How to track a cut

Tic78

Just looking for some advice as to how best to track a cut. I’m worried I’m losing weight to quickly and many years ago I managed to lose muscle as well as fat and just basically ruined all my hard work.

What’s throwing me is the initial water weight? Loss. How many weeks does this normally continue for and after that how often do you track and amend calories etc

For instance I had bulked to 183lbs. I then had a week holiday/vacation and put on 5lb so I started my cut on the 13th May at 188lb. Already I am down to 178lb so that’s 10lb in 16 days.

If I track my weight in mfp I have lost around 3lb in last 3 days but I’m wondering if I should use the average weight and loss in happy scale where I enter figures daily.

My moving average there is 179.7 lbs and it says weeks loss is 2.3lbs.

Now I’ve lost some water weight I’d say my body fat percent is a lower than I thought prob 15% and my goal is 10%.

Should I be aiming for 2lb loss a week or up calories to try and slow it down?

Also to add I’m eating 2100 calories per day at the minute and not eating back any exercise calories

Thanks for any advice

jdog022

wiegh in daily under exact same circumstances and use a trending app that averages those values over so many days. I use libra for android. free. after 400 some entries it helps me in both bulk and cut periods. right now it's telling me I'm only at a 200 cal deficit and I know I need to drop cals or add more cardio to finish off the cut. For most of the cut it said 400-500. take it with a grain of salt as it just helps to give some data points.

ETA- when I have a refeed or fall off I ignore the trend for 10-14 days to deal with water Flux

gcpower

Just started a cut at the beginning of May. Using powerliftingtowin.com cutting/bulking procedure and it is going well.

Short summary;
1. Start at (12x bodyweight in lbs) daily kcal intake.
2. Weigh in daily and keep a running 5-day average (I use a spreadsheet, @jdog022 uses an app)
3. Aim for around 0.6 - 0.8 % drop in body mass per week. Re-evaluate kcal intake at the end of each week.
4. If you gained weight, -200 daily kcal intake. If you lost < 0.5% , -100 daily kcal intake. If you lost 0.5% - 0.6%, -50 kcal. If you lost 0.6% - 0.8%, no change. If you lost 0.8%-1.0%, +50 kcal. If you lost >1.0%, +100 kcal.

I like it because it doesn't have any fixed numbers and my kcal intake depends on my own personal metabolism and keeps adjusting to maintain a slow, steady cut.

So far so good. Built it into my daily routine. I made a google sheet, track weight daily and I use mfp for kcal count. Also keeping track of body fat via Navy Method and bathroom scale at the end of each week.

Tic78

gcpower wrote: »

Just started a cut at the beginning of May. Using powerliftingtowin.com cutting/bulking procedure and it is going well.

Short summary;
1. Start at (12x bodyweight in lbs) daily kcal intake.
2. Weigh in daily and keep a running 5-day average (I use a spreadsheet, @jdog022 uses an app)
3. Aim for around 0.6 - 0.8 % drop in body mass per week. Re-evaluate kcal intake at the end of each week.
4. If you gained weight, -200 daily kcal intake. If you lost < 0.5% , -100 daily kcal intake. If you lost 0.5% - 0.6%, -50 kcal. If you lost 0.6% - 0.8%, no change. If you lost 0.8%-1.0%, +50 kcal. If you lost >1.0%, +100 kcal.

I like it because it doesn't have any fixed numbers and my kcal intake depends on my own personal metabolism and keeps adjusting to maintain a slow, steady cut.

So far so good. Built it into my daily routine. I made a google sheet, track weight daily and I use mfp for kcal count. Also keeping track of body fat via Navy Method and bathroom scale at the end of each week.

Thank you for that, interesting article and I will apply the rules. It appears my cutting calories are already roughly 12x my body weight which is good but I have recently started doing hit cardio when all I ever done before is lift weights so I’m maybe losing weight to fast and will do as suggested in the article.

If you have been tracking for a while can i ask what bodyfat % are you roughly losing each week? Guessing .5/1 max?

Tic78

jdog022 wrote: »

ETA- when I have a refeed or fall off I ignore the trend for 10-14 days to deal with water Flux

That’s great info thanks. Hopefully my water flux should be about over. During your bulk/cut periods do you just keep your protein and fats the same and manipulate the quantity of carbs?

Are you building in a refeed if so do you allow a certain amount of extra calories or do you just really go for it?

jdog022

Tic78 wrote: »

jdog022 wrote: »

ETA- when I have a refeed or fall off I ignore the trend for 10-14 days to deal with water Flux

That’s great info thanks. Hopefully my water flux should be about over. During your bulk/cut periods do you just keep your protein and fats the same and manipulate the quantity of carbs?

Correct. I have the same protein minimum and fat goal today as I did 12 weeks ago. Sometimes I go over on my protein just because of the food I like to eat and the carbs will take that hit. I do make sure my carbs stay above 200 or I know from experience that my workout will suck and I will be grouchy..I try to keep my fat within 5 grams of goal.

Are you building in a refeed if so do you allow a certain amount of extra calories or do you just really go for it?

At the start my refeed was once every 2 weeks. For the most part I easily made that without being tired, hungry, food focused etc. Two months in and i changed to 7-10 days and now I am at once a week. But I am also within 5 ibs of goal.

There is a lot of info out there about refeeds. One day not really doing enough etc. But for me one day does the trick and it could be more mental then anything. I do not just go for it. I eat approx 200 above maintenance for one day on a weekend. I drop my protein to .8 per pound, fat the same, rest carbs. And to be 1000% honest, its usually a normal day + a full 700 cal pint of Ben and Jerry's Froyo., Dont judge.. haha

Also I should add that refeeds for anyone (males) above 15% BF can probably be once a month+ Not sure where your at but its generally for people reaching relatively leaner levels. If your cutting from 25% etc then diet breaks may be more beneficial. 10-14 days at maintenance every couple months. been there done that too.

Tic78

Would you mind sharing your height weight and calorie intake. Obv you have very low bf% which is what I would like.

Interesting about the carbs I tend to keep mine around 150g per day which is possibly too low? I suppose my calorie intake/requirements may be a lot under yours.

I would say I’m around 15% at present, I lifted for around 5 years but never really had the diet dialled in, I then went away for a year or so and have been back lifting for around 10 months now.

Last time I had an attempted cut I think it went on for far too long. I also didn’t reverse diet back to maintenance, this I feel was a major mistake but did lead to a 4 month bulk! This was only at a few hundred cals over maintenance.

This time I plan to go up to 12 weeks cut and if not at my goal to reverse diet back to maintenance or perhaps I should look into having a diet break.

Good idea on the refeeds, can’t beat some Ben and Jerry’s lol

jdog022

Absolutely.

I am 37 years old. I am 5 foot 8 and 170 pounds as of this morning. My current daily macros are 2350 Cals (206 protein, 265 Carbs and 65 fat) I can tell you I eat less protein and more carbs then that but these numbers are because MFP non premium and their %s. Example, Yesterday I finished at 180p, 283c and 70f

My bulk ended at 3300 cals (183 pounds) and i transition over 3 weeks to 2550 (3050, 2800 and 2550)
Ran that for 4-5 weeks. Dropped to 2350 and ran that till now. I should drop to 2150 to finish but I am going on vacation next week. I will aim for 2550 all week and come back to 2150 for final push for 5 weeks and reverse out to another bulk. Probably to 190

I do have a sedentary job but my calories are for an active person because I have young children who never allow me to sit. And I mean never. I also play ice hockey which probably allows for an additional 1500 calories per week. Sometimes less, Sometimes more.

I also dont use NEAT. I run TDEE and eat no calories back as TDEE includes that. I have been tracking for almost two years and know generally what my maintenance is. I am a business systems and data analyst so.. I actually enjoy tracking, trends etc.

I started this journey 2 years ago next month after a scary Dr Appointment. I was 245 pounds and 30% BF. Crazy.

Anyhow, I think your on the right track with your plan. Just comes down to execution at this point.

Tic78

Thank you very much that’s a real eye opener.

I recently turned 40 and am roughly the same height as you, unfortunately my bodyfat isn’t similar lol. I also went back to the gym after a doctor scare, when I first went back I was 201lbs and today I am 178lbs.

From when I came back to lifting I just done what I used to do which was heavy sets in the 6-10 range, 3 sets per exercise and a split routine. I done zero cardio and I never did any years ago when I lifted previously.

A few weeks ago a new trainer started at my gym and he told me that I have enough muscle (for now) just need to cut it up and switch it up a bit, so now it’s hit cardio rower or elliptical then weights which are higher rep ranges and circuit based. Still flinging in some strength sets but because I was quite sedentary before I am really breaking a sweat with these full body workouts. I am also trying to walk 5-7 miles per day. I go to the gym 6 days a week lift/cardio x3 days and 3 purely cardio.

This complete change of routine is working but because it’s so new to me I don’t actually know my current tdee. It was about 2600 before the routine change but now I reckon it’s 3-3500. Before this cut/routine change I was bulking at around 3000 cals.

Today for example I have upped the calories slightly to 2150 181g protein, 163g carbs and 79g fats.

When I see your figures and especially how you cut down a couple of hundred cals per week I can see that I’m starting far to aggressively. I will keep increasing calories to see how far I can push it while still losing a 1lb per week or so.

I’m guessing if I could take off 10-14lbs I should get to my 10% goal which should account for some muscle loss as well as fat.

Then I plan to bulk again but with more focus on nutrition and act fitness rather than just strength.

Anyway thank you so much for your help/advice. What an amazing transformation you have had in 2 years. Sure the fitness helps when running around after the wee ones!

fb47

I usually weigh myself every day after I wake up and after going to the bathroom, right before I eat. I eat the same numbers of calories for a minimum of 2 weeks. What is important is the weekly weight average and not the dailies. If I see my weekly average weight loss rate is about 1 lb per week, I know I am right on track. If not, I adjust my calories up or down depending on weekly weight loss rate.

Tic78

My moving average is showing 2.6lbs currently, not sure if it’s still just initial water flux but am adding calories again today.


Guessing you guys do same in reverse when it’s time to work back to maintenance

Also I’m not currently taking creatine, is it advisable to add at the minute or wait till after my cut? I know it will skew my weight figures due to holding onto water but wondering if will help keep lifts up in a deficit

jdog022

I take mono 5g per day 365 days a year. Dont front load it and you probably wont notice much of the water weight on the scale. No supplement is really necessary but its one of the most studied and if it gets me one more rep here and there then I think its worth the cost. which is very little relative to the supplement market.