UK's Cutting Log - 15% -> 8% bf

[UnitedKingdom]

It's me again, back with another log. My previous logs were very short, this one will be much longer and a lot better. I will keep everything short with no frills, no point in boring people with drivel and results are what matters, not how nice this log looks.

After much thought about whether to bulk or cut I have finally decided to cut. I have never been sub 13%bf so I have never seen my abs. I have some muscle mass, albeit not a large amount, so once I'm done there should be something to show. Here are my current stats...

Weight: 179lbs
Height: 5"10
Bodyfat: 15%

And here are the stats I want to reach...

Weight: 164lbs
Bodyfat: 8%

15lbs to lose. Will be aiming to lose 1lb per week, maybe slightly more. I should reach my goal by the beginning of December at the latest. After that I will bulk whilst avoiding excessive fat gains. Then it may be time to cut again. Like I said, I was considering bulking however I'll end up real fat and I feel that will demotivate me greatly. I get motivated when I see results in the mirror (getting leaner).

Here's a pic from a week or two ago. Not the best lighting and I was messing about with mates (probably drunk too).



As you can see there's a bit of mass there but there's also a fair amount of fat. Diet was crap that week... biscuits, cider and chips (fries). Hahahahaha. Ha. Haha.

I plan to eat at a 500 - 800 calorie deficit whilst keeping my protein high. I'll be eating around 3,000 calories per day. This should put me in a 500 deficit. I bike to the gym and back each day which is around 12 miles, I do some cardio in the gym and at least 1hr intense weight training as well as little things like walking the dog, walking shops, etc.

Macros are as follows....

~3,000 calories
200g protein (minimum)
80g fats (minimum)

Carbs will make up the rest. Some days I'll hit higher protein and fats, other days it'll be lower. I will make sure I reach the bare minimums of what I posted though.

That's pretty much it. I find these logs kick me up the arse when I'm lagging behind 'cos people are watching. Thanks and stay tuned!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 1
Calorie Intake: 2900
Calorie Expenditure: 3400
Deficit: 500

Calorie Intake
Today I had a fast food meal after the gym, just felt like one so I had one. It's fairly high in protein (~40g+) but it's also high in calories (1200); 6 chicken pieces, fries and a can of pepsi. Still, made it fit my macros.

Usually I'll show a fitday screenshot but I didn't log that meal but I logged everything else.

2900 Calories
Protein: ~200g
Fats: ~90g
Carbs: ~320g

Roughly those numbers. I had to estimate the macros of the fast food meal, I suspect protein is higher and carbs are lower but there we go.

Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 100
- Shoulders & Triceps workout: 400
- ~12 mile bike ride: 600

Comments
Need to go shopping for food tomorrow, will pick up some high protein foods. Also going to order 4kg of whey today, easy way to get protein in and it's much cheaper than food. Workout was good, tried some new shoulder exercises. Was a fairly short workout (about an hour) but it was very good. Solo workout, no chatting, just weights. Weighed in at 179lbs, the past few days had fluctuated due to me drinking alcohol a few days ago and eating salty foods (I went from 178 to 181 and I've settled at 179 again).

[FunkymonkAW]

In on this. Good luck bro!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 2
Calorie Intake: 4100
Calorie Expenditure: 3500
Deficit: (600 surplus)

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- Treadmill: 150
- Stepping machine: 150
- Back (incl. Lats & Traps): 400
- ~12 mile bike ride: 600

Comments
Damn McDonalds! I never truly realised how calorie dense their food really is. I went today because I was with friends and thought what the heck. I didn't bother going shopping but I will do tomorrow. Also get my 4kg whey tomorrow so I'll hit 200g+ protein easily while staying within my calories. I'll be making up for the surplus. Not too happy I hit a surplus but I'm not killing myself over it. Tomorrow is a new day.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 3
Calorie Intake: 2900
Calorie Expenditure: 2200
Deficit: (700 surplus)

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200

Comments
Failure of a day, like yesterday. I ate a load of calories in the morning and then I ended up not going to the gym. Doh. Good news is I am going tomorrow... should be at a 1500 calorie deficit today, currently at a 800 calorie surplus. Not killing myself over it, I will either make up for those calories or just get back on track. I'll be able to burn quite a bit in the gym tomorrow. Got my whey, nom, chocolate orange is niceeee! For the British peeps here, I recommend BBW (Bodybuilding Warehouse) for whey/supps.

[Adam2519]

Got my whey, nom, chocolate orange is niceeee! For the British peeps here, I recommend BBW (Bodybuilding Warehouse) for whey/supps.

Have used their Banana Whey forever . Might hit up a diff flavour when im out idk.

Just get back on track with the cut when you can man

[UnitedKingdom]

Have used their Banana Whey forever . Might hit up a diff flavour when im out idk.

Just get back on track with the cut when you can man

Haha I had banoffee, was OK but it got a bit boring. Chocolate orange smells just like terrys chocolate orange, tastes a bit different (I did make the first one too weak). Will try with less water.

I always end up on a surplus lol! Maybe it did me some good though, over the past three days thats just ~260 cals over which would allow some muscle growth. Will be back on the deficit tomorrow. This isn't a short sprint, it's a marathon.

[UnitedKingdom]

I was going to do a leg day but they ache, probably from all of the biking. I'm not used to it yet. Decided to rest today and tomorrow then get back on the training and diet Monday. Log is a failure right now but I will get it back on track next week.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 1 (of being back on track)
Calorie Intake: 2750
Calorie Expenditure: 3500
Deficit: 750

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 200
- Rowing: 100
- Chest & Biceps, 45 mins: 300
- ~12 mile bike ride: 600

Comments
Back on track. Finally went shopping and got some food. I was going to have 250g chicken with 160g veggies, I made it all but when I ate the chicken it tasted like surface cleaner... I think it was because the surfaces had been cleaned and I left it in a food bag on the side for a few hours. D'oh. Had to chuck it. Will make more tomorrow though. Had some ice cream, some crisps, and fishfinger sandwiches! NOM! Great workout at the gym, Dorian Yates style workouts, really intense. Was doing barbell curls and my arms just couldn't bring the bar up anymore but I was so focused I got a burst of energy to move it and completed the rep. Good stuff!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 2 (of being back on track)
Calorie Intake: 2800
Calorie Expenditure: 3400
Deficit: 600

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- Treadmill: 160
- Stepping machine: 140
- Back, 45 mins: 300
- ~12 mile bike ride: 600

Comments
Good back workout, getting into deadlifts. Did 176lbs for ~8 reps. Not all the way down as I was focusing on back. That's pretty much my bodyweight and I don't really do deadlifts (started a week ago). Upping my cardio, did ~2km on the treadmill for a warmup and then some stepping.

Got in my protein and fats, had the rest of the icecream and a snickers that I left in the fridge... also had some crisps. Decent 600 cal deficit. The numbers are rough, I do it a bit of extra cardio (~100 cals extra) and my bike ride probably burns more as it's about 14 miles but I am not fussed about small things.

Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. Legs are permanently frazzled from riding each day.

[MrCarl.]

In. Interesting to see your progress as we have almost identical stats and body comp. Good luck!

[UnitedKingdom]

In. Interesting to see your progress as we have almost identical stats and body comp. Good luck!

Good stuff! Are you currently cutting or bulking (or maintaining?). Thanks very much bro!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 3 (of being back on track)
Calorie Intake: 2400
Calorie Expenditure: 2900
Deficit: 500

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- 45 min walk: 200
- 9 mile bike ride: 500

Comments
Today was a rest day so no gym. I had a problem though... I'm used to consuming ~2800 cals per day. If I did absolutely nothing today I'd have to eat 1800 to be in a 500 cal deficit... 1800 cals... wtf is this?! lol! (I did diet on this many cals back when I was a noob 2 yrs ago). So, I decided to take the dog for a long walk and ride my bike... I took my iPad and recorded the journey. I was quite surprised, my average speed was 10mph and I travelled 9 miles. It wasn't my usual route/journey. It said I burned 557 cals which I think is fairly accurate (the calculators I have used say between 400 and 700 cals for leisure to 12mph). I will ride to the gym and back with the iPad to track how many cals it reckons are burned and I'll base it off that (I've been saying 300 each way, underestimating).

Anyway good day today, managed to fit in two bags of doritos and a frozen snickers. Doesn't even feel like a cut.

[MrCarl.]

I was undereating in spring and ended up 78.8kgs in june and lost lots of water weight. Have been maintaining ~82kg whole summer and planning to cut to 77kgs when school starts as my daily expenditure is going to be much greater than it is now (more eating ) After that am def. going to bulk and cut in tiny cycles something like 2-3 months bulk 1 month cut.

[UnitedKingdom]

I was undereating in spring and ended up 78.8kgs in june and lost lots of water weight. Have been maintaining ~82kg whole summer and planning to cut to 77kgs when school starts as my daily expenditure is going to be much greater than it is now (more eating ) After that am def. going to bulk and cut in tiny cycles something like 2-3 months bulk 1 month cut.

Ah I see, I did the whole undereating thing back when I was an absolute noob. I knew ziltch (apart from eat less calories than you burn). Good plan, mine is similar! Cut to 74kg, bulk until I reach ~12%bf and then cut and repeat. Hopefully I can fine tune the bulk and gain only small amounts of fat. I was gonna bulk now... but at this bf% I don't think it's a good idea. 15% bf is inbetween, it's not fat but it's not lean either.

[MrCarl.]

Damn right with that not fat but not lean either I ate 3000kcal and on some days was -1500kcal

[UnitedKingdom]

Damn right with that not fat but not lean either I ate 3000kcal and on some days was -1500kcal

Damn! I was eating around 1800 and burning ~2600 a day, some days 3000. Very low protein and very OCD on calorie intake/expenditure. We make mistakes and learn.

Going to the gym for shoulders, traps and triceps workout.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 4
Calorie Intake: 3200
Calorie Expenditure: 3500
Deficit: 300

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 200
- Shoulders, Triceps & Traps workout: 300
- 14 mile bike ride: 700

Comments
Whoops... small deficit today. Didn't realise how many calories I'd consume with the burgers. Not to worry! Fairly good workout, gym was busy though which is why I go in the mornings usually. Leg and ab day tomorrow. Not much else to say other than everything is going well. Oh yeah I GOTS ME SOME BACONS!!!!!!!!!11

Just to note the deficit might actually be more, the burgers were cooked with a George Foreman grill and there was very little fat left in them. Not fussed though, this is all roughly right, all that matters is a consistent deficit!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 5
Calorie Intake: 3700
Calorie Expenditure: 4200
Deficit: 500

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 3200
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 100
- Legs, Abs, Biceps & Chest workout: 450
- 7 mile bike ride: 350

Comments
What a day! Rode 7 miles to the gym, then went and got my brother to do a leg workout. Did some cardio warming up then did a big leg and ab workout (also did a small amount of chest and biceps). Really good workout with my bro, pushed myself further than normal. Great to train with somebody who really wants to get big. I do Dorian Yates style high intensity training and I love it. After that I rode home but 10 mins in I got a flat tyre so I had to walk the rest of the way (7 miles!) and to make it worse I had my heavy bag, had to push the bike and it was raining heavily the whole time. Also decided to walk 30 mins to the shop and get some ben and jerrys. Tiring day and my legs will ache tomorrow but at least I got to eat a load of calories today.

Will sleep like a baby. Two rest days now... calorie consumption will be lowwww, not sure how I'll find it lol!

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 6

Not tracking today. Just a lazy day doing pretty much nothing. Will keep protein high and maybe hit a surplus but it's probably needed to help repair my legs lol. Back on the 500 cal deficit tomorrow.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 7
Calorie Intake: 2000
Calorie Expenditure: 2200
Deficit: 200

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200

Comments
Rest day. Did no exercise other than walk the dog twice. Need to adjust to rest days as the calorie intake is much lower. Maybe I'll create bigger deficits on workout days. Will update with my weight tomorrow and I'll see if I'm looking leaner.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 8
Calorie Intake: 2800
Calorie Expenditure: 3500
Deficit: 700

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- 14 mile bike ride: 700
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 200
- 45 mins Shoulders & Triceps workout: 300

Comments
Great shoulder and tricep workout, really smashed my triceps. Unexpected McDonald's breakfast... my mate got it me. Fits macros...

I plan to have bigger deficits (700 or 800) on workout days and then on rest days I'll eat maintenance or a small deficit (200). Regardless, weekly deficit will be 3500+ cals.

I weighed myself today, 178.5lbs - I will put this bluntly, I needed to take a **** so I'm probably 178lbs. Will weigh again tomorrow.

Forgot to note: I am looking leaner. Not a great deal leaner, but certainly leaner. After all, what can I expect from a week of being semi-ontrack? Looking forward to seeing how I look next month.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 9
Calorie Intake: 4200
Calorie Expenditure: 4800
Deficit: 600

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200
- 14 mile bike ride: 700
- Treadmill: 100
- Stepping machine: 200
- 45 mins Back & Lats workout: 300
- ~3 hours bike riding: 1300

Comments
Pushing big numbers today! Wasn't expecting to burn and consume so many calories. I rode to the gym, did my workout and then chilled with a couple of mates. We rode around so much, we were out for about 4 or 5 hours and around 3 hours of that was actual riding. My legs ache and my knees do too so I'll be resting tomorrow. I ate a 1000 cal fast food meal, nearly (shared with friend) a whole tub of B&J's Caramel Chew Chew as well as some crisps and a small snickers bar. 4k cals is easy. I really do not understand how people struggle to get their calories in. I could reach 10k in a day if I had to. Anyway it was nice to eat that much although quite a lot of it was from calorie dense foods.

I weighed myself today: 177lbs! I was expecting 178lbs. It may be a fluctiation but it was early morning, fasted, after my workout (loss sweat but I drank more water than I lost). I'll check again on Thursday and see what it's at. Definately lost at least 1lb as I was 179lbs before. I also look slightly leaner; my friend commented on my forearms looking lean. I definitely noticed it as well. For once I've finally been able to stay consistent with a diet, be happy and lose weight. This is all down to IIFYM/flexible dieting, whatever you want to call it... picking whatever foods you want so long as you hit your macros and calories. I need to try and get more fruits and veggies in and sometimes some more wholesome foods.

Anyway good stuff, off day tomorrow so I probably won't hit a deficit (or it'll be small) but the past two days will make up for it.

Deadlifted 90kg/198lbs for 4 reps. My grip was going even though I used straps... the straps aren't so good. I know that's a small number compared to lots of people but 1) I only just started doing deadlifts one or two weeks ago and 2) I'm cutting, when bulking I expect it'll be higher. Still if I keep track of it I can see where I go with it...

EDIT: Forgot about the twinky I ate! My mate bought some from an American candy shop here, it wasn't bad but they were £1 each! Yeah $1.50 per twinky...

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 10
Calorie Intake: 2100
Calorie Expenditure: 2200
Deficit: 100

Calorie Intake



Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2200

Comments
Rest day. I'm seeing what is the best way for me to diet on these days and I think I've found it: tuna, chicken and whey protein. Best way to get my protein in as it's very low cal. Deficits on these days will be between 500 and 0 calories. If it's under 500 I'll make up for it through the other days.

So far I'm at a deficit of 1400 calories out of 1500 for this far in the week. I plan the rest of the week to look like this...

Thursday - 800 deficit
Friday - 800 deficit
Saturday - 300 deficit
Sunday - 200 deficit

I can easily hit a big deficit on a workout day but on rest days it is harder. Next week I'll try and even it out by having a 700 deficit on workout days and a 300 deficit on rest days. In a few weeks I will have a whole rest week as my body is feeling the strain. In that week I'll eat at a 500 cal deficit each day.

Anyway that's that.

[UnitedKingdom]

Day 11
Calorie Intake: ~3800
Calorie Expenditure: 4400
Deficit: ~600

Calorie Intake
~3800 cals
~160g protein


Calorie Expenditure
- BMR + Misc. activities: 2400
- 28 mile bike ride: 1400
- 1hr Chest & Biceps workout: 400
- Cardio: 200

Comments
Didn't track today due to being out with my mates all day. Calorie intake is an estimate as well as protein intake. I was certainly in a deficit, I rode a lot today. Had a Chinese buffet, 2 plates and then I had 2 plates of desserts with icecream. My stomach was so full it really hurt... I felt ill. All is good now though! Back on tracking tomorrow. Weighed myself today, just over 177lbs (like 177.25) I think it was at.

[UnitedKingdom]

I let myself go for a few days, mainly because it was my brothers birthday (lots of cake), I ran out of money and I just felt very lazy and demotivated.

Back on it all tomorrow, going to stock up on some food. I am going to make each days deficit 300 - 700 calories, no more and no less. I don't want the deficit to get too high as I feel I've lost some muscle mass (there are parts on my biceps where it looks like a chunk of muscle has disappeared... happened before but it went).

Was torn between cutting and bulking... I still want to bulk as I'll have 6 months of getting bigger and stronger, but I'll also be fatter, or I can cut until December then bulk from December until April, then cut again if need be.

[ryanyoung88]

Fellow UK Brah so i'll keep an eye on this!

Bit of friendly advice though bro,
Personally I would try and not cheat so much if possible, Try and get your Macros through Chicken, Fish etc rather than cheat meals \ snacks etc. although I know it is very tempting (Big ben and jerrys fan here!)

Aside from that bro your Cardio routine looking awesome so keep hitting it hard

[UnitedKingdom]

Fellow UK Brah so i'll keep an eye on this!

Bit of friendly advice though bro,
Personally I would try and not cheat so much if possible, Try and get your Macros through Chicken, Fish etc rather than cheat meals \ snacks etc. although I know it is very tempting (Big ben and jerrys fan here!)

Aside from that bro your Cardio routine looking awesome so keep hitting it hard

Hey bro thanks! I totally agree, I was having "junk" food everyday and quite a lot of it... also lots of fast food every week. I certainly need to limit myself a bit more; even though if I hit my macros it'll not matter so much, it would be healthier to consume less treats and maybe I'd appreciate them more too. Saying that, today didn't go so well (fast f00dz lol out all day), either a deficit or maintenance today, lots of cardio and shoulders and triceps workout. Looking leaner even though my weight is at 181lbs (lots of water weight due to consuming salty foods).

Motivated to get cutting again now, I am going to just push on with this until December and reach that 8% bodyfat goal, then I can add some mass!

[UnitedKingdom]

Quick update: I got a full time job, 8 hours a day on my feet/walking/lifting boxes/etc. 5 days a week, coupled with the 20 miles I'll ride per day I will be burning a crazy number of calories per day. I would try to guestimate but right now I am too tired... no gym for a week or until I get used to this job. Still cutting but for the next week or so I won't be tracking, at least until I get used to it all. I'm pretty sure I'll be in a deficit everyday though, I will keep protein high (min 140g).

Will be interesting to see my weight. I may weigh in tomorrow and log it, then weigh in 1 or 2 weeks later doing this.

Thanks to all those who followed, I will update and get back on track properly soon.

[UnitedKingdom]

Just realised I'm burning a crazy number of calories each day... 20 mile bike ride is around 1000, BMR + misc (walking dog) is 2200, 8 hours walking around/pulling heavy loads/lifting boxes will be like over 2000 so I'm burning like 5200+ calories per day.

I start early in the morning so I think I'll have a couple of bowls of cereal, some toast with peanut butter and 3 scoops of whey, then at lunch (6 hrs later) I'll have a couple of sandwiches with tuna/chicken/egg/beef/pork in, then when I get home (5 hours later) I'll have a cooked meal with lots of protein sources, quite a bit of "junk" (icecream, biscuits, crisps, whatever) food (gotta get them cals in) and before bed some more wheyyyz.

Will be getting over 200g protein per day and I'll aim for maintenance or a bit lower. For now (the next week) I won't track but once I'm used to it all again I'll track.

Feel sad because no gym. Will defo start going again after next week.