195 -> 145. What now to maximise aesthetics over next 4 months? (srs)

[cosm0]

Made a post back in August when I looked like an absolute bloater asking whether I should bulk or cut looking like this:



You guys roasted me and made me realise I needed to cut and cut drastically. Been on a long hard 7 month grind since then and this is where i'm up to now (waist down from 39 to 31):




Currently weigh 145, 5"10.5. I think I look like more than 145, seeing as I have very little ab definition and my stomach still sticks out, asian tyre belly. I am going on holiday at the end of June, so almost exactly 4 months from now. My question is what would you do over this time period to maximise aesthetics?

I'm thinking I should finish the cut at 140 which will take another 3 weeksish. Then lean bulk until start of June (7-8 weeks) , then do another 4 week cut?

Or do I need to cut alot further, or start lean bulking immediately and leave the cut till June? You guys always give honest advice so wanted to ask here.

If you say keep cutting, please be specific until what weight you would cut to.

[MarinoMike]

Nice job maxxing out aesthetics.

[fmylife4real]

Just keep cutting. Don't bother bulking until after Summer.

[AshWar]

gjdm bro, awesome cut srs. I'd still cut a bit but maybe slow it down, what're your lifts like?

[cosm0]

Nice job maxxing out aesthetics.

Was it even worth typing out this post?

Just keep cutting. Don't bother bulking until after Summer.

? If I kept cutting for 16 weeks, id be way too skinny

gjdm bro, awesome cut srs. I'd still cut a bit but maybe slow it down, what're your lifts like?

Thanks man, appreciate it.

Thing is I am making 0 gains on my lifts now for months. Pretty much whats in my sig i've stalled at for ages. Managed to stay the same on squat and bench, lost 10-15kg on deadlift. My cut is aggressive, I usually lose 0.5-2lbs in a week but no matter what I cant gain on lifts. I'd have to go into a surplus now. I just want to go hard and finish the cut as quickly as possible as I don't think I will gain mass even if I slow the cut down.

[steeler505]

Nice progress. sthetics on the way.

Forget all the bulk cut **** tbh. If you want to look good for summer, eat only slightly above maintenance if anything.

Muscle gains will come and the bf% will fall naturally. Get some cardio in too.

You should NOT be losing weight.

[MissHolly]

Eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy. Then hit the slow bulk after summer. You will recover your strength and recomp a bit over summer.

[uwotm7plus1]

why did u photoshop bottom pic on the far right?

honestly, if i were you id just worry about putting on some muscle mass and not cutting bulking

so slight surplus + lifting heavy

[Ralys]

Looks like you have apt bro. Fix dem posture issues and that 'asian tire belly' might go away srs

[guest89]

I'm guessing your about 5'5 or shorter. You need to stop worrying about your body-weight. Your still fat at at 145. If you stop at only 5lb lighter then 'bulk' your going to put on more body-fat and within a month will look about the same as you do now. In my opinion you need to cut down until your moderately aesthetic (Abs starting to show) then slowly/cleanly bulk without putting on much fat. (Assuming your trying to look decent).

You already look a lot better. Just get the belly fat under control before you try to 'bulk'.



As for making gains on lifts are you trying to be a competitive power lifter? I haven't 'made gains' on lifts in about 3 years and I look better now then when I was trying to increase my strength/numbers.

[cosm0]

Nice progress. sthetics on the way.

Forget all the bulk cut **** tbh. If you want to look good for summer, eat only slightly above maintenance if anything.

Muscle gains will come and the bf% will fall naturally. Get some cardio in too.

You should NOT be losing weight.

I do 8 hours of cardio a week at the moment lol. I ****ed my tdee up bad and dropped calories too early.

Eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy. Then hit the slow bulk after summer. You will recover your strength and recomp a bit over summer.

If I ate at maintenance I would go nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. I either need to cut or bulk, eating at maintenance I cant add to lifts anymore.

why did u photoshop bottom pic on the far right?

honestly, if i were you id just worry about putting on some muscle mass and not cutting bulking

so slight surplus + lifting heavy

I didn't lol. It came up 3x the size of the other pictures and when I dragged it down to fit it with the others, the sizing went really weird.

Looks like you have apt bro. Fix dem posture issues and that 'asian tire belly' might go away srs

I have a winged scapula. So have really bad rolled shoulders. Work on it everyday, don't think I have apt. The tyre belly is there cause i've been fat since I was 13 I think.

I'm guessing your about 5'5 or shorter. You need to stop worrying about your body-weight. Your still fat at at 145. If you stop at only 5lb lighter then 'bulk' your going to put on more body-fat and within a month will look about the same as you do now. In my opinion you need to cut down until your moderately aesthetic (Abs starting to show) then slowly/cleanly bulk without putting on much fat. (Assuming your trying to look decent).

You already look a lot better. Just get the belly fat under control before you try to 'bulk'.

As for making gains on lifts are you trying to be a competitive power lifter? I haven't 'made gains' on lifts in about 3 years and I look better now then when I was trying to increase my strength/numbers.

I'm 5"10.5 bro. Almost 5"11. I've had a belly since I was 13 and spent alot of time gaming. I have awful body composition genetics and all my fat is around my stomach and nowhere else. What bodyweight would you cut down to, taking my height into consideration?

I'm trying to maximise aesthetics. Surely making gains on lifts equates to building muscle?

[liftersize]

Keep cutting but at a slow pace.

[MissHolly]

If I ate at maintenance I would go nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. I either need to cut or bulk, eating at maintenance I cant add to lifts anymore.

Mkay

[HockeyBacon18]

id do a lean bulk til mid/late may or so, then cut down before your vacation. pack a few pounds of good muscle on before cutting again.


also strong math on end of june being 4 months away. its 3 months away boyo.

[guest89]

I'm 5"10.5 bro. Almost 5"11. I've had a belly since I was 13 and spent alot of time gaming. I have awful body composition genetics and all my fat is around my stomach and nowhere else. What bodyweight would you cut down to, taking my height into consideration?

I'm trying to maximise aesthetics. Surely making gains on lifts equates to building muscle?

Weird. I'm 5'8 and even when I was my fattest at 187lbs I looked about like you do at 145....




The 1 rep max doesn't necessarily correlate to your over-all physique. There are plenty of people that are putting up big numbers that look like crap. I would definitely say stick to the 8-12 rep range until you've got a respectable physique then if you want to worry about 1 rep maxes you can emphasize that.

[cosm0]

id do a lean bulk til mid/late may or so, then cut down before your vacation. pack a few pounds of good muscle on before cutting again.


also strong math on end of june being 4 months away. its 3 months away boyo.

Yeah I think this is another way to consider going about it. I would prefer doing it that way as i've been cutting for 7 months and going nowhere on lifts.

Fark, dun goofed. Only 3 months you're right!

Weird. I'm 5'8 and even when I was my fattest at 187lbs I looked about like you do at 145....

The 1 rep max doesn't necessarily correlate to your over-all physique. There are plenty of people that are putting up big numbers that look like crap. I would definitely say stick to the 8-12 rep range until you've got a respectable physique then if you want to worry about 1 rep maxes you can emphasize that.

Trust me, its weirder for me than it is for you lol, I only eat about 1.5k calories a day or less. Theres a pic of scales on bodyspace from start of Jan if youre struggling to believe where I was 169 and fatter.

I do icf 5x5, so has a good balance of strength and hypertrophy training. I rarely test my 1 rep max.

[MetroBrah]

we outchea. good progress mate

[HockeyBacon18]

Yeah I think this is another way to consider going about it. I would prefer doing it that way as i've been cutting for 7 months and going nowhere on lifts.

Fark, dun goofed. Only 3 months you're right!

I think your best bet is to eat at a 300-500 surplus for a while. Focus on lifting for a bit. Youve been cutting for 7 months, your metabolism and hormones are likely outta whack at this point and itd be more beneficial to bulk for a bit and add a bit of mass.

[cosm0]

we outchea. good progress mate

Thanks brah.

I think your best bet is to eat at a 300-500 surplus for a while. Focus on lifting for a bit. Youve been cutting for 7 months, your metabolism and hormones are likely outta whack at this point and itd be more beneficial to bulk for a bit and add a bit of mass.

Every 2 months I have gone to maintenance for 2 weeks. So I haven't been too harsh on the body but I agree it would be good for my metabolism long term as I eat such little healthy fats at the moment.

How would you convert from this drastic cut to a surplus? As I am in a huge deficit (lost 2 lbs last week). I did 8 hours cardio last week, + workouts. So have no idea what to do, do I just drop 4 hours of cardio and eat the same and see what that does?

[HockeyBacon18]

Every 2 months I have gone to maintenance for 2 weeks. So I haven't been too harsh on the body but I agree it would be good for my metabolism long term as I eat such little healthy fats at the moment.

How would you convert from this drastic cut to a surplus? As I am in a huge deficit (lost 2 lbs last week). I did 8 hours cardio last week, + workouts. So have no idea what to do, do I just drop 4 hours of cardio and eat the same and see what that does?

obviously dont jump straight into a surplus, but it would depend on how many calories your intaking. If your eating very little along with the cardio, id eat more until i returned a good intake before i reduce the cardio

[cosm0]

obviously dont jump straight into a surplus, but it would depend on how many calories your intaking. If your eating very little along with the cardio, id eat more until i returned a good intake before i reduce the cardio

Its difficult to say as I weigh all my food after cooking and have got used to that. But at the moment 100g protein/ 55g carb/ 30g fat but its obviously alot more than that. So i'll keep cardio similar and up the food? I was hoping to drop some of it as my legs are always fried when I go to squat from so much elipticle.

[SerbianSickKant]

gj on fat loss, idk what your goals are but if you wanna get jacked now is time to eat in a surplus and focus on growing some solid muscle, dont expect this to happen in 3months tho

[uwotm7plus1]

Its difficult to say as I weigh all my food after cooking and have got used to that. But at the moment 100g protein/ 55g carb/ 30g fat but its obviously alot more than that. So i'll keep cardio similar and up the food? I was hoping to drop some of it as my legs are always fried when I go to squat from so much elipticle.

if your only concern is building muscle and better physique, reduce cardio by a lot...maybe 2h per week if not less

[HockeyBacon18]

Its difficult to say as I weigh all my food after cooking and have got used to that. But at the moment 100g protein/ 55g carb/ 30g fat but its obviously alot more than that. So i'll keep cardio similar and up the food? I was hoping to drop some of it as my legs are always fried when I go to squat from so much elipticle.

based off quick math, your intaking 400+220+270= 870 calories a day.... you admit its low but thats extremely low. Especially in terms of protein. Im not big on diets (other than PSMF) that have you below 1500 cals for an extended period of time.

Any idea what your maintenance calories would be?

[cosm0]

gj on fat loss, idk what your goals are but if you wanna get jacked now is time to eat in a surplus and focus on growing some solid muscle, dont expect this to happen in 3months tho

Thanks bro. Long term jacked yes. But I want to be looking in peak condition come this holiday so need to think how i'm gonna manage my time before then. I'm going to have to continue cutting at some point before the holiday or i'll still be fat.

if your only concern is building muscle and better physique, reduce cardio by a lot...maybe 2h per week if not less

My main concern is looking my best come the holiday in the first week of July when i'm going to a festival. Yeah that is the plan but if I drop 8 hours of cardio fast will be the same as upping calories too fast. My legs are fried from squatting and smashing the ellipticle so I expect my lifts to go up quite considerably after dropping the cardio. As I said I was thining just dropping 4 hours this week to begin with. But hockey bacon said to increase food instead.

[cosm0]

based off quick math, your intaking 400+220+270= 870 calories a day.... you admit its low but thats extremely low. Especially in terms of protein. Im not big on diets (other than PSMF) that have you below 1500 cals for an extended period of time.

Any idea what your maintenance calories would be?

I weigh my food after cooking. I was under the impression that this is wrong, so my macros are probably alot different but still very low. But it is possible I am eating around 1,300 calories a day. I think my TDEE is ****ed. I've managed to keep lifts the same, so I must be hitting around my neccessary protein amount.

[sooby]

if you are keen on losing a bit more fat maybe eat at maintenance/slight deficit

[HockeyBacon18]

I weigh my food after cooking. I was under the impression that this is wrong, so my macros are probably alot different but still very low. But it is possible I am eating around 1,300 calories a day. I think my TDEE is ****ed. I've managed to keep lifts the same, so I must be hitting around my neccessary protein amount.

and you do cardio on the days you spent in the 1200-1300 range as well?

any idea how many calories you burn the average cardio session?

[uwotm7plus1]

Thanks bro. Long term jacked yes. But I want to be looking in peak condition come this holiday so need to think how i'm gonna manage my time before then. I'm going to have to continue cutting at some point before the holiday or i'll still be fat.



My main concern is looking my best come the holiday in the first week of July when i'm going to a festival. Yeah that is the plan but if I drop 8 hours of cardio fast will be the same as upping calories too fast. My legs are fried from squatting and smashing the ellipticle so I expect my lifts to go up quite considerably after dropping the cardio. As I said I was thining just dropping 4 hours this week to begin with. But hockey bacon said to increase food instead.

tbh you might have damaged your hormone production with your diet, thats very low carb and fat intake....you need to eat healthy fats to improve your hormonal picture which in return will boost your metabolism and muscle gain...so you will actually burn more calories by eating more

also too much cardio kills gains

[Sanguivorant]

That's a pretty drastic cut, damn.