sarahstrezo Member

When I mention Ice cream…..chocolate IS just a given ;)

Bagels….don't forget bagels. I think ice cream and bagels were my prime fuel source for my bulk :)

Yes to this. I'm a 33 year old female who is 5'5" and 133 lbs. I cut at 2100 cals and I do no cardio (I lift 4 days a week). I bulked last fall/winter and had to up to 2900-3000 to continually see my .5 lb/week gain. And.. yes, the cut after a bulk is not bad. Your metabolism is rocking and you'll likely cut at a higher…

My cut is officially over. It lasted about 10 weeks with about 2 weeks at maintenance to start. I was cutting at around 200-2100 calories. I'm stopping now because I'm starting to notice my strength beginning to plateau and I'm not recovering like I should be. Those things are more important to me than being ultra lean. I…

Yep, Holly is right. I started a cut in March after a few weeks at maintenance. My cut cals were around 2100. And…I also didn't see any strength loss, but I did see a plateauing in my big lifts and, also like Holly mentioned, I wasn't recovering like I should. I'm going to take more measurements and I think I may be…

^^ yep, this. Even the top fitness professionals don't have perfect looking upper/inner thighs when they sit down.

I'm done with my cut. No…I'm not as lean as I was thinking/hoping I'd be, but I no longer care. Right now, I want to be more focused on my strength continuing to go up. I'm sun 20% body fat, I think I'm right around 19% and that's fine for me. I'll take the rest of the summer and do a reccomp at maintenance and see where I…

I have an Inzer double prong lever. I didn't actually have to adjust it for my bulk. I bought it and set it pre bulk and was able to leave it throughout my bulk. Granted….it was a tad too tight near the end and I wanted to adjust it within the last 2-3 weeks, but knew I'd be cutting soon. Now, it's fine and I will probably…

Yes to all of the above ^^^^

It sounds like something you might need a professional to help you sort through.

Not that ridiculous to me. I'm 5'5" and 133-134 today. When I was intentionally bulking last fall/winter…I had to continually eat close to 3000 calories a day just to maintain a .5 lb gain per week. And…I do no cardio. I lift heavy 4 days a week and walk my dogs regularly…but that's it.

That is incorrect. You eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight. you could eat nothing but Pop Tarts….and as long as you ate less calories than you burn in the day, you could lose weight on pop tarts. Now….nobody is reccomeding that. Food quality has nothing to do with losing scale weight and everything to do with overall…

Nope.

I think if you want to stop the binge/restrict cycle, you need to figure out why you do that. You may need professional help for it. But….when you say 1200 cals over your allowance, what is your allowance? If you allowance is only 1200….no wonder you are binging…your body is HUNGRY. I eat 2200 cals a day and I'm cutting.…

Is that night time snack putting you over your calorie goal? If not…there is nothing wrong with eating right before bed. I do it every single night. And…you can't blow any progress with a snack or meal. Just like eating one salad doesn't make you a fitness model, eating a night time snack isn't going to undo any hard work…

Instead of one egg…eat 2. There's an additional 70 calories. Put 1/2 avocado on top of your chicken or eggs or whatever. And again…there's really nothing wrong with a burger. Even a burger every day if that's what you like. If it fits your cal and macro goals, it doesn't really matter. I have ice cream about 4 days a week.…

Calipers can have a large margin of error based on the person administering the measurements. Plus…if you were losing fat, there is no way you were gaining new muscle at the same time. It's just not possible. And, if you weren't doing any heavy lifting…you definitely didn't gain new muscle. Anyway….it doesn't matter. If…

there are no "right" foods and "wrong" foods. Food is food. Meet your calorie and macro goal and try your best to meet your micro nutrient goals each day. If your fat macros are low for the day….have some cheese or avocado. If your carb macro is low for the day…have a bagel. Same with protein…..scarf a steak if need be.…

I think you are confused about the difference between TDEE and BMR. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. So…that number should include ALL of your daily activity, including exercise. BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate. So…..the base amount of calories your body would require to survive if you were lying in a bed, in a coma,…

Your weight (and anyone's weight) can fluctuate day to day quite a bit due to water, food, etc. You shouldn't be weighing yourself every day…especially if you are in recovery from an ED.

FIrst off…you aren't eating enough. Period. That is why you are feeling so spent after doing bicep curls and tricep kick backs. Second off….if you want to get stronger, you need to strength train. Strength training is not the same as just lifting weights. Bicep curls and tricep kick backs aren't strength building…

also…..log everything. Even if you pop a handful of pretzels from your kids' lunch in your mouth (I do that all the time)…..log it. It could be worth 100 cals. And you do that enough times in one day, it'll add up and suck up your deficit real fast.

Ditto this ^^^. I do neither abs or calf work. Simply because I find it annoying and boring.

Are you weighing and measuring all your food?? ALL of it? Like…peanut butter, do you actually weigh out the grams on a digital food scale?? If not..start there and make sure you are actually logging your food accurately. If the answer is a yes….then you need to either eat less or move more.

You'll lose fat by maintaining a deficit in your eating. For gaining strength, you need to do a tried and true strength training program like strong lifts or starting strength. If you are brand new to the gym…you might be better off starting with the basics. Skip the machines and get into the free weight area. Nia Shanks -…

^^^ this.

Yeah…I tried the MFP method of adding back in exercise cals, but it just left me feeling fatigued (and hella hungry) on rest days. And my wo days that followed a rest day were usually **** because of the previous day of low cals.

Yes. I do the TDEE method and eat the same amount of food everyday regardless of activity.

Before my bulk, my stats were 5'5" 126 lbs and about 19% Bodyfat and 32 years old. Toward the end of my bulk, I was eating close to 3000 a day to continue to maintain a .5 lb/week gain. Now, I'm 5'5" 134 lbs about 19% body fat and I'm cutting at 2200….so my maintenance is likely 2500-2600.

I also tapered to maintenance for 2-3 weeks and then started cutting 100 cals/week until I saw a steady loss of .5 lb/week. Right now, I'm still losing at 2200 cals (which is just crazy to me).