Best foods for cutting

IzzieDizzie93

So I've been going to the gym pretty regular now about 3/4 times a week (for over a month now.. and was working out at home before then too)

I'm looking into cutting... my body for the past week or two has just been sat at 119lbs, I'm trying to go a bit lower but have no idea how! I know to cut is more protein low fat kind if thing... but if I have low fat for too long I feel legarthic and weak.. so any tips or even types of food which keep giving energy as well as allowing me to cut would be great!

And I don't take pre workout stuff at all !

nossmf

Cutting for most lifters is essentially the same as general weight loss, just with a slightly heavier emphasis on protein. If you lose weight best by reducing fat intake, do the same while cutting; if you lose best slashing carbs but keeping fat the same, do the same while cutting. Just make sure to keep the protein content higher (at least 0.7g/lb of BW) as you go.

Probably also a good idea to not cut too many calories, keep them high enough to power your workouts. Personally I shoot for .5 lb/wk loss while cutting.

Note this is different than somebody in the final stages of cutting before a bodybuilding stage competition. That's a whole different set of rules which don't apply to the average lifter wanting to lose the fat that's hiding all the wonderful muscle we've been working to build.

IzzieDizzie93

Ahh ok, I never really understood that...so ideally it's about being below my daily intake (as you would to lose weight) or would I just focus on dropping a certain type of food to a minimum amd keep the same calorie goal but add more protein instead?. Like you said with either carbs or fats.

Me losing weight normally was just cutting calories but I find I'm more hungry now and if I don't fuel properly I'm just super weak to lift anything!
Are pre workouts even worth taking ? Or would that hinder a cut?

AnnPT77

IzzieDizzie93 wrote: »

Ahh ok, I never really understood that...so ideally it's about being below my daily intake (as you would to lose weight) or would I just focus on dropping a certain type of food to a minimum amd keep the same calorie goal but add more protein instead?. Like you said with either carbs or fats.

Me losing weight normally was just cutting calories but I find I'm more hungry now and if I don't fuel properly I'm just super weak to lift anything!
Are pre workouts even worth taking ? Or would that hinder a cut?

This sounds like you've cut too far for your body's needs. Slow the bus down. Slower loss is a better idea.

Pre-workouts don't matter one way or another for a cut (the weight loss part). If you hit a certain calorie level, that's the main determinant of weight loss rate.

A preworkout might increase your energy level a little bit during your workout, which could be useful. But your body's giving you danger signals that your current calorie intake is too low. I'd give that some serious thought, personally.

nossmf

Pre-workouts are not worth the money at any time, IMHO. Yes, some people taking them may feel more jazzed for an upcoming workout, and if taking one is the difference between working out or not, it may be worth it to you. But I track everything during my workouts, and tracked my results both when taking and when not taking a preworkout. Performance-wise, there was zero change. None. Zip. Nada. I felt a little more amped, but the weights I used, the reps, the speed on the treadmill, all were identical.

As Ann said, they will have even less impact on your weight loss rate, that's strictly a matter of calories in vs calories used.

Just to temper slightly what @AnnPt77 said, being fatigued during workouts CAN be a sign you are eating at potentially dangerously low levels. But a certain degree of performance drop is a normal consequence of eating less while continuing to exercise. It's all about how much performance suffers.

If you're used to doing squats with 100 lbs on your back, it's completely normal to occasionally need to drop a little weight while on a calorie deficit. One day you'll use the full 100, another day drop to 95 or even 90.

If, however, you're dropping from 100 down to 35 and struggling even there, or you can normally do 10 reps but now you're wasted after 3, that's a clear sign of "not right".

Where's the line between "normal drop" and "dangerous drop?" That's different from one person to the next, and a single bad workout is not cause for concern. It's a pattern of weakness which lasts over time.

IzzieDizzie93

Thank you both of you! It's such a minefield because like you both said, clearly my body is telling me it needs more calories.... but I haven't like lost weight, (I mean I've gained like 1lb the past week! But im not like super focused on that)
If I'm eating or not getting enough calories then why am I still at the same weight? Do you think water retention is doing that?
My brain thinks that as soon as I eat more I'm going to gain tones... don't think that would be the case but the mind games doesn't help!

And I'll lay off the pre workout then, doesn't sound productive

AnnPT77

IzzieDizzie93 wrote: »

Thank you both of you! It's such a minefield because like you both said, clearly my body is telling me it needs more calories.... but I haven't like lost weight, (I mean I've gained like 1lb the past week! But im not like super focused on that)
If I'm eating or not getting enough calories then why am I still at the same weight? Do you think water retention is doing that?
My brain thinks that as soon as I eat more I'm going to gain tones... don't think that would be the case but the mind games doesn't help!

And I'll lay off the pre workout then, doesn't sound productive

There are other possibilities, but a week or two stall can certainly be water retention, especially if there's stress (physical or psychological) in the picture. New exercise load is a physical stressor, as is a calorie deficit, hot weather conditions, etc. Cold, allergies, minor injuries or infections can add water weight. Bodies are weird.

I've had a full month or more when I was losing weight very slowly when even my weight trending app thought I was maintaining (or even gaining for part of that timespan) when I was pretty sure I was losing fat slowly given the calorie level I was eating and what I was doing. Eventually, the expected loss showed up, quite suddenly. (It happened when I'd resumed strength training after a hiatus, and that always tends to add a couple of pounds to my body weight.)

I'd think in terms of 4-6 week averages (or one to two full menstrual cycles if you have those) to get a clear picture of weight changes, especially if going for a slow loss rate.

If you haven't read it before, the article linked in the first post of this thread includes a lot of good information about the many, many reasons we can have water retention that makes scale weight feel weird:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

BTW: I agree with @nossmf's tempering of my comment about performance degradation and too-low calories. I'm more of a cardio-ish gal (rower, mostly), and performance hits show up a bit differently IME in my workout metrics. It's still a matter of patterns, though, not single incidences.