Right now, I'm probably sitting around 15% bf or so. Been trying to cut fat for a long time, and I'm currently on a cutting cycle. I started the cycle Monday and will go hard until next Friday. Then I will take some time off (maybe a week or two) and then start another one.
Any advice/ideas that anybody could give me to help bust through that plateau would be awesome!
So you started cutting on Monday? or have you been trying to cut for a long time? It's a bit confusing because it seems your statements says both. If you can elaborate and be specific, I might be able to give ya some advice man. Cutting fat takes hard work and dedication....esp. as you begin to age. I am assuming you started on Monday. What is your diet like? What does it consist of on a daily basis?
Yeah, sorry. I should have been more specific. I was actually sitting at about 260 pounds a year and a half ago. Over the summer, I just started playing basketball for like 3 hours every day, and by the end of the summer I was right around 220 or so. Since then, I have picked up body building, so in addition to adding muscle, I am now sitting at about 195.
So basically I have been stuck at this 195-200 weight, and no amount of exercise, diet, or supplement stack seems to help break through this plateau. It was over the summer that I dropped from about 215 to 200 just from being active all the time, lifting 4-5 times per week and playing basketball once a week.
I have been learning a lot just by reading the forums on bodybuilding.com about calculating calorie needs, and using the Katch-McArdle equation, I found that my maintenance requirement is 2900 calories. Following the advice on the forums, subtracting 20% of the calories from this in order to cut weight would allow me about 2300 calories per day. So today, for example, I did fairly well. I calculated my caloric intake at 2425 calories, including 145 grams of protein and only 50 grams of fat. I try to stick to lean meats such as turkey and chicken breast, which I had today. I also had scrambled egg whites, oatmeal, 2 protein drinks, yogurt, a banana, etc.
So yes, I try to eat low fat foods that are also good sources of protein. I probably fell about 50 grams of protein short of what I would typically want to consume in a day, since I am still wanting to bulk up while I cut fat. When I said that I started cutting on Monday, I meant that I started my 2-week cycle of cutting fat. A lot of times, my lack of energy and stress of sticking to a diet cause me to only want to stick to a cycle for about a week, but I am making sure that I go for the full 2 weeks on this cycle.
] you may want to do less weight and more reps.
