Looking for some diet help

[Big Ragu]

I have been cutting for a few weeks, and it's going well, and bad. In 21 days I've lost 22lbs. This is the good part. Bad part is that my strength is dropping along with my waist size. I'm happy with my current weight, I don't feel I need to lose any more. I'm 6'4, 210lbs. I lift 4 days a week. I am on a treadmill for 30 mins, 3 days a week, and I take a crossfit style class 3 days a week (about an hour each class). I rest on Sundays. Right now I consume right about 2200 calories a day. I eat about 250g of protein, and I eat less than 100g of carbs, and a little bit of fats.

I need to know how many calories I should be adding to my diet, to maintain my current weight. Should I add them right away, or should I taper them in? What should I be adding (carbs? proteins? fats?). I want to continue to lose fat, but I do not want to lose any more muscle. Honestly, I thought with the amount of protein I consume, I wouldn't lose much muscle. But my bench has really fallen off (it was never stellar).

Is this the right way to go about the goals that I have? My main focus is to get lean. Once I get to the point where I'm happy with my body fat %, I will then start making the neccesary changes to start building more muscle. But the fat must go first. I'd REALLY appreciate any advise or help, I'm still learning as I go every day. Thanks

[banana joose]

I think you should add in some more carbs. Make sure they are in the form of whole grains tho, and continue to consume carbs minimally in the evening unless they come from green veggies. If possible, do your cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the AM. Your body will be using FFA as fuel and in turn shedding bf.

Unless you are in a state of ketosis, if your body does not meet it's carb requirements, it will transport excess protein to the kidneys to be converted into carbs. Just keep this in mind, because a low-carb diet isn't as great as its hype unless it's constructed properly. Protein is not the only factor in muscle and strength maintenance.

You also could look into the CKD diets. I believe JoeHammer had great success with his CKD, and he has a detailed log around here somewhere. And look through Mr. X's articles, he outlines several variations of a keto diet.

[Big Ragu]

Thank you for the reply. Here's my issue with the CKD diet. I have found that without some form of carbs, I tend to get very lathargic. I don't know if that will pass or not, but I work evenings and I can't run out of steam half way through the night. I do all of my excercise upon waking, with very little in my stomach. I feel that I am on somewhat of the right track, but muscle loss is starting to become a concern. I do not want to be skinny fat.

Is there a number of calories that I should be looking to hit on a daily basis? At 2200, is this enough, or should there be more?

[Tealc]

I have been cutting for a few weeks, and it's going well, and bad. In 21 days I've lost 22lbs. This is the good part. Bad part is that my strength is dropping along with my waist size. I'm happy with my current weight, I don't feel I need to lose any more. I'm 6'4, 210lbs. I lift 4 days a week. I am on a treadmill for 30 mins, 3 days a week, and I take a crossfit style class 3 days a week (about an hour each class). I rest on Sundays. Right now I consume right about 2200 calories a day. I eat about 250g of protein, and I eat less than 100g of carbs, and a little bit of fats.

I need to know how many calories I should be adding to my diet, to maintain my current weight. Should I add them right away, or should I taper them in? What should I be adding (carbs? proteins? fats?). I want to continue to lose fat, but I do not want to lose any more muscle. Honestly, I thought with the amount of protein I consume, I wouldn't lose much muscle. But my bench has really fallen off (it was never stellar).

Is this the right way to go about the goals that I have? My main focus is to get lean. Once I get to the point where I'm happy with my body fat %, I will then start making the neccesary changes to start building more muscle. But the fat must go first. I'd REALLY appreciate any advise or help, I'm still learning as I go every day. Thanks

This is a typical problem, high protein, low carb/low fat diets. You'll need to switch to a 40/20c/40f to get some strength back and balance out, or go with an Anabolic diet / CKD variable.

[Big Ragu]

So basically I need to add fats, maybe lower carbs some? In terms of calories, to maintain my current weight of 210, how many should I be eating?

[Tealc]

So basically I need to add fats, maybe lower carbs some? In terms of calories, to maintain my current weight of 210, how many should I be eating?

Add healthy fats, omega 3 etc.., carbs should be low-gi and much lower, and to maintain you need at least BMR , weight x 12 = 2500 calories