fat Loss)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQRv1CIpjn8

Plenty of articles on nutrition in the wiki. Read it, choose one, stick to it.

goldblum

10,272 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Halb said:
HD Balancing Cardio and Caloric Intake Part Two(Fat Loss)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQRv1CIpjn8

Plenty of articles on nutrition in the wiki. Read it, choose one, stick to it.
This advice in the clip is for wannabe/competitive bodybuilders I think, and as such the chap's 20/80 cardio/weights is wayyyy out. I'll assume the guy has some kind of academic qualifications and knows broadly what he's talking about but his summary of calorie expenditure related to exercise is so vague it's laughable, as is his knowledge of dieting for competitive bodybuilding. Having said that and read the comments under on YT I don't blame him for keeping it simple.

Biggest assumption he made in the video which sort of made the last two thirds pointless was that the question asked was do you either do cardio or diet, exclusively. No one should even consider that. He then went on to recommend 1.5 hrs of cardio a day to burn 500 calories (I'm assuming he means a brisk walk here - most of us burn 500 cals in 40 mins on a medium jog) and pointed out you'd be exhausted and be in a state of muscular atrophy before long. What a surprise.

The truth of cardio vs. diet for weight loss is that it's very close, and they should be used in tandem. Very basically if you cut 500 calories from your diet per day you create a deficit, and that's all. If you burn 500 calories doing exercise per day the effects, for example a raised metabolism, capillerisation, muscle growth, etc will increasingly burn more calories as you get fitter,the more muscle you develop the more cals you burn doing nothing... and you will be far more likely to avoid colds, certain diseases ....your mood will be better - making it more likely you will stick to your weight loss goals.

So then either eat 500 cals less or do 500 cals worth of exercise. Both result in a calorie deficit. However if you do the exercise the after effects are manifold.




Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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goldblum said:
Having said that and read the comments under on YT I don't blame him for keeping it simple.
hehe

goldblum said:
...What a surprise.
A lot of it is a surprise to some people, that's why it's simple. We see a lot of the same questions in this forum every week. 67.9% of them from Heefy.

goldblum said:
The truth of cardio vs. diet for weight loss is that it's very close, and they should be used in tandem.
That's what he said. I recall the chat you and Woofy had, and I happened to watch this vid today. It's way better to do it with exercise than diet alone, so it is always good to encourage people to do more.

Digger

14,591 posts

190 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Poor Hoof, he really does get some stick in here!





the fat fker

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Halb said:
goldblum said:
Having said that and read the comments under on YT I don't blame him for keeping it simple.
hehe

goldblum said:
...What a surprise.
A lot of it is a surprise to some people, that's why it's simple. We see a lot of the same questions in this forum every week. 67.9% of them from Heefy.

goldblum said:
The truth of cardio vs. diet for weight loss is that it's very close, and they should be used in tandem.
That's what he said. I recall the chat you and Woofy had, and I happened to watch this vid today. It's way better to do it with exercise than diet alone, so it is always good to encourage people to do more.
But I never said to not exercise. I was referring to doing even more exercise or reducing calories. It's not like you lot don't know what I do.

goldblum

10,272 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Hoofy said:
But I never said to not exercise.
No, in all fairness you didn't.

And my point was directed at those who automatically say 'Diet is the most important factor in weightloss' like a mantra - simply because this is untrue. Exercise has so many more positive correlations than simply denying yourself a few hundred calories a day, but I guess people don't want to hear that.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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I think in principle we agree but we're too argumentative in nature to not argue. Your turn. wink

goldblum

10,272 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Lol

Eleven

26,271 posts

221 months

Wednesday 19th March 2014
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Hoofy said:
I think the trick is to get a calorie deficit whilst keeping protein intake up and continuing to lift.
That seems to work for me. I do it by getting my nutrition mainly from meat, non-starchy veg, eggs, nuts, peanut butter, red wine and gin.

I train with weights 5 times a week and at the end of each session I do 45 minutes LISS (Low Intensity Steady State cardio) training. I train fasted and generally only eat between 13:00 and 20:00 hrs.

Five years ago I was 5ft 10in and 16 stone, now I am 13 stone and by summer I will be 12.5 and in pretty good shape. I doubt I will have a six pack because there isn't time...

On the subject of which, TIME is the factor that I, like lost people, seem to struggle with. Bringing about significant and lasting change generally takes longer than I would like.

Someone will now pop up and tell me that what I am doing is all wrong. All I can say is that it is working for me at the moment and it's not TOO difficult a lifestyle to live with.