cutting advice

[Pel10]

I started my cut in July. My weight was 187 lbs.
Now I weigh 158 lbs but I've been stuck for a whole month to this weight and I haven't reached my goals yet.
What should I do if I want to drop more weight?

[Luclin999]

Re-check your calorie counting to make certain of how accurate you really are. If you are sure that your accuracy is on point then really no other option but to create more of a deficit either by lowering the calories further or from increasing your activity level.

[Tommy W.]

Post a pic so it can be easier to determine if you should even be cutting further

[Pel10]

Ok, here is a pic.
So I weigh 158 lbs and I'm 5ft 8in tall. I don't know about my body fat though but I guess it should be less than 20% by now.

[snailsrus]

Ok, here is a pic.
So I weigh 158 lbs and I'm 5ft 8in tall. I don't know about my body fat though but I guess it should be less than 20% by now.

you're about 20 right now..... sorry m8

[Pel10]

Terribly wrong m8.
I got an estimate of 24% when I weighed 172 lbs so no way I'm 20% or above.

[EiFit91]

Terribly wrong m8.
I got an estimate of 24% when I weighed 172 lbs so no way I'm 20% or above.

Body fat estimation is not an exact science so you shouldn't treat any estimates as the "Truth" with capital T. I agree with the above that you look about 20% now. But losing 14 lbs to drop 4% body fat doesn't sound unrealistic to me...

What is your waist measurement?

[snailsrus]

Terribly wrong m8.
I got an estimate of 24% when I weighed 172 lbs so no way I'm 20% or above.

losing weight does not mean a change in lean body mass to fat ratio... your basically low weight but not much muscle and quite a bit of fat. :/

I would cut like 10 more lbs then maintain till you start noticing muscle growth and fat drop and or/your lifts stop progressing

[Pel10]

Body fat estimation is not an exact science so you shouldn't treat any estimates as the "Truth" with capital T. I agree with the above that you look about 20% now. But losing 14 lbs to drop 4% body fat doesn't sound unrealistic to me...

What is your waist measurement?

I don't know but I'll check later. How can I break through the plateau?
I have no opportunity to use cardio right now. Are there other ways?

[EiFit91]

I don't know but I'll check later. How can I break through the plateau?
I have no opportunity to use cardio right now. Are there other ways?

Hold the way you are tracking constant, and drop your calories for a while to speed up the fat loss. The eventual bias in your tracking then remains constant so you will be sure that you actually drop your calories. It could also be that you are still in a deficit but that it is not steep enough that you notice it on the scale like you used to.

[faithbrah]

I don't know but I'll check later. How can I break through the plateau?
I have no opportunity to use cardio right now. Are there other ways?

to create a deficit, you can either move more or eat less. the moving doesn't need to be intense cardio by the way

[Pel10]

losing weight does not mean a change in lean body mass to fat ratio... your basically low weight but not much muscle and quite a bit of fat. :/

I would cut like 10 more lbs then maintain till you start noticing muscle growth and fat drop and or/your lifts stop progressing

If I drop fat only like I’ve been doing, it does. Since you seem to be an expert, what are your personal advice to break through the plateau?

[Luclin999]

If I drop fat only like I’ve been doing, it does.

How do you know that you have "been dropping fat only"?

That is probably not true unless you have been working hard in a gym weight training at least 3-4 times per week during the whole time you have been in a deficit. And even then you are still going to lose at least a little lean mass over a 30 pound drop in overall weight. To think otherwise is unrealistic.

[Pel10]

That's what I've been doing. And muscle loss is minimal unless you're below 12% body fat

[snailsrus]

That's what I've been doing. And muscle loss is minimal unless you're below 12% body fat

wrong. You can lose muscle above 12% if your cut is too extreme. I mean if you were obese then you probably could gain muscle while losing weight but that’s not the cases with you

Your training is how your going to break through, look up fierce 5 and eat less

[Pel10]

Well my cut has been extremely slow as I've been dropping only 1 lb a week

[snailsrus]

Well my cut has been extremely slow as I've been dropping only 1 lb a week

thats not extremely slow

[Pel10]

that's just 0.5% of my starting weight.
Anyway, I was just looking for advice to break through my plateau

[snailsrus]

that's just 0.5% of my starting weight.
Anyway, I was just looking for advice to break through my plateau

I gave you advice. Get a better training routine to build more muscle just cutting down while not having much muscle is not going to look good

What are your lifts

Look into this
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...post1266579671

[AdamWW]

Without seeing your back or legs, I would say you COULD be anywhere from 18-21%.

Your body hair makes it a little harder guess, as well as how zoomed out the picture is... and not too sharp

[Luclin999]

And muscle loss is minimal unless you're below 12% body fat

Wrong.

You will lose some appreciable degree of lean mass in any sustained cut. Just how much depends on your diet, protein intake, workouts, hormone levels, deficit amount, Etc.

With a 30# drop you've likely lost at least a few pounds of lean mass no matter how "perfect" of a cut you have managed..

[VySingh]

Ok, here is a pic.
So I weigh 158 lbs and I'm 5ft 8in tall. I don't know about my body fat though but I guess it should be less than 20% by now.

17% - 20%

If you've stopped losing then you need to lower your intake

[Pel10]

Wrong.

You will lose some appreciable degree of lean mass in any sustained cut. Just how much depends on your diet, protein intake, workouts, hormone levels, deficit amount, Etc.

With a 30# drop you've likely lost at least a few pounds of lean mass no matter how "perfect" of a cut you have managed..

My lifts haven’t changed since the day I started cutting and I eat plenty of proteins.
If I lost lean mass, that’s no more than 1,5- 2 lbs which is still minimal in relation to a 30 lbs weight loss ( only 3% of the total is lean mass ).

[EiFit91]

My lifts haven’t changed since the day I started cutting and I eat plenty of proteins.
If I lost lean mass, that’s no more than 1,5- 2 lbs which is still minimal in relation to a 30 lbs weight loss ( only 3% of the total is lean mass ).

Not all "lean mass" is muscle. You probably didn't lose muscle, there was just less muscle to begin with than you thought (happens to all of us).

[snailsrus]

My lifts haven’t changed since the day I started cutting and I eat plenty of proteins.
If I lost lean mass, that’s no more than 1,5- 2 lbs which is still minimal in relation to a 30 lbs weight loss ( only 3% of the total is lean mass ).

what is your deadlift, squat and bench?

[Pel10]

Not all "lean mass" is muscle. You probably didn't lose muscle, there was just less muscle to begin with than you thought (happens to all of us).

Don’t you just lose water weight during the beginning of the cut?

[Pel10]

what is your deadlift, squat and bench?

Dead lift 275
Squat 220
Bench 175

[Luclin999]

My lifts haven’t changed since the day I started cutting and I eat plenty of proteins.

Last time I dropped 30 pounds, my lifts went UP and I still lost at least three pounds of lean mass.

Lifting strength isn't determined by muscle mass alone, part of it is CNS training a well.

[sunsean]

Not all "lean mass" is muscle. You probably didn't lose muscle, there was just less muscle to begin with than you thought (happens to all of us).

This. We all think we have more muscle than we really do at the beginning of a cut. Pretty much always have to drop lower in weight than you think to get lean. At 158lb 5'8 with your current composition, you have less muscle mass than you think...will have to drop down well into the 140s to get lean and that is pretty light. For reference I'm similar height (5'8/5'9) and in my avi I weigh about 165lb. So to get to a comparable leanness you will probably be around 140-145lb, and that 20lb difference is huge on our height.

[EiFit91]

Don’t you just lose water weight during the beginning of the cut?

I mean you don't lose all the water in your body in the start of the cut (you would die), so there is still water left in the body that can be lost as the cut progresses. Overweight people generally hold more water than leaner people. Another factor is blood, obese people need more blood for the body to function than leaner people.

I think that for people who cut who aren't already very lean, it's rare to lose a significant amount of muscle in a cut as long as they lift, eat enough protein and the cut is not too aggressive (too aggressive would be > 1% of bodyweight each week). But you cannot avoid losing "lean mass" as well in the process.