To cut or not?

[Pique]

Hi All,

I'm 8 months removed from finally getting fed up of being a skinny dweeb - I started weight training and bulking last November (134lbs @ 5'9). My aim was always to bulk as cleanly as possible so my diet has always been fairly good (with the odd pepperoni pizza my weakness), and I have gained 29lbs to date (163lbs), which feels great. However, I do feel like I've put on a bit too much fat - I do have body image issues so I don't know if I am worrying over nothing but a colleague did remark that I was a bit 'chubby in the face' the other day, which hurts when you're used to being built like a racing snake.

So I am thinking about adjusting things a bit to reduce my body fat which I calculate at about 15-16%. I tried cutting my calorie intake for a couple of days, but struggled to find healthier alternatives so just ended up eating less. I tried to continue my weight lifting program as before but just felt totally weak and drained of energy. Given the fact that summer will be over before I can do a good cutting cycle (8+ weeks) I am wondering if it is worthwhile doing something as extreme as cutting 500+ calories per day.

So my second option is to tweak things in my diet to clean it up as much as possible, eating the same volume so as not to feel tired/hungry but slowly reducing fat. My everyday diet consists of something like:

Breakfast : Cereal + Natural Yogurt or Peanut Butter on toast
10am : Peanut Butter Sarnie
Lunch: 2-3 turkey breasts with cous cous or noodles / 1 can tuna + pasta
Tea : I eat a fairly normal dinner given the OH eats too, but it's normally pretty healthy - Chile + brown rice, Pasta, Chicken etc.

The only supplements I currently take are 2 scoops whey protein + 1/2 pint of semi skimmed milk after workouts.

The third option is to mix in some cardio in between lifting days. However given that I lift 3 times a week for 1hr 30 each, and work 50 hours a week, I'm usually not in the mood for exercise on my days off! So maybe you guys can help me find a way to get my abs back - they were all I had when I was thin!

Sorry for the long winded post, but I'm at a crossroads at the moment! As a weight lifting newbie it feels great to put a bit of bulk on - but now I don't know what to do with it

[Efbe]

Don't go too extreme with the calorie deficit.

Do get used to having no energy if you are going to be doing lots of cardio you wouldn't usually and cut.

Don't be worried about getting the ultimate healthy food, just eat fresh food in limited quantities, and make sure it's well balanced.

Don't go by your weight or bodyfat%.

Do go by what you look like. Take photos for comparison. Getting hung up on numbers is never a good thing. Weight means very little, and bodyfat is notoriously difficult to calculate accurately.

edit: If you are to tired to exercise, then change the time you work out at

[Hoofy]

Evening, fatty.

You sound like I was about 7 months ago. I've been experimenting with various dieting methods. The one that always helps me smash through plateaus has been HIIT. Pick your weapon of choice then do short bursts of maximum speed or intensity activity (cycling, running, lifting) followed by short periods of rest. Eg 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds jog (if you can sustain the sprint for 5 minutes, you're not sprinting). Combine this with continuing to lift your normal reps/sets and eating a mild calorie deficit every day. Cheating is permitted if you must have that pizza.

Anything else works for short periods but fks about with my metabolism eg longer steady state cardio, eating 1000 calories a day, playing about with carbs.

I can send you an HIIT routine that I've given others that has got results if you want.

[Pique]

Efbe said:

edit: If you are to tired to exercise, then change the time you work out at

Can't really do much about this one - I workout at home so banging the weights about at 6am won't make me popular with the neighbours. By the time I get home from work at 6pm and do 90 minutes of training I'm just about ready to eat then turn in.

Hoofy said:

Evening, fatty.

Not helping

Hoofy said:

I can send you an HIIT routine that I've given others that has got results if you want

That would be great! I retired from playing football last year so I should take to cardio pretty easily but it would explain why I've filled out so much recently...

[Hoofy]

Pique said:

Efbe said:

edit: If you are to tired to exercise, then change the time you work out at

Can't really do much about this one - I workout at home so banging the weights about at 6am won't make me popular with the neighbours. By the time I get home from work at 6pm and do 90 minutes of training I'm just about ready to eat then turn in.

Challenge: don't bang the weights about. Doing deadlifts at home is tricky when you're the one who has to pay to have the floorboards fixed if you just dump it down like you see many do on YT.

I'll send you the routine.

[BenM77]

A Kettlebell will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus

Get a kettlebell for HIIT circuits, great bit of kit for training at home

[Efbe]

Hoofy said:

Pique said:

Efbe said:

edit: If you are to tired to exercise, then change the time you work out at

Can't really do much about this one - I workout at home so banging the weights about at 6am won't make me popular with the neighbours. By the time I get home from work at 6pm and do 90 minutes of training I'm just about ready to eat then turn in.

Challenge: don't bang the weights about. Doing deadlifts at home is tricky when you're the one who has to pay to have the floorboards fixed if you just dump it down like you see many do on YT.

I'll send you the routine.

and pullups.
deadlifts and pullups would actually have most of your body covered!

[Pique]

Efbe said:

and pullups.
deadlifts and pullups would actually have most of your body covered!

Already doing both

[Onemcs]

Find a Cut and Bulk program.

You'll need to eat alot of calories but then the workouts are full of supersets, drop sets and 30 second rests.

That way you could still build, but lose fat at the same time!

Don't worry what other people think, as long as you're happy who cares!

[Tiggsy]

Onemcs said:

That way you could still build, but lose fat at the same time!

You will lose fat and increase muscle at the same time? So is the body getting more cal than it needs (to build) or less (to cut) while this goes on.

[Onemcs]

Tiggsy said:

You will lose fat and increase muscle at the same time? So is the body getting more cal than it needs (to build) or less (to cut) while this goes on.

You are eating more, but at more intervals and at set times. That combined with intense weight training and cardio and a change in diet ensures you lose the fat, but gain muscle.

I undertook a 12 week program. Started off around 11% fat weighing 66.6kgs.
After I weighed in around 70kgs and 7.5% body fat.

[SirSamuelBuca]

there is one flaw with your diet. and that is the amount of bread you eat. I had same problem of putting alot of muscle on and getting a bit of fat round my tummy (i am about 15%) this was from eating peanut butter and toast everyday 2-4 rounds of bread a day. Lay off that try to get about 2800+ calories a day and keep at it you will get lower bf and more muscle but its a slow process you have done well for 8 months

Edited by SirSamuelBuca on Thursday 26th July 15:54

[SirSamuelBuca]

just looking at what you eat I would take the mid morning sarnie out and replace with

Protein shake
12 almonds
small amount of trail mix

plus you eat no fruit. get a banana/apple in you and a shake in the afternoon

[Pique]

SirSamuelBuca said:

there is one flaw with your diet. and that is the amount of bread you eat. I had same problem of putting alot of muscle on and getting a bit of fat round my tummy (i am about 15%) this was from eating peanut butter and toast everyday 2-4 rounds of bread a day. Lay off that try to get about 2800+ calories a day and keep at it you will get lower bf and more muscle but its a slow process you have done well for 8 months

Edited by SirSamuelBuca on Thursday 26th July 15:54

Thanks for the suggestions chaps I will let you know how it goes!

I think I will swap out the sarnie as suggested (I use the thickest white bread I can get as well ) and try a shake and some almonds as suggested, or maybe peanut butter on ryvita instead Is peanut butter good? Some places say it is but it's pretty high in fat.

I am also going to try 30 minutes of HIIT on the OH's exercise bike on my non-lifting weekdays.

ETA Just checked my mail - Thanks for the routine Hoofy. Do you recommend that everyday or just on non-lifting days?

Edited by Pique on Thursday 26th July 19:12

Edited by Pique on Thursday 26th July 19:25

[Onemcs]

Look into tababta training ! Seriously intense but works well!

[Juanco20]

Hoofy, could you send me a copy of that HIIT training program?

[Leptons]

For lunch you have 2-3 TURKEY breasts? Surely not, that would take some eating...

I have been doing a 5x5 routine for the past 3 months and just started (3 weeks ago) Intermittant fasting which is allowing me to keep my strength but drop body fat. I'm trying to eat maintenance calories and it's working so far. I would definately recommend something similar for yourself.

ETA, drop the bread too as the above poster said. Infact I don't eat many refined carbs at all anymore.

Edited by Leptons on Friday 27th July 08:33

[SirSamuelBuca]

peanut butter is ok maybe once a week but tbh its full of st and high in fat.

You can get almond butter maybe order some online alot better!

[fatpasty]

SirSamuelBuca said:

peanut butter is ok maybe once a week but tbh its full of st and high in fat.

You can get almond butter maybe order some online alot better!

Agreed. But almond butter is double the cost

[SirSamuelBuca]

@Leptopns so you just carb cycle?

I kind of do this to the extent I eat high carbs or try to after intense workout and lay off carbs on a night (just get carbs in at lunch) on days off.

Proper carb cycling looks like it would make me starving!!!