[captainplanet]

Hi, I'm currently cutting, I've been on my cutting diet for about 3 weeks now and when I started I weighed 230 ibs at 20% bf. I now weight 215 ibs, dont know my bf havent taken it yet, it was around 17% when I weighed 221. I was wandering however if I'm losing the weight too fast? I train 5-6 days a week and do around 2 hrs of cardio a week, sometimes more. Any feedback would be appreciated..

[cook82]

on average you want to lose 2 pounds per week. You can lose more then that per week BUT you will be losing weight to fast and it will cause you to lose muscle mass. so you are averaging 5 pounds a week. In my opinion that is too fast.

Post your diet and routine so we can further help you

[captainplanet]

My Routine looks like this:
Monday: Legs, abs, 15 min cardio
Tuesday: 4 am-30 min cardio
10am- Chest,back, 30 min cardio
Wed: Bi's, Tri's, forearms
Thursday: 4 am- 30 min cardio
10 am- Shoulders, abs, 30 min cardio
Friday: off
Saturday: Chest, Back, 15 min cardio
Sunday: off
My diet on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat is slightly different from Tues Thurs, but basically the same so ill just post both.

Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat diet looks like this:

9 am--Protein Shake and fruit
10:30 am--(Pre Workout) 3 egg whites, one whole egg, bowl of oatmeal
1:00 pm--(or whenever i'm done lifting) Small chicken breast and rice
3:30 or when I get home from school--Protein Shake
5:00--A lean form of meat(Steak, chicken, turkey etc) and a form of non starchy vegitable( green beans, brocali etc.)
Before I go to bed--Casein Protein and Flax seed oil

Tues and Thurs diet looks like this:

3:15 am--Protein Shake
5am--Protein Shake
7am--small chicken breast and fruit
9am--3 egg whites, one whole egg, bowl of oatmeal
1130 or so--(post work out) chicken breast and rice
5 pm or so ( when i get home fr school)--Some form of lean meat (steak, chicken, turkey, etc) and a non starchy vegitable (green beans, brocali etc)
Before I go to bed--Casein Protein and Flax Seed Oil

Sorry I should have posted that along with my question..Oh if your wandering why I do cardio at 4 in the damn morning on tues and thurs its because i work at 5 in the morning at my gym, so its convenient, lol. I'm thinking I'm doing too much cardio, I think my diet looks solid, any feedback would be greatly appreciated..

[captainplanet]

Yeah.....thanks for the mass amount of help..

[Freak]

What are your stats, macro totals, and is your cardio low or high intensity?

[captainplanet]

I'm 5'11 215 around 17%bf. I mix up my cardio between high intensity and low intensity. My protein intake is around my bodyweight to maintain muscle mass, carb intake is less than 100 grams a day, fat intake is less than 45 a day.

[Freak]

On a cutting diet you really need to know exactly how much you are eating. "Around and about" usually lead to poor accuracy and you are probably consuming much more/less than you think. Get solid numbers and follow your diet.

Take your bf measurements every week.

High intensity is much more effective than low intensity.

What is our target body fat?

Check out Francisco's thread. You will see that keeping detailed records pays off and is wonderful when you ask for help. It is much easier to pinpoint problem areas.

fmoncas Natural Bodybuilding Training Log

[captainplanet]

I said "about" and "around" because I have low carb days and med carb days. I keep track of my macro totals almost every day I just have limits that I wont go over or stay around. To give you an idea of a typical day I've kept track of recently was: Protein; 222 grams, carbs; 80 grams, fat; 41 grams. On a medium day it will look the same but have usually 10-15 more grams of carbs (say I'll eat oatmeal with my eggs for my pre-workout meal, on a low day i cut that out) My goal bf for the summer is 10-12%, it's exactly 17% as of tuesday. I'm going to weigh in and take it again tomarow morning. I do 30 min high intensity cardio at 4 am on tues and thurs. Following my workouts I do 15-30 min low-moderate intensity because I'm absolutley drained when Im done lifting. It's always over 2 hrs every week total. Another thing I think bf mesurements are somewhat inacurate at times, when you can look in the mirror and see your sliming down and cutting out, because the only way I have of testing my bf is an electronic tester at my gym, I think that things inacurate as hell because it relies soley on ur height weight age etc.. So I keep gauging my progress by the mirror and when I really need acurate measurments I'll go buy callipers and use that..

[Freak]

You can buy calipers and measure yourself. Seems like you have a good handle on your diet.

[captainplanet]

Ok, whats your opinion on my cardio? Too much? Not enough? Am I losing weight too fast or not enough? Another question too, about how long should I cut or diet? Until i'm where I want to be or is there a certain limit as to how long you can put your body through this? Thanks again

[Freak]

The most you want to loose per week is 2lbs. Cut until you reach your desired weight/bf. Do high intensity cardio on your non-lifting days. I am not sure exactly what you mean about how long one can do this. You are just on a cut.. it's not like your on a starvation diet.

Does than answer your question? Hope this helps.

thefreak

[captainplanet]

Ok thanks alot man, a couple more questions though if you dont mind.. You say do high intensity cardio on my non training days, on my split I take friday and sunday off, so instead of taking those days off completly I should do High intensity cardio on those days? So far I've averaged around 5 ibs a week and I think I've lost at least 3 this week, thats too much, is there something in my diet or training split thats causing me to lose more than i should? And what I meant by how long one can do this is; I have alot of bf to lose and it will take a couple more months or so, I was just wandering if this was bad on your body to cut for so long, and how long you guys cutting periods last...just curious, and trying to make sure I do this shit right and I'm not doing anything wrong diet wise, training wise or anything. Thanks again