What's the difference between 'cutting' and 'dieting'

JAT74

I have spoken to a few people recently in passing who talk about how they are 'cutting'. Generally these are people who taking weight training seriously and who have the goal of trying to look very lean or ripped. For men it seems to be for those who want to increase their muscle mass so they first bulk and then cut and for a woman I know it's because she wants to strip off all her body fat.

What I don't really understand is what the difference is between 'cutting' and 'dieting'.
I am struggling to drop body fat, although I'm losing weight at a rate of 1lb per week or just under. I would love to know how those in the body building world 'cut' but don't go to a gym where I can ask anyone about these things. I generally workout at home and I already do a mixture of weight training and cardio.

I know that you need to try and maintain muscle while losing weight, but people who 'cut' often seem to be able to strip off more body fat than those who are simply dieting to lose weight so I'd love to know the secret. What is done differently when cutting and are there specific foods that you need to eat or avoid in order to cut? I try and reach 90-100g of protein most days but other than that is it necessary to go low carb in order to drop body fat?

missyjane824

In the grand scheme of things they are the same thing. Cutting generally means reducing body fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible and dieting generally means reducing body weight. Though I could say I'm dieting and my goal is to reduce body fat. Pick your word, pick your goal and go with it.

Pelamblue

missyjane824 wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things they are the same thing. Cutting generally means reducing body fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible and dieting generally means reducing body weight. Though I could say I'm dieting and my goal is to reduce body fat. Pick your word, pick your goal and go with it.

I agree. 'Dieting' is generalised term, as in ' I am dieting to......gain muscle..... loose weight.....because of certain health issues etc etc.
The term cutting means to 'cut' away as much fat as possible to reveal muscle mass underneath. Body builders will stuff as many calories down there necks as possible to feed the muscle growth they want, then, after a period will drastically reduce their calorie intake to strip away fat to reveal the gains they have made.
Not recommended unless your a professional with sound medical advice behind you.

TazAfrica

When you are cutting, you are mainly concerned with boy fat percentage and muscle retention, whereas if you are simply dieting (losing weight), you are mainly concerned with body wieght reduction, with little or no regard of where the reduction is coming from. People who do weight lose diets vs cutting are usually ignorant of the value of muscle retention; as long as the number on the scale is going down, for them "everything is awesome" (LEGO).
This secret to muscle retention is tell the body that the muscle is needed and eating the muscle building macronutrient aka protien (1g per you bodyweight). How do you tell the body that the muscle is needed? Lifting weights or doing any high intensity exercises (e.g sprints). The body will not keep what it doesn't need. If you are not doing anything that requires muscle building, the body will not build what is not needed. You can change your macros ratio in myfitnesspal:
My home=> goals=> change my goal=> custom
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macro-math-3-keys-to-dialing-in-your-macro-ratios.html

jacksonpt

I generally agree with the above.

Speaking very broadly here, dieting is a very general term that typically refers to weight loss. Cutting is a bit more specific and refers to fat loss, often times with a more specific end goal compared to dieting. i.e. dieting may be about hitting a certain scale weight, while cutting may be more about hitting a certain body fat %.

Cutting is also a bit cooler than dieting.

shamcd

I've always thought that "cutting" also included dehydrating the body and cutting out carbs and sodium prior to a bodybuilding competition. Of course, that's in addition to a strict period of leaning out and fat loss. It's primarily used to increase vascularity and definition.

JAT74

This is what I'd really love to know shamcd. I don't really understand what it's all about but it does sound like it's a lot closer to what I'm trying to do.

While in theory I'd like to weigh 117lbs which is my goal weight, if I looked lean and could strip my body fat right down to about 18-20% I wouldn't really care what I weighed, as long as I could fit into my old size 8 (US 4) clothes.

The problem is I don't really know how to go about cutting and what the most effective way to strip off body fat really is. Fat loss is my ultimate goal but I am doing what most people on MFP do and that is eating at a deficit, eating whatever I want within my allowed calorie intake and trying to eat enough protein to avoid muscle loss.

I'd love to know if there is a better/more effective way and a way I can strip off body fat, though I am not cutting for a competition or anything like that, just because I want to look good in a bikini by June!

Is there anything I should/shouldn't eat, specific times I should/shouldn't eat, does it matter when you eat or drink protein after workouts? These are the kind of questions I'd like to have answers to in order to get he best results.

JAT74

TazAfrica I have already adjusted my macros so that MFP sets them to my protein goal as much as I can. That's been something for me to aim towards, however I'm not seeing much fat loss.

Other than protein I've been eating pretty much whatever I want though I don't usually eat more than 150g of carbs and usually it around 100-130g.

Do I need to lower carbs further and is there anything else I need to do in order to cut my body fat %? It's really high now and the last thing I want is to be at my goal weight with 27% body fat which is where I've been before. I am now around 31.5% do so a very long way to go until I get to 18-20% which is where I'm hoping to be.

TazAfrica

I presume you are an endomorph. Endomorphs [like myself] are very sensetive to carbs. Your carbs need to be very low for cutting, once you cut to your wieght goal, you can up them to a maintance level. My current cutting ratio is: 50% pro, 25% fats and 25% carbs at 1700 cal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwT32ixeZOM
Try my ratio, if at you current caloric intake you are not losing wieght, reduce by 200 cal, and when you lose and yout stagnate, reduce again by about 100 - 200 cal, because at every weight point, you require a different caloric intake. Each body is defferent, so you have to learn your body [as far is caloric intake is concerned]. All the best!

TazAfrica

Yes you have to eat at a deficit, but the deficit is of primarily carbs and secondarily fats.

usmcmp

Pelamblue wrote: »

missyjane824 wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things they are the same thing. Cutting generally means reducing body fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible and dieting generally means reducing body weight. Though I could say I'm dieting and my goal is to reduce body fat. Pick your word, pick your goal and go with it.

I agree. 'Dieting' is generalised term, as in ' I am dieting to......gain muscle..... loose weight.....because of certain health issues etc etc.
The term cutting means to 'cut' away as much fat as possible to reveal muscle mass underneath. Body builders will stuff as many calories down there necks as possible to feed the muscle growth they want, then, after a period will drastically reduce their calorie intake to strip away fat to reveal the gains they have made.
Not recommended unless your a professional with sound medical advice behind you.

Not many bodybuilders "drastically" reduce their calorie intake. Well, some of the top professionals, but they are on steroids which means they don't lose lean mass. Most bodybuilders are careful about their intake. We eat enough to fuel workouts and retain lean mass while still losing fat. Bodybuilding does not take a professional. We really do not starve ourselves because that would be counter productive. I can imagine working this hard to build lean mass just to lose it during the cutting process.

OP: Dieting means losing weight. Cutting means retaining lean mass while losing fat. They are very similar, but generally someone who is cutting is very concerned with balanced calories, macros, and lifting. Many dieters are only concerned with the scale weight (at least initially).

JAT74

As I've said already, I want to lose fat. My TDEE with exercise is approximately 1800-2000 based on my activity most days. I lift weights regularly but every day I do something to get my TDEE up to that level so that I am able to lose without starving myself. My sedentary TDEE is only 1550 so I can't eat that much and still lose weight unless I exercise daily otherwise I'd have to eat as low as 1000 calories which I really don't want to do.

So far I'm finding that if I average a calorie intake of 1350-1450 I am able to lose weight, but not if I eat more than that as some weeks I've seen no loss and if I add up my average intake for the week it comes to around 1450-1500 per day.

I think my macros are currently set to 35% protein 35% carbs and 30% fat. I am slightly worried about overloading my body with protein as at this level most days I am eating 90-110g of protein and from what I've read I don't need to get more protein that that.

If I change my macros to 25% carbs 35% protein and 40% fat will that matter or will I be eating too much fat to lose fat? I generally try and stick to good fats like oily fish, olive oil, sesame oil and other non-saturated fats. I am thinking that maybe lowering carbs a little might be good for me, but so many people on MFP say that 'a calorie is a calorie' and it really doesn't matter what you eat. I'd really love to know the truth about this and how people in the body building world can drop fat, maintain muscle without ending up skinny fat.

TazAfrica I think I'm pretty much and Endomorph, though I don't tend to carry fat around my middle, it's mainly on my upper arms, thighs and bottom area. When I lose weight/fat I tend to get very thin around the face, the waist and everywhere I don't want to be thin.

If there are any men or women out there who have successfully cut body fat from around the percentage I am to where I want to be I'd love to hear how you did it as having been 121lbs at my lightest with fat legs fat in other places I really didn't want it (though I looked great in clothes) I would really rather avoid being at that point again.

JoRocka

jacksonpt wrote: »

I generally agree with the above.

Speaking very broadly here, dieting is a very general term that typically refers to weight loss. Cutting is a bit more specific and refers to fat loss, often times with a more specific end goal compared to dieting. i.e. dieting may be about hitting a certain scale weight, while cutting may be more about hitting a certain body fat %.

Cutting is also a bit cooler than dieting.

**nods**

I think I'm pretty much and Endomorph

this doesn't mean anything- that's all hookey rubbish.

If there are any men or women out there who have successfully cut body fat from around the percentage I am to where I want to be I'd love to hear how you did it as having been 121lbs at my lightest with fat legs fat in other places I really didn't want it (though I looked great in clothes) I would really rather avoid being at that point again.

while means and methods may vary (percentages of macros- training plans) the actual science and theory is the same.

lift to maintain muscle
eat at a deficit
Cardio if you can't stand to eat ANY less food than you already are.

lather
rinse
repeat.

that does not change for anyone- top Arnold Classic Competitors- to you're truly and everyone else on this forum with success.


this is like the 3rd thread I think I've seen you reaching for information and grasping- I would recommend you not try to hard.
It takes time.
and patience- and those are the two things people NEVER have enough of to succeed.

You're trying to make this harder than it is. It's not that hard.

Deficit.
Lift.

repeat.

rainbowbow

I think they are synonymous. Are you trying to cut/lose fat? You are "dieting down", "cutting", on a "diet" different from the norm to lose weight.

ETA: I just cant understand the above logic. I don't know anyone on a diet who is like "I want to lose muscle, not fat!". I think the end goal is generally the same, they want to shed fat.

JoRocka

rainbowbow wrote: »

I think they are synonymous. Are you trying to cut/lose fat? You are "dieting down", "cutting", on a "diet" different from the norm to lose weight.

ETA: I just cant understand the above logic. I don't know anyone on a diet who is like "I want to lose muscle, not fat!". I think the end goal is generally the same, they want to shed fat.

Some people generally don't understand that weight loss can come from bone- muscle or fat.
- That does not register with them. They assume if they are fat- and the scale is going down- then they MUST be losing fat. A lot of times they don't even comprehend that they are losing lots of everything- not just fat.

rainbowbow

JoRocka wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

I think they are synonymous. Are you trying to cut/lose fat? You are "dieting down", "cutting", on a "diet" different from the norm to lose weight.

ETA: I just cant understand the above logic. I don't know anyone on a diet who is like "I want to lose muscle, not fat!". I think the end goal is generally the same, they want to shed fat.

Some people generally don't understand that weight loss can come from bone- muscle or fat.
- That does not register with them. They assume if they are fat- and the scale is going down- then they MUST be losing fat. A lot of times they don't even comprehend that they are losing lots of everything- not just fat.

even still. Is the term "cutting" exclusive to people who know the difference? I dont know, i still think the term cutting and dieting to be the same.

jacksonpt

rainbowbow wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

I think they are synonymous. Are you trying to cut/lose fat? You are "dieting down", "cutting", on a "diet" different from the norm to lose weight.

ETA: I just cant understand the above logic. I don't know anyone on a diet who is like "I want to lose muscle, not fat!". I think the end goal is generally the same, they want to shed fat.

Some people generally don't understand that weight loss can come from bone- muscle or fat.
- That does not register with them. They assume if they are fat- and the scale is going down- then they MUST be losing fat. A lot of times they don't even comprehend that they are losing lots of everything- not just fat.

even still. Is the term "cutting" exclusive to people who know the difference? I dont know, i still think the term cutting and dieting to be the same.

IMO, cutting is a form of dieting... i.e. cutting is always dieting, but dieting is not always cutting.


And just because people don't know the difference or use the terms incorrectly doesn't mean there isn't a difference.

JoRocka

rainbowbow wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

I think they are synonymous. Are you trying to cut/lose fat? You are "dieting down", "cutting", on a "diet" different from the norm to lose weight.

ETA: I just cant understand the above logic. I don't know anyone on a diet who is like "I want to lose muscle, not fat!". I think the end goal is generally the same, they want to shed fat.

Some people generally don't understand that weight loss can come from bone- muscle or fat.
- That does not register with them. They assume if they are fat- and the scale is going down- then they MUST be losing fat. A lot of times they don't even comprehend that they are losing lots of everything- not just fat.

even still. Is the term "cutting" exclusive to people who know the difference? I dont know, i still think the term cutting and dieting to be the same.

It's only exclusive in that people who are doing it will use it and people who don't know what it is- won't be.

It's not like the fitness community has a copy-write on it. And THEY use the term's interchangeably- but the outside community doesn't.

cwolfman13

jacksonpt wrote: »

I generally agree with the above.

Speaking very broadly here, dieting is a very general term that typically refers to weight loss. Cutting is a bit more specific and refers to fat loss, often times with a more specific end goal compared to dieting. i.e. dieting may be about hitting a certain scale weight, while cutting may be more about hitting a certain body fat %.

Cutting is also a bit cooler than dieting.

Ahhhh yeeeeeaaahhhh.....



Also OP...when someone "cuts", they usually are cutting from an already relatively lean body. Most people will start a bulk cycle when they are very lean...inevitably during their bulk they will put on some fat...but not a ton...but enough to require a cut to show their abs again for example.

Basically and individual would go from very lean to relatively lean as compared to the general population...and then they cut to get very lean again.

I think dieting implies that a significant amount of weight in general needs to be lost...a cut, not so much. As an example, I lost about 40 pounds a couple of years ago while dieting...I got down to around 10-12% BF at my lowest and recently did a 4 month bulk...In that time I put on about 10 Lbs and went to about 15-16% BF...so now I'm cutting to get back down to 10-12%. I guess from a purely semantics point of view, it's dieting...but my objectives and mindset and the general way I'm going about things are completely different from when I was trying to drop 40 Lbs a couple of years ago.

JAT74

Ok, I think it's a bit clearer now, I guess my main point/question was why is 'cutting' more effective than simply 'dieting', or at least why does it seem that way.

I've never heard people who are overweight and who lose it say that they reached their goal weight and were a really low body fat and looked great on it. Most of them will say that they reached their goal weight and were skinny fat.

On the other hand people who cut seem to know something that the rest of us don't ie. they seem to be able to effectively drop body fat, get their abs showing and look amazing.

Yes I know that both are technically doing something similar but the result is different and I just wanted to know why.

What I've been able to gather (though nobody except TazAfrica or JoRocka has so far been able to tell me exactly what I need to do) is that I should lift weights regularly, do a little cardio to be able to eat a reasonable amount of food, and keep my carbs low and protein high.

This is pretty much what I've been doing already and I haven't really lost much fat so far. Maybe there is some truth in body type and how this can affect what happens when you lose weight and the next step for me to be able to lose quicker is to lower my carbs further.

rainbowbow

JAT74 wrote: »

Ok, I think it's a bit clearer now, I guess my main point/question was why is 'cutting' more effective than simply 'dieting', or at least why does it seem that way.

I've never heard people who are overweight and who lose it say that they reached their goal weight and were a really low body fat and looked great on it. Most of them will say that they reached their goal weight and were skinny fat.

On the other hand people who cut seem to know something that the rest of us don't ie. they seem to be able to effectively drop body fat, get their abs showing and look amazing.

Yes I know that both are technically doing something similar but the result is different and I just wanted to know why.

What I've been able to gather (though nobody except TazAfrica or JoRocka has so far been able to tell me exactly what I need to do) is that I should lift weights regularly, do a little cardio to be able to eat a reasonable amount of food, and keep my carbs low and protein high.

This is pretty much what I've been doing already and I haven't really lost much fat so far. Maybe there is some truth in body type and how this can affect what happens when you lose weight and the next step for me to be able to lose quicker is to lower my carbs further.

The idea is to lose fat while minimizing muscle loss/catabolization. This would require adequate resistance training, high protein, and a small to moderate caloric deficit. As stated above some people who seemingly "cut" fat with VERY little muscle loss and time are usually on gear.

JAT74

That's what I'm doing or at least trying to do and have been doing for the last 3 months. I've hardly lost any fat so why is that the case? That's the reason for my post, I want to know the difference between me and someone who is on a 'cut'.

rainbowbow

JAT74 wrote: »

That's what I'm doing or at least trying to do and have been doing for the last 3 months. I've hardly lost any fat so why is that the case? That's the reason for my post, I want to know the difference between me and someone who is on a 'cut'.

Please provide more information.

"hardly any fat" "3 months" etc.

What is your workout routine
What is your height, weight, and body fat %
How many calories are you eating
Have you done this CONSISTENTLY this entire past 3 months
What are your macros set to

usmcmp

JAT74 wrote: »

That's what I'm doing or at least trying to do and have been doing for the last 3 months. I've hardly lost any fat so why is that the case? That's the reason for my post, I want to know the difference between me and someone who is on a 'cut'.

Because weight is barely relevant on a cut and in general it is meant to be done slowly. If you are newer to lifting you could gain some lean mass as you lift and lose weight.

During weight loss most people simply rely on the number on the scale.

During cutting we take measurements and calculate body fat (usually utilizing calipers).

Also, as it was stated above, most people who say they are cutting are relatively lean. For a woman it means a starting point of about 21%.

Your issue could be adherance to the deficit. I've lost 5 pounds since January 1st, but since I have a lot of lean mass that dropped my body fat by 2%.

SuggaD

I have been wondering the same thing. Excellent explanations! Thanks. :-)

cwolfman13

JAT74 wrote: »

Ok, I think it's a bit clearer now, I guess my main point/question
.....I've never heard people who are overweight and who lose it say that they reached their goal weight and were a really low body fat and looked great on it. Most of them will say that they reached their goal weight and were skinny fat.

On the other hand people who cut seem to know something that the rest of us don't ie. they seem to be able to effectively drop body fat, get their abs showing and look amazing.

I was overweight and just over the line of "obese" as per my BF% before I dieted..I spent about 9 months dieting down and losing a good 40 Lbs or so and then another 1.5 years basically doing a re-comp (shedding a little bit of fat and building a little bit of muscle). Given that a decent chunk of my loss came at the beginning, you can see that I lost weight slowly...this meant a kept a fairly modest calorie deficit. Maintaining a reasonable calorie deficit helps to preserve lean mass so that when you lose the fat, that mass shows. More aggressive calorie deficits usually result in a fair amount of muscle loss as well as fat.

Also, taking in plenty of protein while you're dieting helps preserve lean mass...and hugely important is resistance training. Muscles are a use it or lose it kind of a thing. They are an expensive commodity and when you're dieting, if you're not using those muscles regularly, your body will simply look at them and say, "hey...I'm in a huge energy deficit here and these muscles require a lot of energy to maintain...so I'm going to go ahead and dump some muscle to help with efficiency and ease the impact of this energy deficit."

Unfortunately a lot of people just crash their diets and do incessant amounts of cardio to lose weight...they lose weight, but they lose a lot of muscle along with their fat and thus don't end up with that lean, "toned" look that most people are looking for. To be "toned" you have to have muscle.

People are impatient...and to have the body that most people want requires patience...that is the only secret.

usmcmp

cwolfman13 wrote: »

JAT74 wrote: »

Ok, I think it's a bit clearer now, I guess my main point/question
.....I've never heard people who are overweight and who lose it say that they reached their goal weight and were a really low body fat and looked great on it. Most of them will say that they reached their goal weight and were skinny fat.

On the other hand people who cut seem to know something that the rest of us don't ie. they seem to be able to effectively drop body fat, get their abs showing and look amazing.

I was overweight and just over the line of "obese" as per my BF% before I dieted..I spent about 9 months dieting down and losing a good 40 Lbs or so and then another 1.5 years basically doing a re-comp (shedding a little bit of fat and building a little bit of muscle). Given that a decent chunk of my loss came at the beginning, you can see that I lost weight slowly...this meant a kept a fairly modest calorie deficit. Maintaining a reasonable calorie deficit helps to preserve lean mass so that when you lose the fat, that mass shows. More aggressive calorie deficits usually result in a fair amount of muscle loss as well as fat.

Also, taking in plenty of protein while you're dieting helps preserve lean mass...and hugely important is resistance training. Muscles are a use it or lose it kind of a thing. They are an expensive commodity and when you're dieting, if you're not using those muscles regularly, your body will simply look at them and say, "hey...I'm in a huge energy deficit here and these muscles require a lot of energy to maintain...so I'm going to go ahead and dump some muscle to help with efficiency and ease the impact of this energy deficit."

Unfortunately a lot of people just crash their diets and do incessant amounts of cardio to lose weight...they lose weight, but they lose a lot of muscle along with their fat and thus don't end up with that lean, "toned" look that most people are looking for. To be "toned" you have to have muscle.

People are impatient...and to have the body that most people want requires patience...that is the only secret.

I was going to call you a liar, but you changed the last sentence. Patience is the secret. Taking the time to preserve our lean mass and not stressing that it is a slow process.

JAT74

Firstly Rainbowbow here are my stats:

I'm 5'4", started off at 147.5lbs and a body fat % of 33% on January 5th.
That body fat % was calculated using 2 different body fat scales in addition to calipers.
I am not 139.8lbs or thereabouts with body fat % of around 31.8-32% - as I said I've dropped hardly any fat, despite dropping pounds.

I have been consistently eating at a deficit of 500-600 calories per day (my sedentary TDEE is 1550), so I've done some form of exercise every single day since 5th January without a day off, burning off various amounts ranging from 300-600 calories and sometimes more. This has allowed me to eat enough to maintain that deficit and is usually in the region of 1350-1450 per day if split over a week. I am now also following the 5:2 diet which I started a couple of weeks ago. This is a form of intermittent fasting and is well known for the health benefits associated with it, but doctors who recommend this way of eating say it's good for fat loss too and the doctor who developed it dropped 8% fat in 6 weeks on the diet.

When following 5:2 I eat at 550 calories 2 days a week and 1500-1600 on the other 5 days a week.

My macros have been changed up and down a little during the 3 months, but on the whole I've had them set to 30-35% carbs, 30-35% protein and the remainder in fat. More recently I've had my carbs and protein both set to 35% because I started trying to go lower carb initially but didn't think it was making a huge difference to my weight loss or fat loss so went back to slightly higher carbs (I was trying to eat 30% for a while). On my 2 x fast days I ignore my macros as I've only got 550 calories to play with for the day but they are generally lower carb and lower protein than the other 5 days.

As for my workout routine, for motivational reasons and due to time constraints I've been following Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 90 day program. I am now on week 9, and am definitely feeling much much stronger than I was at the beginning. It's a weight training program using dumbbells, a resistance band and body weight exercises. I do 4 days of strength training for 35 minutes per day (with cardio intervals between sets) and on the other days I do either gym based cardio (mix between rowing machine, xtrainer and treadmill) or I do an aerobic type high intensity cardio workout.

In addition, most days I walk for 30-60 minutes and I track my activity using a Fitbit throughout the day. I also attend a Pilates class for 75 minutes once a week.

Most days the Fitbit puts my calorie burns at 2000-2350 but I ignore this number and try and eat what I said earlier no matter what. I use it more to make sure I reach a minimum number of 2000 calories burned so that I can eat the amount I am and maintain the deficit because so far even by doing that I have not lost any more than 1lb per week.

I realise it will take time for me to reach my goal, I'm just a bit worried about dropping a the weight without losing the fat along with it, though I think I'm doing everything I need to ensure that doesn't happen. I am not losing weight particularly fast compared to what I've done before which I know is the right thing to do, but I would have expected my body fat to have dropped a little bit quicker that's all.

Should I increase my cardio so I'm doing less walking and more jogging on the treadmill or aerobic workouts or is what I'm doing enough?

Should I change my macros so that I'm eating less carbs? I've actually changed them already based on advice an earlier poster gave me but not really sure if this will help or not. They are now set to 25% or 66g per day which will increase as my daily activity is added to my diary. Today carbs are showing as 75% based on the exercise calories added.

rainbowbow

JAT74 wrote: »

Firstly Rainbowbow here are my stats:

I'm 5'4", started off at 147.5lbs and a body fat % of 33% on January 5th.
That body fat % was calculated using 2 different body fat scales in addition to calipers.
I am not 139.8lbs or thereabouts with body fat % of around 31.8-32% - as I said I've dropped hardly any fat, despite dropping pounds.

I have been consistently eating at a deficit of 500-600 calories per day (my sedentary TDEE is 1550), so I've done some form of exercise every single day since 5th January without a day off, burning off various amounts ranging from 300-600 calories and sometimes more. This has allowed me to eat enough to maintain that deficit and is usually in the region of 1350-1450 per day if split over a week. I am now also following the 5:2 diet which I started a couple of weeks ago. This is a form of intermittent fasting and is well known for the health benefits associated with it, but doctors who recommend this way of eating say it's good for fat loss too and the doctor who developed it dropped 8% fat in 6 weeks on the diet.

When following 5:2 I eat at 550 calories 2 days a week and 1500-1600 on the other 5 days a week.

My macros have been changed up and down a little during the 3 months, but on the whole I've had them set to 30-35% carbs, 30-35% protein and the remainder in fat. More recently I've had my carbs and protein both set to 35% because I started trying to go lower carb initially but didn't think it was making a huge difference to my weight loss or fat loss so went back to slightly higher carbs (I was trying to eat 30% for a while). On my 2 x fast days I ignore my macros as I've only got 550 calories to play with for the day but they are generally lower carb and lower protein than the other 5 days.

As for my workout routine, for motivational reasons and due to time constraints I've been following Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 90 day program. I am now on week 9, and am definitely feeling much much stronger than I was at the beginning. It's a weight training program using dumbbells, a resistance band and body weight exercises. I do 4 days of strength training for 35 minutes per day (with cardio intervals between sets) and on the other days I do either gym based cardio (mix between rowing machine, xtrainer and treadmill) or I do an aerobic type high intensity cardio workout.

In addition, most days I walk for 30-60 minutes and I track my activity using a Fitbit throughout the day. I also attend a Pilates class for 75 minutes once a week.

Most days the Fitbit puts my calorie burns at 2000-2350 but I ignore this number and try and eat what I said earlier no matter what. I use it more to make sure I reach a minimum number of 2000 calories burned so that I can eat the amount I am and maintain the deficit because so far even by doing that I have not lost any more than 1lb per week.

I realise it will take time for me to reach my goal, I'm just a bit worried about dropping a the weight without losing the fat along with it, though I think I'm doing everything I need to ensure that doesn't happen. I am not losing weight particularly fast compared to what I've done before which I know is the right thing to do, but I would have expected my body fat to have dropped a little bit quicker that's all.

Should I increase my cardio so I'm doing less walking and more jogging on the treadmill or aerobic workouts or is what I'm doing enough?

Should I change my macros so that I'm eating less carbs? I've actually changed them already based on advice an earlier poster gave me but not really sure if this will help or not. They are now set to 25% or 66g per day which will increase as my daily activity is added to my diary. Today carbs are showing as 75% based on the exercise calories added.

I think you're being way way way too harsh on yourself.

Judging by the numbers you gave you started at:
147.5
33%
48.51 pounds fat

Now you're
139
31%
43 pounds fat

Out of the 9 pounds lost about 5 of it was fat.


As far as your diet is concerned, you are eating a decent amount of calories and assuming you're sticking to those macros that puts you at plenty of protein for your height and weight.


I think maybe adding in more strength training (like lifting weights in the gym in addition to the Jillian Michael's routine and along with your cardio should be fine.

This is a slow process. You WILL lose other tissue in addition to fat, i think it's inevitable. To minimize it you can eat adequate protein (which you are), have a smaller deficit (eat more calories), and lift HEAVY weights. Keep in mind that if you follow the above (at a smaller deficit) you will be losing slower.

If i were in your position i would be really happy with the progress i'd made!

JAT74

I think my fat loss isn't quite as much as that, more like 31.5% minimum because some days it shows as 32% and others under that so maybe I've lost 3-4lbs of fat.

I have another 4 weeks of Jillian Michaels so I might stick with it, and then I need to decide what to do next. Alternatively I suppose I could try and substitute 2 of Jillian's workouts with my own gym based weight training. The way her workouts are split is she does front of body 2 days a week and back of body 2 days a week with cardio in between the 2 weights workouts. I could find exercises I can do myself for front of body and back of body and do them instead with heavier weights (currently I am using weights up to 13lbs) but I want to see her program through.

I was thinking of doing something like P90X3 which many people swear by next and combining it with Insanity Max 30. I don't have access to a gym/fitness centre, but I do have a home gym. It's quite well equipped but the problem I have is that I normally have to fit my training in during the day when I get a break from work so I only have 30-40 minutes maximum. If I'm really busy then I have to train when I wake up and the gym isn't always free/available then as my other half uses it with a friend a lot of mornings.

From a motivational perspective, because I train at home on my own most of the time I prefer doing DVD based programs because I find I'm more likely to stick with them and push myself as I can see the people on the DVD doing so.