Cutting diet

[Meloncap78]

Started a cut 8 days ago. Curently 6'2 209 at17-18% bf. Picked up a digital food scale and changed my entire diet. Mostly chicken breast and various veggies along with eggs brown rice cottage cheese low fat milk etc. I picked up some eye of round to keep things interesting. IIFYM calculator has my maintenance at 2950 so I started at 2500. After 4 days I dropped to 2300. I work a 4 day split lifting and do HIIT on the stairs for 20 minutes 5 days a week. Here is today's log so far. This is my average day. Hopefully I'll see a strong 6 pack by November's end. Not sure if this is realistic.

[matt thebeard]

i would hold off on the hiit the amount you have it in there, see how the calorie deficit works first, just dropped 16lb from 500 cal deficit and steady state cardio (walking) held off on the HIIT for the most part in case I needed to get past a platau without cutting calories further

[KINGKONG]

You can cut and maintain lean mass better with carb cycling and cardio..Iam not a big fan of calorie deficit..I would figure out your maintance calories first, then slowly start changing macros and adding in more and more cardio and/or change your weight training around..

[matt thebeard]

You can cut and maintain lean mass better with carb cycling and cardio..Iam not a big fan of calorie deficit..I would figure out your maintance calories first, then slowly start changing macros and adding in more and more cardio and/or change your weight training around..

i have to disagree, when your doing two hours of cardio a day and reach a platue where do you go from there? three hours of cardio? hold back on the cardio as long as possible, use calorie deficit initially to drop "fat" and introduce cardio as and when you slow the fat loss, keep protein high and if taking super suppliments then you aren't going to go catabolic. there are bodybuilders who have competed purely with deficit and no cardio required, why any one would choose to spend hours on cardio when there is no need is beyond me

[tarmyg]

why any one would choose to spend hours on cardio when there is no need is beyond me

General Health? Cardio Vascular Health?

I am not sure why people always keep talking about eating in a deficit. Eating in a deficit should be, IMHO, the last resort. If you can cut fat with just weight training great. If you have to add cardio, great. If neither cardio or strength training alone is helping clean up the diet. If that also does not help start counting and eat at supposed maintenance. If that still is not cutting fat resort to a deficit. All to preserve muscle tissue which is the hardest earned for as long as humanly possible.

[BrockBadger]

Started a cut 8 days ago. Curently 6'2 209 at17-18% bf. Picked up a digital food scale and changed my entire diet. Mostly chicken breast and various veggies along with eggs brown rice cottage cheese low fat milk etc. I picked up some eye of round to keep things interesting. IIFYM calculator has my maintenance at 2950 so I started at 2500. After 4 days I dropped to 2300. I work a 4 day split lifting and do HIIT on the stairs for 20 minutes 5 days a week. Here is today's log so far. This is my average day. Hopefully I'll see a strong 6 pack by November's end. Not sure if this is realistic.

You went from 2500 to 2300 in 4 days. Give yourself more time like 2 weeks before you drop it. And remember if you cut calories drastically your metabolism will slow down and it will be hard to maintain. Just give yourself more time. at least 2 weeks at a time before you start dropping it. I think you might be rushing things slightly.

[Chicagotarsier]

My experience is I have NEVER seen a linear weight loss on any human being. It occurs in spurts.

If you are maintaining protein level and using testosterone >350 week muscle loss should be minimal to 0.


For me I will minimize carbs and fats and maintain protein. I hold this for 3 weeks. I add carbs for 3 days and watch a major weight loss. I do not live under 15% and 20ish percent is good for me due to height. I get in two of these "cycles" before the next steroid cycle.