Not in it for the long haul

angelzprophecy

So at the moment, im on a cut to get ready for NYE trying to lose like 3-5lbs. I usually like to progress during any program i make so my plan over the month was

week 1 - 1950 cals, 12.5 mins cardio
week 2 - 15 mins cardio
week 3 - 1850 cals, 17.5 mins cardio
week 4 1750 cals ,20 mins cardio

i do this to protect my metabolism and so i dont plateu. So my question is, is this necessary for this short of a cut? could i have started at 1750 right off the bat for the whole month with no worries about the weight loss stalling? what're your opinions on this?

GauchoMark

I don't really get why you would taper your intake down over the course of 4 weeks. Just guessing here, but I would think that that kind of gradual decrease would actually promote slowing metabolism.

Based on your profile pic, you are already pretty lean, so to lose 3-5 lbs of fat in a month without killing your LBM is going to be tricky. I'd suggest looking into a high protein diet (1.5-3g protein/lb LBM based on activity level) that has a calorie deficit capable of losing about 1-1.5 lb/wk, then do a controlled refeed every 7-10 days. If you go that route you'll want to really limit carb and fat intake or else your calorie deficit won't be high enough to hit that kind of weight loss because of the protein calories. I would also not do cardio at all and switch to a high rep, low weight (60% 1RM) routine that you only do about 3x a week.

Basically, if you are going to lose 3-5 lbs of fat, you want to do everything possible to maintain your muscle mass - lift weights and eat a TON of protein, but maintain a calorie deficit that supports your goal. The refeed day will help your metabolism from shutting down, but make sure you do it right.