About to start a cut. Advice needed.

Darrenon91

I posted here a while back just before I started a bulk. My aim was to get from 100 to 107/108kg by the start of jan and yesterday i weighed in at 108.2 so im pretty happy and ive maintained a sub 15% body fat (im sure). Im about to begin a cut now. Training has started and season is around the corner. I know my maintenace level calories so is it as simple as working at a calorie deficit or is there more to it? any tips would be great.

JohnnyChimpo

A lot of people (like Lyle McDonald for example) recommend eating a maintenance for a couple of weeks before switching to a caloric deficit, for various reasons (hormonal response/satiety). It probably doesn't matter too much though, just eat at maintenance minus 3-500kcal and you should lose in the region of 1lb/0.5kg per week. If results are not as expected after a few weeks, adjust calories to compensate. Expect the first few pounds to drop practically overnight, due to less food in your system and fewer carbs resulting in less water retention.

Darrenon91

Ya thats what I was thinking. Working at a maintenance or a small deficit as I was to retain enery levels and cut slowly rather than quickly. Thanks. Should I stick to doing weights or focus manly on cardio based workouts?

papu

Darrenon91 wrote: »

Ya thats what I was thinking. Working at a maintenance or a small deficit as I was to retain enery levels and cut slowly rather than quickly. Thanks. Should I stick to doing weights or focus manly on cardio based workouts?

Do both. no need to go crazy on the cardio though , especially if you're already eating at a deficit. weights will help maintain the muscle mass you have.

Darrenon91

Thanks. Ya Im not aiming to cut a whole lot. However, how much would make a difference? Or how much weight loss would I need to reduce bodyfat from 15 to <12?

Alf Veedersane

Depends on how you go about it and how much is loss in muscle mass.

papu

Depends on what your fat free mass is. The same way you gain muscle and fat by nutrient partitioning when eating excess calories and training , you're going to lose muscle and fat when eating at a deficit. Lots of variables come into play here through. A mini cut , 4 or 6 weeks should be enough. Keep going until you plateau your body will have adapted and it's time to change things up. Don't go too far though or once you finish your cut you'll put on a hape of fat. eat at maintenance for a bout 2 weeks after the cut as well.
If you want more information this is a good read
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html/

Darrenon91

Really dont want to lose much muscle mass. Ive gotten to the size I wanted just want more definition now. I feel as if there is enough to lose without losing muscle mass. Really will be a mini cut as in im hoping losing 3-4 kilos will be enough to show the definition and allow me to reach higher fitness levels. Will get to reading that asap thanks.

CM24

I've cut from about 15-17% bodyfat down to 8-10% using Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss Diet, which involved a very extreme deficit. I didn't lose any strength on any of my lifts. As long as you're getting enough protein and keeping the weight on the bar you should be ok. Throw in the odd high carb refeed day as well.

Darrenon91

Thanks. Did you feel drained or lacking energy while doing it? I play GAA and training is quite difficult this time of year so my energy levels need to be high.

CM24

Darrenon91 wrote: »

Thanks. Did you feel drained or lacking energy while doing it? I play GAA and training is quite difficult this time of year so my energy levels need to be high.

Yes! It actually affected my life pretty badly to be honest. It's only supposed to be used in the short term, ie. before a holiday or say, a boxing match where you need to make weight.

I decided to ignore this and stay on the diet until I was happy with my abs! After a week or so I was losing fat so fast that I just decided to ignore the guidelines and keep going. I ended up in a cycle of many months of hardcore dieting, then binging, then dieting again.

I became really irritable, my sleeping pattern was interrupted, my performance in sports (and in work) went to sh**, my libido disappeared. When I drank alcohol I used to lose all my self control and eat everything in sight. Then the next morning I'd try do a load of cardio to make up for it.

I didn't know much about extreme dieting and it's effect on hormones back then. My cortisol levels must have been though the roof.

Still though, strength loss in the gym wasn't an issue. I'm an average sized guy and was eating upwards of 250g protein a day. It wasn't worth it though. I ended up going on a j1 that summer and got way fatter than I'd been before I started the diet. Honestly I think it messed up my relationship with food for a long time afterwards.

NoQuarter

I also did lyle's PSMF diet (protein sparing modified fast) which is short term, high protein diet. zero carbs if I remember correctly.

It wasn't worth it either, I got too skinny. Now I'm all about slow steady progress. If I feel like pushing it I might go into a deficit of 700 cals but that is pushing it. Slow and steady at 500 is the way to go in relation to cutting and bulking I think.

I also took advice from here before which said 0.82 is the max protein the body can absorb and there were recommendations to keep the carbs high for energy. That, I know now, just doesn't work for me. It adds on the fat. Ass soon as I bump the protein up and carbs down and have protein in every meal, I see the gains faster and stay leaner. Say whatever you want about it being all about calories but I genuinely believe, without the science to back it up, that higher protein keeps my body composition in better shape.

arayess

personally i'm not a huge fan of jumping into a deficit of 500 cals a day
I think it's too big a jump at once.

I find eating at maintainance at the beginning and then gradually reducing calories over a period of weeks works better for me.

My maintance is 2700 - 2800 , dropping to 2200 and training 5-6 sessions a week (as I do) just f6cked me up, made me feel like **** - pretty much mirroring what CM24 said.

Dropping down to 2200 over a period of 4-6weeks worked better and I foudn I didn't have to drop anymore calories anyway

But whatever floats your boat. Everybody works differently.

GiftofGab

CM24 wrote: »

Yes! It actually affected my life pretty badly to be honest. It's only supposed to be used in the short term, ie. before a holiday or say, a boxing match where you need to make weight.

I decided to ignore this and stay on the diet until I was happy with my abs! After a week or so I was losing fat so fast that I just decided to ignore the guidelines and keep going. I ended up in a cycle of many months of hardcore dieting, then binging, then dieting again.

I became really irritable, my sleeping pattern was interrupted, my performance in sports (and in work) went to sh**, my libido disappeared. When I drank alcohol I used to lose all my self control and eat everything in sight. Then the next morning I'd try do a load of cardio to make up for it.

I didn't know much about extreme dieting and it's effect on hormones back then. My cortisol levels must have been though the roof.

Still though, strength loss in the gym wasn't an issue. I'm an average sized guy and was eating upwards of 250g protein a day. It wasn't worth it though. I ended up going on a j1 that summer and got way fatter than I'd been before I started the diet. Honestly I think it messed up my relationship with food for a long time afterwards.

Holy crap.....this scares me. I’m starting a cut in a few weeks.

conzy

GiftofGab wrote: »

Holy crap.....this scares me. I’m starting a cut in a few weeks.

He was describing his experience with "Rapid Fat Loss" which is a dieting protocol by Lyle McDonald. These symptoms occur after prolonged periods of severe calorie and carbohydrate restriction. The only reason you would run a program like this would be:

A) Making weight for combat sports
Prepping for a physique / bodybuilding contest and all else has failed ( See UD2.0 )
C) You are morbidly obese
D) For Science

You will not experience any of those symptoms on a normal cut where you create a sensible deficit.

Darrenon91

Ya to be i read that post and didnt know how to respond. Im not any of the above to Ill stick to a slight deficit. I even think 500 maybe too much. I may start with a 2-300 deficit and see where that takes me.