sophietheadventurer

ya that's what im planning to do; my plan isn't like set in stone so im 100% willing to adapt as i go along and im tracking calories and keeping an eye on macros in myfitnesspal, and i decided to start cutting now so im currently at 2100 calories a day (mainly bc i think if i carry on bulking it'll take ages to get leaner)

nice thanks for the feedback i forgot about re-feed meals but that'll probably happen organically anyway :')

ah okay, thanks for the advice

really? :0 so do you think i wouldn't need to go that low to get pretty lean? Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

This is a plan I've made for my 12+ week cut I'm gonna start either at the start of February or March and I was wondering if anyone could read it and give me any notes or just confirm its okay-ness? :') This is meant to be a slow and steady, non-extreme cut as I really don't want to lower my calories too much for general mental health reasons~ Background: I've been lifting 3-4 times a week in a gym for about 4 months (non-seriously for about a year) doing a mixture of strength training (for squat/deadlift/bench/OHP) as well as hypertrophy accessory stuff, and although my main concern is strength, I'm at like 20-22% body fat and have been trying to bulk for about 4 months now and just wanna get leaner for aesthetics and so I can then do a more efficient lean bulk from there I currently weigh about 68-69kg. Here's the plan... Nutrition: - Keep protein as high as possible (80g+) and fat low (80g max). - Do intermittent fasting as much as possible and track hours (aim for a minimum of 16hrs). Training: - Train in mostly hypertrophy rep ranges (8-12). - Focus strength training on one big compound exercise per 2 week block (e.g. deadlift for sets of 1-5 reps for 2 weeks alongside higher rep squats, bench, and OHP, then switch). - Start or end each workout with a 10min HIIT session (all in one or half at the beginning half at end) on the rowing machine or treadmill (e.g. 2 minutes at a steady pace then 30 seconds as fast as possible, repeat). - Walk whenever possible, particularly when fasted (i.e. in mornings). Weeks 1-4: Reduce calories by 300 (e.g. 2500-300=2200). Weeks 5-8: Reduce calories by a further 300 (e.g. 2200-300=1900). Weeks 9-12 and onwards: Reduce calories by a further 200-300 (or burn the extra calories through HIIT/walking) and continue to maintain (e.g. 1900-300=1600).

i can imagine it being about 10kg by its weight tbh so you might be right there (and nah i can't do that)

nah i haven't yet 'cause when i first joined i was doing a lot of running and now i've realised i actually don't really like running but really like lifting so maybe the warrior guild is for me like you say :'))

it's probably 6ft long, definitely not a full 7ft olympic bar though because we have one of those and it's much bigger and heavier looking sorry this was kind of a dumb post to make! :')

fixed it and it doesn't have any markings on at all, annoyingly :/ no scale either, and this is a tiny gym in my school p.e. department so we're not allowed to take the weights out of the room

This is a photo of a small barbell I took at my school's (teeny and basic) gym today, but it doesn't have its weight marked on it so I was wondering if anyone could maybe guess how much it weighs from the photo or tell me what kind of barbell it is from looking at it and how much that kind of barbell weighs? If anyone can help that would be so helpful!

would that short a 'bulk' period repeated over a long time cause any damage to your health? i.e. nervous system, metabolism, etc.?

First off I know that everyone says you can't build muscle and gain fat simultaneously, but would this actually work? What is it that enables muscle gain - purely protein intake or do you have to increase all macronutrients and calories too? I know this question is kinda dumb, but I was just thinking about it because I've been trying to eat at a calorie deficit for a while now but only recently started increasing my protein intake within that calorie deficit, and (this may not be true) but I feel like I am eating more protein than I used to be when I just ate whatever and at maintenance... :')

i've only started trying to eat some paleo breakfasts this week (my goal for last week was to eat paleo lunches, which i'm continuing this week) so this morning i had a hard boiled egg with leftover chicken and tomatoes, and had a pear for a snack between bfast and lunch, whereas yesterday i ate 5 pieces of fruit across the day including breakfast it's quite hard for me to have paleo breakfasts like eggs and meat all the time because i'm only 17 and living at home so i only really have access to the food my parents buy and i don't always have the time or money to cook chicken or make paleo breakfast muffins or anything like that~

thanks for the responses, i'm hoping paleo will help me lose weight and retain muscle basically

I'm trying to eat more paleo food so for breakfast and snacks I tend to eat quite a lot of fruit, whereas I used to eat more porridge, muesli, sultana bran cereal, brown toast with peanut butter, etc. (not unhealthy breakfasts, i.e. complex carbs, but not paleo). Fruit has more sugar than those things (I think, at least more so than porridge) but they're not paleo, so basically my question is: is it better to eat quite a lot of fruit in place of these things and stay on track with eating paleo, or is it better to eat a smaller amount of porridge/muesli/brown toast/etc. and therefore not eat paleo? thank you for any advice!!

Does anyone have any tips for dealing with cravings and/or stopping yourself from snacking unnecessarily? I'm trying to break the habit of having a snack in the evenings and I'd really appreciate any advice :)) In case anyone else is interested the things I find helpful are drinking green tea, chewing gum, and I've also got a list of all the food I crave so I can look forward to eating them on a cheat day

I've been working on my fitness for about 6 weeks now and I'm trying to lose fat and get muscle definition, and the more I research how to do this the more confused I get :// I know that to lose weight you have to eat a calorie deficit, so that's what I've been trying to do for these last 6 weeks as I want to lose extra unnecessary fat. I've also been running 2-3 times a week (mostly interval training 20-30 mins or steady state jogging 20-50 mins), and strength training 2-3 times a week. I want to build muscle definition and I know that muscle burns more calories, but how can I lose fat and achieve muscle definition if I'm eating a calorie deficit to lose weight when you have to eat a calorie surplus to gain muscle?? I really want to achieve a body I'm proud of and I've seen very little results and I just don't know what to do

So I'm struggling to lose fat particularly around my hips and would really appreciate any suggestions for exercises which build muscle around the lower waist (i.e. love handles, lower abs/stomach). I mostly do leg raises and use the abdominal machine to work my abs and have just started doing Russian twists with a medicine ball too. One of my long-term goals is to have a v-line/defined hips - does anyone have any advice for achieving this? [if relevant, i'm a girl, 5'6", 61kg/134lb]

thanks for your reply! i know it's kinda hard to read lol and yeah because i've only been exercising properly for two weeks my main goal like it says before the first week row was to literally just do the exercise when i planned to. i think your point about tracking progress by noting times and stuff is good advice so i'll try do that my goal is to get stronger, lose extra fat, and have muscle definition.

Over the last two weeks I've been planning and charting my exercise and diet, and I would really appreciate any advice or comments at all about what I could do to improve how I'm exercising or what I'm eating, or any comments or suggestions of any kind! Thank you!

So I've only become serious about getting fitter in the last two weeks, and in that time I've been reading a lot of nerd fitness articles and other info on the internet, and I've learned a lot, but I'm still not sure what's the best approach for me. I've been running about every other day or every two days in the last three~ weeks and I've also been going to the gym twice a week, and I know that I enjoy strength training and weightlifting much more than running. Also from reading articles on here I'm getting the idea that strength training is actually better for weight loss and of course building muscle definition. My fitness goal is be lean and have muscle definition (and obviously strength). I'd rather have greater strength than endurance. Basically my query is: overall, is strength training better than running? If I enjoy strength training more than running is there any need to run at all? Can I just do strength training workouts in place of running (i.e. 4-5 times a week)? I'm really new and trying to get smart about this stuff so I can be as efficient as possible; thanks for reading/helping!! [i'm a girl <20 if that's relevant]