Diet, Routine, and Cardio Adivce Needed. Avoiding Catobolism?

[fordlife]

I first want to thank you all for your replies to the many post I have read on the forum. I started the Eat Before Cardio thread and am shocked at the length.

I am a verteran lifter but new to serius dieting. I am away at college now and don't have moms here to cook it up. At 22 years old I am tired of eating crap and have for a month now began eating right. My goals are to loose enough body fat to where my stomach is flat, not necessarily showing abs. Also increase muscle in shoulders, back, chest and legs. I am 5'6 and weigh 153 as of today, no idea in BF%

I have tried running for 30 minutes a day on an empty stomach then eating 30-40 grams of protein and 20 grams of carbs and then going to lift for an hour. I then take a 30gram shake at the end of my workout. I take my shakes with milk, should I try it with water and just down them quickly? The running on empty I heard was bad. I also heard running was bad for muscle growth in the first place. I read that I should try HITT, short 12-15 minute intervals of sprints and cool downs.

After I did that a couple weeks I then tried eating some protein and abut 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats before I did cardio and lifted. I could not tell a difference in either, maybe because It has only been about a 40 days in total. I have also bought ground flax seed and have mixing that in. Does that need to be taken everyday to be effective? How about in pill form? Instead of a shake in the morning before lifting, what about an orange and 2 breakfast sausage? I have a costco card and its about $14 for a month supply of sausage and oranges.

Would taking a EC stack ruin things? I am currently taking one and have 3 pills left and was told by a friend to stop and start again once a routine and diet are solid.

Would doign cardio on differnt days be better? What about after lifting? I read that lifting right when you wake up is good because of glycogen levels. I also read that cardio after lifting is when fat is burned most.

Today I ate about 2400 calories, 140 grams os protien, 100g carbs, and no clue the amount of fat. Is this good for fat loss, muscle growth, or both?

I used to lift:

Day 1: Back and Chest and tri's
Day 2: Shoulders, legs, abd Bi's
Day 3: Repeat
15-30 min of cardio before each workout

I NOW am trying:

Day 1: Back and Chest---3x10 of each
Day 2: Shoulders and Legs ---#x10 of Each
Day 3: Bi's, Tri's, and Calves
Day 4: Repeat
I do 12 min of High Level cardio before each workout

I have lost about 8 lbs I guess and certainly picked up room in my pants. My back looks more developed but has miles to go. Veins have popped up all over and don't go away like they used to.

Thanks
Ryan

ps. would posting this in one of the other sections in a week be alright? Didn't want to make anyone mad about double posting

[CliffStamp]

At your weight, assuming ~25% BF, with the above activity your BMR is about 2300, thus you would cut to ~1300 to get a weekly 2 lbs weight loss. However being not overly obese, this is a hard target to maintain. It might be more reasonable to try to get a consistent 1 lbs a week loss and thus cut only to about 1700 a day. You have to make a choice here about how long you are going to diet, how much work you can do, etc. .

Cardio on empty, either in the morning or after working out does burn the most fat, as your carb fuel supply is low, however it also burns the most LBM, because it starts stripped muscle to get indirectly fuel the carb cycle. Do it on different days. If you are eating something complex like a sausage before cardio, then give it some time to digest before running (1-2 hours) and then keep the cardio sessions short (20-30) minutes to keep catabolism minimized.

Flax seed meal doesn't need to be taken every day to help, it has many health benefits, very strong source of minerals, fibre, muscilage, lignans, omega-3, etc..

Congradulations on the drop, keep it up.

-Cliff

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by fordlife

would posting this in one of the other sections in a week be alright? Didn't want to make anyone mad about double posting

Why keep posting the same questions? Wouldn't it make more sense to understand what you've learned in a couple weeks and post a specific question regarding that issue? I certainly find that more appropriate.

[fordlife]

I agree. I was just worred that posting in the Nutrition section that I wont get enough input on the training side and critiques on my routine.

RC