Cutting but keep thinking i need to eat more?

Sydking

Hi all,

So Ive finally had a good crack at cutting, its been alot of trial and error over the last 18 months getting everything in check, ie diet, training, work all to balance

currently im 82kg down from 96kg.

Ive been eating 1800 cals day with high protein bias, weekends il hit 2000 odd but thats due to social outings ect

I lift heavy 3 times a week, Squat, bench, dead, overhead press and BB curls.

I train muay thai 6 days a week, stock standard is 1 hour classes a day, twice a day on Tuesday and Thursday.

Last months or so ive been doing alot more training trying to prep for a fight in the near future when i hit my goal weight.

Ie im doing 2 1/2 - 3 hours a night at least 3 times a week, still doing weights ect.

I work an office job so nothing during the day except i use my lunch break to lift.

I find i should be eating more, my lifts are staying constant as i find it hard to progress but thats expected on a cut. all i want to do is keep the LBM, which im doing as im looking more cut then i ever have. more so when i dropped down to 70kg about 4 years ago. as i only did cardio and crap diet back then.

should i bite the bullet and up cals to 2000 a day or 2200 and see what it does to my weight?

I seem to eat way under all the TDEE cals i find online which is what worry's me

I spose i need more reassurance then anything

Sydking

Like i read threads people loose heaps eatingg 1800 or so and no exersice. I feel i should be loosing quicker with all the training i do

MyChocolateDiet

U work out a lot.

heybales

Only initial thing you have to lose is gaining - water weight.

Just keep the math in mind. 250 over maintenance will only be 1 lb in 2 weeks.
So if you pop up 2 lbs in a few days, mere water weight. Don't worry, increased metabolism.

That is an awful lot of activity for that little to eat.
While lifting can help retain muscle mass in the face of a cut, make it severe enough, and the least used is the first gone.

Besides, you'd make better performance gains with less of a deficit. Might as well make your workouts count big time.

Sydking

Didnet weigh in for 2 weeks. Im actually sitting at 79. Time to bump up to 2000 cals i think. End goal is to be able to maintain on as much as i can eat

Unknown

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martyqueen52

That's personal preference. I lift 3x a week and I eat A LOT more than 1800. But, we are all different. If I had to make an experienced guess, I would say you are eating too few calories and I would up them by 150, for a week or two, to see how your weight loss goes on 150 more calories.

Sydking

MrM27 wrote: »

If your rate of fat loss is to fast for you or you just feel you need to eat more and can still remain in a deficit then increase it.

6 days of Muay Thai plus your lifting is a lot of activity and that's probaby the main reason you feel like you need to eat more.

How long did it take you to lose the 14kg?

umm about 6 months it took me, but ive only really been serious with it, ie diet, hard training and lifting the last 3 months or so. It took a while to get back into he groove of balancing everything and recovery ect

Sydking

martyqueen52 wrote: »

That's personal preference. I lift 3x a week and I eat A LOT more than 1800. But, we are all different. If I had to make an experienced guess, I would say you are eating too few calories and I would up them by 150, for a week or two, to see how your weight loss goes on 150 more calories.

Yer i will bump it up, My end goal is to be sub 10% body fat as i think that's were i needs to be so i can get rid of these pesky moobs i have always had. and its due to the large bf% i had. was 26% going off a DEXA scan and i blame that on not lifting and doing cardio with a poor diet while loosing like 30kg. Just looked like a smaller version of before.

martyqueen52

I wouldn't aim for to low of a BF%. For some, it's not a long term sustainable lifestyle. I know it isn't for me. Not only that, it isn't healthy being "stage ready" (I know it's far from what you're talking about, I'm just stating though). Any of those guys who get on stage professionally, ask them to bench the day of, and watch how they can't even get 3/4 of their normal benching weight.

Sydking

martyqueen52 wrote: »

I wouldn't aim for to low of a BF%. For some, it's not a long term sustainable lifestyle.

Yer no way do i plan to keep at a really low BF all year round, Just getting there is hard enough. Just hate these pesky moobs that are getting smaller and more chest like each day but i know i will always have them if im over 15% Bf or so.

one step at a time

Sydking

although im not adding much weight to my lifts each week, if any at all my strength is still increasing and im lifting with more intensity.

For this reason i think i am keeping the lean mass that i have.