Starting my Cut - Need a Couple Questions Answered

[Davis_Ever]

I'm starting my cut next week and just want to run through a few questions to make sure I'm on the right track.

My goal is to cut down from roughly 18'ish% bodyfat to 12%. I'd like to hit that goal in 8 to 9 weeks of cutting while maintaining as much strength as possible. I've attached a starting image for reference to compare when I'm finished *pictures are terrible quality *

I want to make sure I'm on the right track with this cut, if anyone can help me with some of the questions below that would be great.


1) For a Macro breakdown I'm looking to do:

Protein: 1g per lb of Bodyweight

Fats: .3g per lb of bodyweight

Carbs - What's left over (puts me in the 300g of carbs range)

I just want to make sure this looks good, I know some people start out doing low carb but I'm thinking I will drop down to low carbs toward the end of the diet if I find it very difficult to drop fat.



2) For my lifting routine I'm really not going to change much.. the goal is to do slightly less reps of the same exercises and not change up the routine.

ex: If I do 15 sets of a bodypart, drop that down to 12.



3) Is the goal of 18% down to 12% bodyfat realistic in say 8 to 9 weeks provided that my diets on point?


4) Any recommended foods or recipes to help me stay full? I find when Im cutting it can be very difficult to sleep because I get hungry.

Slow digesting carbs?

More fiber?



Thanks in advance!

[dipatel13]

Macros minimums:
.8-1g protein/lb
.4-.5g fat/lb
rest can be any combo of protein/fat/carb as you wish

Are you doing a custom lifting routine? One muscle group a day?
If so, not optimal. You need to hit each group 2-3x a week if you aren't already.

Assuming you're 210 lbs @18% and lose minimal muscle mass, you'd need to drop to about ~195lbs to be 12% (if my math is correct, no guarantees)
15-ishlbs in 8-9 weeks is doable, but you're on the higher end of how much fat you can lose each week (~1-2lbs avg)

[Davis_Ever]

Macros minimums:
.8-1g protein/lb
.4-.5g fat/lb
rest can be any combo of protein/fat/carb as you wish

Are you doing a custom lifting routine? One muscle group a day?
If so, not optimal. You need to hit each group 2-3x a week if you aren't already.

Assuming you're 210 lbs @18% and lose minimal muscle mass, you'd need to drop to about ~195lbs to be 12% (if my math is correct, no guarantees)
15-ishlbs in 8-9 weeks is doable, but you're on the higher end of how much fat you can lose each week (~1-2lbs avg)

Thanks man, reps for the help.

[Davis_Ever]

Anyone want to give a body fat estimate as well? Im thinking 18% to 20%.

[Tommy W.]

The macro split is ok you need to dial in your calories. Many people make the mistake of setting calorie numbers too high and on top of it mis count and end up with taking in too many cals to lose fat. My suggestion is always err on the side of lower cals to kick thing off. You can always raise if you're too low but that very rarely happens

[plAythiNG]

Hi Mate,

Good luck, and all the best. We are similar weight! Calories wise, maintenance is around 2400 for me. less 20%, I can eat around 1792 calories. This consists of 188g of Protein, 69g of Fat, and the rest of the calories gets me to around 100g of carbs.

Lifting wise, I am baically fully recovered from a lower back injury, and I will be upping the sets and volume in my lifts. This is my workout here;



Its a bit contrary to one of the posts above, where you gotta hit each muscle group 2-3 times a week. Me personally I rather work out that muscle completely, so that all the muscle fibres are torn, and thus repair is in order. I also believe if your muscles can be worked 2-3 times a week which means only 2, maybe 3 days rest in between, you are not working those muscle group hard enough at all.

I think your caloric intake looks good. I think keep your current lifting routine the same, but add in say 30min cardio 3-4 times a week, and keep that up for 3 weeks, and see how you go. Only weigh yourself once a week too imo, same time and variables each week!

[Tommy W.]

Its a bit contrary to one of the posts above, where you gotta hit each muscle group 2-3 times a week. Me personally I rather work out that muscle completely, so that all the muscle fibres are torn, and thus repair is in order. I also believe if your muscles can be worked 2-3 times a week which means only 2, maybe 3 days rest in between, you are not working those muscle group hard enough at all.

Ehhhhhhhhhh..........

[Davis_Ever]

As far as bodyfat estimates go, do you guys think 18% to 20% is about right?

Pics in post #4