Anyone cutting after a bulk?
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So if I'm cutting at 1/2 lb per week at 2500 calories per day, how many calories per day to get to 2 lb per week (or 1% of my body weight) cut? Probably should try to stay below 2000 calories per day I guess? Thanks for your comments.0
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billkansas wrote: »So if I'm cutting at 1/2 lb per week at 2500 calories per day, how many calories per day to get to 2 lb per week (or 1% of my body weight) cut? Probably should try to stay below 2000 calories per day I guess? Thanks for your comments.
If I'm not mistaken, if you are losing 0.5lb per week at 2500cals, going to 2000cals would have you lose about 1.5lbs per week. So yea, 1750 would be about 2lbs per week. I mean, if your calculations are correct for your stats of course.0 -
@Mr_Healthy_Habits tracking is definitely not for everyone. It was helpful for me at first to get a grasp on how much or how little I was actually eating, and make sure I got enough protein. But what I found was I would avoid certain foods, even nutritious foods if I couldn't find an entry for it or didn't have access to weigh it etc. I started to stay with certain foods that I knew and avoided variety. That is when I was like, ok enough this isn't feeling good for me. Now I don't track, sometimes I check in, but I have other strategies I use to stay in a deficit, maintain or bulk. So far so good!
I soooo relate...
Oh the eye rolls I get whenever I suggest one of a few places for lunch or dinner that has calorie info listed on the menu... Togo's is my best food friend when away from home lol...
Never got a food scale tho, I'm just a guy in my garage, never have worked with nor have I ever claimed to be a professional and this is just a hobby (more of a passion at this point). If I'm going to stay in shape for life, I want to be able to do this without measuring what I eat.
It's an inexact science imho anyhow... Maybe not the calorie counting, but rather the whole energy balance aspect... Sure I can be fairly accurate about consumption but how do I really know I burned 3k calories today, sure that's what the tracker says but I've always been skeptical.1 -
Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »@Mr_Healthy_Habits tracking is definitely not for everyone. It was helpful for me at first to get a grasp on how much or how little I was actually eating, and make sure I got enough protein. But what I found was I would avoid certain foods, even nutritious foods if I couldn't find an entry for it or didn't have access to weigh it etc. I started to stay with certain foods that I knew and avoided variety. That is when I was like, ok enough this isn't feeling good for me. Now I don't track, sometimes I check in, but I have other strategies I use to stay in a deficit, maintain or bulk. So far so good!
I soooo relate...
Oh the eye rolls I get whenever I suggest one of a few places for lunch or dinner that has calorie info listed on the menu... Togo's is my best food friend when away from home lol...
Never got a food scale tho, I'm just a guy in my garage, never have worked with nor have I ever claimed to be a professional and this is just a hobby (more of a passion at this point). If I'm going to stay in shape for life, I want to be able to do this without measuring what I eat.
It's an inexact science imho anyhow... Maybe not the calorie counting, but rather the whole energy balance aspect... Sure I can be fairly accurate about consumption but how do I really know I burned 3k calories today, sure that's what the tracker says but I've always been skeptical.
Well with that last point, over time you would know based on what your weight does. Which is also difficult because of fluctuations. But... with a trend weight you get a really good idea of what is going on. That is how I know if I am in a surplus, maintenance or deficit... it isn't immediate, obviously, but over the course of a few weeks I know what is going on.1 -
billkansas wrote: »Ok, now two of you are exceeding the conventional 1/2 lb per week conventional cut goal... any comments on that?
My comment is that I've been (sort of) cutting at 1/2 lb per week since April and all my lifts (squat, deadlift, press, bench) are down significantly. Maybe I'd be better off if I hit my cut harder so I could get back to bulking sooner so I could try to ratchet my lifts back up? My goal is strength (lifts go up!) and I was only cutting so I could rest/deload/nurse a minor injury and lose some body fat so that I could start a slow bulk again. I'm leaner but considerably weaker...you guys experience that? (Admittedly, I train less, sleep less, eat inferior, and am probably older than you). Thanks for any comments.
Conventional dieting applies to the general public and those who do not have fairly advanced knowledge/education in dieting. Aiming for .5 - 1% per week is a pretty good start. If one is knowledgeable, and a little insane, than following specific protocols like RFL, UD2, etc... (essentially stuff from Lyle McDonald) become an option. They tend to be fairly aggressive and takes a lot of patience.3 -
Thank you. I think I'll try to stay below 2000 calories see how it goes... 1750 just sounds awful.1
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billkansas wrote: »Thank you. I think I'll try to stay below 2000 calories see how it goes... 1750 just sounds awful.
RFL would kill you then.. It's like 600 - 1200 on cutting days.
I really need to read that book again.0 -
Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »@Mr_Healthy_Habits tracking is definitely not for everyone. It was helpful for me at first to get a grasp on how much or how little I was actually eating, and make sure I got enough protein. But what I found was I would avoid certain foods, even nutritious foods if I couldn't find an entry for it or didn't have access to weigh it etc. I started to stay with certain foods that I knew and avoided variety. That is when I was like, ok enough this isn't feeling good for me. Now I don't track, sometimes I check in, but I have other strategies I use to stay in a deficit, maintain or bulk. So far so good!
I soooo relate...
Oh the eye rolls I get whenever I suggest one of a few places for lunch or dinner that has calorie info listed on the menu... Togo's is my best food friend when away from home lol...
Never got a food scale tho, I'm just a guy in my garage, never have worked with nor have I ever claimed to be a professional and this is just a hobby (more of a passion at this point). If I'm going to stay in shape for life, I want to be able to do this without measuring what I eat.
It's an inexact science imho anyhow... Maybe not the calorie counting, but rather the whole energy balance aspect... Sure I can be fairly accurate about consumption but how do I really know I burned 3k calories today, sure that's what the tracker says but I've always been skeptical.
Well with that last point, over time you would know based on what your weight does. Which is also difficult because of fluctuations. But... with a trend weight you get a really good idea of what is going on. That is how I know if I am in a surplus, maintenance or deficit... it isn't immediate, obviously, but over the course of a few weeks I know what is going on.
You're right... For me it's always been like a ball bounce down a flight of stairs, unfortunately not linear... I still stick to pretty much the same foods most days and don't really think I avoid things (outside of fast food) as much as I use to.
But I can't say I'm not guilty of passing on dinner so I can make something else I can more easily track nutritious or not...
Calorie counting is such a double edged sword for me... On one hand it's allowed to make peace with what I eat, on the other hand, it keeps me from it.
Although maybe that is in fact, balance...1 -
billkansas wrote: »Ok, now two of you are exceeding the conventional 1/2 lb per week conventional cut goal... any comments on that?
I am doing a larger deficit for a short time, as I need to make weight for a competition (strongman) next month. Just making sure I get there with plenty of leeway, no surprises. Strength still going up and muscle mass not being lost as far as I can tell...I have been keeping intensity up and volume lower as pointed out by jseams1234 and it it working a treat, energy is up there, better than when I was in hypertrophy or other phases last year...hunger is obviously way up there though, ha! p.s. I am 44 @billkansas
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My lifts are down, but starting to see my abs for the first time at age 49 is pretty cool. My wife has also been quite complimentary lately
. In sum, I think I'm going to try and keep cuts short by hitting them harder (1.5 to 2 lbs per week or around 1% of my body weight). I know that at the beginning of my cut I was boasting about "no strength loss" but it seems like the longer it has dragged on (6 months now) the harder it has been and the more my lifts have suffered. I'm trying to offer this as my experience as an older, intermediate lifter, who's programming is not optimal. My goal is to get into the 1000 lb club while working out no more than two days per week. This cut is key I think as I'm trying to get my weight low enough that I can go on an extended, slow bulk and crush 1000 lbs once and for all next year. I've lost 15 lbs so far... probably got another 10 to lose. 3 -
I think I am about ready to wrap this cut up! These photos are a year apart, I am about 4lbs heavier in the right top and bottom photos. It's hard to see but a bit of gain in the upper, lots of gain in the lower. I am pretty happy, progress is progress.
I am not going to jump to maintenance just yet, but within the next few weeks start to reverse diet and hang out for a bit. Lucky for me Halloween is coming up, love me some treats
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I think I am about ready to wrap this cut up! These photos are a year apart, I am about 4lbs heavier in the right top and bottom photos. It's hard to see but a bit of gain in the upper, lots of gain in the lower. I am pretty happy, progress is progress.
I am not going to jump to maintenance just yet, but within the next few weeks start to reverse diet and hang out for a bit. Lucky for me Halloween is coming up, love me some treats
Amazing job!. Do you plan to update the blog with these results? Still amazed by bulking/cutting. I bulked for 20 years. Then cut. Im afraid I would bulk and never get to the cut haha.0 -
AmbitiousButRubbish wrote: »I think I am about ready to wrap this cut up! These photos are a year apart, I am about 4lbs heavier in the right top and bottom photos. It's hard to see but a bit of gain in the upper, lots of gain in the lower. I am pretty happy, progress is progress.
I am not going to jump to maintenance just yet, but within the next few weeks start to reverse diet and hang out for a bit. Lucky for me Halloween is coming up, love me some treats
Amazing job!. Do you plan to update the blog with these results? Still amazed by bulking/cutting. I bulked for 20 years. Then cut. Im afraid I would bulk and never get to the cut haha.
Thanks! Yea I am slowly working on it .. 1 -
I think I am about ready to wrap this cut up! These photos are a year apart, I am about 4lbs heavier in the right top and bottom photos. It's hard to see but a bit of gain in the upper, lots of gain in the lower. I am pretty happy, progress is progress.
I am not going to jump to maintenance just yet, but within the next few weeks start to reverse diet and hang out for a bit. Lucky for me Halloween is coming up, love me some treats
Awesome work!
She's a great motivator 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼1 -
Well after 3 days wo a workout last week I was up from 180lbs to 184lbs 😱... I must have been dehydrated or something lol...
3 days after getting back at it and back down to 182lbs today... I don't feel like I have gained any fat and to the contrary feel leaner actually...
Intermittent fasting is my friend these days... I know meal time is bogus blah blah blah, but it really does help keep my grazing to minimum lol...0 -
Thanks @Mr_Healthy_Habits
Hey, IF is great and not bogus if it helps keep you in a deficit! How do you get over the hunger outside your eating window... do you just get used to it and eventually your body stops getting hungry at those times, or do you just ignore it?1 -
Thanks @Mr_Healthy_Habits
Hey, IF is great and not bogus if it helps keep you in a deficit! How do you get over the hunger outside your eating window... do you just get used to it and eventually your body stops getting hungry at those times, or do you just ignore it?
When I dabbled with IF it took less time than I expected to get used to skipping breakfast; maybe 3-4 days. On the back end I found I was having dinner later or would stretch it out a little longer to make sure I wasn't heading to bed hungry. Ultimately, I didn't really see any distinct advantage from it and it often became an obstacle on weekends as it seemed as if almost every social outing was suddenly centered around going out to breakfast/brunch.1 -
Thanks @Mr_Healthy_Habits
Hey, IF is great and not bogus if it helps keep you in a deficit! How do you get over the hunger outside your eating window... do you just get used to it and eventually your body stops getting hungry at those times, or do you just ignore it?
When I dabbled with IF it took less time than I expected to get used to skipping breakfast; maybe 3-4 days. On the back end I found I was having dinner later or would stretch it out a little longer to make sure I wasn't heading to bed hungry. Ultimately, I didn't really see any distinct advantage from it and it often became an obstacle on weekends as it seemed as if almost every social outing was suddenly centered around going out to breakfast/brunch.
I always wanted to try IF but I love breakfast too much! Maybe for my next cut I will try incorporating it twice a week on lower calorie days.0 -
Thanks @Mr_Healthy_Habits
Hey, IF is great and not bogus if it helps keep you in a deficit! How do you get over the hunger outside your eating window... do you just get used to it and eventually your body stops getting hungry at those times, or do you just ignore it?
You're most welcome
It's like Bruce Lee once said... "If it helps you in a fight, you should learn to use it." lol
When I was really trying to just lose weight I would do empty stomach cardio nearly every morning and wouldn't normally eat until a few hours after I got to work. Then I would do everything I could to not eat after 6pm, which was by far the hardest part...
Skipping breakfast has always been easy for me because I like that flat empty morning feeling and for some reason it's just much easier for me to stay away from snacking... Probably because I have that goal of making it to a certain time...
However after I've eaten something, some days it's like the flood gates open and since I've already started eating its much harder not to graze...
Studies have shown that people who IF often have less hunger and feel more satisfied after eating according to Men's Health and I've noticed the same thing for me... I just stay busy and later I have more available calories to eat than I'm hungry for... Give it a few weeks to get use to it.
I'll share some progress photos in a while...
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Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »Thanks @Mr_Healthy_Habits
Hey, IF is great and not bogus if it helps keep you in a deficit! How do you get over the hunger outside your eating window... do you just get used to it and eventually your body stops getting hungry at those times, or do you just ignore it?
You're most welcome
It's like Bruce Lee once said... "If it helps you in a fight, you should learn to use it." lol
When I was really trying to just lose weight I would do empty stomach cardio nearly every morning and wouldn't normally eat until a few hours after I got to work. Then I would do everything I could to not eat after 6pm, which was by far the hardest part...
Skipping breakfast has always been easy for me because I like that flat empty morning feeling and for some reason it's just much easier for me to stay away from snacking... Probably because I have that goal of making it to a certain time...
However after I've eaten something, some days it's like the flood gates open and since I've already started eating its much harder not to graze...
Studies have shown that people who IF often have less hunger and feel more satisfied after eating according to Men's Health and I've noticed the same thing for me... I just stay busy and later I have more available calories to eat than I'm hungry for... Give it a few weeks to get use to it.
I'll share some progress photos in a while...
That's so funny because I can have breakfast (and not a high calorie or protein one or anything) and be able to go until 3pm, so sometimes I do what I call a day fast. If I don't have breakfast I get bad headaches and get nauseated.
Oh yes please do share your progress!!0
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