TL Health and Fitness Initiative 2012 - Page 241

This website was really helpful - www.swole.me

and the 'myfitnesspal' app was very helpful as well.

I started there and figured out how many calories I would need to cut. Then sorted out a rough diet plan that gave me a 500 calorie deficit.

I'm a believer in IIFYM (if it fits your macros).

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My macros were roughly 45% protein 35% carbs 20% fat. Meal timing is irrelevant at the end of the day its calories in vs calories out. Some people like eating smaller meals throughout the day because it stops them feeling hungry. I was often having 3 meals or 2 meals a day.

This is a rough outline of what I have been eating the past few weeks (similar at the beginning of the cut but obviously just more food)

Meal 1
2 whole eggs
1 slice of bacon
1 slice of bread
lots of spinach

Meal 2
1 cup of cooked rice
Chicken (or tuna)
vegetables

Meal 3
1 cup of cooked rice (or pasta)
Chicken
vegetables

throughout the day
3 protein shakes with whole milk. -Shakes were more of a convenience thing. I get busy quite busy and it is easier for me to have a shake. the only problem was that it takes up quite a lot of calories having milk so less food but thats the trade off. The past few weeks Ive been having less than 100ml of milk per shake. It also helped me hit my macros.

So that I could keep on track. I ate the same thing almost every day. I had set meals so the flavour of the chicken and rice was different but its still the same calories and macros. At first its kind of boring but I found that I got used to eating very similar things all the time and it didn't really bother me.

The other reason why eating the same thing was really helpful. I got really organised and pre prepared most of my meals. I bought all my chicken for the week, cut it up to the right weight and put it in ziplock bags. Had all of them in the freezer so when I wanted to make a meal it was really easy.

Of course I got hungry during the cut but I found that as I got further into the cut it was something I got used to. Its just something you have to deal with. At the end of the day who cares. Yeah I was hungry when I was going to sleep but its not really a big deal. Once you start losing the weight and looking better you will be more motivated and its not really a problem being a little bit hungry.

I found delaying my breakfast and chewing gum helped with my hunger levels.

I weighed myself every monday morning and had a note section in my phone where I kept track of everything. The reason I didn't do it every day was as I said it doesn't really give an accurate reading because your weight can fluctuate. Once a week was better as it gives an overall picture. A few weeks goes by you can see if you are making any changes or not. If your weight is not going down. Eat less calories.

I had a 'cheat' meal once a week. But most of the time if I wanted to eat something outside of my diet I made allowances and fit it into my macros. So in a sense it wasn't really a cheat meal. If it was higher in calories though the consequence was eating less in the day so I might have been more hungry.

My workout routine was pretty much the same throughout. I pushed really hard in every exercise to maintain strength. The only thing I did change was volume. I found that I would get tired a lot quicker and a few exercises in I had less energy.

I lost 17.5kg this way and retained my strength fairly well. (obviously you are going to lose some strength when you lose close to 20kg. I expected that.) Next time I cut Im going to make sure I don't lose weight too fast. Right at the start of my cut I lost too much weight each week and would have lost some muscle.

Obviously this is just what worked for me. So take what you want from it. I tried to include everything I can remember but if you have any other questions Im happy to answer them.