I need help starting a diet
 

I can't seem to find a good cutting diet and dont no what i should put in one. If somebody could help me get one started that would be great. I'm looking to cut at a minimum of 20 lbs.

In these pics u can probably tell i want to slim down a bit. I just started to use Leukic Hardcore for muscle gain. This is my 4th day on it.

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My advice would be to take the diet you already have (assuming it's a good one) and then lower calories below maintenance. Your diet should be pretty much the same between macro nutrient percentages whether you're bulking or cutting. 40/30/30 (pro/carbs/fats) is a pretty typical breakdown.

You wasted your money...leukic is garbage. I assume you went to GNC. Read the stickies.

Yep bought it from GNC and I actually dont have a diet yet.

start out by listing what you eat on a daily basis...be very specific.

Each meal I will have about 17 fl oz to drink

Meal 1-5:30ish
2 eggs
1 bowl oatmeal
1 apple

Meal 2- 7:00-7:30-after workout
1 serving Whey

Meal 3- 11:00
Tuna 2oz

Meal 4- 2:00
1 Serving Whey

Meal 5- 7:00 maybe earlier depending when i go on break at work
2 Tbsp. Peanut butter

This is what Just made and it needs to be critiqued, cause I only get about 818 calories, 23.4g fat, 78.1g carbs, and 91.2g protein.

Wow! Don't ever go that low with your calories! You must feel like you're dying!

What you're actually doing to your body is putting it in starvation mode. Go to the how to bulk sticky and use the calculator in there to find your base caloric needs. Take that number and - 200 cals. Start there and see what happens. I would say its better to get your calorie deficit from eating more and burning more cals using cardio.

IronWorker

Thats just it I dont know what else to top put in my diet to get my calories and stuff up. Any idea, do i just have more food per serving or what can i do.

meal 4 should be whole foods...that will up your calories...whey isn't really a good meal. by itself. make sure you get your veggies in too.

Your calories are way too low and your body will stall with progress for sure. You need to up everything protein, clean carbs and healty fats. Each meal should consist of a protein, carbs and healty fats spread throughout the day.

Here's a list of foods that will help:

Protein - egg whites, tuna, fish, chicken, turkey, 90% lean red meats, lean ham, pork loin, lofat milk, lofat cottage cheese, protein shakes, protein bars

Clean Carbs - brown rice, wheat pastas, whole grain breads, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, lofat yogurt, oatmeal, oat or bran cereals, (ie cheerios) reduced fat wheat thins, reduced fat tricuits, baked chips, natural popcorn, fruits, some veges

Healty Fats - Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, fish oil, peanut butter, nuts, egg yolks, lofat dressings, lofat mayonaise

I see a lot of people putting asparagus in their diets but I cant figure out why everybody does. What are some good fruits and veggies to put in my diet?

bananas...apples...any type of beans...corn...spinach...

I need to diversify my fruit & veggie. I eat about 5-6 crowns of broccoli a week and about a dozen bananas each week. I think broccoli is one of the more nutrient-rich vegetables.

As far as vegetables, I would recommend spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and carrots or squash. That would be awesome if you ate all of those.

For fruits...bananas, blue berries, apples, and oranges. That would be a super mix also. But there are so many other combinations & choices.

Really, the sky is the limit...make sure you get a good variety. That's the important thing. Every food has unique nutritional values, so eating a select few will not optimize your health. :)

i love baby spinach....a little italian dressing....mmmm.

spinich, green beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, the list goes on!! grapefruit and bananas are at the top of my list for fruit...but i'd rather do other carb sources that are more filling like yams, potatos, oatmeal and brown rice...

This is what I've got it to now and I feel a little better about it now.

Meal 1
4 Whole eggs
1 bowl oatmeal
1 Banana

Meal 2
1 serving Whey
1 Blueberry bagel
1 Spear Asparagus

Meal 3
Tuna 2oz
Cottage Cheese Low Fat

Meal 4
1 Serving Whey
1 Spear Asparagus

Meal 5
2 Tbsp. Peanut butter
12 Fl oz of 1% fat milk

This time it comes out to be, (1,872 calories, 61.8g Fat, 180.2g Carbs, 167.5g Protein)

What is your activity level?

If you're nearly sedentary, then those numbers will be good.

I lift from around 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning. Its a hardcore lift not big rests between lifts along the line of burnouts. Sit in school for a 4 or so hours then go to work which I'm on my feet from 4:00 to about 9:30-10:00 and sweat a bit.

You'll need to increase calories again in a week or so....1800-1900 cals is just too low. The last diet that you outlined isn't bad, but it's a little thin on quantity.

replace that whey with some meat.

Thats just it i dont have any time to cook the meat, since i workout at 6 in the morning and get home at like 10 at night.

You should prep meals ahead of time. I cook on Sundays to get me through to Wed...then prep the rest of my meals to get through the rest of the week.