Cutting diet to shed maximum possible fat in 10 weeks? Pics inside

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Caporegime
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Warwickshire
Hi all

I've not had any abs on display since I was 19 and, as much as it may sicken some of you, my current aim is that I want them back for my summer holiday in 10 weeks.

My current stats are 5'11" / 174lbs. I weight train three times per week with a 3 x 5 full body programme. I cycle 8 miles Mon-Fri on my commute and usually 10 or so at the weekend for leisure.

I currently look like this:



I have two questions:

- Can it be done, i.e. is it feasible for me to have a decent six pack in 10 weeks?
- How can it be done?

My typical daily diet is currently:

7.30 Bowl of Grape Nuts with 0.75% milk
10.30 Roast chicken and wild rice
13.00 Roast chicken and wild rice
15.00 Piece of fruit, normally apple or banana
19.00 Varies, but for example last night we had an olive oil pan fried haddock with a cherry tomato and white wine reduction, with peas and jersey royal potatoes. Tonight it's sirloin steak with broccoli, a jacket potato and a balsamic sauce. My weakness is that this is usually accompanied by a glass or two of white wine.

I know I have no muscle, but it's too late to put on more muscle then cut, all in time for the summer hol. I want to develop the absolute optimal meal plan that will reveal the abs between now and then. I will continue weight training 3 times per week and, unless I absolutely need to do more in your opinion, will leave cycling 8 miles per day as my only cardio workout (apart from the weights). The cycling equates to about half an hour's cardio each day.

Any advice is gratefully received, thanks!
 
How's the full body programme working out for you? Might be a better use of your time going heavy and targeting those body parts you want maximum definition from - An average 3 day split?

You don't look too bad weight wise, tbh. 10 weeks heavy training, HIT and fat stripping supplements?
 
Im not gonna say I'm an expert but I'm sure I've read similar requests on muscletalk and 10-12 weeks seems to be a feasible period to drop a lot of body fat (Usually suggested by very low carb/ CKD type diets)
 
I'd have to dis-agree with Shifty's recommendations of fat stripping supplements as they aren't necesary. Although you might find a pre-work out formula useful as working out carb & glycogen depleted can be tough especially when you feel tired and sluggish.

I'd look switching to some hypertrophy rep ranges so more 8-12, this should build more mass (which burns calories at rest) and you'll find higher rep ranges means your working hard for longer so will burn slightly more calories. Though stick with full body and try to make it as aerobically taxing as possible. (Have a look at my 'Final Push' journal/thread on my cut for ideas of what I was doing workout wise. I find slow negatives change my compisition making me look fuller. Never done deliberatley slow negs 3-5seconds on a cut though.

HIIT coupled with some circuits should work well to help melt some fat off. Circuits are quick, much more fun and you can mix it around as much as you like.

Just skimmed the diet. Where ever you've got rice/potatoes or any other carbs replace it with either a salad mix of spinach/lettuce/cucumber/peppers/celery/carrots etc or mixed veg. Mixed veg has 7 grams of carbs per 100grams and 50 calories per 100grams. So it really is 'win' when cutting.

Off to gym now but will reply in more detail later.
 
Cheers all.

I hear what you're saying about dropping the carbs, but I'm concerned about making sure I have enough energy to hit the gym hard as well as cycle home afterwards :p. Will replacing all the carbs with veg still give me sufficient energy, or should I take the view that if I want an effective cut, I need to make it enough energy? That's where Benny's pre-workout supplements come in I suppose, though ideally I'd like to avoid supps other than protein.

Not rejecting any advice by any means, just thinking out loud really. I'll look at your thread Benny.
 
I didn't find low carbing too tough tbh but I had been walking to and from & spending the day in the workshops on my feet.

The first few days are a bit iffy but after those I actually felt very fresh & alert in the morning immediatley upon waking. Providing you re-load every 5-6 day you should be fine.

Certain days I did find failure crept up pritty quick but I still made reasonable strength gains/ didn't loose any strength.

Unfortunatley you can't have it all. You can either drop fat and struggle with energy levels or drop less and have the energy you need.

I didn't use my pre workout supp until the final week or 2 when I was really quite dead on my feet.

Or as suggested look at intermittent fasting as suggested by ben90.

Cutting is not fun, but if you get it right and put the effort in you'll see the results :)
 
BennyC said:
HIIT coupled with some circuits should work well to help melt some fat off. Circuits are quick, much more fun and you can mix it around as much as you like.
Click to expand...

Interest idea about doing HIIT on a low carb diet. For the average person I would have thought it would be better leaving glycogen reserves for the weights - and using steady state for the cardio.
 
pre said:
Interest idea about doing HIIT on a low carb diet. For the average person I would have thought it would be better leaving glycogen reserves for the weights - and using steady state for the cardio.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it really wasn't easy!

Going to try the steady state approach on my next cut/low carb and see how that works for me.

Good thing about high intensity exercise such as hill sprints, circuits etc is that you continue burning fat long after you stop performing that CV exercise, which is good.

To re-itterate, it's ******* tough work on low carb!
 
shifty_uk said:
How's the full body programme working out for you? Might be a better use of your time going heavy and targeting those body parts you want maximum definition from - An average 3 day split?

You don't look too bad weight wise, tbh. 10 weeks heavy training, HIT and fat stripping supplements?
Click to expand...

Sorry, didn't really answer this post.

Full body I'm finding quite tough compared to a split, but then that's a good thing I suppose, as it certainly shouldn't be easy. Going to stick to full body until I've finished trying to lose fat, as I feel it gives a better cardio workout.

Anyway I'm now down to 170lbs dead and doing leg raises and pullups every day that I'm not training at the gym. The quandry I'm in is that I need to grow my abs if I want them to show, but losing fat means that I'm not eating enough calories to grow them properly.

Going to keep doing what I'm doing anyway as I'm certainly dropping further flab from around my lower waist. My aim mass-wise is the low to mid 160s.

About halfway through June, I'm going to give up alcohol entirely and up the cardio to 1hr + commute every other day. Possibly cut out brown bread entirely also and swap the fruit for veg.
 
Nitrojan said:
You ever tried it?
Click to expand...

Yeah I did it but only for about a month. My digestive system is what you would say not very well, so im going back to eating as most typically do.

If you dont have any digestive problems though give it a go, I was putting on muscle and losing fat without much effort, albeit it very slowly because of my gut. had more energy and was fuller for longer. Its also a lot easier to eat everything in a couple meals as it claimed.
 
Progress report: now 171lbs, had a debauched weekend with copious amounts of BBQ food and beer, so it's back on it tonight with half a roast chicken and salad.

Now training abs every day on the hanging bar (4 sets of 8, hanging knee raise with legs as close as pike as I get get them on each rep). Still can't see a huge amount of ab. 2 months dead until I go on holiday.

img6590i.jpg


img6588x.jpg


Notes:
- You can still see some love handle especially in the first pic :(
- Yes the lighting is flattering in the second pic :p
- Yes I burnt myself at the weekend :D
 
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