[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by DJP86

Lately I've been increasing my cardio to prepare for summer but I've noticed a tremendous lack of energy. This was happening a month or two back when I was trying to cut calories but maintain my workouts, I also noticed my strength dropping but my weight remaining the same.

If you are experiencing a lack of energy, it is almost entirely diet related. Your strength will be affected during a cut. There's no way around that. You can minimize it by supplementing, but there will be a change.

Originally Posted by DJP86

Now: I've been aiming for about 10k steps a day + 90-120 minutes of weight training 4-5 days a week. I get my steps with a 30 minute walk during the day and anywhere from 30-40 minutes of running/HIIT/walking depending on how I feel each day, but I usually run at least 2.5 miles a day post workout.

Contrary to what some other people in this thread have suggested, I don't see anything wrong with a 90-120 minute workout. Hell, the way.......and the weight that I squat, for example, it takes about 90 minutes for me to complete a workout, and I'm no chump in the weight room. The trick is: diet! You have to eat to power yourself through workouts. Are you willing to change your cardio approach to reduce muscle/strength loss? You can take a similar approach to cutting that many of us body builder types implement; namely....low intensity stairclimber (...a lot of it fasted, first thing in the morning).

Originally Posted by DJP86

I've changed my diet to

Breakfast:
1 8oz protein + berry + almond milk shake

Snacks:
low fat yogurt w/ high fiber cereal (its about 150 calories per serving but I can only handle about 1/4 cup of the stuff which is 1/3rd of a serving)

Rice cakes or a protein bar (power crunch, say 150-200 calories, maybe 2-5g of sugar).

Lunch:
Chicken breast w/ rice or steamed veggies

Snack:
rice cake again

Dinner:
Chicken breast + carbs (either green salad w/ carrots cucumber red pepper and olive oil/vinegar dressing, or 1 cup of cooked rice, or about 3 cups of steamed veggies)

later snack:
1 8oz protein + berry + almond milk shake


It sounds like I'm eating a ton, but I think calorie wise I'm a bit low. I'm estimating I burn roughly 3k calories on most of my hard cardio days. Weekends I tend to drink alcohol with no soda mixers (friday and saturday night).

You're not eating enough!!!! Ditch the shakes for meals, ditch the rice cakes and protein bars (..protein bars can be good in emergencies however), and eat more whole food.

Originally Posted by DJP86

TLDR:
Am I eating enough to lose fat + gain muscle based on my diet?

Unless you're a genetic freak, and there are very few of us out there, you can't do both. You are either growing (...which includes some fat gain), or you are losing fat (...which includes some muscle loss).