Thread: MY first ever Cut... Advice?

I know a lot of people throw this out there, but there is good reason for it.

Read the stickie(s) on cutting, bulking and maintenance. Everything you need to know is in there.....good stuff.

How many cals are you taking in?

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How many calories are you eating - and how many grams protein, carb and fat?

Originally Posted by Built

How many calories are you eating - and how many grams protein, carb and fat?

Pay attention to this term before you answer, AP.

I used a % and Built burned down my barn....true story.

haha I bet she did... Built can be quite aggressive with her diet and fitness prowess...

well, heres my average day:

35% fat,25% carbs and 40% protein

1780 cals a day
70 grams of fat
120 grams of carbs
175 grams of protein

I am from a greek familly, and we use alot of olive oil.. i have gotten them to cut down, and if they ever make a meal for me, i have them prepare it how they know i want haha... that includes not buttering my toast, and putting no dressing on my salad.

What do you guys think? I was told by a personal trainer who hooked me up to a bunch of bells and whisteles that my BMR is around 2300-2400 cals, and I weigh 193 lbs. Pretty built, and I workout HARD and intense 4 times a week. Im on my second day of my cut, and so far so good! only 88 days more till my goal of chiselled abs! lol

A personaly trainer told you your BMR is 2300, and you're eating LESS than this???

Your BMR isn't your maintenance! BMR is the calories required to sit up in bed and do nothing but breathe.

Do not eat less than your BMR for anything but short periods of time while cutting!

What is your maintenance? This isn't a calculation - it's something you find by tracking. How many calories do you personally require to neither gain nor lose weight? For me, it's about 2100 calories and I'm a middle-aged woman who weighs 135 soaking wet.

Training on a cut is different from training while bulking. What is yours like right now?

Thats a good question Built... honestly, i dont know my maintenance. I will probly find out in a week or two after I keep this diet and training regimen up.

My training is mainly for strength and power. I am going hard and heavy, and im doing alot of circuit training,supersets, and compound lifts.

I am doing cardio 4-5 times a week, and am burning 350-1000 cals each sesh (one day a week i do steady state eliptical for 60 mins... i get about 1000-1200 cals out of it.)

Truthfully, this is the first time ive tried to be so calculated. I have been having progress as of late just eating healthy, clean, 4-6 times a day and smaller portions, avoiding complex carbs later at night, and eating slower digesting carbs in general, like whole wheat foods and sweet potatoes, etc.

I want to not just be lean; I want to be RIPPED. I think at this point, its a realistic goal that by dec.15th, I can weigh 180 lbs and be toned, tight, and in the best shape of my life, with abs that turn heads. Tom venutos got me inspired haha.

What do you think built... I can eat more if you tell me that I should lol... theres no problem there. I think theres a 100-200 cal variance in my fitday calculations too... i dunno. time will tell! Im on day three, feeling amazing, motivated, and leaner each day. only 87 more days!

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

Thats a good question Built... honestly, i dont know my maintenance. I will probly find out in a week or two after I keep this diet and training regimen up.

Your cutting calories should be HIGHER than your BMR - not lower.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

My training is mainly for strength and power. I am going hard and heavy, and im doing alot of circuit training,supersets, and compound lifts.

Training for strength and power is very, very different from circuit training and supersets.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

I am doing cardio 4-5 times a week, and am burning 350-1000 cals each sesh (one day a week i do steady state eliptical for 60 mins... i get about 1000-1200 cals out of it.)

I don't know who suggested this to you, but it is a very foolish approach to start out a cut with this much cardio on calories that are too low to run even your basal metabolic rate.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

Truthfully, this is the first time ive tried to be so calculated. I have been having progress as of late just eating healthy, clean, 4-6 times a day and smaller portions, avoiding complex carbs later at night, and eating slower digesting carbs in general, like whole wheat foods and sweet potatoes, etc.

There is no reason to avoid carbs at night, nor is there any reason to eat 6 times a day nor to eat slower digesting carbs while cutting.

Cutting is caloric deficit to ensure weight loss + heavy lifting to preserve lean mass. The rest are all details.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

I want to not just be lean; I want to be RIPPED. I think at this point, its a realistic goal that by dec.15th, I can weigh 180 lbs and be toned, tight, and in the best shape of my life, with abs that turn heads. Tom venutos got me inspired haha.

If you're doing a Venuto-type cut, I shall graciously back out of this thread and observe. I don't cut that way.

Originally Posted by ArnoldsProtege

What do you think built... I can eat more if you tell me that I should lol... theres no problem there. I think theres a 100-200 cal variance in my fitday calculations too... i dunno. time will tell! Im on day three, feeling amazing, motivated, and leaner each day. only 87 more days!

My approach is quite different from yours. I don't understand your programme, other than it appears to be based on starvation level calories combined with massive overtraining.

Unless you're on a boatload of AAS, I'd think you'd lose all your size.

My .02

Ahem....

I agree with built.

from my own recent experience on a cut, and the general things that are taken for fact by people within the fitness and bodybuilding industry, i think you should forget everything you are doing and rethink. i shall give you some general details about my recent cut, as we are of similar age and weight.

i cut for a total of six weeks, varying between low and medium carbs, while keeping protein and fat relatively high. i did virtually no cardio, i trained 4 days a week in an intense fashion, doing roughly 6 reps per set and taking no longer than 40seconds between sets. i reduced the number of sets a did per workout compared to when i was bulking, as i found recovery harder even though i kept my protein high. i found the low carbs difficult due to cravings, until i virtually cut them out completely during the last week of my cut and the cravings went away.

i cant be arsed typing anymore as im just back from the gym and want to go to bed shortly, and i dont know if youll actually read any of it, but if you want me to go into any greater email just pm me.

Thanks moondog/built... i am reading it, and I appreciate the info, and the free money

To be perfectly honest, I am not following a very strict module. I STARTED on it, but I find that really doesnt work for me. What I find is optimal for me is to eat what I want and NOT be deprived (in moderation of course) as part of a healthy lifestyle, to eat intelligently, and to kick my butt in cardio and weights and at the gym.

The idea of eating 2000-2500 cals a day, being satisfied, and burning 500-1000 through cardio and weight training each time i perform them both is much more appealing than very little cardio and a super strict diet.

I have already lost about 2.5 lbs, and am at 190 lbs for the first time since grade 6... My dad and grandparents think im crazy. "Chris, dont starve yourself!" "Chris you are getting to skinny! you are perfectly fine!" To wich I reply "I KNOW im in fine shape, but what is stopping me from being in AMAZING shape? They generally calm down when I explain that I know what im doing, and not to worry.

So here I am. 190 lbs, quite built if I say so myself,In the best shape of my human life to date. However, I want to take this as far as I can go. When I first started out 2 years ago at almost 260 lbs, my goal was 220. I wanted to still be big, but have a thinner face. Then I got there and decided I wanted to be a little skinner, just so my arms showed. Then at 200, I was suppost to be "there". Now that I AM here, at 10 lbs less than my goal weight 2 years ago, I am starting to like it. Why stop here when I can be FIT? Why settle for regular, average, when I have the capability to be ripped? to be an elite athlete? to be envied by men who say "Damn, that lucky bastard must have amazing genes, I could never get like that". Thats what I want to be, I have decided to get there, and I am going to. The how is not as important for me; I am going to succeed either way, and I will follow any path that will take me there.

Now, HERE is my current REALISTIC plan (my original plan in that post was abit much... I realize with my schedule and other duties, namely school, its not going to work for me. Instead, I will do as follows:

-I am cutting out all unnecesary sugars and calories. I drink my coffee black, I eat my toast unbuttered, and I use balsamic vinegar on my salads. No Junk food, which ive already been doing for the past year. I am now thinking "How will this help me reach my goal" every time I open my mouth to give my body fuel.

-I am working out 4 times a week. I am undecided right now as to how my time would best be served in there, and I am willing to go gruelling, and in fact, enjoy it. I love getting an amazing cardio workout from weights. (im thinking, Built, that If I switch up my diet, and eat closer to 2000-2500 cals, with upwards of 180-200 grams of protein, that I could get away with workouts like this that I LOVE and still not lose size. I love my shoulders and Biceps. I want them to stay

-I am going to do cardio every time I workout for at least 15-30 minutes afterwards, as well as a warmup mile before hand. I will continue to be active, playing as many sports as possible and always burning calories i.e parking far away in the parking lot, walking quickly up stairs, etc. Its on my mind 24/7, is my goal, and I am doing everything I can.

I mainly want to make this my lifestyle. I want to be lean and mean for the rest of my life, and Im going to. I want to drop around 13-15 lbs of bodyfat (dont know exact amount) and get down to 175-180 (ill see when I get to 180 if I wanna get to 175... I dont think ill ever go beneath 170, nor would I want to. My goal is to get rid of every part of flab on my body (wich it stubbornly MAINLY resides underneath my chest and on my abs), and is not mainly focused on weight. I want to have visible abs, and not be "soft". I noticed a huuuuge difference from pics of me @ 205, and pics of me as of today. Its unbeleivable how much a difference 10 or even 15 lbs make.. It will be a complete transformation once I hit 175.(or lower my bf% 4-6%. either way)

So, for those of you still with me (thank you, I appreciate it greatly), what do you think my course of action should I take? I have no REAL timeline, and I would be content reaching this goal in 2,3,4 or even 6 months. Either way, im going to be ready for summer Thanks alot guys (and girls

You got from "overweight" to "healthy lean" your way - that is to say, eating well but not monitoring or tracking calories, and doing a lot more activity.

You will likely not enjoy continuing success as you go from "healthy lean" to "ripped" using this strategy. The rules change as you become leaner.

I suggest UD2.0

I agree with Built.

You are going too low. As a very rough estimate you shouldn't go lower than 10X your BW, at least not for long. So in your case ~2000 cals should be the lowest. 15X would be a rough estimate to your maintenance. Which would work out to be 2900. I would start at a little lower than that (~2700) and take it from there. The weight you lost the past few days would be mostly water weight.

Dont be too aggressive in cutting right off the bat. Ease yourself into it. I learnt this lesson the hard way a few years back.

too much + too soon + too fast = loss of a bunch of mucle

Did I read this right? 1700 cals? Hmmm.

Somebody's getting ready to trash their metabolism.

Let me know if you want any advice on that^^^^^, because I've got the patent on the process.

I agree with both of you... I think I started off too ambitiously, and I am definitely willing to slow it down and take a more gradual approach.

I dont know what direction I should really go in... I looked at the UD2.0, it seems pretty extreme for me at the moment. It would defiitely take some serious dedication (which I am prepared to give) and preperation. I am definitely going to look into it.

My number one and two priorities, as in my opinion, neither outweight the other, is to Lose some fat (10-15lbs) and retain LMM. Time is not an issue, and willpower is not an issue. I just need to know what I have to do, and I will do it. Ideally I would like to keep it to a fairly "normal" diet.. as in, no days where im messing around with like, 0 carbs and only protein, or extremely reduced calories, and then 1.5 days of a leptin refeed, etc.

Things I have identified that I can definitely commit to are:

4 times a week weight training
4 times a week cardio
calorie reduced clean diet

I think with my willingness to do that, there has to be SOMETHING i can do that will get most of this fat off. I do realize that in order to get to that next level insanely low BF that you have been able to reach Built,as well as many others have, that special tooling is required, and more serious measures need to be taken.

For now my goal is to be 180 , lean, and to lose the flabbiness from my midsection. then, come february/march, after retaining my body weight at 180 and stabilizing there, I will do a calculated and controlled, to the gram cut to get down to extremely low BF levels. Thats my plan, and Im hoping that its at least moderately coherant and definitely doable!

Okay, how about carb cycling with a 4-day lifting split and a varied cardio protocol? That's how I dieted down to my avatar shot.

Diet: Got Built? » How to set up a diet - basic carb cycling
Lifting: Got Built? » Baby Got Back
Cardio (with instructions on how to integrate the lifting and the diet): Got Built? » How to do Cardio if you MUST!