Cutting: How much lbs should I lose per week?

iorahkwano

I am female, 5'7" & spent 2 months bulking. I gained 12lbs and got up to 148lbs. 23% BF. (114lbs lean body mass & 34lbs BF).

Now I am doing the cutting phase. I was told to lose weight SLOWLY or else I'd lose muscle. My 1st week I cut my calories down by 200-250 & added 15-30mins a day of cardio to my usual lifting. (HIIT Treadmill/recumbent bike & Tabata Treadmill/rowing machine).

I lost 4lbs. 0.5" off waist & 0.5" off belly. Everything else stayed the same.

Seems like a lot. How much should I lose per week to make sure I'm not going overboard?

bagge72

It will slow down after this, most likely it is just some water weight, that is why you lost so much. If you are doing a moderate cut like that, you should only be losing like .5 to 1lbs a week, maybe even slower than that since even with your bulk, you are at a good BF%.

ahamm002

There are a lot of studies on this question, and the answer probably depends mostly on your own diet and exercise regimen. Assuming proper protein intake, no nutrient deficiencies, and exercise, an elite athlete can lose at least one pound of fat per week without losing a significant amount of LBM or having their performance decrease. Therefore a calorie deficit of 500 per day is considered a good target. It's also maintainable, unlike drastic calorie reductions.

ahamm002

It will slow down after this, most likely it is just some water weight, that is why you lost so much.

That's a good point. For some reason weight loss can happen in chuncks. One theory is that when you burn fat, the fat cells temporarily fill with water. Then at some point the water all gets flushed out.

tomg33

I agree with the above. Assuming all the good stuff is being done right, 1lb/week should be on the low end. Whether you can lose faster is up to your own body and you'd have to experiment to work it out.

By the way, 12 lb in 2 months? Strong bulk! Just my opinion, but unless you're chemically enhanced and/or under the guidance of a coach I wouldn't bulk so hard.

HMVOL7409

Bump for future reference.

55in13

I heard this suggested as a sensible guideline - subtract 25 from your BMI, divide by 3 and round up to the next pound. That should be your max per week.

iorahkwano

1-2lbs per week is what I wanted so I was shocked when it was 4lbs!

I think I am going to keep my calories at 2000 this week then. I was going to lower it to 1800 for week 2 but if I lost 4lbs just on 2000, then maybe I should stay at that another week. I don't want to lose 3-4lbs every week because that is A LOT!

By the way, 12 lb in 2 months? Strong bulk! Just my opinion, but unless you're chemically enhanced and/or under the guidance of a coach I wouldn't bulk so hard.

I was getting advice from online sources and a trainer at my gym. Someone told me to gain 24lbs as a woman (or when one reaches 19-27% body fat)... but I felt like that was too huge of a bulk. I went halfway, assuming 12lbs garauntees a decent amount of muscle built. During my bulk I was eating 2200-2400 calories & 110-120g protein since my lean body mas was 113lbs at the start of my bulk. I was doing Stronglifts 5x5 three times a week.

Strength progression in Stronglifts since Dec. 19th:

(175lbs) Deadlift (Starting Weight at 115)
(145lbs) Barbell Squat (SW at 55)
(90lbs) Barbell Row (SW at 65)
(80lbs) Barbell Overhead (SW at 55)
(75lbs) Bench Press (SW 55)

I heard this suggested as a sensible guideline - subtract 25 from your BMI, divide by 3 and round up to the next pound. That should be your max per week.

My BMI is 22.9. According to your formula, I should lose 1lb per week (Rounded up from 0.7)

tomg33

If you're seeing results you could stay at 2000 then gradually lower it, for example 50-100 cals every couple weeks.

24 lbs is a big bulk for a person of your size... You'd look pretty terrible if you did that. I think the thing to keep in mind is that your body can only synthesise muscle so quickly as a natural trainee. It varies from person to person and there's no real way of knowing until you've done this bulk/cut thing a few times. I don't know your training history for even for a average novice male, I wouldn't expect them to gain more than 2 lb of actual dry muscle tissue per month, and that is a very optimistic number. In that example, is 4 lb of muscle worth 18 lb of fat and 2 lb of other stuff (water, glycogen, etc)? So I guess my point is, I would try bulking slower and longer.

Great progress in your lifts by the way!