[Meal plan + process pics inside] Breaking the plateau - attack my meal plan!

[gracesophia11]

@bananaboat86 Thanks for the input and the reading material, will certainly check it out.

I like the idea of giving it a try to replace the Whey and Instant oats with more real food. My workout is timed after meal one. I take it you wouldn't be concerned about not having WHEY in the mix as a fast acting protein and I would increase my wait after the meal (currently 30mins) to more given we aren't talking fast acting carbs?

I will definitely introduce some berries into my routine which will work well with the protein fluff which should also help with increasing fiber.

 

[bananaboat86]

@gracesophia11 As long as your pre workout meal has a full protein source and is at least 40g of protein I wouldn’t worry about timing as long as you have your pre workout and post workout meal within a 5-6 hour window. MPS is fully stimulated by your preworkout meal. Your preworkout meal is still being digested post workout. So if you had pre workout at 12, post workout at 5, and post workout #w at 8 that would be great.

The shake won’t do shit but make you hungry and waste 100-200 calories that you could EAT. Liquid calories suck when dieting.

 

[gracesophia11]

@bananaboat86 Thanks man. With IF my schedule has been like this

- pre workout meal - 11.30am

- workout - 12pm

- post workout meal - 1.30pm

- two snacks - 4pm and 5.30pm

- dinner - 7pm

Would you break into the IF window or change the proposed meals?

 

[bananaboat86]

@gracesophia11 I would probably do something like:

11:30 pre-workout meal (40g of protein minimum)

12:00 workout

4pm post workout

7pm dinner

All of your pre-workout food only adds up to 27g of protein and its not very good quality.

Think eggs and egg whites + sauteed veggies and some berries for your pre-workout. Not protein powder and oatmeal. Come on man you aren't in college! You can eat real, whole, nutritious food. It tastes WAAY better and it will fill you up more!

In general its good to keep consistent meal times for your cycradian rythym so this might take a few days to get in the groove.

 

[gracesophia11]

@bananaboat86 Got it, thanks man. How much carbs would you try to get in for the preworkout meal and any reco on source?

I do feel a big difference in my workouts without any pre-workout carbs and given the next meal wont be until 3 hours past workout time I expect the pre workout would include a fair share of carbs?

 

[bananaboat86]

@gracesophia11 The "need for carbs" is mostly in peoples head, this has been proven in the research. People can nocebo themselves. You believe carbs help performance so they can.

I don't recommend HIIT, but if you train HIIT style some carbs could be useful.

In general though, as long as you hit your protein intake for your pre-workout meal you don't need to worry about how many carbs and from what sources, just keep it within your caloric goals for that meal.

I would choose carbs that are satiating and have a lot of fiber, thats what it will ultimately take to maintain a lean physique, good food choices. So I would choose berries as my pre-workout "carb source".

Think of having a meal, not some magical ratio of macros.

And what do you mean you "feel" a big difference? Are you logging your workouts? If performance is matched or improved usually what you "feel" doesn't mean much. Some of my best workouts and PRs have come when I didn't "feel" strong.

If you "feel" like you didn't have as much energy in one workout, but you set a PR on lifts, then you are good to go.

Here is a great pre-workout meal:

 

[nick316]

@gracesophia11 How’s your lower body?

Even if you’re running 8% body fat, 195 lbs at 6’5” is pretty damn light.

Your upper body looks amazing, and I wouldn’t worry about trying to cut anymore. My guess for improvement would be to add muscle to lower body, obviously much easier once the gyms are back open.

 

[gracesophia11]

@nick316 Thanks, I don't skip leg day (1 out of 4 body part days) and have been genetically more muscular in my legs. Nevertheless fair point to consider in breaking the plateau.

 

[nick316]

@gracesophia11 I’m honestly amazed you can maintain that low body fat consistently. I’m 40 as well, and I thought going sub 10% consistently was impossible at our age.

 

[gracesophia11]

@nick316 @nick316 Thanks; reducing professional stress and travel has been a positive contributing factor. To be fair I actually don't think I'm below 10% currently. More like 11-13%. I used to do the DXA scans in the US and was always surprised how hard it is to drop between 10%.

 

[davidmshumate]

@gracesophia11 Have you tried lowering your calories but maintaining same protein amount as today?

 

[gracesophia11]

@davidmshumate I have. Essentially it often backfires with delayed binges and overeating. It seems that between 2,300 - 2,500 calories / day is where I can operate long term.

I should mention that all this is not in context of reaching peak performance for a special day or competition but overall sustaining a high level of fitness and aesthetic year round.

 

[davidmshumate]

@gracesophia11 I can only recommend to try to control the binges then haha as the only way to lose the fat will be having less caloric intake with same caloric consumption. There's no deeper science.

 

[dawn16]

@gracesophia11 Your physique looks fantastic man, great job with just bodyweight so far! I wouldn’t worry about cutting much more as you’re already lean and at your height/build, you have relatively “little” lean muscle. Personally I’d recommend you do a lean bulk and go on from there.

 

[gracesophia11]

@dawn16 Thanks, by lean bulk you mean primarily adding calories and carbs?

 

[niecey85]

@gracesophia11 Every point: not really important for what you want.

What would really make a difference: eat fewer calories using a normal deficit.

 

[gracesophia11]

@niecey85 Thanks; whats a normal deficit? Are you referring to a certain percentage % of your TDEE?

 

[niecey85]

@gracesophia11 I meant to implement a simple reduction in daily calories instead of crazy proxy methodologies like extreme fasting, extreme food-type exclusions, etc.

About how much to reduce, usually when you plateau you reduce 200-500 kcal per day (and/or increase expenditure by adding more cardio or steps).

 

[yakamoz]

@gracesophia11 Try carb cycling WITHOUT calorie cycling. So stay consistent with your calories days in and days out but switch up the ratio/ amount of fats and carbs. Heavy leg days and back days have more carbs for example.
Might not work but worth testing for a week or two. Saw this from a natural body builder.

 

[gracesophia11]

@yakamoz Thanks, I may give this a go. Been doing it intuitively with adjusting the volume of instant oats based on the workout day but could put some more discipline to it and see if it has an impact.