Looking for some feedback on current cut. The HugzMonster thread.

[HugzMonster]

Hey guys, I'm exactly 7 weeks into a cut and was wondering if you could provide me with some feedback.

I used to wrestle and play lacrosse in high school but have very little experience body building. My experience in the weight room is probably still novice to intermediate right now (can squat, dead lift, bench with decent form but in my lifetime I think the most I've ever been able to sustain lifting is 6 months and that was from me getting lazy). I got really big (the bad kind) in 2008 and have since then been working to get back to athletic shape.

Currently I'm weighing myself on a weekly basis every Thursday after I wake up and am using tape measurements, the mirror, a scale, and an OMRON to track my results. I understand the OMRON isn't the most accurate device so I'm really just using it to see if the BF% numbers go down.

2008 Fat Me: 166 lbs, Aprx 20% BF (there is a pic in my body space if you're interested in seeing what a short fat guy looks like)

Height: 5'4''

Body type: ??? I've been told that I'm a meso or endo or mixture of both but after reading through the forums, I'm not losing any sleep over my body type. Would be interesting to get some confirmation though on what I think I am.

Pre Cut Starting Weight: 152 lbs, Waist = 36 inches

Current Weight @ 7 Weeks: 142 lbs, Waist = 32.5 inches

I've attached some pictures and would appreciate estimates on my BF%. The first picture is a relaxed front picture of me pre cut. The remaining pictures were taken today.

So far, I've seen a loss on the scale each week so I'm not too worried about hitting a plateau. I do understand that the closer I get to 12% and 10%, it's probably going to take longer so I'm trying my best to maintain a patient mindset. As far as the lifting goes, I want to be in it for the long run since I'm tired of sliding up and down on the scale and never really achieving good shape. I lift for an hour and a half using a 3 day split and jog 1-2 miles on off days. Weekends I try to rest as much as possible but I still do recreational activities like swim with my family or play tennis with them. My current concerns are regarding my strength level and LBM.

Do I have enough muscle mass on my frame to continue cutting down to the mid to high 130s without looking too skinny? Doing the math, my LBM is 123.5 lbs with weights of 138 lbs @ 12% BF and 136 lbs @ 10% BF. The weight does seem low from a bodybuilding standpoint but given that I'm a shorty, that seems like an appropriate base to get to before deciding on a bulking plan. It is worth mentioning that my ideal physique would be that of an Olympic wrestler like Iowa's Tom Brands. He wrestled at 136.5 lbs in the 1996 Olympics and looked pretty jacked.

Regarding my diet, Myfitnesspal.com suggests 1410 kcals per day to lose a lb per week. This is the deficit that I've been following and I'm losing about a lb a week. I used the Katch-Mcardle BMR calculation at my current weight and 15% BF to get a BMR of 1553. That seemed a little low for me but maybe I just don't have a good understanding of BMR. That's the kcals that I need assuming I did nothing at all right? Here is a basic layout of my current diet.

Breakfast: 1-2 eggs (3 with 1 yolk on lifting days) and a cup of cereal with milk. Usually I will also add a piece of fruit to this.

Snack/Prelift: Granola bar or toast with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch: 1 can of tuna with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese and 1/4 cup of black beans (it's kind of gross but Franks Red Hots makes it tolerable)

* on cardio days I usually go to McDonalds and get a 500 cal meal like 2 hamburgers to keep my sanity and taste my childhood.

Post Workout: 8 ounces of Chocolate Milk (I know the suggestion is 16 ounces but since I'm 31 and semi lactose intolerant, I've discovered that 16 ounces of milk turns my body into a living trombone).

Dinner: Always consists of a protein and vegetable. I have not been disciplined about measuring my dinners but I'm fairly certain that dinners never go over 800 kcals. I'm usually slightly hungry when I go to sleep.

Post Dinner: Sometimes I'll eat a yogurt with flax seeds if my hunger is bothering me too much.

At times I have wondered if I'm eating too little but I have not seen a drop in the last 7 weeks regarding my strength and I'm losing weight on a steady pace. I am not taking any supplements. I was considering purchasing fish oil and multivitamins but some people have suggested that the vitamins aren't too necessary as long as I'm getting my micro nutrients from my diet.

Regarding current strength. So far my DL max is 225 lbs, squat max is 200 lbs, and I have not tested my bench press max yet but can rep 135 x 10 if I chose to start my chest/triceps day with benching. At my strongest back in college I was able to bench 190 lbs once before getting a hernia (not from lifting but one that I was born with and had to be fixed as I got older). Should I be worried that my strength is going to go down drastically if I continue to cut to 10%?

Any suggestions for possible tweaks or improvements to my current cut strategy? I'm pleased with the results so far in terms of the weight loss so I'm really just checking to see if I'm missing anything that could make my work more effective.

[HugzMonster]

No suggestions or feedback at all? Anyone?

[BloodySalad]

Drop the MacDonalds. Eating it once in a while is fine but eating a couple of burgers every other day?
Being "fairly certain" about your calorie intake isn't good enough. Guaranteed your figures will be well off. Use a calorie counting site like fitday.com and input every single thing that goes into your mouth.
Cardio is fine but don't use it as fat loss. The calories you burn from it are negligible and everything should be concentrated around diet.
Don't cut too much. You don't have a lot of muscle mass and you'll end up looking skinny. You'll need a couple of bulk and cut cycles before you get a good shape.


Fish oil is a yes - good for the joints. I would also take multi-vitamins. They're not going to hurt you and it's a safety net if you aren't getting all of your vitamins in.

BF%, I'd say early to mid twenties.


Good luck.

[Dielikeadog]

I don't think i would cut to 10%. maybe drop another 15lbs and start bulking up.