I've lost 70lbs already, keep cutting or bulk or "maingain"?

[PaulyWalnuts805]

Hello UG again thank you to everyone who's already given me excellent advice, this place has been a huge help.

So I'm still on my cut, my goal was to get off 100lbs total down to 220lbs (started at 320lbs FAT as hell a while back). I've taken total control over my diet after crash dieting a bit several weeks ago, and I've lost another good grip of weight while my muscles have gotten bigger/stronger since starting to lift 3 months-ish ago. I've also bought a new mattress which helped tremendously with my sleep and energy levels throughout the day, unrelated but it's been a huge help recently.. Anways.

My question is, would I benefit from upping my calories to either stop losing weight, or SLOWLY gain some weight back, while lifting? I was mulling this over this morning on a rest day walk with my dog. I'm thinking if I up my calories to a maintenance level while continuing to lift, or at a slight surplus even, I could bulk up my muscles and strength while also boosting my BMR. Maybe I could do this for like 8 or 12 weeks, then about face back into a cut, I'm thinking this could help me to lose a greater ratio of fat vs simply bodyweight and renew my vigor and strength in the gym. Also thinking this might create a more aesthetic physique overall. This is all assuming that I can be totally disciplined in terms of my diet, which I absolutely am currently and will continue to do since it feels so fucking good to not be eating like a teenager anymore. What I will fucking NOT be doing is eating like a pig/binging and ruining my progress, hell the fuck no.

OR am I tripping and I should just power through the last 30lbs of my cut to get to my original goal? And then get into maintenance calorie work after that?

I know for sure some will say hell no but I'd like to hear the reasoning behind why I should or should not go about a mission like this.. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons myself and this is my thinking so far;

Pros - Gain volume/strength in my weaker areas, set myself up to be at a leaner finish once I do get to my bodyweight goal of 220lbs, increase my BMR and ability to burn actual fat

Cons - slow down my overall progress towards 220lbs, more $ for food, still at a high bodyfat % so the weight gained will not be as lean as it could be if I wait until I'm at a lower weight to focus on gaining muscle

 

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

My question is, would I benefit from upping my calories to either stop losing weight, or SLOWLY gain some weight back, while lifting?

You still have 30lbs of fat (at least) to lose, right?

Trim the fat first, then maintain so you can adapt the mindset and lifestyle to make sure that fat doesn't find it's way back onto your body. Standard rule is 1:1 cut to maintenance if cutting from being fat. Maintenance phase likely unneeded if already <=15% BF.

Great work so far, stick with it.

 

[PaulyWalnuts805]

You still have 30lbs of fat (at least) to lose, right?

Trim the fat first, then maintain so you can adapt the mindset and lifestyle to make sure that fat doesn't find it's way back onto your body. Standard rule is 1:1 cut to maintenance if cutting from being fat. Maintenance phase likely unneeded if already <=15% BF.

Great work so far, stick with it.

I can't be certain that it's 30lbs of fat I need to lose, I carry a majority of my fat right on my gut, with some on my ass and chest. I guess I should figure out what my actual bodyfat % is at this point. I'm just a hair above 250lbs, 6'1", 31 years old, and yeah still pretty fat. I think honestly I know I SHOULD continue to cut weight, but it's tempting to bulk to get some fuckin muscles lmao

What's the thinking behind ~15% BF before bulking? And when you say maintenance phase unneeded, are you saying I should go directly from finishing my cut into a clean, methodical bulking phase?

 

[Send0]

I can't be certain that it's 30lbs of fat I need to lose, I carry a majority of my fat right on my gut, with some on my ass and chest. I guess I should figure out what my actual bodyfat % is at this point. I'm just a hair above 250lbs, 6'1", 31 years old, and yeah still pretty fat. I think honestly I know I SHOULD continue to cut weight, but it's tempting to bulk to get some fuckin muscles lmao

What's the thinking behind ~15% BF before bulking? And when you say maintenance phase unneeded, are you saying I should go directly from finishing my cut into a clean, methodical bulking phase?

The percentage itself doesn't matter. Look in the mirror and ask yourself two questions... are you lean enough? And do you think you've achieved your goal visually?

It sounds to me like the answer to both these questions is no. So keep cutting until the answer is yes.

If you want an opinion, then post pictures for others to comment on whenever you are ready to do so.

 

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

What's the thinking behind ~15% BF before bulking?

a small army of redditors stand behind the bulk and cut method of:
-bulk until 15%BF
-Cut until 10%
-rinse and repeat
^This is to continue looking good while also making progress, but is doubly benefitted by increased insulin sensitivity (meaning less calories store as fat and more turn to muscle - "Nutrient Partitioning").

are you saying I should go directly from finishing my cut into a clean, methodical bulking phase?

Not quite, because you are not starting your cut within 15% BF. You started your cut significantly higher, meaning you are even more likely to benefit from a maintenance phase to adapt the lean lifestyle.

It's worth mentioning that at 220, it's unlikely you will have visible abs unless you've got a fuckload of muscle on your frame. You're likely still building muscle while in this cut, just not as optimally as if you were in a gaining phase.

I'm a recovering fatass (not that fat, but still, too fat for someone who lifted as often and as much as I do/did), and I'm currently well on the way to achieving a fully visible 6-pack for the 2nd time in my life. The thought of going on an intentional bulk after this is stressing me out, because the fat was so fucking hard to lose - I'm nervous to willingly put more of it on.
^I would imagine this somewhat applies to you too.

P.S Don't waste your money on getting your BF% checked. Keep cutting until you like what you see in the mirror.

 

[PaulyWalnuts805]

a small army of redditors stand behind the bulk and cut method of:
-bulk until 15%BF
-Cut until 10%
-rinse and repeat
^This is to continue looking good while also making progress, but is doubly benefitted by increased insulin sensitivity (meaning less calories store as fat and more turn to muscle - "Nutrient Partitioning").


Not quite, because you are not starting your cut within 15% BF. You started your cut significantly higher, meaning you are even more likely to benefit from a maintenance phase to adapt the lean lifestyle.

It's worth mentioning that at 220, it's unlikely you will have visible abs unless you've got a fuckload of muscle on your frame. You're likely still building muscle while in this cut, just not as optimally as if you were in a gaining phase.

I'm a recovering fatass (not that fat, but still, too fat for someone who lifted as often and as much as I do/did), and I'm currently well on the way to achieving a fully visible 6-pack for the 2nd time in my life. The thought of going on an intentional bulk after this is stressing me out, because the fat was so fucking hard to lose - I'm nervous to willingly put more of it on.
^I would imagine this somewhat applies to you too.

P.S Don't waste your money on getting your BF% checked. Keep cutting until you like what you see in the mirror.

Thanks for elaborating, I got you now. That all sounds correct and exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

I think starting from being super depressed, suicidal, binging, struggling to get them first ~30lbs off just from dieting and cardio, to now having taken full accountability and learned discipline/diet adherence/training adherence, I'm actually not at all afraid of bulking.. My biggest problem right now in my opinion is just a lack of patience. I've been skipping rest days, getting super sore, needing to take 2 days to rest, throwing cardio in on the rest days of course and then really not that long ago just a couple weeks I tried doing some stupid shit and was eating like 1500-1800 calories which made me insanely hungry and led to crashing my diet adherence for a couple days. All those errors come from a lack of patience, I'm not exactly frustrated with my pace but I just want to get down to a healthy body weight and be able to take my shirt off at the beach with zero apprehension SO BADLY. Being from southern California that's huge for me, being fat is so fucking embarrassing, but I've got to rid myself of those childish impulses and just do the fucking work, and content myself that discipline will create the conditions I want regardless of the timeframe.. And there's no "finish line" because I'm not fucking going back, so the time it takes shouldn't matter that much anyways.

I'm not sure I'll ever have visible abs, that's not such an important measure of success for me personally. My stomach has stretch marks and I'm not sure I will be able to have a "flat" look, that dickskin level tightness for my stomach probably isn't in the cards - which is fine because that's not important to me. I just want to get down to a healthy body weight and then backfill all that skin with muscle ASAP. I know I can do all that, for sure, I just gotta get rid of that "ASAP" part in my head, cuz this shit is gonna take some time still. I'll prob just get some tattoos where my stomach is a bit stretched out, no big deal, and I'm still pretty young so maybe my skin will tighten up more than I expect but I'm prepared for either outcome.

The percentage itself doesn't matter. Look in the mirror and ask yourself two questions... are you lean enough? And do you think you've achieved your goal visually?

It sounds to me like the answer to both these questions is no. So keep cutting until the answer is yes.

If you want an opinion, then post pictures for others to comment on whenever you are ready to do so.

I'm not sure if you're following me in particular or you're just up in here like that so you see everything I post, but I really appreciate you every time you chime in. You've got that no-nonsense kind of thinking that I try to stick to when I'm at my best, and I really appreciate your help. It really is that simple, I'm not lean enough and bulking now would probably just be a setback in terms of my overall goals. As far as my goals visually, that answer is more nuanced since I need to bulk to get to where I want to be visually either way, but bulking now with all this fat on my frame would set me back in terms of that goal in the short term for sure. So the answer to both is for sure a no.. And so I'll keep cutting until it's yes.

I took some pics last night, only looks marginally different to the pics I posted in my member intro thread even though I've lost like another ~8lbs or something since then, last time I checked. I'll start a journal here before too long and keep that one updated with physique pics on a regular basis.

 

[eazy]

would I benefit from upping my calories to either stop losing weight, or SLOWLY gain some weight back, while lifting?

let me get this straight.

you've made outstanding progress. you've got it dialed in. momentum is on your side. you are 30lbs, 12-15 weeks away from where you want to be.

and you want to stop?

I'd like to hear the reasoning behind why

see above

am I tripping and I should just power through the last 30lbs of my cut to get to my original goal?

yes

starting to lift 3 months-ish ago

bulk up my muscles and strength

you are so new to it you will continue to make progress while cutting.

 

[PaulyWalnuts805]

Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow kings. Looked at bf % reference pics, I'm probably approaching ~25% bf right now. Def too soon to bulk or maintain, it's time to press on and continue increasing my intensity and discipline.

 

[69nites]

The only reason I ever have anyone stop a weight loss phase (I don't consider bulk weight loss a "cut") is if the calories have dropped to a point that it's incredibly difficult to continue. At that point slowly increasing the calories and improving your metabolic rate is warranted before continuing the weight loss.

 

[PaulyWalnuts805]

The only reason I ever have anyone stop a weight loss phase (I don't consider bulk weight loss a "cut") is if the calories have dropped to a point that it's incredibly difficult to continue. At that point slowly increasing the calories and improving your metabolic rate is warranted before continuing the weight loss.

My resting BMR is ~2100, if I keep going to the gym I can probably eat 1900-2100 for the forseeable future. It's not that restrictive at all and I don't feel hungry on it anymore. Resting BMR only goes down to ~1900 once I get to 200lbs so there's really no reason to change my diet at all right now.

 

[BigSwolePump]

Why would you even consider not reaching your goal if you have already gotten so far? Stick to you original plan.

 

[snake]

I'd say hit your goal if for no other reason that hitting your goal.

As for ever eating in an excess, I'd be careful going down that road, you had an issue with food before. It's like tell a recovering alcoholic it's ok if he only has 1 beer.

 

[buck]

I can't be certain that it's 30lbs of fat I need to lose, I carry a majority of my fat right on my gut, with some on my ass and chest. I guess I should figure out what my actual bodyfat % is at this point. I'm just a hair above 250lbs, 6'1", 31 years old, and yeah still pretty fat. I think honestly I know I SHOULD continue to cut weight, but it's tempting to bulk to get some fuckin muscles lmao

What's the thinking behind ~15% BF before bulking? And when you say maintenance phase unneeded, are you saying I should go directly from finishing my cut into a clean, methodical bulking phase?

You may not be taking into consideration how much internal fat you have and that is fat that is more unhealthy for the most part. I would shoot for getting learner. In general it seems most guys under estimate how fat they really are and like to think they have more muscle then they really do.

 

[PaulyWalnuts805]

I'd say hit your goal if for no other reason that hitting your goal.

As for ever eating in an excess, I'd be careful going down that road, you had an issue with food before. It's like tell a recovering alcoholic it's ok if he only has 1 beer.

Yeah this is super true, I cannot underestimate this factor. Honestly since I quit smoking weed it's been WAY easier to maintain diet adherence.. So I think my problem was multifaceted, but food and binging was definitely an issue. I also got horrible sleep quality, which also contributes to grellin production and eating more/making worse food choices.

 

[snake]

Yeah this is super true, I cannot underestimate this factor. Honestly since I quit smoking weed it's been WAY easier to maintain diet adherence.. So I think my problem was multifaceted, but food and binging was definitely an issue. I also got horrible sleep quality, which also contributes to grellin production and eating more/making worse food choices.

Seems sleep quality decreases as we age. Just life.