The cutting mentality?

[tdoe11]

So....I am 34, 6"0'....

About 5 months ago I was 230, maybe 20% body fat and strong. These past months I have been dieting, cardio 6/7 days a week and lifting. As always a little test and ec, I even ran winny for a month.

The cut has gone great, I am down to 195. I was measured at 12% a couple days ago and my abs are popping out nicely, I am even losing all the fat on my butt and love handles are almost completely gone. The problem is mentally I feel so skinny now. I want abs but I like being a bigger dude in a shirt. Last cut I gave up and ran some dbol to bulk back up haha. Do you guys struggle in your head and think your getting way to thin during a cut?

[Chicagotarsier]

I am not a body builder anytime in my life but same emotions.

Back in the 80s pre-Desert Storm I was running and swimming 10 miles a day everyday. 6'4 250 became 6'4 220 in a month and I started to dislike the whole feeling. I was always the guy who picked the other guy up in a bar fight and tossed them out the window..not the guy that got tossed. My Sr Officer liked seeing me lean out but mentally it was a negative to me. So it went on and I would gain weight when on leave or shore duty and drop it immediately when on real duty.

There is actually a logic to this feeling...and it is the human brain. The human brain is way smarter than the human it is in. It is 100% aware of the energy reserves it has and the eating history of the individual. As fat % reduces the body sends stimuli of..umm...eat fool. People can banter on what is a good BF% and such but the moment the body reaches 15% it immediately tries to boost back to 20%. This seems to be the natural range it feels comfortable at. So you are not just performing your diet..you are fighting body stimuli also...which typically is going to result in the body winning or in the body winning lol. Translation...under 15% is not "natural" to the body.

6'4 245 is my goal which should put me at around 15% bf or less depending on how good Deca is to me. If my weight remains constant I can push my LBM up with a short cycle.

[Mp859]

I am not a body builder anytime in my life but same emotions. Back in the 80s pre-Desert Storm I was running and swimming 10 miles a day everyday. 6'4 250 became 6'4 220 in a month and I started to dislike the whole feeling. I was always the guy who picked the other guy up in a bar fight and tossed them out the window..not the guy that got tossed. My Sr Officer liked seeing me lean out but mentally it was a negative to me. So it went on and I would gain weight when on leave or shore duty and drop it immediately when on real duty. There is actually a logic to this feeling...and it is the human brain. The human brain is way smarter than the human it is in. It is 100% aware of the energy reserves it has and the eating history of the individual. As fat % reduces the body sends stimuli of..umm...eat fool. People can banter on what is a good BF% and such but the moment the body reaches 15% it immediately tries to boost back to 20%. This seems to be the natural range it feels comfortable at. So you are not just performing your diet..you are fighting body stimuli also...which typically is going to result in the body winning or in the body winning lol. Translation...under 15% is not "natural" to the body. 6'4 245 is my goal which should put me at around 15% bf or less depending on how good Deca is to me. If my weight remains constant I can push my LBM up with a short cycle.

You are stating this 20% bs as though it was a fact.

And op, yes during a cut I find myself feeling small. You gotta push through it until you bulk. Then that feeling is gone.

[Rwy]

So....I am 34, 6"0'....

About 5 months ago I was 230, maybe 20% body fat and strong. These past months I have been dieting, cardio 6/7 days a week and lifting. As always a little test and ec, I even ran winny for a month.

The cut has gone great, I am down to 195. I was measured at 12% a couple days ago and my abs are popping out nicely, I am even losing all the fat on my butt and love handles are almost completely gone. The problem is mentally I feel so skinny now. I want abs but I like being a bigger dude in a shirt. Last cut I gave up and ran some dbol to bulk back up haha. Do you guys struggle in your head and think your getting way to thin during a cut?

Go down a size in t shirts.

[UrbanMammoth]

OP I am currently feeling the same feels. Just got to remind yourself that the only reason you looked big before was all that fat surrounding the muscle. Now that you're leaning out, the muscle will become more defined, which actually makes you look bigger when you take off your shirt. You will look better than 90% of guys at the beach being as lean as you are. Just my 0.02.

[BG]

I never cut, just for a prep.

[tdoe11]

OP I am currently feeling the same feels. Just got to remind yourself that the only reason you looked big before was all that fat surrounding the muscle. Now that you're leaning out, the muscle will become more defined, which actually makes you look bigger when you take off your shirt. You will look better than 90% of guys at the beach being as lean as you are. Just my 0.02.

Yah with my shirt off I feel like the man! Haha but with it on I don't feel nearly as large. I have tried to go to L shirts, but there super super tight and I feel like a butthole in them. I grew up skateboarding in the Punkrock era so wearing a tight preppy shirt kinda goes against everything I know.

But I think that is the best thing to do. Just shut up and continue until I bulk again. In the past a bulks I put it on so fast when I have primed with a good cut.

During the winter I'll go all out again (and keep my shirt on

Thanks for the replies dudes