getting down to 16-18% bodyfat AND getting stong, possible?

[hwydopehound]

Just what the title says. Not too long ago I was 5'8 and 270. Now i'm 5'8 and about 250, depending. My question is, is it reasonable to believe I can work my way down to 215 or so and still maintain my strength? I'm currently lifting 350 on bench for a one rep max and 445 on deadlift for a 3 rep max. Not sure what my squat is. I try to intake 150 grams protein/day just in shakes. My main problem is the shift i work, i'm a cop and work 11p-7a and there is NOTHING open. I'm starting to take food that I have pre-cooked. I eat mostly whole grains for carbs, and don't have any carbs on my last meal(45g shake). My question is, can I assume I can lose a pound a week w/out any hardcore dieting? I've also thought about doing 2-3 days on low carb, one day off. My problem w/ low carb is my freaking workouts-they are TOUGH. I'm doing a crossfit type workout and it's insane. So, am I fighitng a losing battle trying to lose weight slowly and gain muscle? Should I stick to losing fat for a while and then go back to gaining muscle? I was just thinking it is possible if I do it at a slow pace. Maybe I am wrong. Help??? Also, if this is in the wrong forum, please send it where it needs to go. I will post it a couple of other places.

PS
I do the workouts 4 days a week and one day of heavy bench press. My workouts may look something like

12-10-8-6-4- for deadlift and then
5 rounds of 5 deadifts 70 yard sprint.
sprints at the end of the workout.

What do you guys think?

 

[Scotsman]

Yes it is very possible to gain strength while losing fat. Diet is going to become a huge component and from what I'm getting on your initial post you need more protein. If you could list out what you eat in a typical day that would help greatly. Also what exactly are you doing for your workouts reps, sets, and weights please.

Also I'm moving this to the weight training forum you'll get more of a response there.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[ExtraMile]

Yes it is very possible to gain strength while losing fat. Diet is going to become a huge component and from what I'm getting on your initial post you need more protein. If you could list out what you eat in a typical day that would help greatly. Also what exactly are you doing for your workouts reps, sets, and weights please.

Also I'm moving this to the weight training forum you'll get more of a response there.

Cheers,
Scotsman

I agree, Im now slowly loosing BF, no drastic losses but I can now see upper abs in the morning when Im empty. My strength has going through the roof too. In 8-9 weeks my benchpress went from somthing like 135x5 to 187x5...

 

[hwydopehound]

I will post my food for tomorrow(well, tonight-I go in at 11p). I'm following a body-for-life type diet, but will probably up my protein intake via shakes(100g???). My reps and sets just depend. Like I said, it's more of a crossfit type workout typically lasting an hour. It combines sprints and weight lifting, usually O-Lifts(power clean, clean and jerk, deadlift, bench, squat, etc.). My diet hasn't been too clean lately. For instance, yesterday:meal 1 50g shake upon waking, meall 2 footlong meatball marinara sub from subway, meal 2 filet's of tilapia(42g protein) and a fiber one bar, and meal 4 peanut butter(all natural) sammich on whole wheat bread. I'm officially cutting out my fast food and "shit" foods.

I just added another protein shake, taken about 45 min's after my pb sammich. Now I will go to bed and sleep until 10. I am definately looking to cut out the subway footlong's in place of maybe a wal-mart sub cut in half and double stack the meat(buy a footlong from the deli and just throw the bread out)???

I'm going to start taking some of the 12g protein south beach diet bars for a "snack" between meals. I know, prob not enough protein as I need BUT it will keep my metabolism going. It's got to be better than eating nothing, huh?

 

[Scotsman]

The general "rule of thumb" is one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight when doing a cutting/leaning out routine. Don't get concerned with bodyweight too much. Think of it this way if you are adding muscle then you are getting leaner even if you stay at the same bodyweight. So be careful of having a target weight that you want to reach. For instance if you weighed 200lb and lost 10lbs of fat while adding 10 lbs of muscle you would weigh the same but would have lost 5% bf.

A sub from subway is not going to be any worse nutritionally than a sub from wal-mart. My suggestion is to get a chickenbreast or turkey sub instead of meatballs and get it on the whole weat bread. Be careful with any of the bars out there because many of them contain tons of sugars. Also don't rely too heavily on shakes "real" food is extremely important.

Another thing to remember is to not get impatient. You've already lost 20lbs of bw which means most likely more than that in bf as you should have added some muscle. Unfortuneately progress slows as you approach your goals so keep the faith and work hard.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[Scotsman]

I agree, Im now slowly loosing BF, no drastic losses but I can now see upper abs in the morning when Im empty. My strength has going through the roof too. In 8-9 weeks my benchpress went from somthing like 135x5 to 187x5...

You have made great progress! It's hard to see it in yourself though since you look at yourself everyday. The best way to measure progress is by looking back at older pics and measurements to see the difference.

Keep up the great work and heal up that shoulder.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[hwydopehound]

The general "rule of thumb" is one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight when doing a cutting/leaning out routine. Don't get concerned with bodyweight too much. Think of it this way if you are adding muscle then you are getting leaner even if you stay at the same bodyweight. So be careful of having a target weight that you want to reach. For instance if you weighed 200lb and lost 10lbs of fat while adding 10 lbs of muscle you would weigh the same but would have lost 5% bf.

A sub from subway is not going to be any worse nutritionally than a sub from wal-mart. My suggestion is to get a chickenbreast or turkey sub instead of meatballs and get it on the whole weat bread. Be careful with any of the bars out there because many of them contain tons of sugars. Also don't rely too heavily on shakes "real" food is extremely important.

Another thing to remember is to not get impatient. You've already lost 20lbs of bw which means most likely more than that in bf as you should have added some muscle. Unfortuneately progress slows as you approach your goals so keep the faith and work hard.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Should I get away from the bars? If so, what kind of bars should I look for? These bars have 25g carbs, 5g sugar, 4g fiber, and 12g protein. Suggestions on a different, yet affordable protein bar to use as a snack between meals?

I'm going to keep eating subs when I can(on whole wheat bread) and just stick w/ turkey and double the meat up(by losing half the bread). Think that'll be ok?

 

[Scotsman]

Should I get away from the bars? If so, what kind of bars should I look for? These bars have 25g carbs, 5g sugar, 4g fiber, and 12g protein. Suggestions on a different, yet affordable protein bar to use as a snack between meals?

I'm going to keep eating subs when I can(on whole wheat bread) and just stick w/ turkey and double the meat up(by losing half the bread). Think that'll be ok?

Not sure on the bars as I don't eat them except during competitions for quick energy. Nuts make great snacks as do peanutbutter and honey sandwiches(personal favorite).

Should be fine, hell I'm eating a cold cut combo right now.LOL had to go to the bank and subway was on the way home. I just get the wheat bread and have them put all the veggies on.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[hwydopehound]

Today so far:
meal 1:fajita(whole wheat tortilla, chicken, and a very smal amount of lowfat shredded cheese and salsa
meal:sub on wheat bread w/ turkey and lettuce
meal 3protein bar(as described above
meal4: half a banana and a handful of almonds(pre workout-don't want to throw up)
NOW:workout
meal 5probably a protein shake(50g), I took the shake immediately after my workout and then did some arms to supp. my normal workout.
meal6 was after I got home from the gym-about 1.5 after shake-5oz grilled chicken w/ cheese sprinkled on top.

LOOKS like I'm probably not getting enough protein, should add another shake in there sometime, huh? Or am I wrong and I'm getting plenty. Should I add one when I wake up?

 

[strictly poontang]

No way an expert here, but I have a weaknes with the subsas well. Would help to reduce that foot long to 6 inch. As fr protein bars, I think the Pure Proteins are good. They have low sugar, around 19-23 grams protein an taste good. Around $1.60 each at WM. Needto has some on his site as well that are supposedly good, but I have yet to try them. You have the luxury of swapping some ingredients to adjust the nutritutional counts and when done, they should run you no more than other bars, if not less.
Good luck with everything. I'm looking for pretty much the same goals as you. Working nightshift sucks. I'm doing midnite-0800 and have lots of freetime which makes it hard to avoid snacking.