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

G

gracesophia11

New member
I've (M/40/6'5''/195lbs) been hitting a plateau with my bodyweight workouts and results over the last month. I have been steadily increasing load but aesthetically there is hardly a change in physique. My goal is to further reduce reduce body fat and increase lean tissue and definition.

Progression picture last 8 weeks during quarantine:
https://imgur.com/a/cDkFaxB

To break the plateau I even threw in a 8 day water fast [1],[2] but fell into a week of dirty diet a week after and increased sugar and packaged foos I am weening myself off right now that brought me back to pre-fast levels if not worse.

I am at a point where I am looking more closely at my nutrition plan. I workout before lunch and aim for IF between 7pm and 11am (16hrs); I don't mind following the same regimen every day and my staple foods are cauliflower/broccoli/kohlrabi, chicken breast, avocado, instant oats, whey/casein protein, Skyr/Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, sweet potatoes and almond/coconut milk. I average around 2,400 calories a day (meal plan 2,100 + some extra eggs, yogurt, sweet potato etc based on hunger) with 70g carbs, 70g fats, 220g protein, 20g sugar, and nearly 4000mg sodium. I do some undisciplined carb cycling in adjusting my pre/post workout instant oats based on the intensity of training that day.

My meal plan is here:
https://imgur.com/a/Fun6nsQ

Looking for some input from more experienced ppl; some of the things to try I can imagine are
  • go dairy free?
    • but no good idea how to keep my macro levels similar with nut/soy-based replacements without breaking the bank?
  • reduce my sodium intake?
    • try to cut down on cottage cheese and eggs
  • switch out my protein powders (for better quality)?
    • look at getting higher quality protein powders with less sodium/carbs? right now its MyProtein for Whey and Optimum Nutrition for Casein
  • go back to a more extreme/disciplined carb cycling routine?
    • I had good success with carb cycling in the past but was looking for something easier to maintain and apply
TIA for any input.
 
@gracesophia11 Okay, I don't see anything wrong with your diet food-wise. It might be high in dairy which is not a bad thing nor will it affect your physique negatively, but it might be a thing to keep an eye on if you have other issues like GI stuff later on. You are tracking everything and I don't see any glaring issues or causes for concern. I see you are tracking macros by weight, are you actually measuring out the proportions by weight when you eat them or just eyeballing/using scoops etc? Also, are you just tracking the "2100 meal plan" and tossing in other shit or guestimating it up to an approx 2400 based on hunger cues or are you tracking everything? At this level of body fat, if you want to push farther you are going to want to really track everything tightly.

You are pretty lean, would you say you have dieted hard to get to that level of BF or are you naturally a fairly lean guy? Meaning how much cutting have you done to get to this point or is this just your walk around body? Where is cardio at right now if any?

Those questions aside, you are pretty lean. At this point, you need to decide whether you want to get leaner or build more mass. You are not going to do both concurrently at this point (I ask this because you stated it as your goal). You are especially not going to do it doing bodyweight shit.

I would say pick your goal, and make a plan to achieve that goal and execute it. If it gets leaner, and you have stalled, drop calories and or up cardio and keep rolling. If it is to build mass, slowly up food and get on a program where you can train heavier than bodyweight. If you are limited to what you can do in the gym because of quarantine then I would either maintain or keep cutting but not try and increase mass if you cannot do the training to support it.

One last thing, I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't do with your diet, especially if it is working, but I don't care too much for the 70/70/220 breakdown. I would either pull from fat and add to carbs, or vice versa. Carbs are pretty low but fat is not high enough to warrant it, and carbs are too high for a "bodybuilder keto" approach.

p.s. bro, stop doing 8-day fasts and shit, that is not at all a good way to break through a plateau, and isn't going to be friendly to muscle. Also, as you stated it will cause you tip the other way and blow it out. This makes tracking progress very hard because your weight and body are going to drastically change during the fast as you deplete glycogen and drop water, then it is going not just going to swing back the other way when you eat again, its will do so especially if you go right into a week of shit dieting. This cycle is going to slow progress and just make you spin wheels and it is not worth it. If you feel like you have bad cravings and cannot calm them by fitting some other foods into your macs, then have a cheat meal or two on one day and get back to it, don't drag it out for a week and fast for a week to compensate or correct it. that is the devils' express bus to an eating disorder.
 
@mcolley10 Wow @mcolley10 - thank you so much for your input and taking the time to digest the provided information and a great response and very valuable input. Additional input below based on your questions and comments.

I see you are tracking macros by weight, are you actually measuring out the proportions by weight when you eat them or just eyeballing/using scoops etc?
Click to expand...

The weights are adjusted to the measurement approach I take but I did just order a food scale to where I reside right now to double check I am accurate and my measurements spoons etc actually represent the units in the tracker.

Also, are you just tracking the "2100 meal plan" and tossing in other shit or guestimating it up to an approx 2400 based on hunger cues or are you tracking everything? At this level of body fat, if you want to push farther you are going to want to really track everything tightly.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right; not on FitnessPal or similar right now but probably should get back to that tracking level to have an impact at the current stage. I have been guesstimating my daily caloric intake on top of the baseline nutrition plan and using the Strides app to keep track of my average over time (~2,450) to get a sense of things.

You are pretty lean, would you say you have dieted hard to get to that level of BF or are you naturally a fairly lean guy? Meaning how much cutting have you done to get to this point or is this just your walk around body?
Click to expand...

Definitely had to manage a clean diet and cut out sugar to the current level (20g/day). I started at 210lbs (eating healthyish and 5x week workout) and now am at 195lbs (eating mostly clean and 5x week workouts)

Where is cardio at right now if any?
Click to expand...

Cardio is at 3x15'' HIIT sessions a week; usually those were intense on the treadmill when gyms were open but during quarantine its been much lower intensity (running in place). I pair them with my back and shoulder day and don't do cardio on my legs and chest day. I have a rest day every 5 days.

Those questions aside, you are pretty lean. At this point, you need to decide whether you want to get leaner or build more mass. You are not going to do both concurrently at this point (I ask this because you stated it as your goal). You are especially not going to do it doing bodyweight shit.
Click to expand...

Fair point. I would probably go rather leaner given the current quarantine situation and lack of access to heavy weights/equipment.

I would say pick your goal, and make a plan to achieve that goal and execute it. If it gets leaner, and you have stalled, drop calories and or up cardio and keep rolling. If it is to build mass, slowly up food and get on a program where you can train heavier than bodyweight. If you are limited to what you can do in the gym because of quarantine then I would either maintain or keep cutting but not try and increase mass if you cannot do the training to support it.
Click to expand...

Also fair point. How much further would you drop average calories?

One last thing, I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't do with your diet, especially if it is working, but I don't care too much for the 70/70/220 breakdown. I would either pull from fat and add to carbs, or vice versa. Carbs are pretty low but fat is not high enough to warrant it, and carbs are too high for a "bodybuilder keto" approach.
Click to expand...

So with going leaner you would reduce carbs I take it? Whats your take on carb cycling?

p.s. bro, stop doing 8-day fasts and shit, that is not at all a good way to break through a plateau, and isn't going to be friendly to muscle. Also, as you stated it will cause you tip the other way and blow it out. This makes tracking progress very hard because your weight and body are going to drastically change during the fast as you deplete glycogen and drop water, then it is going not just going to swing back the other way when you eat again, its will do so especially if you go right into a week of shit dieting. This cycle is going to slow progress and just make you spin wheels and it is not worth it. If you feel like you have bad cravings and cannot calm them by fitting some other foods into your macs, then have a cheat meal or two on one day and get back to it, don't drag it out for a week and fast for a week to compensate or correct it. that is the devils' express bus to an eating disorder.
Click to expand...

Word. 8 days have definitely been too long and had me loose strength despite continuing my workouts. I may look at 3-4 days of really low carb/calorie days here and there if I feel like I need to clean out and want to activate my fat reserves.

Again, thanks much for your input!
 
@mcolley10 This guy is pretty lean to begin with. I don’t see him getting anymore leaner unless he maybe cuts a little sodium and dehydrates himself. I hope he’s not thinking it’s healthy and or feasible to be walking around on a daily basis looking competition ready.
 
@spokaneoc He is not even close to competition lean and he is eating 2100-2400 Cal's or more a day. He is perfectly fine to walk around like that. If he wanted to get leaner he could do so easily. You are underestimating contest conditioning and the calorie intake to get there.
 
@gracesophia11
  1. 8 weeks is very little time to see significant growth, unless you are a beginner.
  2. I think you're going to see better results from sticking to tried and true cycling periods of controlled surplus for growth and deficits to reduce fat. Trying to pull off both at once usually gets you nowhere, as you're seeing.
 
@binnguyen84 Thanks @binnguyen84 - I wanted very hard to avoid ongoing bulking and cutting and rather subscribe to the ongoing body recomposition theory but you may be right in it not playing out that way at this stage.
 
@gracesophia11 Honestly if you bulk properly it's not really that different. Your surplus shouldn't be huge and you shouldn't ever get that fat. I bulk slowly for 9 months of the year then cut for 3. Moving forward I might cut that down to 2 because honestly that third month has proven to have pretty significant diminishing returns.
 
@gracesophia11 I can't say for sure, I take the approach of eating the same meals daily and adjusting as needed instead of actually counting, so I only have a rough idea of my intake. Ide say my bulk is ~4k a day tapering up throughout the year and my cut is ~3k. I don't ever reduce intake on cut, just accept slower lose or add cardio. When bulking I average a bit under a half pound a week (about 20lbs over 40 weeks, including initial water) and cutting is between 1-2lbs a week loss on average, starting on the high end ending on the low.
 
@gracesophia11 I also walk my dog 3 miles a day and work out 5 days a week. The second half of this cut I've had the time to add a second walk and/or 5k row each day, so activity levels are high as well.
 
@nonuser Beginning of March, 3 months total. Honestly I think it would have been doable in 2. It slowed down in April before I added some cardio and I had two big refeeds in may besides the last one when I entered an online powerliting meet and over memorial day weekend when I went camping.
 
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