I started the beginner program the first week of November 2019 and I’ve really enjoyed it so far and have made a ton of progress. My plan was to maintain my current weight in hopes that my waist size would go down. While that has happened (I can certainly tell I’m leaner), I’m down to 35.5-36 inches from 37-38 inches, I feel that my waist size is not going down as fast as I’d like with summer approaching. I don’t know if losing weight for someone in my position is a good idea or not. That’s why I’m asking.
I’m a 31 year old male. My height is 5’11", weight is 188-190 pounds, and my waist is 35.5-36 inches. I’m currently eating about 2600 calories per day +/- 100. My protein intake is right around 190-195 grams.
I want to maximize my strength and muscle gains so should I just suck it up and continue to maintain my weight in hopes of further waist size reduction, or is it ok to take a small detour and lose a bit of weight/fat on the beginner program?
Thanks Jordan, I was thinking about a 500 calorie reduction. Is that reduction too large? Also, I’ve set my protein intake to 190-200 grams and adjusted my other macros accordingly to accommodate the calorie decrease. Is that amount of protein a good target?
I have some weight numbers from over the past week. I started my 500 calorie reduction on Monday 3/30.
3/30/20 - 189.4#
3/31/20 - 188.4#
4/1/20 - 187.0#
4/2/20 - 187.0#
4/3/20 - 187.8#
4/4/20 - 185.2#
Total weight loss: 4.2#
There is no way I’ve lost 4.2 pounds of fat since Monday 3/30. I’m thinking most of this reduction was through reduction in water weight. My goal is obviously to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss. With that in mind, are there any dietary tweaks that I should make based on the info provided or should I continue to stay the course with a 500 calorie reduction?
Just a quick update - I weighed in at 182.6# yesterday which is down from 189.4# on 3/30/20. Oddly enough, I weighed in at 184.8# first thing this morning. Maybe this is due to something I ate yesterday?
Either way, what I’m slowly realizing is that I was/am much more fat than jacked. I’m estimating that I’ll need to get down to 170.0# before my abs are solidly visible. My main goal right now is to have visible abs for summer without losing what little muscle I do have.
I am finishing the last week of phase 2 of the beginner program this week and will be starting phase 3 next week to complete the beginner program. Once, I’ve leaned out, my goals are obviously to gain muscle size and strength while not getting fat again in the process. I would love to maintain visible abs throughout this process even if they’re not super defined. My absolute pipe dream would be to get to 190.0# and have solidly visible abs.
With all of that said, what’s the best next step for me in this process?