I maintain with this diet, now I want to cut. ...AND a critique plz

[intensity]

I am 5'11, 186lbs, and my bodyfat is a little up there since I just finished bulking. I seem to be maintaining my current weight (186lbs) with this diet. I am now looking to cut, and you know, maintain as much muscle as possible, yet still lose as much fat as possible, blah blah blah. THIS IS NOT MY CUTTING DIET. This is just the diet that I finished bulking on and that I seem to be currently maintaining weight on. What I am asking is to basically take this diet and take out, add, keep, move, change, fix and edit whatever you feel has to in order for this to be a pretty solid cutting diet. I know that to start, I just need to take this current diet and get rid of about 300 calories. But I am not exactly sure where those calories should come from, and if it comes from carbs for example, should my protein increase, or should the fat increase, etc. I have to get rid of 300 calories, my question is simply where should it come from? Just want to get this as perfect as possible.

- (Some meals are listed as "meals" when they might just be a small snack)
- (I am 99% accurate with the calorie/carb/protein/fat content of these meals/foods, some though I kind of estimated, but it should all be just about right.)
- (Also, if something like 2 pieces of bread has 8 grams of protein, I counted that as part of my protein total. Not sure if everyone does that or not, but I did.)

7:00am
*Meal 1* (Pre-workout)
2 pieces of whole wheat bread
2 average sized red potatoes
6 egg whites
1 cup of 2% milk
1 scoop of whey protein powder (mixed with water)
5 grams of l-glutamine

Calories: 730
Protein: 55
Carbs: 102
Fat: 8

***WEIGHTLIFTING WORKOUT*** 8:30am - 9:45am

10:00am
*Meal 2* (Post-workout)
2 scoops of whey protein powder (mixed with water)
2 average sized red potatoes
1 serving (handful) of peanuts
5 grams of l-glutamine

Calories: 580
Protein: 47
Carbs: 64
Fat: 16

1:00pm
*Meal 3*
1 can of tuna fish
1 bagel
1 serving of olive oil
3 egg whites

Calories: 590
Protein: 49
Carbs: 35
Fat: 19

3:30pm
*Meal 4*
4 servings of peanuts

Calories: 640
Protein: 28
Carbs: 24
Fat: 52

6:00pm
*Meal 5*
1 Pure Protein Bar

Calories: 270
Protein: 32
Carbs: 28
Fat: 6

7:00pm
*Meal 6*
2 Oranges

Calories: 110
Protein: 0
Carbs: 30
Fat: 0

8:00pm
*Meal 7*
Grilled chicken or lean meat or turkey, etc. (Big serving)
1 red potato
Vegetable (broccoli, string beans, salad, etc.)

Calories: 390
Protein: 40
Carbs: 41
Fat: 2

10:00pm
*Meal 8*
Tuna fish (almost a full can, a little less)

Calories: 110
Protein: 23
Carbs: 0
Fat: 1.5

11:00pm
*Meal 9*
1 scoop of whey protein powder (mixed in water)

Calories: 90
Protein: 17
Carbs: 2
Fat: 1.5

*******************
Daily Total:

Calories: 3510
Protein: 291
Carbs: 326
Fat: 106

Ratio: 33/37/27
protein/carbs/fat

*I drink a little over a gallon and a half of water a day.

So, 2 things here:
1) Just looking at the diet, is there anything that should just be changed because it's just plain wrong?
2) Get rid of 300 calories, where should it come from, and once removed, does anything else need to change?

Thanks in advance guys.

[GhettoSmurf]

well, post-workout, i think it would be better to have a whey shake with a high GI carb like dextrose, and try to have as little amount of fat as possible (no peanuts)

a simple way to lower some calories, would be to switch from 2% milk to skim milk. :)

[bradley]

Originally posted by intensity
7:00am
*Meal 1* (Pre-workout)
2 pieces of whole wheat bread
2 average sized red potatoes
6 egg whites
1 cup of 2% milk
1 scoop of whey protein powder (mixed with water)
5 grams of l-glutamine

I would drop the 2% milk and go with skim milk. The fat will only slow the absorption of your meal which would not be ideal before a workout.



10:00am
*Meal 2* (Post-workout)
2 scoops of whey protein powder (mixed with water)
2 average sized red potatoes
1 serving (handful) of peanuts
5 grams of l-glutamine


I would keep fat to a minimum post workout.



11:00pm
*Meal 9*
1 scoop of whey protein powder (mixed in water)


Since this is your last meal of the day, I would recommend consuming a slow digesting protein of some sort. Cottage cheese would work well or you could mix the whey with milk instead of water. :



Calories: 3510
Protein: 291
Carbs: 326
Fat: 106


If you are 186lbs. there is really no need to be consuming that much protein. 1g per lb. of bw is plenty and that would free up plenty of cals just by reducing your protein intake.

Also add in some omega 3 fatty acids as well. You could add in some oily fish like salmon or supplement with fish oil. Also replacing some of the peanuts with walnuts would be another way to get in more n-3 fats (ALA).

[intensity]

Thanks for the replies, I'll check out the fish oil and dextrose.

Here's my plan to start. Bradley, since you mentioned fat not being good pre and post workout, I will get rid of it. Now once I get rid of the 2% milk pre workout, and the nuts post workout, I will be dropping around 290 calories, 15 grams of protein, 18 grams of carbs, and 18 grams of fat. So that is my "300" calories right there. Does this seem like a good way to start the cutting diet?

[bradley]

Originally posted by intensity
Now once I get rid of the 2% milk pre workout, and the nuts post workout, I will be dropping around 290 calories, 15 grams of protein, 18 grams of carbs, and 18 grams of fat. So that is my "300" calories right there. Does this seem like a good way to start the cutting diet?

Sounds fine to me assuming that you are planning to add some n-3 fats to your diet.

Also I would just combine the last two meals of the day, and you could probably get away with dropping the whey and adding in some fat of some sort. The tuna fish would be fine, or maybe cottage cheese, but the main thing is to consume a slower digesting protein before bed.:)