Calories In and Out - Diet advice

[MFGOUS]

Good Day All

Trust you are well.

I'm new to eating healthy and getting into shape, i have been an active person in the gym weight training but never saw much results due to my bad eating habits and no structured training program.

Age - 32
Height - 1.85m
Weight - 86kg
Activity Level - Desk gym / Weight training 5 days per week

My new eating plan since Dec 2021


Training 04:00

Post-Workout Meal 06:00
Isolate protein shake - 32g
108 Cal * 1g Carb * 0g F * 25g P
Whey Protein Shake - 32g
141 Cal * 3g Carb * 3g F * 16g P


Brealfast - 08:00
Weet-Bix (Fibre meal)
161 Cal * 30g Carb * 1g F * 6g P
Low Fat Milk
65 Cal * 8g Carb * 2g F * 5g P

Early Snack - 10:00
Whey Protein Shake - 32g
124 Cal * 3g Carb * 2g F * 24g P
OR
Protein Bar
169 Cal * 20g Carb * 5g F * 16g P


Lunch - 12:30
Chicken Breast 245g (Raw)
404 Cal * 0g Carb * 9g F * 76g P
Avo 50g
80 Cal * 5g Carb * 8g F * 1g P


Late Snack - 15:30
Whey Protein Shake 32g
124 Cal * 3g Carb * 2g F * 24g P
OR
Protein Bar
169 Cal * 20g Carb * 5g F * 16g P

Dinner 18:30
Chicken Breast 245g (Raw)
404 Cal * 0g Carb * 9g F * 76g P
Avo 50g
80 Cal * 5g Carb * 8g F * 1g P
Bread 2 Slices
128Cal * 20g Carb * 1g F * 8g P
Mozzarella Cheese 50g
163 Cal * 1g Carb * 13g F * 12g P
Lite May 45g
62 Cal * 6g Carb * 5g F * 1g P


Night Snack - 20:00
Protein Dessert 64g
198 Cal * 7g Carb * 1g F * 33g P

Bed Time Protein - 22:00
Casein Protein Shake 32g
116 Cal * 1g Carb * 2g F * 26g P


Average Totals
2400 Cal * 110g Carb * 69g F * 326g P

The above changes slightly on a weekend but only by the post-workout shakes, normally i will full those calories with a protein bar throughout the day.

Other Supplements
1) Multivitamin
2) Omega 3
3) Superfoods green foods supplement
4) Probiotic
5) Creatine
6) Beta Ecdysterone

My total calories burned daily
Garmin Watch tracking:
Resting 2272
Active +- 500 Cal a day (weight training)


Calories IN 2400cal
Calories Out 2772 Cal
372 calorie deficit


Now my question would be, if my calories Out are correctly calculated by my Garmin and Polar Chest strap, how can i maintain muscle size while lowering bodyfat? Would anyone advise any changes to my diet?

I was about 90kg when i started and have lost about 5kg, i however feel I'm loosing some size and I'm wondering if i should adjust anything

 

[Cate]

Welcome to the forum. I will leave it to those who are more knowledgeable than me about nutrition & muscle building. The only thing I see "wrong" is a lack of fruit & veggies, but your protein looks good for building muscle.

 

[Trusylver]

before I dig into this, what is your current bodyfat% ? What does your training look like? devices like Garmin do not work very well for strength training.

 

[MFGOUS]

before I dig into this, what is your current bodyfat% ? What does your training look like? devices like Garmin do not work very well for strength training.

Thank you for the reply, currently im around 20% bodyfat, but i may be way off on the estimation. I still need to get this tested when i do my fatness assessment for my Medical aid next month.

Training is currently more high volume, im following a program by Ryan Humiston. Mon to Fri split for each body part, but i do a set of legs/calfs in between each set seeing as my chicken legs are in need of some growth.

I train at home with a smith machine and cable system, olympic bar and plates. I do not have dumbbells yet seeing as they are ridiculously expensive where i stay

I also read garmin watch do not track weight training correctly thus i use my Polar H10 chest strap when training. The Polar strap normally ends with a higher calories burned reading than the Venu 2 watch but i do believe its due to the Polar app not splitting my active calories and resting calories

 

[MFGOUS]

Welcome to the forum. I will leave it to those who are more knowledgeable than me about nutrition & muscle building. The only thing I see "wrong" is a lack of fruit & veggies, but your protein looks good for building muscle.

Thank you for the welcome

Yes i know my fruit and veggies are missing, fruit i have no excuse for just dont make effort of fitting them into my day, but for veggies. . . . I"m a 32 year old man and i still cant stand eating veggies, thats terrible i know, thus i was hoping the green super foods would supplement my lack of nutrition from eating acctual veggies

 

[Trusylver]

BMR - 1856 Kcal (Katch-McArdle method using 20% BF)
Estimated TDEE without workouts 2598 Kcal (1.4 X BMR)

your deficit with training included is probably a little less than you have calculated but slow is better when it comes to keeping your muscle mass intact. You don't say what the time period was for the 5kg loss

I see you are training early morning, training fasted is not ideal for maintaining muscle mass especially if you are doing extreme volume that this advocated in the program your following.

Studies have shown that consumption of food prior to exercise increases the thermic effect of the bout, thus leading to greater energy expenditure post-exercise compared to exercise in a fasted state therefore suggesting that fed compared to fasted exercise may be more efficacious for weight loss. Also, an acute bout of fasted compared to fed exercise has been shown to result in a significantly greater loss in muscle protein, which may lead to a significant loss of lean mass if this practice is performed over week or months.

However at the time of morning your training you may not actually feel like eating, so while it may make a difference it is not super critical. After exercise athletes should consume carbs at a rate of 1.0–1.5 g/kg of bodyweight during the first half hour in order to replace liver and muscle glycogen stores.

Total protein intake: 1.6 grams X lean mass (69) = 110 grams so you are way over meeting your protein needs

Meal frequency, lots of small meals is not helping you cut fat, the thermic effect of eating is miniscule. If in a calorie surplus to gain muscle then the extra meal times would be warranted. Less shakes and more real food would give you a better amino profile. The intermittent fasting approach is beginning to have a lot of scientific backing.

Training is currently more high volume, im following a program by Ryan Humiston. Mon to Fri split for each body part, but i do a set of legs/calfs in between each set seeing as my chicken legs are in need of some growth.

The extra calf work is not helping, while the calf does respond better to high volume than most other muscles, growth happens during proper rest and recovery.

When training for body recomp (fat loss) high volume is not your friend. Muscle mass is better retained with a lower volume strength routine returning to higher volume when you are ready to eat in surplus for hypertrophy.

Beta Ecdysterone - there is some interesting science around this, and it is considered to be included in the class “S1.2 Other Anabolic Agents” of the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Not a problem for recreational lifting but if you ever compete in a drug tested sport then you will fail the testing.

 

[MFGOUS]

@Trusylver thank you very much for the detail response its much appreciated.

The 5kg weight loss was from Nov 2021 to end Jan 2022 (i will track my weight again month end)

I have been training early morning for the past 10 years seeing as its the optimal time i have without any distractions and how the rest of my day is planned out, i have also tried eating early morning before my training but it made me feel uncomfortable while training. (I did however forget to mention i take a pre-workout supplement before my training to help me "wake-up" - Normally i get up at around 04:00 drink my pre-workout and stretch/warm-up until around 04:30, then train until about 06:00)

I could definitely reduce my shakes and replace it with more chicken/ground beef and also add some high carb foods to my post-workout meal (like oats).

Would you say its fine to stay around the 2400cal daily intake? I'm fine with a slow fat loss so i can still retain or increase lean mass

For the past 5 year i followed the normally training routines 5 day split normal sets of rep ranges 8 - 12 pushing for progressive overload, i built decent strength but i never picked up any noticeable muscle size and that is extremely demotivating.

I then tried Ryan's program since last year October and i felt that maybe the higher volume worked better for me, in hindsight it may just be that i look better due to the body fat drop . . .

The higher spread of "meals" in my day was mainly for protein uptake per meal, but maybe I'm really overdoing my protein intake if its 110g for my current lean mass.

I was working on a macro nutrition split of 25% Carbs / 35% Fats / 45% Protein - The idea that getting majority of my calories from protein would be more beneficial than consuming high % carbs.

Would there be any training program that you would recommend i try for a few months? I really want to at least start to look more muscular than my current body shape for the past few years.

Sorry if i missed understood anything you tried to explain and i really appreciate the info

 

[Trusylver]

I think your calories are fine, as long as you are loosing slowly, patience is definitely needed when the goal is body re-comp rather than weight loss. oats are a good nutritious meal.

The higher spread of "meals" in my day was mainly for protein uptake per meal, but maybe I'm really overdoing my protein intake if its 110g for my current lean mass.

It is common to see bodybuilders going way over the top with protein, while you need an adequate intake of protein, more is not always better, there is a lot of Bro Science that floats around the internet and picking out the truths and half truths can be confusing. especially when someone with a fantastic physique is handing out the advice based on what works for them.

I was working on a macro nutrition split of 25% Carbs / 35% Fats / 45% Protein - The idea that getting majority of my calories from protein would be more beneficial than consuming high % carbs.

working from percentages doesn't always give you the nutrients you need but is ok as a base to work from. It doesn't matter how good the formula is for calorie needs calculations, when it comes to diet the numbers on the charts are a starting point that then gets tweaked to suit the individual, if you are loosing slowly then your on the mark, as you loose you will need to adjust calorie intake down when the losses stall. weight fluctuations during the process are common and are often related to your carb intake. The closer you get to your target the harder and slower it is to make further progress.

Would there be any training program that you would recommend i try for a few months? I really want to at least start to look more muscular than my current body shape for the past few years.

I don't usually recommend a specific program because the best program is the one tailored to your specific needs however any of the common strength training programs rather than a bodybuilding hypertrophy program should get you moving in the right direction. Loosing the fat is what will bring out the definition and shape you already have, then you can look at building size.

none of this is as easy as some people like to think, the human body is a complex machine and each machine is slightly different.