Women- How do you know when to stop cutting?

sardelsa
sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Men can chime in too of course, but I am asking more for women’s perspective and experience especially since for some our bodyfat can vary widely from top to bottom.

I will start by saying I don’t have a goal BF%, I don’t have a show to prep for, I am not planning on leaning out for another bulk at the moment. My upper body and core is great, I am very pleased with my progress there.. I love the shape of my lower body but I would love more definition around my glutes (which I worked so hard to build during my bulk cycles). So I know I have to keep cutting to have it show… but I am scared I won’t know when to stop. Oh and right now I have cut about 5lbs of the 12lbs gained during my second bulk, so not sure how much lower to go.

When do you know when to stop cutting and switch to maintenance?

Replies

  • kjkitzman
    kjkitzman Posts: 3 Member
    measuring your glutes and not the scale would be my first thing if that is what you are worried most about. Once they measurement goes down I would switch to a hair about maintenance or at maintenance . A lot of band work at almost every training session should help that too and if you have access to a stairmaster :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Thanks! Yea I definitely do not want to lose the glutes haha. I feel so close but so far at the same time. While I am not ready for another bulk, I like the idea of a hair above maintenance to keep the gainz going. :)
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    Basically, I stop when my doctor says "That's enough. This is a healthy weight for you."
  • kjkitzman
    kjkitzman Posts: 3 Member
    Also if you you use supps you can try Yohimbine HCl for fasted cardio/training that helps with stubborn fat if you are worried about fat gain :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Well the good news is, if you're not afraid to bulk you can just gain a few pounds if you get to a weight that is too low...

    You could always just sit on a tiny deficit (like 100 cals) for a couple of months, see how you feel... ?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Well the good news is, if you're not afraid to bulk you can just gain a few pounds if you get to a weight that is too low...

    You could always just sit on a tiny deficit (like 100 cals) for a couple of months, see how you feel... ?

    Thanks. Yea exactly what I was thinking, if I go too low I can always beef up again which I don't mind, I feel like where I lose last is not where I gain first... I love how I look the first few lbs of a bulk..so it works.

    I am losing around 0.5lb per week and under, but I can always increase the cals if I start to feel drained. So far I feel OK as long as I get enough sleep.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    edited June 2017
    Just do a very slight cut (like 200-300 calories) and take pictures monthly. If you start to noticed you being to lean, then reverse back up a bit. Or just say F it and recomp until happy.

    At this point, I am at the F it because I am so over cutting even though I am at 16%.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Just do a very slight cut (like 200-300 calories) and take pictures monthly. If you start to noticed you being to lean, then reverse back up a bit. Or just say F it and recomp until happy.

    At this point, I am at the F it because I am so over cutting even though I am at 16%.

    I am always hesitant to recomp because I am already pretty lean, but I suppose it's worth a shot if I get frustrated.

    I just feel like I wish I knew there was light at the end of the tunnel... I don't want to keep cutting and cutting and then not be happy. I mean I have a decent muscle base so it's not like I am just cutting down to nothing. But still. Meh, if I get too lean I can always bulk a bit again!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    sardelsa wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Just do a very slight cut (like 200-300 calories) and take pictures monthly. If you start to noticed you being to lean, then reverse back up a bit. Or just say F it and recomp until happy.

    At this point, I am at the F it because I am so over cutting even though I am at 16%.

    I am always hesitant to recomp because I am already pretty lean, but I suppose it's worth a shot if I get frustrated.

    I just feel like I wish I knew there was light at the end of the tunnel... I don't want to keep cutting and cutting and then not be happy. I mean I have a decent muscle base so it's not like I am just cutting down to nothing. But still. Meh, if I get too lean I can always bulk a bit again!

    Just remember that there will be limitations on recomp as well. You cant indefinitely keep getting more lean, especially since you have bulked a few times.
  • se015
    se015 Posts: 583 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Men can chime in too of course, but I am asking more for women’s perspective and experience especially since for some our bodyfat can vary widely from top to bottom.

    I will start by saying I don’t have a goal BF%, I don’t have a show to prep for, I am not planning on leaning out for another bulk at the moment. My upper body and core is great, I am very pleased with my progress there.. I love the shape of my lower body but I would love more definition around my glutes (which I worked so hard to build during my bulk cycles). So I know I have to keep cutting to have it show… but I am scared I won’t know when to stop. Oh and right now I have cut about 5lbs of the 12lbs gained during my second bulk, so not sure how much lower to go.

    When do you know when to stop cutting and switch to maintenance?

    I know for Women and Men it's different when it comes to Bf% right? Like 10% for a male is equivalent to like 15% in Women? But I like cut until I'm below 10% and then see how I look and just maintain once I'm there.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    I stopped cutting when my upper body got a bit scrawny looking. I should have stopped before that but I didn't realize I'd lost so much fat there. I didn't need to build my glutes but I did want some definition to my legs. When I went to maintenance I started to see leg definition. I got to about 19-20% body fat and was doing PHUL.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    edited July 2017
    So I reached my second goal weight this week (I set my goal in 2-3lb increments and assess as I go) but I am not done yet. If anything I feel even farther away than when I started. :(

    I am setting a goal of another 2lbs and again, seeing where I go from there. I am getting a bit frustrated as I find I am not making (visual) progress as the lbs are dropping. My sessions are progressing well, my diet is fine (I'm sure it could be better), keeping protein higher, losses aren't too steep, I am actually sleeping OK now... I know stubborn fat is stubborn but I am having a really hard time with it this time. :/
  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
    I wouldn't worry so much about how many pounds you're losing based off how much weight you put on during your bulk. I've seen some people do a shorter bulk/cut cycle (6-9 months), and they bulk up and put on 8-15 pounds, cut back down those 8-15 pounds, be the same weight and think they've not had any progress, when in reality, when you compare pictures/measurements, they are significantly leaner (sometimes 2-3% leaner) but having seen themselves everyday and not really having a good idea of what they looked 9 months prior, it's hard for them to realize that the weight is the same, but they've gained 4-8 pounds of lean mass over those 9 months and have become leaner.

    Cutting can be a HUGEEEE mental game as you start to get lean. Take pictures every week and compare them month by month to see real progress. Weekly you should be able to see SOME changes, but over 4 weeks, there should be some substantial changes.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    @RAD_Fitness thank you so much, your response was really helpful and reassuring! I am so scared of getting back down to weight but even now 7lbs up from my bulk start weight I know look completely different. Yup thanks I think seeing myself everyday and focusing on the negative parts is messing with me. I definitely have to take proper progress shots too.

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