cutting yearly

[scrapakilla]

Is it bad for your health to be on a cutting diet yearly. I have been on a cutting diet and am finally at the exact spot i want to be in physically and what i am doing is working and i want to stay at my current physique. But my maintenence calories are around 3000 calories, and my current diet is about 2100 calories. I am full all day and get enough energy and feel pretty healthy but my current diet with the cheat meal really does me well in regards to my physique and enegry levels and especially appetite i am loving the way i eat. The thing is i can see my self folllowing this diet long term. Is there anything wrong with this keep in mind i am trying to stay where i am at. Thanks guys and any experiences similar would be great

[audis4]

no, cut until you achieve your goals (BF wise) and then do a lean bulk to gain lbm.

[scrapakilla]

Yes but as stated above i am not only at the body fat i want but have all the lbm i want at the moment so can i stay using this diet and stay healthy or is it unhealthy and potentially harmful in any negative way to eat under maintenece calories this much for prolonged periods. Thanks

[brutesinme]

it has been shown in many animal studies that reduced calorie diets increase the life span of the creatures, sometimes signifigantly (some mice by 50%). Dude, if it's working for you, and you are happy where you are at, then by all means eat what you are eating.

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

Thats the catch in cutting...when you're finally where you want to be, BF%-wise, it's very difficult to stay there without malnourishing yourself...it comes down to two factors IMO; homeostasis and genetics. What I mean is that some people just naturally tend to hold low BF (those B@st@rds ) while others are predisposed to hold a higher level at homeostasis (maintenance calories)...It does not mean however that you are doomed...you may not be able to change your genetics but you can gradually tweak your homeostatic BF levels with each consequtive cycle..case in point (me):

First time I cut down to 7.5% from a whopping 33%, I eventually stabilized at 17%, second time I cut to about 7% and stabilized at 14% and most recently, I cut to 6.5% and stabilized at 9.5%...what a pro explained to me once was the more your body is brought in the low BF range (with a proper diet of course), the more likely it is to accept it as a new homeostasis...

for you, this means that IF you want to remain at a low BF%, keep cutting atleast once a year until your body slowly stabilizes at lower levels..HOWEVER...do not continue to eat under-maintenance calories, the prolongued "starvation" will make you incredibly senstitive to fat gain and your muscle mass will not be maintained....


cheers

[zodiac666]

Is it bad for your health to be on a cutting diet yearly. I have been on a cutting diet and am finally at the exact spot i want to be in physically and what i am doing is working and i want to stay at my current physique. But my maintenence calories are around 3000 calories, and my current diet is about 2100 calories. I am full all day and get enough energy and feel pretty healthy but my current diet with the cheat meal really does me well in regards to my physique and enegry levels and especially appetite i am loving the way i eat. The thing is i can see my self folllowing this diet long term. Is there anything wrong with this keep in mind i am trying to stay where i am at. Thanks guys and any experiences similar would be great

how sure are you that your maintainence calories are around 3000?

how fast are you losing weight eating 2100 calories?

[SVTMuscle*]

No cutting is not bad for you doing it constantly. I am at a constant cutting cardio set up, i just change my diet slightly, it's alot harder for me to loose stubborn fat than to gain size

[scrapakilla]

good respnses guys keeo them coming, I got my maitenence calories on a website from google. It was pretty basic i put the second highest activity level and my height weight and age and it gave me 3000 cals. ANyone have a more advanced calculator and i can find out better that would be cool. Thanks again for all the responses

[TR'05]

I was in the same position you are, bro. If you are happy with your LBM and your bf% then you would NEED to play around with your kcals to adjust to a more maintence level rather than your 2100kcal cutting diet.

If you continue to stay on your "cutting diet" you will eventually lose your ideal LBM and presumably not be happy with your physique. I played around with the kcals to find out where my maintence was. The programs which tell you are never going to be 100% accurate. The only way to truly find out is by trial and error.

I'd say if you want to keep your physique as is, keep your cardio relatively the same if you feel it's necessary and slowly increase your kcals. If you enjoy eating the same things, eats the same things, simply increase the portions slightly, or add another small meal. It worked well for me but, as stated, you'll have to find out how your body reacts.

No reason to bulk if you are happy with how you are. That being said, no reason continuing on the same cutting diet if you don't want to lose LBM.