First of all, thanks for taking the time to read my post.
To give a bit of a backstory, I have been exercising regularly for the past 3 years or so. 12 months ago however, i discovered barbell medicine and have been very serious about strength training. I gone through powerlifting1 and 2 multiple times and im just finishing powerbuilding 2. At around the same time, i also started a slow and gradual weight gain diet (influenced by the to be a beast article) and went from 89 to 100kg. During that time,my strength and musculature has increased dramatically, and I even came in top 5 on 3 meets and won 1 (where I broke 650 total). So overall, I am super satisfied with these results.
HOWEVER, i noticed some stuff about myself that I do not think is very positive. First of all, the fat around my hips is ever increasing, which wiuld not bother me at all, since I do not look fat, but i noticed that everyday things like bending down to put on my socks became like 5 percent more difficult.
I think overall for my health, it would be beneficial to lose some extra fat.
And this is where i am in desperate need of help. I never really done any cuts before and I dont really know how much weight should I try to cut and in what period of time. I don’t really have any time constraints, although I do have my wedding in 2 months, so i would atleast like to look a bit more trim for that ( although I dont plan to be shirtless during the ceremony). Ideally I would like cut down to maybe 13-15% bf in the next few months ( im probably around 20-22 right now).
So lets say I set a goal for myself to cut down to 95kg. How long a period should that cut last? During my bulking I was eating 3.8k calories (270/440/105).
Would there any benefit to try to cut down more calories in the first 2 months until my wedding? And then go down to a smaller cal deficit afterwards?
Also, im not sure if this is relevant, but I will start the hypertrophy 2 template in a week.
Once again thanks for reading through all of this!
In general, losing 2.5% bodyweight per month is our recommendation and we have no time constraints on how long a cut should be. In other words, as long as necessary provided adherence is good.
Thanks for the answer. That definitely sounds reasonable.
The other thing I would like to ask, if you’ll indulge me, is calorie, or more specifically, macro recommendation/ratios for weight loss. The reason I was wondering about this, is because in your To Be a Beast article, in case study #3 (which is closest to my current situation, and goals), for a 240lbs man, you recommend 3100 calories for weight loss, with 275/300/85 macros (as a starting point at least).
However, earlier in the article, in the recommendation table, if I follow those figures (1.25/lbs, 1/lbs and 0.27/lbs) for weight loss, it would come out to 300/240/65 (2750kcal).
If possible, I would just like to know, what was in case study #3, that warrants higher calorie approach to weight loss, than what the table recommends. Especially the difference in the amount of carbs.
Also, for someone like me, who is around the same weight as “Jim” (25lbs less), but not exactly a novice, and way lower bodyfat percentage, which approach would be ideal? Also I am a lot younger as well (25), so that might change some parameters.
This week, I have decreased my calories and went down from 3800kcal (270/440/105) to 3000kcal (275/304/76) and went down about 1kg approximately. Again, I never done a cut before, so I am not sure if these macros are optimal or not. Or if I should decrease the amount of carbs that I eat (and increase protein or fat).
They’re just educated guesses, as there are no specific macro or calorie ratios or absolute amounts of carbohydrates or fats that I would recommend. As long as you’re creating the calorie deficit, hitting 1.6-3.1g/kg/day of protein, and eating all the fruits and veggies…that’s good in my book.
I’m guessing if you’re losing 1kg a week, that’s probably a good sign you’re on the right track
