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Sorry for the TL;DR type post to start off, but I need some input here, and maybe a few people to rattle ideas against. I've done tons of research and have been lifting and eating right for half a decade, made great strides, I'm just torn on where to go from here.
I'm not too large a male - 25yo, 5'10" 170lbs dry (On aromasin and keto... so I mean dry, folks). I'm currently sitting at around 11-12% body fat (after cutting from 25%...), though I collect MOST of my fat in my abdominal viscera. You can see some of my intercostal muscles and all of my lower ribs; but I still have about an inch pad of fat on the lower gut. This is fucking annoying, as visible ribs on a male makes me look borderline anorexic, but sans abs.
With that said... I'm trying to gain muscle while preserving my level of leanness, and possibly drop the last pound or two of visceral abdominal fat that I have. My absolute goal is muscle gain without ANY fat gain.
For this purpose, I have chosen to do a CKD type diet, with calorie zig zagging... I feel that being in keto will help prevent any lost muscle during my low calorie days, and these days will let me eat MORE on training days without gaining fat. In my mind, this will allow for more food to the muscle after heavy lifting, and some periods of lipolysis while recovering. My calories will vary from 3000 on lifting days, 2200 on recovery days and 1800 on "low calorie" days. My TDEE is 2500Kcal. My average intake will therefore be 2400Kcal, just shy of my TDEE to prevent any possible fat gain.
My keto diet is pretty damn set in stone. I eat the following pretty much every day:
Meal 1: Mixed Nuts (300kcal, 40g f, 15g p)
Meal 2: Salmon Fillet (300Kcal, 20g f, 30g p)
Meal 3: Fatty Red Meat (300Kcal, 15g f, 40g p)
Meal 4: Ground beef eggwhite Quiche (500kcal, 25g f, 70g p)
Meal 5: Casein + Coconut Oil shake (300Kcal, 20g f, 25g p)
I also consume 4g of fish oil standardized to 400/500mg DHA/EPA in each gram, for a total of 1.6g DHA and 2g EPA daily.
Interspersed between these meals I consume large amounts of carbohydrate free dark green veggies like brocoli, usually 2+lbs.
This comes out to ~1900Kcal, 125g f, 180g p. I have one extra meal on recovery days, usually with family, keto-compatible of course.
On training days I consume 1000ml of 1% milk, for an extra 40g protein, 450kcal and 30g carbs (galactose and glucose). I also consume another larger salmon fillet for 500Kcal, 40g f and 60g p. These bring my calories up to about 2900, give me a few carbs for CKD and much more fat.
So, after that long rambling post... Does anyone see anything inherently wrong with my meal plans? My idea that keto + calorie zig zagging will let me eat more when I need to, and less when I don't, to achieve my goal of muscle gain without fat gain? Anyone think I'll be gaining fat here? Should I throw the diet out the window completely and look at something else? Should I add in Cardio to my already effective routine? Any training tips while on keto?
Any input would be appreciated at this point.
I'm not too large a male - 25yo, 5'10" 170lbs dry (On aromasin and keto... so I mean dry, folks). I'm currently sitting at around 11-12% body fat (after cutting from 25%...), though I collect MOST of my fat in my abdominal viscera. You can see some of my intercostal muscles and all of my lower ribs; but I still have about an inch pad of fat on the lower gut. This is fucking annoying, as visible ribs on a male makes me look borderline anorexic, but sans abs.
With that said... I'm trying to gain muscle while preserving my level of leanness, and possibly drop the last pound or two of visceral abdominal fat that I have. My absolute goal is muscle gain without ANY fat gain.
For this purpose, I have chosen to do a CKD type diet, with calorie zig zagging... I feel that being in keto will help prevent any lost muscle during my low calorie days, and these days will let me eat MORE on training days without gaining fat. In my mind, this will allow for more food to the muscle after heavy lifting, and some periods of lipolysis while recovering. My calories will vary from 3000 on lifting days, 2200 on recovery days and 1800 on "low calorie" days. My TDEE is 2500Kcal. My average intake will therefore be 2400Kcal, just shy of my TDEE to prevent any possible fat gain.
My keto diet is pretty damn set in stone. I eat the following pretty much every day:
Meal 1: Mixed Nuts (300kcal, 40g f, 15g p)
Meal 2: Salmon Fillet (300Kcal, 20g f, 30g p)
Meal 3: Fatty Red Meat (300Kcal, 15g f, 40g p)
Meal 4: Ground beef eggwhite Quiche (500kcal, 25g f, 70g p)
Meal 5: Casein + Coconut Oil shake (300Kcal, 20g f, 25g p)
I also consume 4g of fish oil standardized to 400/500mg DHA/EPA in each gram, for a total of 1.6g DHA and 2g EPA daily.
Interspersed between these meals I consume large amounts of carbohydrate free dark green veggies like brocoli, usually 2+lbs.
This comes out to ~1900Kcal, 125g f, 180g p. I have one extra meal on recovery days, usually with family, keto-compatible of course.
On training days I consume 1000ml of 1% milk, for an extra 40g protein, 450kcal and 30g carbs (galactose and glucose). I also consume another larger salmon fillet for 500Kcal, 40g f and 60g p. These bring my calories up to about 2900, give me a few carbs for CKD and much more fat.
So, after that long rambling post... Does anyone see anything inherently wrong with my meal plans? My idea that keto + calorie zig zagging will let me eat more when I need to, and less when I don't, to achieve my goal of muscle gain without fat gain? Anyone think I'll be gaining fat here? Should I throw the diet out the window completely and look at something else? Should I add in Cardio to my already effective routine? Any training tips while on keto?
Any input would be appreciated at this point.
