CUT or FAST??

kingkam21
kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
edited November 30 in Health and Weight Loss
I am preparing for my first cut.
I have been bulking for 9 months now and am almost ready to start losing my fat gains!
I am not excited or my cut because during a cut, you stop gaining muscle.
I am aiming to loss about 8lbs. Maybe 10, idk because I've never aimed to lose weight before. I've been skiny my whole life.
I'm curious if intermittent fasting will be best to lose body fat over cutting?
In my study on intermittent fasting, I found that there is still room to grow muscle while losing fat, not much but still possible.

To lose about 10lbs, which method is best for me??

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    You would need to eat in a deficit, which is what cutting is, even if you used IF. IF just means you eat within a smaller time period (e.g., calories spread over 8 hours rather than 12 hours.)
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    You would need to eat in a deficit, which is what cutting is, even if you used IF. IF just means you eat within a smaller time period (e.g., calories spread over 8 hours rather than 12 hours.)

    Correct.
    But I'm wondering why there's argument if you can gain muscle size or not while IF?
    Can't find much about IF while bulking but most of the articles I read or videos I watch on IF say that it's harder to gain muscle mass.

    I am currently eating 3500 calories a day. Will I gain the same muscle mass if I eat the 3500 during IF??

    people doing IF seam like they are losing fat verry quickly. If there losing fat so fast than wouldn't they be losing muscle mass just as fast?
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
    At this point, my question is again, should I cut to save/preserve muscle mass or will I be just as safe doing IF during my cut??

    But also will I gain the same muscle mass during my bulk if I was to eat throught the day as I would doing IF with the same caloric intake??
  • nikki_m87
    nikki_m87 Posts: 5 Member
    Look at reverse dieting. I'm not really in the know but from What I've seen of others using this is slowly lower calories to preserve muscle mass and ensure dropping fat.
    Not sure on IF and the science behind it.
  • treeedoggg
    treeedoggg Posts: 32 Member
    While fasting, your body's Hgh levels rise and insulin levels drop signalling a retention of lean mass and encouraging lipolysis. I practice IF while in a deficit. Easiest for bodyfat drop I've ever done. And my strength in the gym has maintained, if not improved on some lifts. I use a 20:4 fasting to feeding window. To me, it's fun eating tons of food at once. Haha

    You could maintain it during a maintenance or bulking phase, but remember...it might be harder to eat so much more in a short time. So, you would probably want to open your window to more like 16:8 or something like that.
    My window is pretty extreme btw. Most usually do the 16:8
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    kingkam21 wrote: »
    At this point, my question is again, should I cut to save/preserve muscle mass or will I be just as safe doing IF during my cut??

    But also will I gain the same muscle mass during my bulk if I was to eat throught the day as I would doing IF with the same caloric intake??

    You can use IF during a cut and preserve muscle. You just need to follow the same rules of cutting--use a moderate deficit, get enough protein, and keep up the resistance exercise.

    As for bulking, you would still add mass. I can't say it would be the same because I don't know if you would get as many calories in during the shorter time frame as you would eating all day.
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