Anyone cutting after a bulk?
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melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »I’m going on my first ever cut today and find that calculating calories is so confusing! I’m 5’7 and I’ve gained almost 30lbs - i’m now 128lbs with a 27” waist and 37” hips. I’d like to get my waist down to 25” ideally but not lose my bum! My bf is 17%. I’ve been eating 2150-2300 on a bulk, but when I use online calculators it says I should eat 1500 to lose weight but that sounds extreme to me so I was going to drop to 1900 cals and clean up my eating... hopefully it’ll work!
Waist measurement for the most part comes down to genetics.. if you don't have much fat in that area to lose, there is really nothing you can do but make other areas bigger to make it seem smaller. Even if you do have fat there, going leaner than you are now it may be the last to come off and you will be left sitting at unsustainable bodyfat levels or become underweight.
With your stats there really isn't too much to cut down to.. you could lose a few lbs maybe if you wanted to but if you are already 17% (provided that is somewhat accurate) that is already lean and going leaner may not give you the results you want. Even if you do everything to maintain the glutes they will likely start to come down as you get ultra lean.
Thank you for replying!!
No problem @melissab287 . For me building more muscle really helped give me the illusion of a smaller waist. Here is what I am talking about.
Left is before starting any bulk cycles, right after three.. about 20lbs between the two. On the right my waist is at least 2" larger.
Such an inspiring transformation, thank you!! What made the sides of your hips bigger? I've been focusing on deadlifts, bulgarian split squats and barbell hip thrusts to build up my bum but it's not hitting the sides, had a go on the cable machine for side kicks but didn't seem to work! x
Have you ever bulked or are you constantly at a caloric deficit?1 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »I’m going on my first ever cut today and find that calculating calories is so confusing! I’m 5’7 and I’ve gained almost 30lbs - i’m now 128lbs with a 27” waist and 37” hips. I’d like to get my waist down to 25” ideally but not lose my bum! My bf is 17%. I’ve been eating 2150-2300 on a bulk, but when I use online calculators it says I should eat 1500 to lose weight but that sounds extreme to me so I was going to drop to 1900 cals and clean up my eating... hopefully it’ll work!
Waist measurement for the most part comes down to genetics.. if you don't have much fat in that area to lose, there is really nothing you can do but make other areas bigger to make it seem smaller. Even if you do have fat there, going leaner than you are now it may be the last to come off and you will be left sitting at unsustainable bodyfat levels or become underweight.
With your stats there really isn't too much to cut down to.. you could lose a few lbs maybe if you wanted to but if you are already 17% (provided that is somewhat accurate) that is already lean and going leaner may not give you the results you want. Even if you do everything to maintain the glutes they will likely start to come down as you get ultra lean.
Thank you for replying!!
No problem @melissab287 . For me building more muscle really helped give me the illusion of a smaller waist. Here is what I am talking about.
Left is before starting any bulk cycles, right after three.. about 20lbs between the two. On the right my waist is at least 2" larger.
This is true. You can gain muscle to change the shape of your body... it's kinda like the opposite of not being able to spot-reduce fat.
Thank you, I was working at sculpting out a more hourglass body shape by weightlifting and building up the rest of my body but just got self conscious about my puffy stomach! Hopefully it will get more toned as I gain more muscle x0 -
nexangelus wrote: »I was going to say the same, that instead of cutting I would be trying to gain some more muscle @melissab287, so getting your weight up to say maybe 134lbs, increasing the lean mass will help with your body composition and look...cutting even more when you have already been underweight (most likely with loss of lean mass as you have already pointed out by how you looked) will be detrimental, not beneficial...
Will def do this, thank you xx It's weird, I was never underweight on purpose, I just was naturally thin and kind of fell into the culture of eating 'clean' and staying away from carbs etc, didn't even know it was unhealthy until I went to the doctors after feeling dizzy and tired! I feel so so much better and more healthy after bulking and weightlifting1 -
mom23mangos wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »I’m going on my first ever cut today and find that calculating calories is so confusing! I’m 5’7 and I’ve gained almost 30lbs - i’m now 128lbs with a 27” waist and 37” hips. I’d like to get my waist down to 25” ideally but not lose my bum! My bf is 17%. I’ve been eating 2150-2300 on a bulk, but when I use online calculators it says I should eat 1500 to lose weight but that sounds extreme to me so I was going to drop to 1900 cals and clean up my eating... hopefully it’ll work!
Waist measurement for the most part comes down to genetics.. if you don't have much fat in that area to lose, there is really nothing you can do but make other areas bigger to make it seem smaller. Even if you do have fat there, going leaner than you are now it may be the last to come off and you will be left sitting at unsustainable bodyfat levels or become underweight.
With your stats there really isn't too much to cut down to.. you could lose a few lbs maybe if you wanted to but if you are already 17% (provided that is somewhat accurate) that is already lean and going leaner may not give you the results you want. Even if you do everything to maintain the glutes they will likely start to come down as you get ultra lean.
Thank you for replying!!
No problem @melissab287 . For me building more muscle really helped give me the illusion of a smaller waist. Here is what I am talking about.
Left is before starting any bulk cycles, right after three.. about 20lbs between the two. On the right my waist is at least 2" larger.
Whoa! What did you do to add muscle/padding to the outside of your hip bones? I have very narrow hips and would love to add some curves there. I feel like abductor doesn't hit that high up, but maybe I just haven't done enough?
@mom23mangos @Melissa287 .. a lot of it has to do with how I carry weight/fat, so adding 20lbs has definitely helped. While there isn't too much you can do to add hips significantly, building the gluteus medius in particular can help. So incorporation of lots of abduction movements (banded seated and standing, cable), banded clams, lateral and monster walks, hip thrusts with abduction and added bands, single leg work - lunges, squats, hip thrusts, step ups etc. I make sure to progress over time, even with bands you have to add reps or increase the resistance (either with a thicker band, doubling up or moving the position of the band). For the glutes you always want to hit them from all angles and vectors for the best results.4 -
melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »I’m going on my first ever cut today and find that calculating calories is so confusing! I’m 5’7 and I’ve gained almost 30lbs - i’m now 128lbs with a 27” waist and 37” hips. I’d like to get my waist down to 25” ideally but not lose my bum! My bf is 17%. I’ve been eating 2150-2300 on a bulk, but when I use online calculators it says I should eat 1500 to lose weight but that sounds extreme to me so I was going to drop to 1900 cals and clean up my eating... hopefully it’ll work!
Waist measurement for the most part comes down to genetics.. if you don't have much fat in that area to lose, there is really nothing you can do but make other areas bigger to make it seem smaller. Even if you do have fat there, going leaner than you are now it may be the last to come off and you will be left sitting at unsustainable bodyfat levels or become underweight.
With your stats there really isn't too much to cut down to.. you could lose a few lbs maybe if you wanted to but if you are already 17% (provided that is somewhat accurate) that is already lean and going leaner may not give you the results you want. Even if you do everything to maintain the glutes they will likely start to come down as you get ultra lean.
Thank you for replying!!
No problem @melissab287 . For me building more muscle really helped give me the illusion of a smaller waist. Here is what I am talking about.
Left is before starting any bulk cycles, right after three.. about 20lbs between the two. On the right my waist is at least 2" larger.
Such an inspiring transformation, thank you!! What made the sides of your hips bigger? I've been focusing on deadlifts, bulgarian split squats and barbell hip thrusts to build up my bum but it's not hitting the sides, had a go on the cable machine for side kicks but didn't seem to work! x
Have you ever bulked or are you constantly at a caloric deficit?
I've been bulking for about 7-8 months I'd say on 2150-2300 calories a day, I've gone from about 100lbs up to 128lbs! I've never done a real cut before x0 -
mom23mangos wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »melissab287 wrote: »I’m going on my first ever cut today and find that calculating calories is so confusing! I’m 5’7 and I’ve gained almost 30lbs - i’m now 128lbs with a 27” waist and 37” hips. I’d like to get my waist down to 25” ideally but not lose my bum! My bf is 17%. I’ve been eating 2150-2300 on a bulk, but when I use online calculators it says I should eat 1500 to lose weight but that sounds extreme to me so I was going to drop to 1900 cals and clean up my eating... hopefully it’ll work!
Waist measurement for the most part comes down to genetics.. if you don't have much fat in that area to lose, there is really nothing you can do but make other areas bigger to make it seem smaller. Even if you do have fat there, going leaner than you are now it may be the last to come off and you will be left sitting at unsustainable bodyfat levels or become underweight.
With your stats there really isn't too much to cut down to.. you could lose a few lbs maybe if you wanted to but if you are already 17% (provided that is somewhat accurate) that is already lean and going leaner may not give you the results you want. Even if you do everything to maintain the glutes they will likely start to come down as you get ultra lean.
Thank you for replying!!
No problem @melissab287 . For me building more muscle really helped give me the illusion of a smaller waist. Here is what I am talking about.
Left is before starting any bulk cycles, right after three.. about 20lbs between the two. On the right my waist is at least 2" larger.
Whoa! What did you do to add muscle/padding to the outside of your hip bones? I have very narrow hips and would love to add some curves there. I feel like abductor doesn't hit that high up, but maybe I just haven't done enough?
@mom23mangos @Melissa287 .. a lot of it has to do with how I carry weight/fat, so adding 20lbs has definitely helped. While there isn't too much you can do to add hips significantly, building the gluteus medius in particular can help. So incorporation of lots of abduction movements (banded seated and standing, cable), banded clams, lateral and monster walks, hip thrusts with abduction and added bands, single leg work - lunges, squats, hip thrusts, step ups etc. I make sure to progress over time, even with bands you have to add reps or increase the resistance (either with a thicker band, doubling up or moving the position of the band). For the glutes you always want to hit them from all angles and vectors for the best results.
Brilliant advice, thank you!0 -
Just wanted to say that this may be the most education thread I have ever read on MFP. Many thanks to those that participated.3
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New low weigh in today. Feeling extremely depleted, but low weigh in means refeed today/ tonight (I like carb backloading on my refeeds then hitting heavy deadlifts in the am). 800+ grams of carbs going down by the end of the night
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Yeah, I’m currently cutting. Just eating at a caloric deficit while eating as much protein as I can. Also working out with the same weights. Trying to not lose as much muscle as possible.1
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Last nights refeed KO’d me and not in a good way. I unintentionally did an OMAD cause I was so busy and knocked out 800+ grams of carbs and over 5K calories in the span of about 2-3 hours lol, it was a feast. Woke up feeling like my muscles/ muscle glycogen was screaming through my skin lol. It was great. Sooooo much food!!0
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pinggolfer96 wrote: »Last nights refeed KO’d me and not in a good way. I unintentionally did an OMAD cause I was so busy and knocked out 800+ grams of carbs and over 5K calories in the span of about 2-3 hours lol, it was a feast. Woke up feeling like my muscles/ muscle glycogen was screaming through my skin lol. It was great. Sooooo much food!!
Too funny. I can't wait for my carb refeeds. These low carb days are rough. And i am only trying to stay net 80g. Although my first day i was down 3 lbs lol.0 -
pinggolfer96 wrote: »Last nights refeed KO’d me and not in a good way. I unintentionally did an OMAD cause I was so busy and knocked out 800+ grams of carbs and over 5K calories in the span of about 2-3 hours lol, it was a feast. Woke up feeling like my muscles/ muscle glycogen was screaming through my skin lol. It was great. Sooooo much food!!
Too funny. I can't wait for my carb refeeds. These low carb days are rough. And i am only trying to stay net 80g. Although my first day i was down 3 lbs lol.
Mostly if not alllll water weight. But stick to it! Sounds good0 -
Yea, its definitely water and glycogen depletion.pinggolfer96 wrote: »pinggolfer96 wrote: »Last nights refeed KO’d me and not in a good way. I unintentionally did an OMAD cause I was so busy and knocked out 800+ grams of carbs and over 5K calories in the span of about 2-3 hours lol, it was a feast. Woke up feeling like my muscles/ muscle glycogen was screaming through my skin lol. It was great. Sooooo much food!!
Too funny. I can't wait for my carb refeeds. These low carb days are rough. And i am only trying to stay net 80g. Although my first day i was down 3 lbs lol.
Mostly if not alllll water weight. But stick to it! Sounds good
Although my average deficit over the past few days has been around 1300 calories. So i hope to be down a few lbs of fat as well.0 -
I'd be remiss if I didn't thank those who chimed in with advice to talk me off the ledge a few pages ago. I hit 172.6 lbs this morning, and my weekly average is sitting at 173.0 which is lower than it's been since the first week of March. Averaging 1 lb/week loss for four of the last five weeks. Also feeling like my definition is better than the last time I was at this weight, will have to post a decent progress photo in the next few days.5
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Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
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Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
I totally get that. I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels by attempting to recomp out of this bulk. I know you know what to do and you're doing an awesome job!0 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
I totally get that. I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels by attempting to recomp out of this bulk. I know you know what to do and you're doing an awesome job!
I think you should stick with the recomp! It will be really interesting to see your results, which I think will be pretty fantastic. Not to mention your strength, endurance, energy will be up and you don't have to feel like crapola most of the time like many of us do in a deficit.
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Davidsdottir wrote: »Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
I totally get that. I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels by attempting to recomp out of this bulk. I know you know what to do and you're doing an awesome job!
I think you should stick with the recomp! It will be really interesting to see your results, which I think will be pretty fantastic. Not to mention your strength, endurance, energy will be up and you don't have to feel like crapola most of the time like many of us do in a deficit.
No joke. I've not been sleeping particularly well and have had a heck of a time dragging myself out of bed for morning workouts this week and last (it being in the 90s all this week hasn't helped). I'm also starting to feel generally worn down, specifically in my shoulders and where I strained and/or tore my left pec back in the fall. I felt great doing my extra workout Saturday afternoon but I think I should've just kept it in my pants and rested. Similar circumstances were what resulted in opting for the diet break in March, which turned into the flabby bulk from which I'm still cutting down. I know I need to just power through to get to a point where I'm proper lean enough to actually bulk effectively for once. Hard to fully commit to that when the "bro-devil" on my shoulder keeps whispering in my ear that I'm not swole enough.1 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
I totally get that. I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels by attempting to recomp out of this bulk. I know you know what to do and you're doing an awesome job!
I think you should stick with the recomp! It will be really interesting to see your results, which I think will be pretty fantastic. Not to mention your strength, endurance, energy will be up and you don't have to feel like crapola most of the time like many of us do in a deficit.
No joke. I've not been sleeping particularly well and have had a heck of a time dragging myself out of bed for morning workouts this week and last (it being in the 90s all this week hasn't helped). I'm also starting to feel generally worn down, specifically in my shoulders and where I strained and/or tore my left pec back in the fall. I felt great doing my extra workout Saturday afternoon but I think I should've just kept it in my pants and rested. Similar circumstances were what resulted in opting for the diet break in March, which turned into the flabby bulk from which I'm still cutting down. I know I need to just power through to get to a point where I'm proper lean enough to actually bulk effectively for once. Hard to fully commit to that when the "bro-devil" on my shoulder keeps whispering in my ear that I'm not swole enough.
Believe me I know all those feels all too well. Just keep powering through0 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »Things are going alright over here. I find I am slowly starting to lose my mojo though. It's only been 6.5 weeks, so I really have to buck up and just do it. Maybe it has to do with my goals, or it could be just a rough mental patch. I keep flip flopping between being a bit more aggressive, or sticking with the rate of loss I have now. I am so terrified of losing muscle, but I am starting to get impatient.
I totally get that. I wonder if I'm spinning my wheels by attempting to recomp out of this bulk. I know you know what to do and you're doing an awesome job!
I think you should stick with the recomp! It will be really interesting to see your results, which I think will be pretty fantastic. Not to mention your strength, endurance, energy will be up and you don't have to feel like crapola most of the time like many of us do in a deficit.
No joke. I've not been sleeping particularly well and have had a heck of a time dragging myself out of bed for morning workouts this week and last (it being in the 90s all this week hasn't helped). I'm also starting to feel generally worn down, specifically in my shoulders and where I strained and/or tore my left pec back in the fall. I felt great doing my extra workout Saturday afternoon but I think I should've just kept it in my pants and rested. Similar circumstances were what resulted in opting for the diet break in March, which turned into the flabby bulk from which I'm still cutting down. I know I need to just power through to get to a point where I'm proper lean enough to actually bulk effectively for once. Hard to fully commit to that when the "bro-devil" on my shoulder keeps whispering in my ear that I'm not swole enough.
Believe me I know all those feels all too well. Just keep powering through
@Sardelsa, I imagine you having more of a "booty-devil" sitting on your shoulder feeding you these insecurities. I see "bro-devil" is a cross between Rob Gronkowski and Thor.1
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