Calorie intake!

Hi Doc, me again. What’s up?

Just wanted to ask your opinion on the proper weight loss rate per week for an individual who is trying to use Hypertrophy 2 as the template of choice while being on a deficit. How high should the deficit be? If I aim for 1% weight loss per week, then that means that I have to eat around 700 calories less per day. Is a 700 calorie deficit per day too much? Would one implement refeed days? Keep in mind that my goal is to lose around 10lbs of fat. Should I aim for 1lb weight loss per week during this 10 week training program? What do you think about maintenance cycles before a cut/bulk? After running Hyper 2 on a deficit, I also plan to run it back on a bulk. Do I jump from a cut to a bulk?!
My question is definitely a long one but I needed to get this out of my head. Thank you so much!

-Leon

There is no ideal rate, as this is context specific. A 700kCal/day deficit may be appropriate for you to lose 1lb/wk, which sounds reasonable. You can adjust based on results.

I don’t think refeed days are necessary, no.

I don’t think anything about a maintenance cycle before a cut or a bulk without additional information. In general, I like folks who have lost weight to try and maintain that and prevent weight regain.

There are many questions to answer here, Leon, and I would advise thinking critically about your specific goals, situation, etc. before rapid-firing questions.

That all being said, here is some advice based on what little I do know about you:

If you want to lose weight- that’s a perfectly reasonable goal. If there’s no real timeline or immediacy needed to do this, I’d prefer a slow, sustainable weight loss that is at least 2.5% BW per month. If you want to gain muscle after losing the body fat, I would then recommend a calorie surplus and I don’t necessarily think you need to have a maintenance phase first unless you were previously overweight/obese based on waist circumference.

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Thanks Jordan! Highly appreciate it!

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