Wisdom that worked best for you to get from the 15% bodyfat range to 12,11,10%

[alloutmassiveaction]

I have been dieting on and off over the past 1 1/2 years and have gotten from 160 lbs at 21% bodyfat to around 141-142 lbs at %15.5 percent last time I got checked a month ago.

I am 5'6 tall and currently 139 pounds. I am probably 14-15 percent bf now, but will get checked tomorrow to be sure.

I am doing a 10 Day Diet break to maintenance calories to reset hormone's such as Leptin, Thyroid, and Insulin levels and because I have stalled for a couple of weeks after about 90 days of consistent dieting with a few cheat days/meals every time I needed it.

For the majority of the most recent cut, I have been doing Lean Gains dieting on a -600 calorie deficit on rest days and -400 cal deficit on lift days.

Macros on -400 training day = Protein 40%, Carbs 30%, Fat30%
Macros on -600 rest day = Protein 45%, Carbs 20% , Fat 35%


I also have done variations of of the above with carb cycling (although I know cycling is optimally best at 12 percent body fat and or less even) and also have done just daily deficits of -600 regardless of training or rest.

So on my quest to get to 12-10% levels,

I wanted to know what worked best for you to get to these lower levels as I know that it gets a bit trickier from here on out!


1) What kind of cutting plan worked best for you? What was an optimum macro ratio and your calorie deficit? What would you have done different had you known?
2) Did you always keep at least 100 carbs in your macros whether it was rest day or training day? Or did you have to go to Keto and go below 50 carbs?
3) Do your refeed days go over maintenance?
4) Calorie cycle vs just carb cycle? and with what calorie levels?
5) Better fat loss with same deficit everyday ? Or Twice a week on training days go maintenance +10 percent?

Anyways, please impart some wisdom. I am excited to eat at maintenance for 10 days, but even more pumped to make my goals happen.

I KNOW CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT. EAT LESS THAN YOU BURN.
I'm just really anxious to see if the trickier body fat levels will still melt off for I have stalled at 139lbs for a good 2-3 weeks.
I do want to keep as much muscle as I can and I want to keep my strength.
( I can deadlift 315 X 4, legpress 630 X 6)
My upper body lifts have gone to shi* tho. LOL.
I don't have a time limit, I'm not getting ready for a show.
I will diet slow as hell to keep what I can. BUT I REALLY WANT TO SEE MY DAMN ABS!!!!!
After I get to 10 % I plan to re-comp and mayber after do a lean gains bulk. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. 10% FIRST!!!!!

Id appreciate any advice!!!!

Thanks in advance! I TRY TO to read everything I can from Lyle Mcdonald, Alan Aragon and Layne Norton. But I just would like real life anecdotal responses from everyday dudes that are natural and have gotten to where I wanna go!

[20vcanuck]

I am in the same boat as yourself!

Wish I could help, until then I will continue to count my calories and slash until im there!

[CurltonBench]

i also follow all the knowledgable peoples latest advice. things that worked best for me. cals in vs cals out and carb/cals cycling. thats it. 1 or 2 days a week i would eat a lot of carbs around 2800 and around 300-400 carbs a and it seemed to work. i think that i ate a bit more on workout days especialy carbs so i was abit closer to maintenace of 2400 so far went from 14-15% to 11%. wont stop till 10%

[13seth]

My body seems to always want to stay around 15%, to get lower I have to really watch what Im eating.

I tried leangains this spring when I was working 15hr days and it was really effective and easy. I cheat a little with cream and sugar in my coffees during the day but still kept my bodyfat low with very little effort. Did it for about 6 weeks and just started again a week ago to cut some lower ab fat before going on a cruise.

I never carb or calorie cycle and workout 6-7 days a week when not the busy season at work. Might try carb cycling though.

I also found that HIIT helps me get to the lower bf% numbers, though it is torture! I'm doing sprints up my driveway now and cant believe how wiped out I am after 10 80yd sprints uphill with 2 minutes between.

I wanted to get shredded for this cruise, having a little competition with my wife, but I started a bit late. Going all out this week to lose another 1lb fat and will probably continue the cut on the cruise, no taking advantage of the all you can eat food all day

[brutalpl0x]

Im just eating -30%/-15% on rest/workout days and Im around 10 and dropping

[js329226]

I found that intaking around 50g of carbs a day was very helpful. I found that cheating once a week a little bit to confuse your body helped to break plateaus. I believe i went from 12%-7% body fat in 3 weeks. I have a very fast metabolism to begin with though.

[liore22]

what i did is the following

ketogenic diet
made nutritional plan and stuck to it, did not vary from it only rarely.
HIIT on the treadmill
good sleep
no alcohol or smoking
and thats about it. my diet was strict as phukk though. if u want u should try lean gains intermittant fasting and watch the hodge twinson youtube for advice because they got real cutup from that nutritional plan.

[borislavtonev]

Best advice is to keep going and stop obsessing about it. The difficulties begin under 10-8%, until then you don't need to worry about it.

I have been dieting on and off over the past 1 1/2 years and have gotten from 160 lbs at 21% bodyfat to around 141-142 lbs at %15.5 percent last time I got checked a month ago.

I am 5'6 tall and currently 139 pounds. I am probably 14-15 percent bf now, but will get checked tomorrow to be sure.

I am doing a 10 Day Diet break to maintenance calories to reset hormone's such as Leptin, Thyroid, and Insulin levels and because I have stalled for a couple of weeks after about 90 days of consistent dieting with a few cheat days/meals every time I needed it.

For the majority of the most recent cut, I have been doing Lean Gains dieting on a -600 calorie deficit on rest days and -400 cal deficit on lift days.

Macros on -400 training day = Protein 40%, Carbs 30%, Fat30%
Macros on -600 rest day = Protein 45%, Carbs 20% , Fat 35%


I also have done variations of of the above with carb cycling (although I know cycling is optimally best at 12 percent body fat and or less even) and also have done just daily deficits of -600 regardless of training or rest.

So on my quest to get to 12-10% levels,

I wanted to know what worked best for you to get to these lower levels as I know that it gets a bit trickier from here on out!


1) What kind of cutting plan worked best for you? What was an optimum macro ratio and your calorie deficit? What would you have done different had you known?
2) Did you always keep at least 100 carbs in your macros whether it was rest day or training day? Or did you have to go to Keto and go below 50 carbs?
3) Do your refeed days go over maintenance?
4) Calorie cycle vs just carb cycle? and with what calorie levels?
5) Better fat loss with same deficit everyday ? Or Twice a week on training days go maintenance +10 percent?

Anyways, please impart some wisdom. I am excited to eat at maintenance for 10 days, but even more pumped to make my goals happen.

I KNOW CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT. EAT LESS THAN YOU BURN.
I'm just really anxious to see if the trickier body fat levels will still melt off for I have stalled at 139lbs for a good 2-3 weeks.
I do want to keep as much muscle as I can and I want to keep my strength.
( I can deadlift 315 X 4, legpress 630 X 6)
My upper body lifts have gone to shi* tho. LOL.
I don't have a time limit, I'm not getting ready for a show.
I will diet slow as hell to keep what I can. BUT I REALLY WANT TO SEE MY DAMN ABS!!!!!
After I get to 10 % I plan to re-comp and mayber after do a lean gains bulk. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. 10% FIRST!!!!!

Id appreciate any advice!!!!

Thanks in advance! I TRY TO to read everything I can from Lyle Mcdonald, Alan Aragon and Layne Norton. But I just would like real life anecdotal responses from everyday dudes that are natural and have gotten to where I wanna go!

[Ikeman83]

I dropped ~3% BF from 15% to 12% simply by cutting down on my drinking significantly. Going from 12% to 10.7% has come from cleaning up my eating more. You can run a caloric deficit, but if what you're putting into your body is garbage then you're going to lose muscle and fat instead of retaining muscle, not to mention you'll feel like ass all the time from hunger.

[zipman35]

I found that intaking around 50g of carbs a day was very helpful. I found that cheating once a week a little bit to confuse your body helped to break plateaus. I believe i went from 12%-7% body fat in 3 weeks. I have a very fast metabolism to begin with though.

Can you give me a daily example of what you were eating? I'm at 15 and am trying to get sub 10