Achievement Unlocked: Survived My First Cut

[PaulG]

Guys! Guys. Guys and ladies.

 

I barely ever visit this part of the forum because I forgot it exists. But now I remember, and I have to brag.

 

Today I finished my first (intentional) weight loss program.

 

Effing eff yeah. I went from 21% to 12% bodyfat in around 9 weeks.

 

Progress photos below, stripey undies brought to you by my sense of humor.

 

 

Relaxed

 

Flexed

 

 

Can I get a highfive??!!

[clandestine]

Solid cut man, congrats!

 

What was your training/diet like?

[Guzzi]

Hell yeah you get a *highfive*

You're looking ripped too, I'll give you a *wolf whistle* too if you want

[sea.bee]

Nope! He doesn't get the wolf whistles until he starts wearing skimpier underwear. Now dance for us, Paul! Dance! Ooh, ooh, can you do Blue Steel and/or Magnum?

 

All joking aside, looking pretty damn good.

[PaulG]

Thanks all! Wolf whistles happily accepted.

 

 

Solid cut man, congrats!

 

What was your training/diet like?

 

Training: bodyweight strength training. I don't use barbells, haven't in over a year now, never missed 'em. Bodyweight works for my sports goals because I do parkour and want some of its unique advantages. Physique-wise, strength training of any kind is the important part.

 

Diet: pretty typical low-fat high-carb. To prepare for my cut, I basically read a bunch of articles on the subject by Lyle McDonald and followed some of Waldo's advice, whose training is probably closest to mine on the forums. In the end, I just learned how to use MyFitnessPal, counted calories and made sure I hit my protein goal. It wound up being much easier than I expected.

[JPrev]

Nice job!  I'm about halfway through my first real cut, and I've been following Lyle's advice as well.  Is your strength comparable to what it was 9 weeks ago?  So far mine hasn't declined, but it's only been 4 weeks.

[The Beard]

Highfive!!! Good work!

[PaulG]

Nice job! I'm about halfway through my first real cut, and I've been following Lyle's advice as well. Is your strength comparable to what it was 9 weeks ago? So far mine hasn't declined, but it's only been 4 weeks.

I started my cut after returning from a layoff, plus needing to rehab from some shoulder impingement... it basically put me back at basic exercises in noob gains territory. So I was a little bit of a special case there. I didn't stall on anything, although I noticed some parts of my body (lower traps) had more difficulty recovering than others.

Really happy with this, and the recovery is already starting to speed up as I raise my cals. Personally I think the trick is to make our cuts short and steep, so we spend less time spinning our wheels strength-wise. I was cutting at about -1.8lbs/week, give or take. I was afraid of seeing muscle loss but I didn't see any at all.

[Gilgamelissa]

Congratulations! You look great!

[Rooks]

Awesome work.  Looking good.  

[ORazor]

Amazing.  I'm planning on beginning a cut after this challenge.  This is great motivation!

[Mackleharris]

Would you say that MyFitnessPal was critical or at least helpful to your improvements?

[PaulG]

Would you say that MyFitnessPal was critical or at least helpful to your improvements?

 

I'd say so. I've lost weight using Paleo-like diets, and now I've lost weight using just a calorie counting tool, and I was far more successful counting calories. Especially with MFP -- before apps like that, I'd have to use a notebook and a lot of research, and it would have been a huge pain in the ass and easy to get OCD about. I probably would not have stuck with it if I didn't have the convenience of an app. But with the app, it was cake.

 

Nerd warning:

Even more valuable is the wealth of detailed data that small time investment gave me. I was able to track exactly how much I was losing, figure out how much my body burns every day (incredibly useful data to have now that I'm ending the cut). I even predicted almost to the day when I'd hit my goal -- I predicted about a month back on my battle log that I'd hit my goal March 15th, and I finished just a day before that.

 

It takes a little finesse to figure out how to get all that data from MFP but it's worth it. I felt like I was in the driver's seat the whole time, nothing really blindsided me.

 

Tracking like that is also really helpful to cut steep and still keep muscle, since you can ensure you're getting enough protein... there's a lot of reasons to use an app, more than I can list without everyones' eyes glazing over.

[Bear Force One]

Wow! That's such great progress! Lookin' good

[crazyjerseygirl]

Oh my, these forums have just become a more plesant place to be

 

Congratulations!  You can really see the results!  Is this your goal BF? 

[Prairie]

How did you deal with the hunger? I mean, nine weeks is a long time to be eating less than you're burning. 

[PaulG]

Oh my, these forums have just become a more plesant place to be

Congratulations! You can really see the results! Is this your goal BF?

Thanks. eventual plan is about 10%, but I was tired of cutting and my plan is to gain some muscle, so 12% seem like a good stopping point.

Well, I didn't actually spend all nine weeks cutting – I got sick right in the middle and had to up my calories to maintenance. So effectively, I had two three-week cuts with a diet break in between. That made it somewhat easier.

I did have some hunger, and I dealt with it for most of the cut. When I got to the point that meals were no longer filling for more than half an hour, I just did a refeed. That reset my hormones most of the way and allowed me to see the cut through.

Actually, Prairie, I think you were the one that convinced me to do a refeed.

Lyle McDonald writes pretty extensively about refeeds on his site.

[Twilight]

Damn, son.

[Prairie]

Thanks. eventual plan is about 10%, but I was tired of cutting and my plan is to gain some muscle, so 12% seem like a good stopping point.

Well, I didn't actually spend all nine weeks cutting – I got sick right in the middle and had to up my calories to maintenance. So effectively, I had two three-week cuts with a diet break in between. That made it somewhat easier.

I did have some hunger, and I dealt with it for most of the cut. When I got to the point that meals were no longer filling for more than half an hour, I just did a refeed. That reset my hormones most of the way and allowed me to see the cut through.

Actually, Prairie, I think you were the one that convinced me to do a refeed.

Lyle McDonald writes pretty extensively about refeeds on his site.

 

Some hunger? Well, props to you. I tend to get attacks of the crazies from trying to stick to maintenance levels, never mind a huge deficit. 

 

And, yeah, that was me. I'm an enabler.

[PaulG]

Some hunger? Well, props to you. I tend to get attacks of the crazies from trying to stick to maintenance levels, never mind a huge deficit. 

 

And, yeah, that was me. I'm an enabler.

 

I hear that. Before this cut, it had been a while since I'd even had a grumbly tummy, let alone needed to ignore it. The first week or two was somewhat tough. Especially since I was still growing into it -- finding foods I liked that were high enough in protein, settling into a new food routine.

 

Once I got it down it just flowed. Yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast, a giant sandwich for lunch, a couple different dishes for dinner.

 

Keeping weekly calorie goals in mind helped. Undereating on weeknights meant I could go out with friends once a week, have a few beers and a steak, and still clock in at my goal. And as I kept going, I found other treats that I enjoyed -- hotdogs (turkey hotdogs can be super high protein and low cal), low-cal pudding cups, chocolate milk, frozen yogurt... all really good stuff to have around during a cut so you don't feel deprived.

[MasterOfCows]

Hot damn.  Very, very nice.  
 

I think more pictures would help us help you celebrate your success.

 

(yes I am kind of a creeper )