Spot on about the 5x5, it's definitely a good way to preserve strength on a cut. I would dig to hit 10% body fat, currently I'm at 15 so there's a lot of room for progress.
I definitely have some body image issues as I've been obese all my life, so that's a separate battle I'm working on.
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Sauces are awesome, but fatty ones quickly pile up calories. I do enjoy experimenting a tonne with seasoning.
What kind of sauces do you enjoy
@nicksaiz65, I personally use American mustard, sweet onion, barbecue, teriyaki, red chilli.
Occasionally I'd hit that southwest haha
Ayy you got this bro. I hear that 10-12% is a nice sweet spot to stay in.
I hear that when you reach 15% that’s when the flat stomach comes in for most people. Is that true?
I’ll show you some low and high calorie options that I like to implement in my diet!
(All the calories are just off the top of my head btw.)
Low Calorie Sauces:
G. Hughes BBQ Sauce: This stuff is a game changer, very tasty. 10-20 calories per 2 tbsp
Hidden Valley Fat Free Ranch: This stuff is really close to the original imo. You can also mix it with Nashville Hot Seasoning or Hot Sauce and it makes a very good hot ranch.
Heinz 57 Sauce: Quite good. Reminds me of Waffle House. Iirc 2 tbsp is around 20 calories.
Medium Calorie Sauce:
Fat Free Mayo + Sriracha: I mix these two myself instead of buying the pre-made version. I can control exactly how spicy I want it that way. Fat Free Mayo is about 45 calories per 2 tbsp. And I believe Sriracha is 5 calories per tablespoon. That is basically negligible.
Sweet Chili Sauce: 30 calories for a tablespoon and tastes awesome.
High Calorie Sauces:
BDubs Asian Zing Sauce: 2 tablespoons is 80 calories. I LOVE Buffalo Wild Wings sauces. It makes chicken so enjoyable. I’ve been on these for a while.
BDubs Garlic Parmesan Sauce: Also amazing. 120 calories for 2 tbsp.
Sweet Baby Ray’s Secret Sauce: Tastes like the sauce from Outback. 120 calories for 2 tbsp.
Hidden Valley Ranch: This is probably a big no-no within the fitness community, but honestly I do use the full fat Ranch sometimes. Sometimes you need the real thing.
I ALWAYS make sure to use a food scale with these sauces because they’re so calorie dense. No eyeballing for these.
Because I do IF, I have room to include these sauces, which makes eating lots of chicken breast amazing. I don’t think that chicken legs or thighs NEED any sauce if you are eating those. A lot of the time I end up gravitating towards the higher calorie end just because I love the way they taste lol. I’d feel a little bit deprived without these in my diet. I totally don’t mind spending an extra 500 calories to make my meal taste AMAZING though. Some would argue against that, but that’s just me.
