How do I construct a cutting plan?

Question

As the title suggests, I was wondering how one should go about constructing a proper cutting diet and workout plan? I will be finishing with a bulking routine at the end of August, and I would like to start soon thereafter--dropping 1 lb of fat per week and saving as much muscle mass as possible. How does one go about doing this?

My stats:

Sex: Male Age: 29 Height: 6 feet Weight: 185 lbs (by the end of August) bf %: 18 percent (flucuates)

I'd like to drop to around 12 percent body fat if possible.

Thanks!

Answer 1

One easy way to do it without having to count calories is to standardize your diet. By that I mean eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, dinner every day. It makes it easy to figure out how to tweak your diet to continue to lose weight.

Another option is to get a calorie tracking app for your smartphone and track everything that way. It's a little more work, but it makes it easier to eat a diverse diet.

You can also take appetite suppressants like coffee. There are herbal and OTC drugs you can take that are reasonably safe, but I'm not going to suggest any. However, I will note that if the product you're looking at has a name like "Fat Burn Extreme XXX" it's probably much more expensive than it needs to be.

Another trick I've found it to split your meals (maybe eat 2 smaller lunches at work instead of one big one). And if you can arrange it, eat one of your meals right before you lift so you don't get too lightheaded when going heavy.

One thing to keep in mind is that unless you're using anabolic agents, losing weight too fast can ruin your size and strength. This is one of the reasons people argue that the bulk/cut cycle isn't the most effective for the natural athlete. So I would say that 1-2lbs a week is the most you'd want to lose if you care about your strength levels after your cut. However you will likely lose a lot of water weight fast if you switch to a low carb diet so don't freak out about that.

As for exercise: you might find that you can't handle the volume you're used to doing on a bulking routine. One way around this is to take pre-workout supplements and/or save some calories to drink a bit of Gatorade (or other sugary beverage) while you lift. And of course you should supplement creatine, this will add unnecessary bloat, but that's just water weight. If, at the end of your cut, you want to look more dry you can just cut out the creatine.

Many people like to add some additional steady-state cardio a couple times a week just to speed up the process. I know that steady-state isn't necessarily the best choice if you want to lose fat, but it allows you to burn a few extra calories without adding significantly to your workload, so you'll not be friend in the gym all the time.

And lastly, drink lots of water. If you keep your stomach full, even if it's just water, I find it "takes the edge off." Or of you like chewing gum, that's also a wonderful way to ignore the hunger pangs.

Answer 2

Count your macros and calories. Make a spreadsheet and cook your meals on Sunday, and put them in tuppers. I only cook for lunch and dinner, the same food. The snacks are usually fruits, almonds, protein shake, banana. Buy a food scale. Determine your calorie requirements with an online calculator, or by research. Don't eat below the recommended amount. At start, reduce your cardio and keep your weight training the same.

The weight is gonna drop, but you'll plateau at some point. Here's where you reduce your calories by about 200 cals (research for yourself). Then when you plateau again, increase your cardio (you can do it since you've already decreased it at start).

The body will adapt to all changes, so make them gradual so you always have room to change (diet & cardio). You can also try changing your macros. When reducing calories, do them from carbs. Protein and fats should remain the same.

I leave 1 or 2 days off the tuppers, and eat different, but always around the same cals. If you happen to do something intense (a sport with friends), you can eat a litte bit more after that.

Eat every 3 hours, but not necessarily the same amount of calories, lunch and dinner should have more calories than the snacks.