Serious Noob, 30 Days Into Cutting - Any Advice?

[sickquickmoney]

So I'll get straight to the facts:

I was 200lbs and tired of looking like crap so I decided to start losing weight. I was already a member and joined a gym planning to do this earlier, but procrastination was easy as I was starting two businesses at the same time.

Anywho, I ended up moving to an area with literally NO BALLY gyms so I've been working out at home.

While the first set of pics are from October 10, 2011 I genuinely didn't start going anything about my weight until after Thanksgiving. So I'm about 30 days in and looking at the before photos for the first time.

My goal is to end up cut with a low bf %. I'm more interested in "aesthetics" than I am bulking...

I'll outline what I've been doing in terms of fitness and diet to help from my much better educated peers:

Diet: I've been consuming around 1,000-1,500 cals a day. Depends on the day, but normally a baked chicken quarter, and a Subway footlong. Also, at least 3 liters of water everyday. That's pretty much it, I did cheat once and eat two jumbo slices of pizza last Friday though. LMAO

Excercise:
I lift on A days: 3 or 4 Sets of everything at 10-11 reps (bicep curls or preacher curls, pulldowns, flies, skull crushers, push ups, and some other stuff that I've seen videos on that I honestly don't remember the names to lmao).

On B Days I do legs: None of which I know the names of aside from squats and lunges

Everyday I'm either:
Playing tennis for 60-100 minutes
Cycling (weather isn't an issue here) [for example I just did my first 50 mile ride up and down the coast Saturday]
Every now and then I'll go on a 5 mile walk just to clear my head while listening to audiobooks

And I do 100 situps and crunches daily (honestly it's only been about 2 weeks of this).

So here are the photos:

5'11" 200 lbs
IMG_20111009_203508.jpg
IMG_20111009_203520.jpg

5'11" 180 lbs
IMG_20111226_093254.jpg
IMG_20111226_093613.jpg

Weight loss time frame: ~30 days

I started at around 200lbs even this month and I was 180lbs as of Saturday, I also try and not weigh myself more than once a week at least so I don't get obsessed with it.

Any feedback, advice, or criticism is greatly appreciated.

[DarthInvadeHer]

Amazing job on the progress but I'd say to up your cals as they're too low. It's not going to kill you or anything but it increases the chances of you bingeing and giving up because of the drastic deficit. Also, if you're going to continue with that caloric intake, I'd recommend to get in most of your cals from protein and fat and fill the rest with whatever, but make sure to get in some micronutrients or at least take a multi.

[sickquickmoney]

Amazing job on the progress but I'd say to up your cals as they're too low. It's not going to kill you or anything but it increases the chances of you bingeing and giving up because of the drastic deficit. Also, if you're going to continue with that caloric intake, I'd recommend to get in most of your cals from protein and fat and fill the rest with whatever, but make sure to get in some micronutrients or at least take a multi.

Thank you, googling micronutrients now since I've never even heard that phrase before. Will seriously consider upping the calories though, I didn't actually expect to lose 4-5 lbs a week and would of been content w/ 2lbs a week.

[rockstard]

Good progress! 30 days,and i can see that smile in the picture!! keep it up bruv!

Try not having carbs after 6 in the evening, and increase your reps to maybe 14.working well for me.
go for a 20 minute brisk walk after dinner if possible. have loads of vitamin C, i'll tell you a secret working for me.. orange juice after dinner or about an hour before sleeping works good.

[sickquickmoney]

Good progress! 30 days,and i can see that smile in the picture!! keep it up bruv!

Try not having carbs after 6 in the evening, and increase your reps to maybe 14.working well for me.
go for a 20 minute brisk walk after dinner if possible. have loads of vitamin C, i'll tell you a secret working for me.. orange juice after dinner or about an hour before sleeping works good.

I think as of right now I'd have to lower my amount to do 14 tbh, sometimes 11 feels like hell to get to and I'm not the quitting type.
Food wise I've honestly been scared of eating anything solid after dark and that's probably why I rode 50 miles the day after I did.

What works well for a light dinner?

[rockstard]

i generally go in fr soups or boiled veggies with some boiled chicken or egg whites.

[comps]

The pace you are cutting at is way too fast.
Slow it down alot.

[DarthInvadeHer]

Good progress! 30 days,and i can see that smile in the picture!! keep it up bruv!

Try not having carbs after 6 in the evening, and increase your reps to maybe 14.working well for me.
go for a 20 minute brisk walk after dinner if possible. have loads of vitamin C, i'll tell you a secret working for me.. orange juice after dinner or about an hour before sleeping works good.

Do not listen to any of his advice OP.

[DarthInvadeHer]

I think as of right now I'd have to lower my amount to do 14 tbh, sometimes 11 feels like hell to get to and I'm not the quitting type.
Food wise I've honestly been scared of eating anything solid after dark and that's probably why I rode 50 miles the day after I did.

What works well for a light dinner?

It doesn't matter how many meals you eat, the TIME you eat them, don't be scared of carbs at all or the TIME you eat them as well. Also, lift heavy weight with 4-10 reps.

[sickquickmoney]

The pace you are cutting at is way too fast.
Slow it down alot.

Duly noted, thanks!

It doesn't matter how many meals you eat, the TIME you eat them, don't be scared of carbs at all or the TIME you eat them as well. Also, lift heavy weight with 4-10 reps.

I heard that the later you eat the less time you're giving your body to break down heavy proteins and the like. Are you saying that's not the case?

[rockstard]

Do not listen to any of his advice OP.

thats what's working for me. you're way above in experience,so yup i lose.
by the way 4-10 reps is quite a variation,should we keep it close to 4 or close to 10 ?

[ALEXH-]

Duly noted, thanks!


I heard that the later you eat the less time you're giving your body to break down heavy proteins and the like. Are you saying that's not the case?

I suggest you visit the nutrition forum and read the stickies ASAP.

[AlwaysTryin]

Good progress! 30 days,and i can see that smile in the picture!! keep it up bruv!

Try not having carbs after 6 in the evening, and increase your reps to maybe 14.working well for me.
go for a 20 minute brisk walk after dinner if possible. have loads of vitamin C, i'll tell you a secret working for me.. orange juice after dinner or about an hour before sleeping works good.

Nice contradiction lol

Maybe YOU should try not having carbs after 6 before you tell others to

[Javid_Shanghai]

Try not having carbs after 6 in the evening..

lol, i eat 70% of my daily carb intake after 9pm.. Time it doesnt matter bro!

[Lvisaa2]

Congratulations on your progress.

Here are the things I would do:
1) Read the nutrition stickies, specifically the one to calculate your calorie and macro needs. Currently you are severely undereating. Losing 4 lbs/week at your weight is not advisable.
2) Get on a proven beginners program. At the rate you are going, you could see much more gym progress and be more efficient if you got on a real program instead of the one you mentioned.
3) Contemplate doing a slow bulk. You can continue to cut, but it doesn't look like you have much LBM. Without LBM, you will look skinny when you continue to cut, but not 'ripped'. You could bulk until around spring-summer, then cut for nice weather.

[sickquickmoney]

Congratulations on your progress.

Here are the things I would do:
1) Read the nutrition stickies, specifically the one to calculate your calorie and macro needs. Currently you are severely undereating. Losing 4 lbs/week at your weight is not advisable.
2) Get on a proven beginners program. At the rate you are going, you could see much more gym progress and be more efficient if you got on a real program instead of the one you mentioned.
3) Contemplate doing a slow bulk. You can continue to cut, but it doesn't look like you have much LBM. Without LBM, you will look skinny when you continue to cut, but not 'ripped'. You could bulk until around spring-summer, then cut for nice weather.

Thanks for the advice, will start cruising the nutrition section ASAP... I just have one problem with what you wrote.

I live on the beach and it's pretty much perfect all year long.

[Lvisaa2]

Thanks for the advice, will start cruising the nutrition section ASAP... I just have one problem with what you wrote.

I live on the beach and it's pretty much perfect all year long.

Touché. I'm jealous. I actually just got to Miami yesterday night. This will be my first day on the beach since summer. Going to enjoy it! Good luck in the future - I don't generally check this section so if you have specific questions either post them in nutrition or I'm always happy to answer a PM.

[RSmithyy]

OP great progress. You are on the right track even though you haven't been doing everything completely right. What this means is that when you do things right, your progress will be even better!

As other people have said, go to the nutrition forums. Work out what your macronutrients are and make sure you are hitting them each day in your diet. I suggest taking a multivitamin too to make up for any micronutrient deficiencies you may have.

As someone else has also said, up your calories. I was cutting on 1400 a day and felt like ****. I upped it to 2000 calories and I am still losing weight and I feel much better for it. You are also doing a lot of cardio so you need to up your calories as you are losing weight too fast. Its not good to do that as you will sacrifice hard earned muscle. You do not want to do this if you are going for aesthetics.

How often do you lift? Are you lifting heavy? Limit yourself to between 6-12 reps and only do 3 sets. I think this is the best way to do it. You want to be lifting as hard as you can even when you are cutting. This means lift heavy. Look up a good weight lifting routine and make sure you are hitting all your muscle groups adequately. If you need to sacrifice cardio time for doing this, then do that.

Your priority should be in this order: diet > lifting > cardio. That way, you will have the best result aesthetics wise.

P.s. great idea for the walks and audiobooks. Deff gonna add that to my exercise.

Keep up the good work.

[Chrans]

Here is the best stickie that is going to help you out FOREVER! http ://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981 <-- added a couple spaces after http cant post links yet. That a look at the link and try to figure out where you need to be. I would also throw in some strength training to hit all muscles at least once a week. As someone else stated make sure you are consuming enough protein to keep those muscle healthy. I just finished my cut yesterday that started at the beginning of the month. I was at a 1,610 cal (5'10" and 171 at the time) now I am 164.8 as of this morning. Make sure you cut your carb intake down to 50-100grams this will help your body use fat as fuel try this for a couple weeks. I am currently doing a 40%Protein/40%Carbs/20%Fat intake but make sure you keep whatever you are going to do consistent. I think your cal deficit is too high though you body may go into starvation mode eventually especially with all the cardio you are doing it may start attacking your muscles. I would only do a 500 - 750 cal deficit MAX. You are probably around a 810 - 1310 cal deficit and with cardio even more. Check out the stickie and stay motivated. You are getting great results and an impressive 1 month trans!

[rockstard]

Nice contradiction lol

Maybe YOU should try not having carbs after 6 before you tell others to

Im working on it,and its working on me. everyone has different things thats working on them,I have my own. Iv gone from 220lbs to 155lbs,and a lot more muscle in about a year. You guys are pros,Im just a newbie,can't argue with you..just suggested what's working on me. and with advice from some pros like you,maybe i could get even better results

[dukend]

Im working on it,and its working on me. everyone has different things thats working on them,I have my own. Iv gone from 220lbs to 155lbs,and a lot more muscle in about a year. You guys are pros,Im just a newbie,can't argue with you..just suggested what's working on me. and with advice from some pros like you,maybe i could get even better results

Check out the grammar forum, read the stickies, and then re-post.

[DarthInvadeHer]

thats what's working for me. you're way above in experience,so yup i lose.
by the way 4-10 reps is quite a variation,should we keep it close to 4 or close to 10 ?

Lol, you're red for a reason *******.

[abcdefg94]

keep it up bro,

[AlwaysTryin]

Im working on it,and its working on me. everyone has different things thats working on them,I have my own. Iv gone from 220lbs to 155lbs,and a lot more muscle in about a year. You guys are pros,Im just a newbie,can't argue with you..just suggested what's working on me. and with advice from some pros like you,maybe i could get even better results

You suggested no carbs after 6pm.... You don't do no carbs after 6pm was the point of my post, you are consuming carbs

[AlwaysTryin]

Make sure you cut your carb intake down to 50-100grams this will help your body use fat as fuel try this for a couple weeks.

OP ignore this. Carb intake is a personal choice, you can get ripped and lose weight on a very high carb intake and keeping carbs higher will spare muscle and provide energy enabling you to lift as heavy as possible and retain muscle

[sickquickmoney]

OP great progress. You are on the right track even though you haven't been doing everything completely right. What this means is that when you do things right, your progress will be even better!

As other people have said, go to the nutrition forums. Work out what your macronutrients are and make sure you are hitting them each day in your diet. I suggest taking a multivitamin too to make up for any micronutrient deficiencies you may have.

As someone else has also said, up your calories. I was cutting on 1400 a day and felt like ****. I upped it to 2000 calories and I am still losing weight and I feel much better for it. You are also doing a lot of cardio so you need to up your calories as you are losing weight too fast. Its not good to do that as you will sacrifice hard earned muscle. You do not want to do this if you are going for aesthetics.

How often do you lift? Are you lifting heavy? Limit yourself to between 6-12 reps and only do 3 sets. I think this is the best way to do it. You want to be lifting as hard as you can even when you are cutting. This means lift heavy. Look up a good weight lifting routine and make sure you are hitting all your muscle groups adequately. If you need to sacrifice cardio time for doing this, then do that.

Your priority should be in this order: diet > lifting > cardio. That way, you will have the best result aesthetics wise.

P.s. great idea for the walks and audiobooks. Deff gonna add that to my exercise.

Keep up the good work.

I'm lifting every other day and since writing this I've started to gradually raise the calorie amount. As for am I lifting heavy(?) I think heavy is relative right now... lol

I honestly haven't even tried curling more than 25lbs for example, but I'm comfortable shrugging at 50 lbs.

I think the biggest reason I've seen progress is because I was so neglectful that I just needed some discipline to get the whole thing going. Now that I did that I must develop a system that's based on the past successes of others.

If it matters I used to play baseball competitively until 2009 (and still play occasionally) so it's not like my body has never been in shape before. I just never had to bounce back like this or really paid attention to what I was doing nutrition-wise.

I'm a fast learner though so keep plugging away guys. ^.^

"As for me, all I know is that I know nothing, for when I don't know what justice is, I'll hardly know whether it is a kind of virtue or not, or whether a person who has it is happy or unhappy."
- Socrates

[kentuckync]

Amazing progress, you look a lot better now.

[Evoking]

Nice progress! Am I seeing things or have you already begun getting tatted up?

[sickquickmoney]

Nice progress! Am I seeing things or have you already begun getting tatted up?

I got it right before I took the fat photo, I plan on finishing up the arm when I finish cutting.

Gotta do something to get the ladies "mirin".

[sickquickmoney]

I figured I'd update this thread, I ended up slowing down my cut rate to a safer speed and I ended up losing five pounds so far this month so I'm now at 175lbs; only five - seven more to go (my goal was ~170 mid-Feb).

If anyone out there needs a little more motivation that it can be done, let me add to the chorus here "yes it can".