[blakey93]

Louis,

I have heard james say in some insta videos that you are a very cost effective guy and like to shop in places such as Aldi.

May be a longshot, but do you have a grocery overhaul or limited budget you work with … if so how much on average do you spend on nutrition ?

Cheers
Paul

[blakey93]

none taken buddy 🙂 my fault really for not requesting for this thread to be deleted.

[blakey93]

@jdh this is one of my old threads which I originally posted when I first joined the forum in July. You have since answered more questions than I ever anticipated and I am grateful. Aaron only answered this thread today which has probably pushed it to the top of the thread. I do intend to come back to you mate but time has been slightly against me recently. Please do not take offence.

[blakey93]

@jdh I have made 2 caloric adjustments since the start of cutting around 5 weeks ago and going by scales by body weight has been going up and down like crazy. I am finding it so hard to know if I am even doing things right 🙁

I have been keeping religious with training and diet I.E. working out every other day (Mon / Wed / Fri) and 2500 cals on working days and 1800 on rest days. I am definitely getting stronger but my waist line is still crap and I dont really feel like I am dropping fat. I feel like 5 weeks into a cut by now I should be seeing differences in my body fat levels or the way I look.

Maybe I just dont have enough lean mass to effectively help with accelerating fat loss.

If I were to go into a slight surplus over maint and try and build some mass maybe that would help torch some of this fat away.

I am really confused and struggling with where I am going wrong…

In an ideal world id love to pay a coach and get some guidance but I just cant afford to

[blakey93]

I feel like I am getting ‘thinner’ belt buckle goes across one extra notch just can’t really see any definition as of yet. I feel like in some areas I feel thicker

[blakey93]

@jdh I have further reduced my cals now to the 2500 on working days and 1800 on rest and I know people say not to watch the scales but i can’t help it… I was 198.6lbs when I started and this is my 2nd week on the new cals but my weight has only been fluctuating the late 196s this morning I am 197.6. If scales are a bad tool to gauge fat loss then how can I really tell if I am actually losing weight on those cals. Should I start introducing light cardio a few days per week to push a further deficit or would evaluating my cals again be the best thing. I have been religious with my cals and kept training consistent to 3 days a week EOD full body split. I haven’t skipped any days and feel like I am still getting stronger and improving on my lifts. Could It be that I am not dropping as fast as I’d like because I am actually acquiring some mass alongside burning fat?

[blakey93]

I’m currently trying to cut eek that’s why I’m worried. I dont want to undo a whole weeks training. I’m starting to wonder if I should eat at maint and just work my ass of seeing as I’ve got quite high BF but not a mass amount of muscle. In all honesty I have made caloric adjustments (reductions) in the past few weeks and fluctuated loads only losing around 1.5lbs. I do keep it consistent during the week working out EOD and then resting on the weekend.

[blakey93]

@jdh thanks Mr reliable always got the answers 🙂 that was partly my thoughts due to some of the bigger started compound moves on other days

[blakey93]

@cristoph if I wanted to incorporate deadlifts where would be most optimal to include it and what would you replace? I do love DL

[blakey93]

@jdh I always imagine when putting PB into a protein shaker for it to just stick to the surface :’D

Are you using maybe a specific (runnier) brand, if for example I used a supermarket brand IDK like SunPat, I would envision that just getting stuck to the side of my shaker 🙂

[blakey93]

I do have a shaker for my protein. I can consume drinks at my.desk but not foods sorry for the noobie question. What is hbcd? what can I pair with peanut butter?

[blakey93]

@jdh thanks mate.

Carbs total 350g

0630 (Pre-Workout) M1: 100g Carbs
0930 (Post Workout) M2: 85g Carbs
1200-1300 (Lunch) M3: Aim for 100g Carbs

So between those 3 meals around 285g done by that time

Then the remainder I would sparingly chuck in with other meals, or I might bulk up the meals with fruits / veggies to finish off my meals.

I dont then tend to eat until 0530 – 0600 when I get back from work as my company has a policy about eating at my desk. So it is quite tricky. Hence why my meals in the morning tend to be more dense.

[blakey93]

@jdh yup I am with you now.

So because of my little one and my 9-5 job (plus I hate busy gyms in the PM) :). At current I go to a pure gym so a lot of people tend to go there.

I workout from 07:30 – 8:45ish first thing so typically I would say I ingest most of my carbs pre / post workout and M3. Up until now I haven’t really used anything INTRA. I have always been concerned about bloating and feeling too full whilst working out.

I would say M1 / M2 tend to be carb dense as I like to fuel my workout and try and replenish after maybe 1 hour after. (Not sure if this is the best strat).

Also for reference, dont know if it makes a huge difference but I cycle to the gym to work (15 mins steady cycle) and (10 mins steady cycle) into work.

Then for the rest of my meals late afternoon / evening, they contain few starchy carbs and more fibrous carbs in conjunction with higher fats.

[blakey93]

@jdh when you say take the carbs from as far away from the workout.

Are you in other words saying not to have carbs later in the day for example.

What I have currently been doing on training days is trying to utilise my carbs within 4 – 6 hours of pre / post workout, so pretty much getting the bulk of my carbs before early afternoon, in the evening I tend to have pro fat/protein meals with only few carbs (leafy greens etc.)

[blakey93]

@mikej at the moment this is ending my 2nd week of a quote on quote ‘cut’ I started at 198.6 and am somewhere around late 195s to early 196 in the past few days. Still really hard to gauge if weight loss is stalling but I see it probably go more up then down atm. I do have a very sedentary job (sitting at a desk all day) i was thinking for this 3rd week to keep cals the same and incorporate 2 to 3 sessions of cardio and see where I end up. if not much change next week then to make slight cal adjustments