Cutting by water fast???

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joeyangelr
joeyangelr Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it safe to cut after a bulk by water fasting and what precautions should I take, should I continue usual strength training routine or do a bunch of cardio like jump roping? Thoughts please!

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,969 Member
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    What do you mean by "water fasting?"

    It's a dangerous approach and definitely not necessary.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,925 Member
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    No it's not safe, especially for your specific needs. Forgetaboutit. :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Assuming your bulk actually did what it was supposed to and added muscle mass to your body...why would you want to blow it all up and negate those gains with water fasting, inadequate calories, and inadequate protein? When you cut after a bulk you want to do it slowly (small calorie deficit), with plenty of protein and other nutrition, and you'd want to continue to lift to maintain your gains. Crashing your diet with water fasts and incessant cardiovascular exercise is only going to destroy any gains you've made in building muscle.
  • joeyangelr
    joeyangelr Posts: 9 Member
    edited November 2023
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    I’ve just seen people do a three day fast and lean out like crazy! I’m trying to cut from 165 to about 150 So I just thought I’d be a lot quicker than a calorie deficit which I am currently on.@cwolfman13 @ninerbuff @neanderthin @cmriverside
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    joeyangelr wrote: »
    I’ve just seen people do a three day fast and lean out like crazy! So I just thought I’d be a lot quicker than a calorie deficit which I am currently on @cwolfman13 @ninerbuff @neanderthin @cmriverside

    I know a few bodybuilders and physique competitors...they don't cut with water fasts. They may do something like that literally a couple of days before a show but that's it. Also, drinking only water would be a calorie deficit...a massive one. Large calorie deficits burn muscle as well as fat so if you're doing bulking and cutting cycles and doing that, you're completely wasting your time.

    Doing an actual cut would assume you're not just ripping out for a show or a day by the pool or something...cuts are sustained efforts to reduce higher levels of BF and go for weeks and months...a large calorie deficit over weeks and months is just going to negate anything you gained during a bulk.
  • joeyangelr
    joeyangelr Posts: 9 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Ok thank you for that info, it definitely cleared things up but just out of curiosity what would you consider a good calorie deficit for a 5’7 29 male at 165lbs trying to cut to 150lbs while obviously trying to sustain muscle mass?? Proteins, carbs, fats, trying to see if I’m doing it correctly with my current calorie deficit @cwolfman13
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,640 Member
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    Water fast or any fasting for that matter is a good way to lose muscle
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,910 Member
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    joeyangelr wrote: »
    I’ve just seen people do a three day fast and lean out like crazy! I’m trying to cut from 165 to about 150 So I just thought I’d be a lot quicker than a calorie deficit which I am currently on.@cwolfman13 @ninerbuff @neanderthin @cmriverside

    Are these people you've seen in real life, or are they content creators on youtube?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,910 Member
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    joeyangelr wrote: »
    Ok thank you for that info, it definitely cleared things up but just out of curiosity what would you consider a good calorie deficit for a 5’7 29 male at 165lbs trying to cut to 150lbs while obviously trying to sustain muscle mass?? Proteins, carbs, fats, trying to see if I’m doing it correctly with my current calorie deficit @cwolfman13

    Go here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change-goals-guided or More > Goals in app.
    1. Put in your stats.
    2. normal daily activities refers to your job.
    3. Ignore How many times a week do you plan on exercising? - that does not get included in the equation.
    4. Select Lose 0.5 pound per week.

    The resulting calories is your daily calorie budget. It's normal to go a little over or under, but since weight loss is already included in these calories, you don't want to intentionally go hundreds of calories under.

    Here's a reputable protein calculator:

    https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

    I shoot for 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein grams recommendation from Examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up to 30%.

    The MFP default of 30% for fat is fine.

    Fill in the rest with carbs.
  • ChelzFit
    ChelzFit Posts: 292 Member
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    I had to do a 3 day hospital stay and was not allowed anything but water due to blood test they had to take. It was awful! I lost about 7 pounds, but it took me almost a week to get my stomach back to normal after eating and to gain my energy back.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,529 Member
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    joeyangelr wrote: »
    I’ve just seen people do a three day fast and lean out like crazy! I’m trying to cut from 165 to about 150 So I just thought I’d be a lot quicker than a calorie deficit which I am currently on.@cwolfman13 @ninerbuff @neanderthin @cmriverside

    15lbs of FAT is 52,500 calories. That would have to be a 17,500 burn a day to achieve that weight in FAT LOSS. Michael Phelps doesn't even burn that in a day with 4-5 hours of practice swimming when he competed.
    If you drop 8lbs of water in 3 days and say even 7lbs of mass, of that 7lbs and NO EATING, half of that could end up being muscle.

    Numbers don't lie. Pictures can be altered.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,925 Member
    edited November 2023
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    joeyangelr wrote: »
    I’ve just seen people do a three day fast and lean out like crazy! I’m trying to cut from 165 to about 150 So I just thought I’d be a lot quicker than a calorie deficit which I am currently on.@cwolfman13 @ninerbuff @neanderthin @cmriverside

    Yeah, like others have said a water fast will effectively use structural proteins mostly to keep our crazy hyper active brains fed properly. This basically translates into getting those structural proteins from your muscle and during a water fast those structural proteins will equate to around 50g's of protein but can be as high as 70 a day and 1 lb of muscle represents about 100g's and to be conservative you could lose 1lb of muscle and maybe another especially if you ask the body for more nutrients like if you were to workout during the fast. Like I said in my original post, it's not a good idea just for the reward of losing weight accumulated for just 3 days and your better off to just do a slight deficit, increase protein intake and work your muscles and thee days later your ahead of the game for the long haul, because that is the reality, don't rush a cut.

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