Strict cutting diet & muscle loss.

[Alle_Gory]

Right now I am on a very strict diet. ~1000-1300cal. I am 5'11" and 195lbs currently. So far its going pretty well. I keep an ok protein intake. About 40-60g per day from various sources.

Going to the gym, weights 3-4x per week and biking or ergometer otherwise.





Will I see muscle loss from the reduced calorie intake or lack of protein? What else can cause muscle loss? Under what conditions?

I plan to continue this diet until I am 185lbs. I have been on it from 206lbs.

Then I am taking a break, and doing it again. I am at 21% BF and plan to get to about 15% before I re-bulk... properly.

 

[BluEyes]

Right now I am on a very strict diet. ~1000-1300cal. I am 5'11" and 195lbs currently. So far its going pretty well. I keep an ok protein intake. About 40-60g per day from various sources.

Going to the gym, weights 3-4x per week and biking or ergometer otherwise.





Will I see muscle loss from the reduced calorie intake or lack of protein? What else can cause muscle loss? Under what conditions?

I plan to continue this diet until I am 185lbs. I have been on it from 206lbs.

Then I am taking a break, and doing it again. I am at 21% BF and plan to get to about 15% before I re-bulk... properly.

How old are you?

I won't beat around the bush either, so here goes..

1000-1300kcals is not a diet; it's starvation.

40-60g of protein per day? I inhale that much just looking at my breakfast. 50g of protein is what, 200kcals?

Yes you will experience muscle loss and probably won't lose more that 4-6lbs of fat--IF YOU'RE LUCKY--if you do this 'diet' for any length of time.

Next, you said you are going to "take a break". Don't you see the fundamental flaw in your thinking? People should not have to starve themselves or treat their body's so poorly just to get healthy.

Want to know exactly what's going to happen to your body in the coming weeks if you continue?

You're going to experience weight loss. You will lose muscle and perhaps a small amount of body fat. I'd hazard to say on the order of a 4:1 ratio, muscle:fat.

You're going to start feeling lethargic and your willpower will start to erode as you lose belief in this program. Perhaps you have iron will and you will keep starving yourself. Eventually you will be what's known as Skinny-Fat. You will look skinny, but still look flabby.

You will lose faith in your masterplan and give up on your dreams of having a fantastic body.

---

What I said above is a distinct possibility, but it doesn't have to become reality.

Here are a few iron curtain rules that you should take with you to the grave.

1. 1-2g of protein per lb of bodyweight. Eat that every day.

2. Never go below 1500kcals. For you, I wouldn't go below 1900-2000.

3. 75-150g of balanced fats. Eat that every day. By balanced I mean eat a variety of: saturated, monounsaturated, omega 6, and omega 3 sources.

4. Use carbs sparingly and only when your body needs them. Keep your carbs low GI. Apricots, apples, and berries are all good choices. For grains, stick to rolled oats, brown rice, and potatoes.

5. 4L+ of water. Drink that every day.

6. 10g of fish oil. Take that every day in the form of capsules or fresh fatty fish.

7. Weight training. Do it 3-5x per week, varying intensity. Mix your rep ranges. Some days do 1-3, other days 4-6, other days 8-10, other days 10-15.

8. Cardio. Do it 4-6 times per week, BEFORE breakfast on an empty stomach. Moderate pace for 45-60 minutes.

--

There are plenty of good articles in the sticky that you should read. What I wrote here is very brief, lacking in explanation, and too simple for modern man to take seriously.

One last thing.. WHEN you get a body that you're proud of, keep it for at least 6 months before doing anything different.

You'll know when you're doing the right thing. You'll get a feeling that you LIKE what you do day to day, rather than doing something that makes you feel bad.

 

[Alle_Gory]

I am not feeling lethargic. I am feeling way better than before when my diet was crap. A little hungry at times, but rarely.

I do not plan to continue this diet for long. I want to shed some fat so I can start bulking properly.

Don't give me the BS about 2g of protein per bodyweight. Doesn't work. A realistic measure would be about .8g per bodyweight... which I am still under.


Although you're right about the lack of calories. I'll increase slowly to about 2000cal over the next week and hit the weights hard. Maybe the increased muscle mass will reduce my bodyfat.

Maybe I should just use chemical support. Anything better than Hot-Rox?

 

[cuzza]

Can ya gimme an idea what eating 1300 calories a day looks like?
I don't count calories, if I'm cutting (which I am now) I just use common sense and eat smaller portions...

 

[BluEyes]

Don't give me the BS about 2g of protein per bodyweight. Doesn't work. A realistic measure would be about .8g per bodyweight... which I am still under.

haha. says the guy with 21% body fat and complete lack of understanding fundamental nutrition and exercise science.

I do not plan to continue this diet for long. I want to shed some fat so I can start bulking properly.

Why would you eat in a manner that you can't maintain indefinitely?

I offered my help.. If you aren't interested then I wish you luck along your path

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cuzza, 1300 calories--leaving aside nutrition--is like eating 1/2 a pizza. or a couple pieces of chicken, some milk, a salad with dressing, piece of toast and bacon, and a coffee or two.

 

[bud_2005]

I don't think there is any calories in coffee so why would you include that on the list?

 

[Alle_Gory]

I offered my help.. If you aren't interested then I wish you luck along your path

I appreciate that, but your numbers conflict with what I have been reading. I need accurate numbers here.

1300 calories... is like eating 1/2 a pizza.

Maybe a New York deep dish.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Alle Gory...BluEyes has given you some solid advice on how to cut. Although i don't agree with cardio on a empty stomach as you are better off with a scoop of whey then going walking as WBA explains in fat loss while gaining muscle thread in the vault.

When you cut, you lose muscle. If you want to RETAIN that muscle, I suggest you follow EFFORT's thread on the simple diet and doing morning and evening low intensity cardio as BluEyes sugested.

It may take longer than cutting, but all that hard earned muscle will not be lost and you can progressively get bigger and stronger looking and lose fat.

You may also want to look into the anabolic diet.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Anabolic diet. Looks to have some good recipes that have protein.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

And it's great for muscle gains and fat loss. But dieting is VERY important

 

[Throttle]

even my stubborn father has come around to admitting that his 1200 calorie binge diets cost him strength & muscle mass even as he sheds massive poundage. he blames age, I blame the fact that it's the 4th or 5th trip down the rollercoaster in twenty years.

 

[Hoppy]

I sugest you read up more on dieting before you go on a 1000 cal diet. You'll actually get better results from eating more because your body's mataboism will slow if you starve it. When your body goes into starvation mode it will burn off muscle as well as fat! Eating several small meals a day is a good way to combat this.

Another thing you could do is eat the extra calories to prevent this but make up the difference at the gym. You can burn off 500 calories in under an hour.

You don't have to eat specifically 2g of protien/lb but you should try to take in at least half your calories from protien. Not only will this help you preserve muscle mass but it should keep you full a little longer because protien digests slower.

Also over eating on protien isn't going to turn into fat as quickly as carbs will.

If you're physically active you should be able to lose 2-4lbs a week of FAT(not muscle like your doing now) while eating 2000cal a day.

That's about 250g of protien, 125g carbs, 60g fat I think. I'm too lazy to do the exact math right now. :nervous: