Anyone cutting after a bulk?

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Replies

  • Amwa77
    Amwa77 Posts: 71 Member
    I have been lifting for a while (with no direction). Recently I have started getting more into the whole weight lifting/ body recomp thing and now I'm trying to take it more seriously. So I'm sorry if this has been asked before, what is a refeed and how do they work? Also how would I know when to try to cut? I still have some squishy parts. Should I wait until they are gone or can I do a cut whenever? I'm super excited watching my body change but it takes so long.
  • stephaniedenise28
    stephaniedenise28 Posts: 104 Member
    After an awkward weigh day with my personal trainer last night- it would seem that after my competition this weekend it is time for me to consider stopping eating all of the food :'(

    Long time lurker of this thread, and I want some accountability so thought I would join in :)

    I think my maintenance is around 2,400cal, so I will look to drop it to 2,150 and see how it goes for a couple of months! Not actively looked to lose weight for a couple of years now, so not looking forward to it!

    What type of competition? I find it’s easier to cut then it is to lean bulk. Good luck this weekend!

    Sorry for the delay in reply- was away Friday- Sunday and then started a new job! I competed at the Rainhill Trials, which is a relatively large crossfit competition in the UK.. went into the competition in 40th place through seeding workouts and managed to gain 11 places to finish 29th, so very happy for my first induvidual competition!

    Now to the hard part :( Gained a kg with pre and post comp feeding- amazing hot dogs and bbq resturants were visited! So have spent this week feeling sorry for myself and pretty hungry- heres hoping I dont need to drop my calories too far!

    Everyone is doing so well!

    Okay- so one week down, new job has me eating a lot less as the new office dont seem to buy daily biscuits and cake, thank god! It means I have been able to just eat what I have prepped without being tempted into eating other things. However, the trade off is a lot less walking around, perhaps I will have to offset this with getting out and having a walk at lunchtime when the weather brightens!

    I started at 71.4kg and now sat at 70.6kg, so a bit of a loss, hopefully it continues! Calories may have to drop after the next week as I am dropping back from so much crossfit and into my new olympic lifting block, which means much less all out effort.

    Hope everyone is having a good week!
  • Mr_Healthy_Habits
    Mr_Healthy_Habits Posts: 12,588 Member
    edited April 2019
    Well pretty much stalled this week...

    But taking my boy to see Mexico vs Paraguay at Levi's stadium last Tuesday and indulging a bit in saltyness was so worth...

    He even got to see his first drunken brawl break out like 15' away 🤷🏽‍♂️...

    Oy us Mexicans 🤦🏽‍♂️😂

    Well the previous weeks were basically a wash...

    But refocused this last week and got serious about tracking and sticking to the plan...

    Down about 4 lbs in the last 6 weeks...
    181.6 lbs as of this morning...

    Just gotta do my best to not blow it over the weekend and coming in too heavy Monday...

    I will say that despite decent sleep, my recovery from workouts has been less this week than previous... But it's part of the plan

    The plan is to get down to 170lbs, then regain about 5 lbs of glycogen lost within the muscles from the weight loss

    Down to 180.4 lbs today... So a little over 1lb in the last week...

    Feeling flatter and thinner, but also my recovery is dismal these days, definitely more sore and fatigued from my workouts but steadily dropping..

    About another 1/4" of the waistline and shoulder width is pretty much holding steady...

    I'm not sure if losing more is going to help achieve what I ultimately want tho, there's just too much skin at this point... If I get down to around 10% and my torso doesn't look any leaner and I just look smaller... Then it wasn't worth it 😂...

    This hit me deep this morning...
    But regardless, I'ma keep trying...

    [image removed by MFP mod]
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    Same weight as last week, 184.6. :/ I suspect there's some pre-TOM water weight.
  • letsgain01
    letsgain01 Posts: 106 Member
    Amwa77 wrote: »
    I have been lifting for a while (with no direction). Recently I have started getting more into the whole weight lifting/ body recomp thing and now I'm trying to take it more seriously. So I'm sorry if this has been asked before, what is a refeed and how do they work? Also how would I know when to try to cut? I still have some squishy parts. Should I wait until they are gone or can I do a cut whenever? I'm super excited watching my body change but it takes so long.

    A cut is when you lose weight to let the work of bulking really shine through. So if you're currently getting rid of the "squishy parts" then you are already cutting.

    I'm pretty sure refeeding is basically when you give yourself a high carb and/or calorie day here and there so you don't hate the decision to cut before you get to finish.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    Starting weight -182
    Week 1 - 179

    Bit this week had a bunch of work stress. I was at 176 but i suspect based on the the few days of higher cal higher carb, i am holding more glycogen.

    Although, workout performance was real good this week.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    Nah, not really.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    Nah, not really.

    Maybe it's just my gym, lol. Because I am running an upper lower power/hypertrophy split. And I didn't think it was all the nuts.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    The only reason I don't is because of time. If you've got the time, I don't see why not.
  • dozenmonkeyz
    dozenmonkeyz Posts: 150 Member
    Week 4 of RFL in the books and weight is down 9.3Lbs on the weekly average and 15.1Lbs from starting weight. Let off the gas Friday night and all day Saturday, letting myself have a couple drinks each night and killed some carbs throughout the day Saturday. But right back to it Sunday and I'm gonna be fairly strict for the next 2 weeks, maybe 3 if I can push it. Then 2 weeks off. Energy levels fluctuate but mostly tolerable and very little strength drop. Hunger isn't too bad but I've spaced my food out enough to combat it during the day. On a full EC stack but at this point I feel the effects have diminished to be hardly noticeable.
    Week 5 went pretty well. Skipped the free meal for the week. Had a couple drinks Friday evening but didn't indulge in any other extra calories. Sunday was my refeed and the carbs were as wonderful as I'd hoped. Weight is down another 2.2Lbs from last week on the weekly average. Overall, weekly average loss is 11.5Lbs, and, total weight loss is 16Lbs. Energy levels are still acceptable and hunger is always present but getting less noticeable. Lost a rep on a couple lifts yesterday but that's the first I've noticed any decrease in strength. Planning to grind out two more weeks then break for two weeks.
    Week 6 was a bit of a drag. Loss slowed and found myself really craving food. Managed to fight it off until Saturday night when I had a couple drinks that led me to snacking a few hundred calories. So, the planned refeed for Sunday had to be quite strict and ended up just being kinda miserable instead of relieving and satisfying. Going to grind out the rest of this week and then take my 2 week break. Weekly average loss is 13.1Lbs and overall loss from starting weight is 18.5. I'd really hoped to hit 200Lbs on the scale before my break but not looking likely.
    Started slowly back to maintenance calories throughout Friday & Saturday; so nice to have plenty of energy and eat carbs and all that good stuff. To close out my first phase of 7 weeks on RFL, I'm down 15Lbs on my weekly average and 21Lbs overall. Expecting around 5Lbs to come back on as water weight normalizes. My goal was to hit 200 this cycle but I ended up at 203.

    I'll take a two week break while running a normal lifting routine (and a hefty amount of adult beverages on the upcoming St Patty's Day :p ), followed by another 6 week RFL cycle to hopefully get and additional 10-15Lbs off. If I can get to 190Lbs I'll be ecstatic to start summer time.
    It's been really nice eating a regular diet and getting solid workouts in. St Paddy's was a successful day full of adult beverages and tasty treats without any guilt and my weight has stayed steady so far. Settled in at around 208Lbs so water weight checks out at about 5Lbs. Maintenance calories are around 2,500 with macro targets of 30%P/45%C/25%F; I'm lifting 4 days per week during the break. Gonna stick to the break the rest of this week and return to RFL next Monday.

    Seems a bit quiet in here given we're about 12 weeks from summer. Figured this thread would be busier :shrug:
    Back on RFL protocols today. Calorie goal is 1200/day, P195/C30/F33; supplements are EC stack 3x/day, 9 fish oils, daily vitamin, Potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, and biotin.

    The 2 week break was fantastic, but, I crept back up to nearly 210 so it's important that I jump back in full force and make sure I don't fall off the cliff. Certainly less motivation this time around but there's goals to be met so I'll have to be diligent.

    Once I get through these next six weeks, I plan to post some progress photos; not that it's terribly impressive but hoping there's a noticeable enough difference to show off a bit.
    Phase 2, Week 1 in the books. Kept things pretty simple, eating nearly the same thing each day keeps it easy to adhere but is very boring. Luckily life was busy all week and kept me from worrying about hunger or boredom. Workouts were great and energy was ok depending on time of day. Sleep was a bit restless most of the week but settled out over the weekend. Skipped the free meal and only did a partial/moderate refeed yesterday. Day one I weighed in at 212Lbs, ended the week at 205Lbs (assuming approximately 5Lbs is water weight), and my weekly average was 207.1Lbs. Grind continues to week 2.

    Keep up the good work all you fellow cutters. Summer is coming soon!

    Phase 2 Week 2 wrapped up and I feel it went better than any other week so far. No free meal but I did a proper refeed Saturday. Lifts felt good all all week and energy levels were acceptable. Last weigh-in I hit 202LBs, dropping my weekly average to 204LBs. Have to go out of town this weekend so I'll most likely fall off a bit Friday and Saturday, but, my goal is to hit my protein cals and try to keep overall calories at or lower than maintenance. I'm sure to have a few drinks and eat out a time or two so we'll see how resolved I can be.

    Phase 2 Week 3 went pretty much as I expected except I missed a workout due to job & travel constraints. Weekend out of town didn't cause much damage and it was somewhat therapeutic to go out to eat and have some drinks and snacks without stressing over it. Ended last week at 201Lbs (same when I weighed in today so that's a plus), and the weekly average was 202.2Lbs.

    Keep up the good work, fellow cutters!
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 694 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    Ran PHUL which this sounds a lot like. I did end up with a very serious over use injury that I can’t recover from. However it really came down to my deload management and probably should have cycled out heavy lifting (RPE 9) every 8-10 weeks.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    jdog022 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    Ran PHUL which this sounds a lot like. I did end up with a very serious over use injury that I can’t recover from. However it really came down to my deload management and probably should have cycled out heavy lifting (RPE 9) every 8-10 weeks.

    Yep, its similar to the original PHUL but its focused around some of my strength goals. I run standard 6-8 week loads with a 1 week deload where i just run a bro week. This gives me a nice week where i have non structured lifts that are suboptimal and allow for recovery. The biggest benefit i get from it is additional sanity.

    The current issue i am running into is work travel. Almost every month, i am on travel which makes it a bit more difficult to stay very structured.

    But i am still working on my diet. Down another lb since Saturday, even with PSMF compliance issues. Even with cheating, i end up in a deficit.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So over the past week at the gym, I had a few interesting comments. People thought it was pretty ridiculous how I was able to heavy deadlift (325x3x5), squat (255x3x5) and hip thrust (255x3x8) on the same day. Was told that be a few separate individuals. I don't have any recovery issues and I am making progress weekly. Anyone else think that is weird?

    I haven’t ever programmed hip thrusts but almost always have squats and deads on the same day
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member
    edited April 2019
    Week 12(?) of my intuitive eating challenge... hopped on the scale this morning to see what's up and weighted in at a svelte 205... abs starting to show again. That's about 10 pounds down since I stopped tracking on MFP. I haven't made any mind blowing gains in the gym but I've been able to maintain all my lifts and even increase some a little bit. I definitely wouldn't call what is happening a "recomp" as I'm certainly not maintaining. What it has shown me is that even after years of bulking and eating huge amounts of food my natural instinct is to under-eat and that if I want to maintain my mass I'm going to have to log.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    Welp, I had to travel for work this week and compounded a pretty calorie-tastic weekend. Scale hit me with a 179.2 this morning. I'd been doing pretty well doing IF but got away from it Saturday. Data is pretty undeniable that IF helps keep my calories where they need to be to cut, I'm just not all that big of a fan of doing it on the weekends but I think it's something I need to just deal with; rolling average dropped 4+lbs in 19 days, 74% under TDEE vs. 46% on non-IF days since 1/1/19.
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 694 Member
    New low weigh in today at 181. Been stuck at 183 for a while. Started at a fluffy 193 last week of feb. goal is 170 ish

    With that said shoulder is killing me again. Going Monday to talk another shot and surgery. Be nice to be lean pre surgery as I know it’s gonna suck from there for a while with training and diet
  • Mr_Healthy_Habits
    Mr_Healthy_Habits Posts: 12,588 Member
    Well pretty much stalled this week...

    But taking my boy to see Mexico vs Paraguay at Levi's stadium last Tuesday and indulging a bit in saltyness was so worth...

    He even got to see his first drunken brawl break out like 15' away 🤷🏽‍♂️...

    Oy us Mexicans 🤦🏽‍♂️😂

    Well the previous weeks were basically a wash...

    But refocused this last week and got serious about tracking and sticking to the plan...

    Down about 4 lbs in the last 6 weeks...
    181.6 lbs as of this morning...

    Just gotta do my best to not blow it over the weekend and coming in too heavy Monday...

    I will say that despite decent sleep, my recovery from workouts has been less this week than previous... But it's part of the plan

    The plan is to get down to 170lbs, then regain about 5 lbs of glycogen lost within the muscles from the weight loss

    Down to 180.4 lbs today... So a little over 1lb in the last week...

    Feeling flatter and thinner, but also my recovery is dismal these days, definitely more sore and fatigued from my workouts but steadily dropping..

    About another 1/4" of the waistline and shoulder width is pretty much holding steady...

    I'm not sure if losing more is going to help achieve what I ultimately want tho, there's just too much skin at this point... If I get down to around 10% and my torso doesn't look any leaner and I just look smaller... Then it wasn't worth it 😂...

    This hit me deep this morning...
    But regardless, I'ma keep trying...

    [image removed by MFP mod]

    Today... 179.4 lbs
    So about another lb in the last week, not bad...
    Waist around 31.5"...so a little smaller
  • dozenmonkeyz
    dozenmonkeyz Posts: 150 Member
    Week 4 of RFL in the books and weight is down 9.3Lbs on the weekly average and 15.1Lbs from starting weight. Let off the gas Friday night and all day Saturday, letting myself have a couple drinks each night and killed some carbs throughout the day Saturday. But right back to it Sunday and I'm gonna be fairly strict for the next 2 weeks, maybe 3 if I can push it. Then 2 weeks off. Energy levels fluctuate but mostly tolerable and very little strength drop. Hunger isn't too bad but I've spaced my food out enough to combat it during the day. On a full EC stack but at this point I feel the effects have diminished to be hardly noticeable.
    Week 5 went pretty well. Skipped the free meal for the week. Had a couple drinks Friday evening but didn't indulge in any other extra calories. Sunday was my refeed and the carbs were as wonderful as I'd hoped. Weight is down another 2.2Lbs from last week on the weekly average. Overall, weekly average loss is 11.5Lbs, and, total weight loss is 16Lbs. Energy levels are still acceptable and hunger is always present but getting less noticeable. Lost a rep on a couple lifts yesterday but that's the first I've noticed any decrease in strength. Planning to grind out two more weeks then break for two weeks.
    Week 6 was a bit of a drag. Loss slowed and found myself really craving food. Managed to fight it off until Saturday night when I had a couple drinks that led me to snacking a few hundred calories. So, the planned refeed for Sunday had to be quite strict and ended up just being kinda miserable instead of relieving and satisfying. Going to grind out the rest of this week and then take my 2 week break. Weekly average loss is 13.1Lbs and overall loss from starting weight is 18.5. I'd really hoped to hit 200Lbs on the scale before my break but not looking likely.
    Started slowly back to maintenance calories throughout Friday & Saturday; so nice to have plenty of energy and eat carbs and all that good stuff. To close out my first phase of 7 weeks on RFL, I'm down 15Lbs on my weekly average and 21Lbs overall. Expecting around 5Lbs to come back on as water weight normalizes. My goal was to hit 200 this cycle but I ended up at 203.

    I'll take a two week break while running a normal lifting routine (and a hefty amount of adult beverages on the upcoming St Patty's Day :p ), followed by another 6 week RFL cycle to hopefully get and additional 10-15Lbs off. If I can get to 190Lbs I'll be ecstatic to start summer time.
    It's been really nice eating a regular diet and getting solid workouts in. St Paddy's was a successful day full of adult beverages and tasty treats without any guilt and my weight has stayed steady so far. Settled in at around 208Lbs so water weight checks out at about 5Lbs. Maintenance calories are around 2,500 with macro targets of 30%P/45%C/25%F; I'm lifting 4 days per week during the break. Gonna stick to the break the rest of this week and return to RFL next Monday.

    Seems a bit quiet in here given we're about 12 weeks from summer. Figured this thread would be busier :shrug:
    Back on RFL protocols today. Calorie goal is 1200/day, P195/C30/F33; supplements are EC stack 3x/day, 9 fish oils, daily vitamin, Potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, and biotin.

    The 2 week break was fantastic, but, I crept back up to nearly 210 so it's important that I jump back in full force and make sure I don't fall off the cliff. Certainly less motivation this time around but there's goals to be met so I'll have to be diligent.

    Once I get through these next six weeks, I plan to post some progress photos; not that it's terribly impressive but hoping there's a noticeable enough difference to show off a bit.
    Phase 2, Week 1 in the books. Kept things pretty simple, eating nearly the same thing each day keeps it easy to adhere but is very boring. Luckily life was busy all week and kept me from worrying about hunger or boredom. Workouts were great and energy was ok depending on time of day. Sleep was a bit restless most of the week but settled out over the weekend. Skipped the free meal and only did a partial/moderate refeed yesterday. Day one I weighed in at 212Lbs, ended the week at 205Lbs (assuming approximately 5Lbs is water weight), and my weekly average was 207.1Lbs. Grind continues to week 2.

    Keep up the good work all you fellow cutters. Summer is coming soon!
    Phase 2 Week 2 wrapped up and I feel it went better than any other week so far. No free meal but I did a proper refeed Saturday. Lifts felt good all all week and energy levels were acceptable. Last weigh-in I hit 202LBs, dropping my weekly average to 204LBs. Have to go out of town this weekend so I'll most likely fall off a bit Friday and Saturday, but, my goal is to hit my protein cals and try to keep overall calories at or lower than maintenance. I'm sure to have a few drinks and eat out a time or two so we'll see how resolved I can be.

    Phase 2 Week 3 went pretty much as I expected except I missed a workout due to job & travel constraints. Weekend out of town didn't cause much damage and it was somewhat therapeutic to go out to eat and have some drinks and snacks without stressing over it. Ended last week at 201Lbs (same when I weighed in today so that's a plus), and the weekly average was 202.2Lbs.

    Keep up the good work, fellow cutters!

    Phase 2 Week 4, this update is a little bittersweet as I was able to get the scale below 200Lbs for both my single day weigh-in (198Lbs) and weekly average (199.9Lbs), but, followed that up with a terrible weekend of overeating and not meeting protein intake. Overall, not too upset about it but would have felt much better if I'd been able to eat better and enjoy the scale victory for at least a couple days, lol. Gotta really buckle back down these next two weeks cause I don't want to run a third phase before I hit vacation in mid-June. Time to dial in and grind out a few more pounds.

    Hope everyone else is doing good with their cuts!