Cutting

[kylerbutler3]

January 1st my friends talked me into cutting. I had never cut before so I was totally clueless on what to do. I started out weighing 203 and eating around 3600 calories a day. Since I had no clue on how to cut I simply just dropped my calories, a lot, to around 1800 a day. It worked great for me in the beginning, I lost 18 pounds in 4 weeks, but what I was oblivious to was that I wasn't just losing fat I lost most of my gains I had worked for and my weight has drastically dropped on all my lifts. I got pissed and finally did some research and found out that I should've gradually lowered my calorie intake with my diet. What should I do now? Should I reverse diet myself back up to maintaining weight then diet the correct way from there? I am totally clueless on what to do right now.

[kcuviello]

Everyone is going to give you a different answer and everyone's body reacts differently. Use your self as your own science project/experiment. If it were me, I would up my calories up a bit (I don't really count but probably fluctuate between 2k&2500) and stay high fat, high protein, lowish carbs and a lot of greens and lift as heavy as possible so your body has a reason to keep/build muscle. But that's just me

[gbullock32]

Reverse diet to maintenance and choose a goal- bulk or cut, and do so using a proper method watching calories and ensuring minimum fat and protein intake.

Start with nutrition- learning the basics about calorie and macro/micro nutrients and how they will help you reach your goals, read-

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=156380183
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=136691851
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=129523333
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=123915821

Once you have done that select a proven beginner routine, these are made to give the best results, some good routines would be-

Starting Strength - http://startingstrength.com/

BabyLover's Starting Strength - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=135564721

AllPro's Beginner Routine - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843

StrongLifts 5x5 - http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

IceCream Fitness 5x5 - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=148036063

Fierce 5 - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=159678631

Coolcicada's Push/Pull/Legs - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=149807833

Read into those and pick the one you like best.

SUPPLEMENTS

Are just that and nothing more, you do not need them, and most are either useless or a waste of money. If you really want to take them there are a few that can be beneficial though.

Recommended-

Multivitamin- Useful for helping to fill in any holes in your diet- remember, it is there to compliment what you get from food, not replace it.

Fish Oil- Great for getting in essential fats that most do not from whole food unless eating fish fairly often.

Creatine Monohydrate- Cheapest form of creatine and the most proven/studied. 3-5 grams a day, taken at any time with any liquid is all it takes and you do not need to load or cycle nor do you need to take it with sugar. Many types of creatine exist but just go with a plain mono- do not expect miracles though, creatine will barely have any noticeable effect, it may give you an extra rep or 2 but that is about it.

Bloating with creatine is actually very minimal, if it occurs at all, and usually only happens to those who load it (which is not needed). Creatine works by saturation, pulling water into the muscles and providing more endurance: think of it like putting an extra gallon of capacity on your car's gas tank, it doesn't directly improve performance, but allows for more distance to be covered. This is essentially (in very simplified terms) what creatine will do, it will let you go just a little further.

Optional-

Protein- Not needed really, it is just a powdered food (usually derived from either a milk, plant, beef, or egg protein) that can be used to reach your minimum protein needs if you cannot do so with whole foods. Do not get caught up with what type to get, a standard whey will be the cheapest and will be just fine. Only take as much as is needed to reach protein needs for the day.

BCAA Products- BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids) are said to prevent muscle breakdown and aid in recovery- this is true but you know what already has BCAAs in it? Food, any source of protein has and is comprised of branch chain amino acids. Assuming you reach protein sufficiency in your day a BCAA supplement would do nothing to aid you.

BCAA supplements may be beneficial if you take pre/intra workout only if you train in a fasted state, or taken between meals if you go 4-6 hours without food. If you do not fit either of those categories they are not needed at all, save the money.

Not needed-

Fat Burners- They do not burn fat and barely do anything in regards to losing fat. Most will only suppress appetite and provide energy. Save your money, work on diet and training first, skip fat burners entirely or save them as an option for the final part of a cut, when you need an energy boost.

CLA- Borderline useless unless you are obese, do not waste the money.

Pre-Workout- They provide energy and endurance boosts, which may be useful if you need it but hold off until you have training and nutrition experience before looking into these. Some people respond poorly to certain stimulants so if taking a pre-workout always follow the directions and dosing instructions.

Pretty much any other supplements are not worth going into, do research first, buy later or never; most will do so little in regards to actual results that your money is best saved for something useful, like a food scale.

[kylerbutler3]

Thank you! I found those very helpful.