Getting fatter on cut?

[AdamFrostburg]

So I started cutting recently. My starting weight is about 148 lbs, 5 ft 9 inches. I'm muscular, but one day I realized, I have like 6 lbs of fat around my midsection. So I'm trying to lose that. I have been doing resistance workouts: Dumbell bench press, squats, RDLs, Biceps, Tricep kickbacks, pushups, etc.

I have been taking in about 1660 calories per day. And 150-160 g protein per day. And now I'm just looking more and more flabby. My muscle seems to be remaining, but my fat looks like it's growing.

What is going on??

[xsquid99]

How much weight have you lost since you started? Are you taking measurements? If not, then start.

[AdamFrostburg]

I've been cutting for about 1.5 weeks with an average daily calorie intake of 1500-1700 calories, with almost always 150-170g protein. I have lost no weight, and I look more inflated than usual, so I don't measure. I have been lifting weights though, if that makes a difference. I also take 5g of creatine monohydrate per day.

[TolerantLactose]

1.5 weeks isn't enough time to tell anything with much certainty, especially a subjective sense of how things are going.

[sunsean]

So I started cutting recently. My starting weight is about 148 lbs, 5 ft 9 inches. I'm muscular, but one day I realized, I have like 6 lbs of fat around my midsection. So I'm trying to lose that. I have been doing resistance workouts: Dumbell bench press, squats, RDLs, Biceps, Tricep kickbacks, pushups, etc.

I have been taking in about 1660 calories per day. And 150-160 g protein per day. And now I'm just looking more and more flabby. My muscle seems to be remaining, but my fat looks like it's growing.

What is going on??

Post a pic for better advice, but at 5'9 and 148lb you don't have much room to cut unless you're already very lean. If you're carrying a lot of fat at those stats, you definitely need to add some muscle.

[CommitmentRulz]

Post a pic for better advice, but at 5'9 and 148lb you don't have much room to cut unless you're already very lean. If you're carrying a lot of fat at those stats, you definitely need to add some muscle.

This, exactly. ^^^

When I saw 5'9" and 148 trying to lose weight...

[kingofturtles]

1.5 weeks isnt long enough to know anything. But, if your not losing weight then your eating too many cals.

[goonergooner]

This, exactly. ^^^

When I saw 5'9" and 148 trying to lose weight...

Im on the same boat. im 5'9, 147 and im trying to cut the last bit of weight off from my lower belly. maybe around 3-5 pounds more, and here's a pic before we get accused of having not "enough" muscle mass, were just small boned. Although unlike the op i havent hit a plateu, the fat is slowly going off, it takes time. OP, im on 1750 calories a day, on Friday's i eat around 2,200 to load some more carbs, i barely do any cardio but lift at least 6 days a week, and its working for me.

[usersignup2]

Im on the same boat. im 5'9, 147 and im trying to cut the last bit of weight off from my lower belly. maybe around 3-5 pounds more, and here's a pic before we get accused of having not "enough" muscle mass, were just small boned. Although unlike the op i havent hit a plateu, the fat is slowly going off, it takes time. OP, im on 1750 calories a day, on Friday's i eat around 2,200 to load some more carbs, i barely do any cardio but lift at least 6 days a week, and its working for me.

No hate but you have DYEL look with no shirt. You are lean and IMO you dont need to lose any more. I think it would do you good to bulk though, assuming you want to look like you lift

[goonergooner]

No hate but you have DYEL look with no shirt. You are lean and IMO you dont need to lose any more. I think it would do you good to bulk though, assuming you want to look like you lift

None taken, no worries. Hardly DYEL, not everyone wants to be 250 pounds with 10% body fat, is what a lot of ppl fail to comprehend.

[faithbrah]

None taken, no worries. Hardly DYEL, not everyone wants to be 250 pounds with 10% body fat, is what a lot of ppl fail to comprehend.

this might be because of your pic's angle, but i guess he's saying that your shoulders or lats don't seem very wide, even though your biceps and abs are decent. at this point it would make more sense to bulk imo. your call though, good luck

[CommitmentRulz]

this might be because of your pic's angle, but i guess he's saying that your shoulders or lats don't seem very wide, even though your biceps and abs are decent. at this point it would make more sense to bulk imo. your call though, good luck

Exactly. ^^^ OP, in that pic, it looks like you focus on arms and abs...

[sunsean]

Im on the same boat. im 5'9, 147 and im trying to cut the last bit of weight off from my lower belly. maybe around 3-5 pounds more, and here's a pic before we get accused of having not "enough" muscle mass, were just small boned. Although unlike the op i havent hit a plateu, the fat is slowly going off, it takes time. OP, im on 1750 calories a day, on Friday's i eat around 2,200 to load some more carbs, i barely do any cardio but lift at least 6 days a week, and its working for me.

I'm small boned too (thin wrists) and I do believe that is an indicator of maximum potential/physique imitations...BUT, being in the 140s and cutting down further is a red flag that more muscle is needed.

As you said it depends on individual goals, but to look like you lift at 5'9 you want to be more in the 160-170 range lean, and keep in mind that's not bodybuilder meathead stats, just a decent fit physique.

I was 143lb at 5'9 about 8 years ago, super shredded sub 10%, and I looked skinny, even though I had an 8 pack lol. Now, years later, and I'm around 165, and I still feel small.

[AdamFrostburg]

Okay, so I've dropped my cals to precisely 1500 cals a day with 160 g protein at the very least, plus doing resistance. Now I am definitely noticing my waist getting smaller. I think before the problem was my fat was looking flabby because I was losing fat, especially in other parts of my body. So it made the lumpiness of my belly look more flabby, which was just a sign of it sinking in/losing tightness. But now when looking at my profile in the mirror, I can definetly see that my stomach is more flat.

Anyway, so I have been being pretty successful, thus far. Is it okay to have a cheat day, with like pizza? Just one day out of the week? Because I'm really craving pizza, lol.

[sunsean]

Okay, so I've dropped my cals to precisely 1500 cals a day with 160 g protein at the very least, plus doing resistance. Now I am definitely noticing my waist getting smaller. I think before the problem was my fat was looking flabby because I was losing fat, especially in other parts of my body. So it made the lumpiness of my belly look more flabby, which was just a sign of it sinking in/losing tightness. But now when looking at my profile in the mirror, I can definetly see that my stomach is more flat.

Anyway, so I have been being pretty successful, thus far. Is it okay to have a cheat day, with like pizza? Just one day out of the week? Because I'm really craving pizza, lol.

It's just math. If the pizza won't put you into a caloric surplus, then it won't have any adverse effects on your cut. Eating food like pizza makes it harder because it has a lot of calories, leaving little wiggle room to meet your dietary goals. You could eat 2-3 meals of salad or grilled chicken/veggies for the calories in 3 slices of pizza.

Plus the leaner you get the less wiggle room there is for food like this, because it gets harder to progress the leaner you get. I'll say this again - if you're not already very lean at your stats, I would focus on muscle gain.

[AdamFrostburg]

It's just math. If the pizza won't put you into a caloric surplus, then it won't have any adverse effects on your cut. Eating food like pizza makes it harder because it has a lot of calories, leaving little wiggle room to meet your dietary goals. You could eat 2-3 meals of salad or grilled chicken/veggies for the calories in 3 slices of pizza.

Plus the leaner you get the less wiggle room there is for food like this, because it gets harder to progress the leaner you get. I'll say this again - if you're not already very lean at your stats, I would focus on muscle gain.

Why is it harder to progress the leaner you get? That doesn't make sense to me. And my plan is to start adding more muscle mass in about another 2 weeks once my abs have flattened out significantly. Like I said, I'm not losing much muscle. But that's probably due to the resistance and the high protein content. I'm getting most of my protein from tunafish and non-fat greek yogurt.

[sunsean]

Why is it harder to progress the leaner you get? That doesn't make sense to me. And my plan is to start adding more muscle mass in about another 2 weeks once my abs have flattened out significantly. Like I said, I'm not losing much muscle. But that's probably due to the resistance and the high protein content. I'm getting most of my protein from tunafish and non-fat greek yogurt.

It's harder as you get leaner for a couple reasons. First, you're carrying less fat proportionally, so your body is more reluctant to let more of it go (survival mechanism); e.g. it's easy to lose fat when you're over 20% because you have a lot of excess, but when you get down to 12%, your body doesn't want to lose that last little bit, it thinks it needs it for survival and will want to hold onto it. Plainly, there's just less fat to lose.

Second reason is that your TDEE drops as your bodyweight drops. After losing 20lbs for example your TDEE will be about 200 calories lower, meaning you have to lower your calories to continue cutting.

[faithbrah]

Why is it harder to progress the leaner you get? That doesn't make sense to me.

because your BMR (and also TDEE if your activity stays the same) goes down. an overweight you could burn 3000 calories a day simply by existing, while a lean you might only burn 2300 even with cardio. see where i'm going with this?

edit: too late again, sunsean got here first

[AdamFrostburg]

This all makes sense!

[AdamFrostburg]

So about my pizza question. It wasn't me asking if I could fit pizza into my macros in order to adhere to my cut. My question was if I could eat a surplus of calories like one day, like every two weeks or so, as a break from the cut and for the fun of eating pizza. Then resume my calorie deficit the next day.

[Ghawk21]

So about my pizza question. It wasn't me asking if I could fit pizza into my macros in order to adhere to my cut. My question was if I could eat a surplus of calories like one day, like every two weeks or so, as a break from the cut and for the fun of eating pizza. Then resume my calorie deficit the next day.

Of course you can, your weekly surplus/deficit is where you're going to see change in numbers. If the pizza brings your weekly total into a surplus you'll gain weight, if you're still in a deficit with the pizza you'll lose weight. Just be aware that the next day the scale might jump up from water weight and glycogen, more so if you were going lower carb on the other days.

[Dylan999]

So I started cutting recently. My starting weight is about 148 lbs, 5 ft 9 inches. I'm muscular, but one day I realized, I have like 6 lbs of fat around my midsection. So I'm trying to lose that. I have been doing resistance workouts: Dumbell bench press, squats, RDLs, Biceps, Tricep kickbacks, pushups, etc.

I have been taking in about 1660 calories per day. And 150-160 g protein per day. And now I'm just looking more and more flabby. My muscle seems to be remaining, but my fat looks like it's growing.

What is going on??

You need more muscle. Also 1650 calories is pretty dang low for a man who is almost 150 lbs. I recommend bulking.

[AdamFrostburg]

Of course you can, your weekly surplus/deficit is where you're going to see change in numbers. If the pizza brings your weekly total into a surplus you'll gain weight, if you're still in a deficit with the pizza you'll lose weight. Just be aware that the next day the scale might jump up from water weight and glycogen, more so if you were going lower carb on the other days.

Wait, water weight and glycogen??? What happens here?? I think I've freaked out about something like this in the past.

[SuffolkPunch]

Wait, water weight and glycogen??? What happens here?? I think I've freaked out about something like this in the past.

Remember that muscle or fat doesn't come or go quickly.

If you gain a lb overnight, it can only be fluid. Unless you slipped in an extra 3500 calories above your normal intake somehow.

As for the 'cheat' days, these are never without consequence. If your daily deficit while dieting is -250 then 1 day at +1000 means you've undone 4 days dieting work.

[goonergooner]

I'm small boned too (thin wrists) and I do believe that is an indicator of maximum potential/physique imitations...BUT, being in the 140s and cutting down further is a red flag that more muscle is needed.

As you said it depends on individual goals, but to look like you lift at 5'9 you want to be more in the 160-170 range lean, and keep in mind that's not bodybuilder meathead stats, just a decent fit physique.

I was 143lb at 5'9 about 8 years ago, super shredded sub 10%, and I looked skinny, even though I had an 8 pack lol. Now, years later, and I'm around 165, and I still feel small.

I agree with you, but to be honest im done with bulking/cutting, im gonna cut just a bit more to lose the lower belly fat, then im gonna eat on maintenance. I wanna look goo all year around and will add muscle in the process, im not in any rush as im doing this for the good feeling i get after every workout. Getting to 160-170 is my target, but as im doing this naturally, like you said it will take me another 5-6 years, which i have no problem doing. This is only my 3rd year of lifting and if you have seen what i looked like before you would be surprised. But that dude came off rude with his DYEL comment, which is why i told him not everyone wants to be a meathead, and you dont need 8+ years to look like youre lifting, its all subjective.

Thanks for the other advice from the other gentlemen on here.

[AdamFrostburg]

Remember that muscle or fat doesn't come or go quickly.

If you gain a lb overnight, it can only be fluid. Unless you slipped in an extra 3500 calories above your normal intake somehow.

As for the 'cheat' days, these are never without consequence. If your daily deficit while dieting is -250 then 1 day at +1000 means you've undone 4 days dieting work.

I don't understand. If muscle or fat doesn't come or go overnight, then how would one day of cheating make a difference? I take extra fiber, it leaves my system, and the next day I'm back on my cut. I feel like my body shouldn't even notice one day of eating a pizza.

[oMattyo]

I agree with you, but to be honest im done with bulking/cutting, im gonna cut just a bit more to lose the lower belly fat, then im gonna eat on maintenance. I wanna look goo all year around and will add muscle in the process, im not in any rush as im doing this for the good feeling i get after every workout. Getting to 160-170 is my target, but as im doing this naturally, like you said it will take me another 5-6 years, which i have no problem doing. This is only my 3rd year of lifting and if you have seen what i looked like before you would be surprised. But that dude came off rude with his DYEL comment, which is why i told him not everyone wants to be a meathead, and you dont need 8+ years to look like youre lifting, its all subjective.

Thanks for the other advice from the other gentlemen on here.

That DYEL comment entirely unnecessary, you're in good shape and not everyone wants to look 250lbs as you say, people are obsessed with bulking on these forums as if being smaller and lean is illegal lolll

[sunsean]

I agree with you, but to be honest im done with bulking/cutting, im gonna cut just a bit more to lose the lower belly fat, then im gonna eat on maintenance. I wanna look goo all year around and will add muscle in the process, im not in any rush as im doing this for the good feeling i get after every workout. Getting to 160-170 is my target, but as im doing this naturally, like you said it will take me another 5-6 years, which i have no problem doing. This is only my 3rd year of lifting and if you have seen what i looked like before you would be surprised. But that dude came off rude with his DYEL comment, which is why i told him not everyone wants to be a meathead, and you dont need 8+ years to look like youre lifting, its all subjective.

Thanks for the other advice from the other gentlemen on here.

The DYEL stuff is mostly about how you look while wearing a shirt. I agree there's nothing wrong at all with being slim and fit as opposed to thick and fit. Not everyone is a bodybuilder and that's ok, I think it's great that you are just being mindful of your health and fitness in general.

DYEL really comes down to if someone can tell you lift while wearing a shirt. The slim/fit physique (think Pitt in Fight Club) looks great without a shirt, but nothing special while clothed. Since we spend most of our lives wearing clothes, people think that in order to be a successful lifter someone should be able to tell you lift weights even when they can't see your body.

[Ghawk21]

I don't understand. If muscle or fat doesn't come or go overnight, then how would one day of cheating make a difference? I take extra fiber, it leaves my system, and the next day I'm back on my cut. I feel like my body shouldn't even notice one day of eating a pizza.

So lets say you need to eat 2500 calories per day to lose~ 1lb/week (~500 cal/day deficit). Without the pizza you go 7 days per week and hit 2500 every day. You'll about a pound since your weekly deficit is about 3500cals. Now lets day you hit 2500 cals 6 days per week but crush a pizza the other day and hit 4000cals since it was a large and loaded pizza. Now your weekly deficit is only 2000 cals and you lose a fraction of a pound. Do it a few times a week or sprinkle in some other higher calorie days and your weekly deficit continues to shrink and the amount you lose shrinks as well possibly even going into a surplus and causing weight gain.

Its also important to track your weight daily and under the same conditions. Easiest is first thing in the morning and after you use the washroom. Then you take a weekly average and compare it to last week to see a trend. Daily water weight fluctuations are common, carbs especially will contribute to changes in water and glycogen that's why the weekly trend is important.

[faithbrah]

Daily water weight fluctuations are common, carbs especially will contribute to changes in water and glycogen

can confirm. you can weigh:
- 98,4 kilos on monday
- 98,8 kilos on tuesday and wednesday
- 98,6 kilos on thursday
- 98,1 kilos on friday

and yes, in a deficit