How aggressively should I cut?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Jordan,

So I’ve seen a few of your videos and read the articles about optimizing protein intake and to be a beast and I think that what you are doing is great and I really like the healthier more balanced approach you guys have on gaining strength.

I was working on bulking aggressively (and carelessly) since by some standards in strength conditioning I am underweight, then got a lipid panel done and watched one of your videos when you talk about waist size and how you should take that into account before bulking, and well now I am re-evaluating my approach.

I’m a 26 year old male, here are my stats:
Height: 5’11" (180cm)
Weight: 171.08 lbs (77.6 Kg)
Waist size: 37 inches (in the morning) 38.5 inches after eating and drinking water (was probably bloated that day, 37 has been more consistent)

Lipid panel results:
Total cholesterol - 225 mg/dL
HDL - 75 mg/dL
LDL - 131 mg/dL
Triglycerides - 97 mg/dL

Glucose - 96 mg/dL

Based on the to be a beast article I am planning on targeting the following macros to try and target a recomposition:

Goal Calories (kCal/lb) Protein (g/lb) Carbs (g/lb) Fat (g/lb)
Recomposition 2181.23124 196.738504 213.8462 59.876936

But I am not sure if I should instead aim at fat loss or do a more aggressive cut. I wanted to get your opinion.

Thanks!

2

I probably wouldn’t aggressively cut in this situation. Rather, I’d aim to maintain for the next month while you train appropriately and see what your waist does. Ideally, I’d like to see your waist get under 36" before you start slowly gaining weight.

Your cholesterol panel doesn’t mean much to me given your weight was dynamically changing when it was taken. That being said, your waist indicates you probably don’t need to be gaining weight rapidly, if at all.