Cutting...feel like a junkie on withdrawal

[awhites1]

Man a week and a half, and dropped about 5 lbs. And thats while still on creatine so im carrying some water weight that I could easily drop. Anyways, this is the longest i've been on my diet consistanly in nearly maybe a year. I cut 10 lbs of body fat last year and it was awesome, was feelin lean and buff...
but i dont remember it being this hard! Man all i can think about is candy, and brownies with ice cream, chili cheese coney.

No advice or question really, just looking for some comradery I guess.

 

[NeilPearson]

Reduce your carbs. Get your calories more from fat and protein. This should reduce cravings

 

[irish_2003]

i'm in a precontest diet phase right now and snack on dill pickles and cucumber slices along with a few too many diet cokes

 

[BigBadWolf]

that first week of dieting is a motha fucker

 

[sassy69]

i'm in a precontest diet phase right now and snack on dill pickles and cucumber slices along with a few too many diet cokes

I am a vinegar junkie so I LOVE pickles, mustard, basalmic dressing on salads.. Just ANYTHING to get some sort of flavor out of my food! And I have the same problem w/ Diet Cokes (or lately Diet Barq's Root Beer..).

The two things I'll add are:

1) Watch the amount of pickles - the amount of sodium in those bad boys will make you retain water like a seacow if you're not careful.

2) There are arguments over whether or not you should cut out diet sodas while competition dieting - but IMO the most important thing is that you don't let it replace the amount of WATER you should be drinking. The dehydration factor will come into play at some point if you do. The other thing is that I eventually hit a point where the aftertaste of diet soda just starts to make me miserable. Then its time to drop them! My other favorite substitute is ALRi Chain'd Out BCAAs mixed in water w/ lots of ice!

 

[sassy69]

that first week of dieting is a motha fucker

Builds character.


A few months ago I read an amazing book called "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl - this is a Jewish doctor/psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camps. Its a fairly short book that takes an amazingly objective view of the whole concentration camp experience, not focusing on the atrocities but rather what makes a person want to or not want to survive under the most ungodly conditions.

Not to get morbid - but I'm sitting here going thru another competition prep and when I think about what it takes to get thru a personally imposed restricted diet, and then compare that to what the situation was in a place like a Nazi concentration camp, it REALLY keeps things in perspective and reminds me what the human body is capable of - whatever the motivation. Obviously the goals and results are different, but the whole OMG I'M MISERABLE AND STARVING is put into perspective and its kinda not all that big a deal, relatively speaking. I don't recommend a starvation diet, but in terms of surviving it and keeping things in perspective... hard to whine too loudly, relatively speaking.

 

[jmorrison]

Not to get morbid - but I'm sitting here going thru another competition prep and when I think about what it takes to get thru a personally imposed restricted diet, and then compare that to what the situation was in a place like a Nazi concentration camp, it REALLY keeps things in perspective and reminds me what the human body is capable of - whatever the motivation. Obviously the goals and results are different, but the whole OMG I'M MISERABLE AND STARVING is put into perspective and its kinda not all that big a deal, relatively speaking. I don't recommend a starvation diet, but in terms of surviving it and keeping things in perspective... hard to whine too loudly, relatively speaking.

I got off the phone with a high school friend of mine last night, and we were talking about cutting. I am ALMOST at my goal of 10% and was bitching to him about how hard it is. He just laughed. He has his show on the 21st, and if he wins this one, I think he can apply for his procard as his has won some amatuers already. Off season he weighs around 297 with abs still visible at 6'1". His show is in less than a week and he is at 247 4.3% BF right now. He told me to stop crying.

My 10% doesnt seem so bad now lol.

OP: I struggle with this too. Personally I find if I cut out carbs and eat more protein it cuts off my hunger. May want to give it a shot!

 

[unclem]

^^^jmiam going to try and get to 5-6% bf for my competition, at 242lbs so i like the post but at least i know i can do it without to much agony. my last competition i was 242 at 8% bf i think i won but not the overall, this time i got alot of time to train with my personal trainer ifbb pro. and i like and get alot out of sassy and builts diet regimins, curt and juggernut to, thunder is moving up on my scale of compitent people to listen to. ill be starting my slin shortlyand hgh when i get a couple of kits on hand ill addthem. the question for you jm is how smooth are you at 10% bf? or are you pretty lean? let me know as its important to me. as i go back to work the 7/24/ 2010 i wont have much time to get on here as much but ill try to at least a few hrs a day. thnx my friend?

 

[jmorrison]

I dont know to be honest. I havent been 10% since the army 10 years ago, and I carry a lot more muscle mass now. My abs start showing at 15%, so I think at 10% I will look ok.

10 is my goal simply because I think that is a BF% I can maintain and still live the sort of life that I want to live. I like to have beers with the fellas, go out to eat with my girl, and have the occasional piece of pie. I think I would struggle with anything less than 10%.