Help with MT article on cutting

Hi all
I am 5ft 4, weigh 10st exactly and want to get my bodyfat down from 27% to 20%. I am hoping not to lose too much muscle as I have worked hard to put some muscle on over the last year. I train in the gym usually on 5 or 6 days a week and eat very clean the vast majority of the time.
 
I read the really informative article here on MT and saw the sample day meal plan
http://articles.muscletalk.co.uk/article-ripping-up-guide-to-cutting.aspx
and I feel I understand the principles of cutting far more now. But my question is, how do I work out the macros for this for my height and weight? Is there a method of working out how much protien / carbs/ fats I should consume specifically?
I feel like I am more informed of the what to eat side of it all, but I suppose that's no good if I go and eat too much (or too little) etc.
Sorry if this has been done before, but I think this could work for me if anyone can help me

Hi, i cant really comment on the macros of that article without breaking it down, the point stressed in that article however is to keep carbs in but keep them low.
 
one way of setting up your cutting diet would be to take your bodyweight in lbs and multiply by 13 , why 13 well if you use the kcal requirement calculators you will always come out with a figure close to this, it sits roughly in the middle of most of them (credit to Lyle Mcdonald for that insight) once you have this figure, split the macros 40,40, 20 % for protein, carbs and fats. Once you know how many cals you need from each macro you can start building your diet using the foods in the cutting article, this formula should also start you off on over 1g/lb of boyweight of protein, a figure most people seem to need to know/stick to.
 
now the article says manipulate carbs, so monitor your weight on these macros and you should as the article states be doing cardio 3-4 times a week personally i have found HIIT to be better than SSCV, although SSCV definitely has it's place. If you are losing weight at a steady rate, keep things as they are for 2 more weeks, at this point every 2 weeks drop carbs by 50g, this will create a daily defecit from the start point of 200kcals, over the week this equates to an extra 1400kcals, which is a steady defecit and coupled with intense weights and cardio will see you drop bodyfat at a good rate.
 
from my calculations you should start at 1820kcals.
 
However (sorry for rambling!) if you have been logging your food intake for a while and have been consuming less calories than this you should rearraneg your diet to follow the above macro breakdown but to fit in with how many calories you have been consuming, adding in the cardio will take care of the weight loss for the start and you can look to drop carbs as per the protocol i mentioned above.
 
 

Thanks Big D- that's really helpful. Having done my sums, it works out at
1820 cals as you said
roughly 364 cals =fat
728 = protein
728= carbs
so I suppose that if this formula works, as I get lighter I would just need to follow what you said about dropping the carbs down a bit etc. I will definitely give this a try and follow the food advice from the MT article. I think I was misunderstanding the whole cutting thing previously.
 
Is it true that lots of bodybuilders cut dairy and bread out when cutting? Is that a good move or not?
I don't eat wheat, but I do use skimmed milk, eggs, cottage cheese quite regularly.
thanks again

I wouldnt cut eggs or cottage cheese as both are low carbs, maybe limit milk where possible.

i would cut white/brown bread out and choose things like oatcakes and root veg as my carb sources, much more beneficial. rye bread is an excellent alternative to normal bread imo.
 
as for dairy, yes you are right it is something that is cut out completely by some, as a start point i wouldnt unless you are adverse in anyway to it, so i also wouldnt be looking to force it into your diet at the expense of other proteins.
 
depending on your background and experience with foods (a freshfaced weight watchers attendee is very different to a seasoned dieter/trainer) you can either tweak the foods you currently eat to fit the macro's and slowly swap out the foods or you can jump straight in to diet mode. i have found that just jumping straight on a diet which is full of foods you dont regularly eat is a quick way to failing as it becomes a chore and food is no longer enjoyed.

It looks like I can still eat much of what I do eat now, but I need to tweak the amounts and timings etc. I think I was still a bit high on the carbs and fat before so maybe this cut will help.
I will keep the cottage cheese and eggs in the plan. I do eat lots of vegetables and lean proteins, but I gave up wheat about 18 months ago because it gave me tummy ache, and I am a lot better for it, but I do eat things like porridge and sweet potatoes. I can still include my whey protein in this and hopefully I will lose the fat slowly but surely.
Thanks for your help!

No problem, good luck with it :)

Hi again
Well I went on fitday and put in all the nutritional information of the normal everyday things I typically eat and it looks like I can break it all down into smaller meals and keep within the ratio/ 20/40/40etc. I am quite good at sticking to routine and although my food for the week is quite boring, I don't mind it as I can stick to it and I am a creature of habbit! I find this makes me plan the week ahead more.
With this in mind, a typical day looks like:
meal 1:
oats with water
skimmed milk
protein shake
 
meal 2:
ham (no sugar added) with broccoli, chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach
1 apple
 
meal 3:
chicken breast, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, 1 apple
 
meal 4:
1 banana and hard boiled egg
28g nuts
 
TRAINING
post gym Gaspari shake
meal 5: white fish fillets, broccoli, peas (I always struggle to eat after the gym to be honest because sometimes it's 9pm and I feel like I have gone past it, but this should be ok and quick to do)
 
before bed: cottage cheese

I like the diet, it is varied enough, covers the bases with veg/fruit and looks well structured.
 
The only thing i would look at is EFA's, you could supplement these in through capsules or by adding them in to the diet in food form.
 
As the diet progresses you may find it hard to drop carbs constantly so you could just lower them on non-training days.
 
 

Hi Big D
I am not sure if it quite the same but I do use omega supplements and add some mixed seeds to my porridge. Also I can factor in a handful (28g) mixed nuts- and I have to measure them because I would just eat the lot from the bag otherwise! I usually eat salmon once a week.
Is that EFAs?
I have been using seeds and nuts for a while now, but I think I have to be stricter with portion control overall.

yes that's EFA'a; nuts, seeds, oils, fish etc.
 
the omega supplement should be enough, however i am a fan of EFA's in the diet being plentiful, when cutting i always prefer to drop carbs over fats.
 
as for portion control, this is something a lot of people find hard when dropping weight, the hard thing is this can only be overcome with self control!