How Long should you "Cut down" for..

[krissi006]

Hey All,

I have a question.. if you're "cutting down" and you've been cutting down for a while, like 6 weeks or 8 weeks, and your STILL not close to what you were hoping for, should you stop and maintain and build for a little while? And how long should you bring your calories up again for?

Anyone have calorie advice?

I'm 5"4' and 109.4 lbs on average.. 25 inch waist. No real definition...some soft lines down by the V and some oblique..
if I do weighs 3 x a week and cardio 4 x a week how many cals are good for BUILDING? and How many cals are ideal for cutting?

My only genetic blessing is a round bootie..but My love handles and lower back are like always "muffin top-ish"..

Ideas anyone?
Please help cuz I'm sooo starting to get burned out of not seeing any MORE results. Thanks Ladies!

[ChplHillGymGirl]

depends on your diet and how strict of a cut you're doing. can you post your diet?

[sherdi]

You have posted a lot of questions in here.....I think you are undeweight and need to stop cutting down....you need to build up your muscle and feed it what it should be getting! I have posted my comments in one of your other questions....

[krissi006]

Yes I know, lol. I haven't had a membership here for 2 years, I've been dying to have that "community" with people again. It's so nice to be able to share ideas with successful women like yourselves.. I'm gonna have to add some pics on here for critique. Thanks a million again, for your time and help.

I'm officially upping my calories to 1400??? for Now and focusing on building..then maybe I'll up it again after I level out a bit.

[gfundaro]

Those are some low calories! The ideal number you should be eating for a cut is 500 below what you burn in a day at your current activity level. I am eating 1600 a day and culking pretty effectively. I've been doing this for about 5 months, so tomorrow I'm starting a 4-day vacation during which I won't exercise at all, and I'll be eating maintenance calories for a Low Activity rather than Very Active. 1400 calories sounds low, even when I had less muscle and I worked out less my calories were at 1500, and I'm pretty small compared to normal people. Your % of body fat also effects how many calories you can cut.
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/lyle_mcdonald/maximum_fatloss?page=0%2C1
I found that article very helpful.

[jg_girl088]

Yes I know, lol. I haven't had a membership here for 2 years, I've been dying to have that "community" with people again. It's so nice to be able to share ideas with successful women like yourselves.. I'm gonna have to add some pics on here for critique. Thanks a million again, for your time and help.

I'm officially upping my calories to 1400??? for Now and focusing on building..then maybe I'll up it again after I level out a bit.

Its a good idea to up the calories in increments so going up to 1400 is good, and I would keep going up if you want to build. I eat around 1600-1700 when doing a moderate cut (which I'm doing now) with 2 refeeds a week to around 2100 with high carbs. If I were building or maintaining I think I'd be up around 1900-2100 consistantly, possibly more.

[krissi006]

Its a good idea to up the calories in increments so going up to 1400 is good, and I would keep going up if you want to build. I eat around 1600-1700 when doing a moderate cut (which I'm doing now) with 2 refeeds a week to around 2100 with high carbs. If I were building or maintaining I think I'd be up around 1900-2100 consistantly, possibly more.

Wow and you don't get soft at 1900-2100?! Do you change your activity level, or just lift heavier? harder? No extra cardio or anything?
You seem to know a lot though..!

[gfundaro]

Wow and you don't get soft at 1900-2100?! Do you change your activity level, or just lift heavier? harder? No extra cardio or anything?
You seem to know a lot though..!

Have you looked up any BMR calculators? My maintenance is 22-2300, working out 6 days a week for 1-2 hours a day. I like to use several BMR calculators to get an average based on my activity level and my body fat % (which unfortunately I don't know at the moment). You'd be surprised how many calories you burn in a day! Of course, at a lower activity level, I'd burn less, but for what I'm doing now 1600 is a good sized deficit that I can only handle because of how much body fat I assume I'm carrying. I can eat 1800 without getting soft, but my progress slows a bit.

[krissi006]

[to: gfundaro

Wow that article was GREAT! Totally what my boyfriend and I wanted to read..
I lost 30 lbs from when I first was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, but even though my thyroid is now normal, I stopped loosing weight.
I went from 28% BF to about 15-17% now..But I can't get that hardness that I've been looking for. I want that track athlete type body. I seem to have the half inch layer of softness kinda all over and a chunk on the lower back/love handle and hip area. Very annoying..especially since my boyfriend has made great progress on his abs, and mine look soft still.
I'll keep in mind that deficit. I've definitely had too much of a deficit, thinking, MORE is better. I've been around 800 cals def, because that's what worked when I was 132 lbs..not that I'm 109...that isn't working, I'm sore and exhausted all the time and kinda moody, sucks!!
So upping the calories sounds like a plan to me! :)


As far as calculators are concerned my average seems to be 1390 RMR..activity level included is so hard for me to judge..
I work 8 hours a day in front of a computer, but I workout anywhere from 5-8 x a week. Some days doing just one training sessions, some days I do AM cardio and weights at night. So since I have a desk job and maybe and hour or two of training a day, is that little activity?? I can never tell how to gauge that!

Even though all this is so confusing it's all pretty darn fun to challenge your body and mind. :)

[gfundaro]

I generally use the Moderately Active calculator because, although I work out 6 days a week, I do sit around a lot since I'm in between jobs hehe :-) Also, if I'm feeling incredibly hungry or fatigued, I'll have a tablespoon of PB and it'll bring me up about 100 calories so I'm still at a big deficit for the Very Active calculation. The activity calculation is basically just asking how many days a week you exercise and how hard you work when you do. I take one day off; two days for an hour of cardio; and 4 days for lifting and 2 short cardio sessions (20 min AM, 30 min PM). Other than that, I sit around and eat :-D

[jg_girl088]

Wow and you don't get soft at 1900-2100?! Do you change your activity level, or just lift heavier? harder? No extra cardio or anything?
You seem to know a lot though..!

nah I was eating 2200-2400 at one point and maintaining. Its true most people do underestimate the amount they burn. However, I'm college student so I do a lot of walking to classes and so forth, and I lift 6 times a week (3 days on, 1 day off cycles) and cardio usually 3-4 times a week or every other day. So I guess i'm pretty active, but I don't emphasize cardio or anything. I always lift heavy and hard :)

[BrookeBaby]

Geez JG....those college boys must not know what 2 do with you!

[jg_girl088]

Geez JG....those college boys must not know what 2 do with you!

lol i know right?

[BrookeBaby]

do you have a boyfriend?

[jg_girl088]

not as of right now lol