Recently, I’ve been on a strict diet in order to drop my body fat percentage while maintaining my muscle mass. As of today, it’s been a little over a month since I’ve started. I’ve kicked the addiction to all the bad foods which is amazing. I have more desire for fruits than I do something from any fast food joint. I never thought I’d be able to seriously say those words. It’s wonderful.
Currently, I am trying to eat at a 10% deficit in order to restrict muscle loss. That puts me at roughly 2300 calories per day. I decreased this just a bit to around 2000-2100 while aiming to get at least 170-180 grams of protein in per day. It was easy at first, but it’s starting to become a real struggle getting this stuff in. Protein shakes are becoming a chore. Plain chicken and tuna are become extremely stale. That said, I try to keep my eye on the prize and realize what I will look like come June. At 15% body fat, I’d be around 190 pounds which will look incredible. Problem is I will slowly have to increase this calorie intake. Since lean mass is more metabolic than fat, I will have to account for this change. More food? Ugh.
Currently, the biggest challenge I face is simply getting the calories in. Since I’ve switched to mostly nutrient dense and clean foods, I feel full and satisfied on much less food than I used to. It’s way easier to fill up when you eat clean, leading to less calorie intake overall. This is great for fat loss, however if you have too large of a deficit, you start eating away muscle as your energy stores to make up for the deficit. Hitting my calorie mark on days where I just don’t feel like eating is rough. Eating plain tuna after a month is extremely hard. Eating it when you’re sick of it AND you’re not hungry? Crippling.
I feel my strength increasing in the gym again. Just last night I pressed the 70 pound dumbbells on incline for 4 reps. I was already exhausted by this point so I could have gotten more if I had started with this movement, however that isn’t the point. I used it to gauge where I should be at with my weight rather than to show how strong I was. I no longer care about the number I lift, just how the movement feels during and after the set. I’d much rather press the 50s with good form and a bit higher reps than lift something heavy for the sake of saying I did it. At 35 years old, those things just don’t matter to me any longer.
I still have quite a ways to go, but I am pumped for the outcome!