When do you know when to stop? *pics*

my advice is cut or lean down to a point at which you are trimmer than you want to be all the time and then move to maintenance. that way, you have wiggle room over the next few months if bodyfat increases you won't be immediately unhappy.

i would recommend doing the fat shredder diet ratio from p90x, even if you don't do p90x. i have leaned down many times, and this is by far the quickest leandown i have down by using the ratio of 50%protein, 30%carbs, 20%fat. the fat is melting off.

Bump for more info on the subject!

Shateyn- Thank you so much! Heavy lifting rules!!

Parisallez- Ya, I definitely need to work on some of my ratios. Ideally, would like my protein a bit higher. I tend to be a carb fiend . My assumption is at 125, I might have wiggle room and option to gain, as I would love to do a bulk cycle down the road.

Cafeaulait7- You totally helped me remember an important mention. I do want to eventually do a bulk cycle, as once I'm decently happy with recomp or cut, I would love to try to add muscle. It's all so daunting and confusing!

One other thing: based on what you have said, you may need to consider the possibility that you don't actually have the body that you want, currently hiding under what little you have left to lose. If you lose 5 more pounds, you may not look substantially better. In that case, and especially if your body fat is under 20%, you probably would want to just move into a reverse and bulk now.

Bulking builds your muscles up-- so when you lose the fat over the new muscle, you have to lose less fat in order to look like what you want , as your muscles have actually grown.

The most accurate way to measure body fat percentages is with a hydrostatic "dunk" weighing test or a DEXA scan. Google hydrostatic weighing in your area, it's usually around 50 bucks. The next best method is calipers, which can be off by a fair bit, depending on technique, but they can give you a decent approximation. Any other method (like online measurements or bioelectrical impedence) is usually significantly flawed and can have a margin of error greater than 10%.

love this thread, thanks for posting. your pictures are pretty much me. I have reached goal weight and at 23% body fat have hovered between cutting or bulking. so basically I have lifted fairly heavy but only eaten at maintenance. I haven't had my stats checked, but my weight has stayed the same, so I really need to decide which way to go. Fat sits most stubbornly in my belly, arms and legs are starting to look quite toned. I just can not bring myself to eat more at the moment, so maybe I will go withthe suggestion of dropping below 20%, since I am in Australia and heading into summer. Then try a proper bulk in Winter.