First cut! Keep me motivated!!

[LintRoller]

Starting my first cut and thought I'd start a thread to stay motivated and show you guys my results. I just recently started getting into the science of bodybuilding so I never knew what a cut or bulk was before then. I was just lifting eating what I wanted and drinking whey protein.

Here's the story. I'm 5'11, 200lbs, 22 years old. I was a fat kid. I was about 215 at age 12. I slimmed down due to puberty and probably hit 170 from 13-17. Got my GF preggo and we started pigging out together and hit 230. Started hitting the weights and I've been fluctuating between 195-210. Time to get my fat ass down to a decent BF.

I'm getting about 2000 cals for the cut, ~250 grams pro, ~50 carbs, I'm not sure about the fat, I get some good fats in like fishoil, eggs, some muscle milk and what ever I get from meat. I take one a day vitamins, (from here on I just started taking for the cut)sesamin, lipo 6x.

Not sure what my BF% is can anyone tell roughly by the pix? I'f the pix aren't adequate I can take some more pix later on. I'll be taking pix every sunday from here on to track progress, my cut started today.

My goal is to get to about 8-9% body fat then do a proper bulk.

 

[rikishi]

for me personally, i have the best results eating every 2 hours with 1 slice of ezekiel bread with 6-8 oz chicken breast. ezekiel bread is the best carb source imo...its glycemic index is 36 (which means it breaks down very slowly), it is flourless and has a lot of fiber to help you feel fuller on less food. see if you can find it. organic food stores sell it, and so does stop and shop and some shop rites. but make sure to not eat any carbs at least 5 hours before bed time, so stop eating ezekiel around 6-7 pm (depending on what time you go to bed).

also take ECA stack, this will help a lot. 25 mg ephedrine, 200 mg caffeine, 325 mg aspirin 2-3 times a day spaced out by 4-5 hours. take it 30 minutes before cardio first thing in the morning, then do cardio on an empty stomach (BCAAs would be good to take before cardio for a variety of reasons too).

i like doing cardio at least twice a day on a cut, once in am and once in pm.

 

[LintRoller]

for me personally, i have the best results eating every 2 hours with 1 slice of ezekiel bread with 6-8 oz chicken breast. ezekiel bread is the best carb source imo...its glycemic index is 36 (which means it breaks down very slowly), it is flourless and has a lot of fiber to help you feel fuller on less food. see if you can find it. organic food stores sell it, and so does stop and shop and some shop rites. but make sure to not eat any carbs at least 5 hours before bed time, so stop eating ezekiel around 6-7 pm (depending on what time you go to bed).

also take ECA stack, this will help a lot. 25 mg ephedrine, 200 mg caffeine, 325 mg aspirin 2-3 times a day spaced out by 4-5 hours. take it 30 minutes before cardio first thing in the morning, then do cardio on an empty stomach (BCAAs would be good to take before cardio for a variety of reasons too).

i like doing cardio at least twice a day on a cut, once in am and once in pm.

I'm not going to huge on carbs so I'm not even worried about it. I'm ingesting minimal cals pre and post workout with a refeed after a full body depletion workout on weekends.

I'm taking Lipo 6x, because I read about the dangers of ephedrine. The lipo contains synephrine(ephedrines weaker substitute), caffine and a bunch of other things. Here's what a day for me looks like as of today.

9:00am - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
9:30 - 25 G Whey Protein
10:00 – 4.2 Mile walk
11:00pm - Can of Tuna or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies, (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)
2:00 - 2 eggs or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies
4:00 - 25g of Whey, 1 piece of fruit (1 sesamin cap)
4:15 - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
4:45 - Workout
6:15 – (PWO) 1 Cup Oats, 50 G Whey Protein
7:45 - Meat and veggies (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)
8:30 – walk 2 miles

Never got the BCAA's because my whey protein contains it along with some glutamine L. What do you think? should I get the BCAA's and cut the protein b4 the cardio and have it afterwards instead?

 

[LintRoller]

Woke up this morning sore as hell :-D. I took last week off from the gym to let my system get some r & r. Should take pix this morning because I took pix last night on a full stomach but I'll save those for sunday.

I ran outta protein and fed ex loves to deliver late, I'll have to run down and get a muscle milk after my fasted walk to meet my requirements for the day. Today is just cardio, back to the gym tomorrow for my legs workout. I;m cutting a meal in half or completely scrapping it since I'm not going to the gym, depends how I feel though. Most likely I'll just drop the carbs for today. I'm gonna refeed on saturday after a full depletion workout and some cardio. Clean refeed though. Keep you posted.

 

[cgar1228]

Damn dude, you sound motivated! There is some good information here as I'm a currently trying to cut a little as well. I may take some pages from your book. I'm interested to see you after 2 weeks of this. Keep up the good work!

 

[LintRoller]

Damn dude, you sound motivated! There is some good information here as I'm a currently trying to cut a little as well. I may take some pages from your book. I'm interested to see you after 2 weeks of this. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, I am super motivated. It's about time i finally get to a decent BF. Feel free to take any info you like and ask any questions.

So far so good, if I continue at this rate I think I should see amazing results. I'm not weighing myself at any point during this cut, just using the mirror as a guide. At the end of the cut I'll weigh myself to sort of assess muscle and fat loss. I'm considering getting the BCAA's so I can walk/run fasted w/o worrying about catabolism. Looking into it.

 

[smtimelevi]

I'm not going to huge on carbs so I'm not even worried about it. I'm ingesting minimal cals pre and post workout with a refeed after a full body depletion workout on weekends.

I'm taking Lipo 6x, because I read about the dangers of ephedrine. The lipo contains synephrine(ephedrines weaker substitute), caffine and a bunch of other things. Here's what a day for me looks like as of today.

9:00am - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
9:30 - 25 G Whey Protein Eat low gi Carbs in the Morning. I.e. oatmeal, wheat bread, red potatoes/sweet potatoes, brown rice
10:00 – 4.2 Mile walk
11:00pm - Can of Tuna or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies, (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)
2:00 - 2 eggs or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies
Eat more protien eggs, add egg whites or increase protien ammount of this meal
4:00 - 25g of Whey, 1 piece of fruit (1 sesamin cap)
4:15 - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
4:45 - Workout
6:15 – (PWO) 1 Cup Oats, 50 G Whey Protein
loose the oatmeal, eat a bagel. Or get some dextrose powder. some sort of fast digesting carb source not low GI
7:45 - Meat and veggies (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)
8:30 – walk 2 miles

Never got the BCAA's because my whey protein contains it along with some glutamine L. What do you think? should I get the BCAA's and cut the protein b4 the cardio and have it afterwards instead?

I dont think your getting 250g a day of protien. Double up the whey servings to 2 scoops with your morning and afternoon meals and you should be there. Looks like your under 100g of carbs. Try 150, that should give you energy for cardio and put you around 2000-2500 cals a day depending on fat intake.That should give you good results for your bodyweight

 

[LintRoller]

I dont think your getting 250g a day of protien. Double up the whey servings to 2 scoops with your morning and afternoon meals and you should be there. Looks like your under 100g of carbs. Try 150, that should give you energy for cardio and put you around 2000-2500 cals a day depending on fat intake.That should give you good results for your bodyweight

Thanks for the tips.

I figured with the quantity of meat I usually eat I'd reach 250. Usually a breast, leg and half of a thigh.

My energy for cardio is always up, on account of the caffeine in the lipo 6. I'm trynna keep carbs low to speed up fat loss and plus too many carbs are no good for me. I don't think my body handles them too well. I figure I'd go moderately low on training days, low on carb days and high on refeed.

My fat intake is okay I'd say, the cod liver oil, and a few teaspoons of olive oil throughout the day(put a bit in my tuna), what ever i get from eggs and meat should be enough no? Oh and a bit from muscle milk which I usually take once a day and the rest of the day i switch back to isopure zero carb.

Edit: I just added 10-15 grams of BCAA before my morning walk which is now fasted, and the protein comes afterwards.

 

[smtimelevi]

I think your fat intake is good, sounds like its around 60g a day depending on the cuts of meat your using and how may egg yolks.
6 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast is roughly 45g
Thighs are a little less but have more fat content
Tuna can should say on the back
Red Meat is a little higher, 6 oz. is 50-55g depending on the cut. the leaner the meat the more protien it will have per oz
I have a scale i use to weigh meat and food and measuring cups for rice, beans etc. I only count when cutting. It was only $8 or something, a good investment in my mind.

If your eating 5 meals shoot for 50g per meal, if your eating 6 shoot for 40-45 per meal.
Are you just walking for cardio or do u do any running?

 

[LintRoller]

Just walking right now. Further in(about 2 weeks from now) I'm going to start doing HIIT. Today I walked for 50 mins and jogged for 10. I took it slow because I think I strained my lower ham right behind the knee about 3 days back but its slowly recovering.

Edit: After weight training I usually hop on the stationary bike for 30 mins and skip the two mile walk.

Ordered dextrose.

 

[smtimelevi]

Good stuff bro. Keep us updated on the progress. Im on a cut too right now. My numbers are about the same as yours.My abs are startin to come out im liking it. I think the most important thing is to keep protien high.

I would just up the cardio if your progress stalls otherwise why do more work,lol

 

[LintRoller]

Thanks, good luck to you too. Looking solid in ur avatar.
Tell me about it lol I hate cardio.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[B0ARDIN087]

anyone have a guess for this guys bf?

 

[LintRoller]

anyone have a guess for this guys bf?

Yeah, I'd like someone to take a guess. I'm thinking ~20%.

 

[LintRoller]

Woke up this morning had my supps. Can't wait to hit the gym for a gruesome leg workout later. Getting ready for my walk now. So far everything's been going great.

Yesterday I was a bit hungrier than usual most likely because I cut out the carbs since I didn't train. I had two muscle milks(hadn't gotten my protein yet) and I did an AB workout at home and had a naked afterwards since I haven't gotten my dextrose yet. Those are the only carbs I had, protein and fats stayed about the same.

Meals looking like this after advice I got here at the forum

9:00am - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
9:15 – BCAA 10g
9:30 - 4.2 Mile walk
10:00 –50 G Whey Protein

11:00pm - Can of Tuna or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies, (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)

2:00 - 2 eggs or (equivalent Protein Meal), Veggies
4:00 - 30g of Muscle milk, 1 piece of fruit (1 sesamin cap)
4:15 - Lipo 6x (2 caps), 2 Liters of water, Green tea
4:45 - Workout
6:15 – (PWO) 50G destrose, 50 G Whey Protein
7:45 - Meat and veggies (Multi Vitamin, 1 tbsp Cod liver oil, 1 sesamin cap)

8:30 – walk 2 miles

Off to walk.

 

[smtimelevi]

yeah, i'd like someone to take a guess. I'm thinking ~20%.

15-18%

 

[B0ARDIN087]

15-18%

this sounds about right to me also

 

[LintRoller]

Good, I'm actually closer to my goal than I thought. Won't stop me from working just as hard though.

Got my BCAA and dextrose. Incorporating the dextrose into my diet today after legs and BCAA tomorrow b4 my fasted walk.

I need help with a super clean refeed for saturday afternoon(after fullbody depletion workout) and sunday morning. The only dirty-ish thing I'm gonna have is one bowl of cinammon toast crunch after my PWO shake that saturday.

I got brown rice, sweet potato, wheat bread and have access to anything at a regular supermarket.

 

[LintRoller]

Got a great leg workout in. Used the dextrose right after with protein. Goddamn that stuff is sweet as hell. Tastes good after the first swig but after a bit it gets too sweet. Is 50D/50P a good ratio? or am I overdoing it.

Early morning workout after cardio tomorrow.

 

[LintRoller]

Woh just had a huge dextrose crash. I was fighting off the nods and decided to take a walk to fight the urge to sleep. Lowering my dextrose intake to 25g. 50P/25D from now on.

 

[LintRoller]

Intense workout today, feeling really good. My lifts haven't suffered yet, I guess i'm not that far in yet. It's only been 5 full days.

Any word on the what a clean refeed should look like? Any help would appreciated.

 

[mohdgame]

Thanks, I am super motivated. It's about time i finally get to a decent BF. Feel free to take any info you like and ask any questions.

So far so good, if I continue at this rate I think I should see amazing results. I'm not weighing myself at any point during this cut, just using the mirror as a guide. At the end of the cut I'll weigh myself to sort of assess muscle and fat loss. I'm considering getting the BCAA's so I can walk/run fasted w/o worrying about catabolism. Looking into it.

For BCAA you can use GEAR.

Also, you dont have to use BCAA to prevent catabolism, whey protein shake is enough. Whey has alot of BCAA's in it. Just drink one shake pre and you'll be fine.

 

[LintRoller]

For BCAA you can use GEAR.

Also, you dont have to use BCAA to prevent catabolism, whey protein shake is enough. Whey has alot of BCAA's in it. Just drink one shake pre and you'll be fine.

I already bought Universal BCAA stack.

I have the whey after the walk, and the BCAA before to prevent catabolism while walking.

 

[LintRoller]

Just woke up. Today is my r & r day. Water bloated and a little sluggish. Gotta carb hangover . Good news is, carbed up and water bloated I look even better than I did before I began the cut. I was supposed to post pix today but I figured it'd make no sense taking progess pix after a carb up. They'll be up Tuesday, hopefully by then I'll be back to regular weight, dropped some water and lost the volume in my stomach. Maybe I'll even be a bit thinner now that my leptin levels are up.

 

[cgar1228]

Just woke up. Today is my r & r day. Water bloated and a little sluggish. Gotta carb hangover . Good news is, carbed up and water bloated I look even better than I did before I began the cut. I was supposed to post pix today but I figured it'd make no sense taking progess pix after a carb up. They'll be up Tuesday, hopefully by then I'll be back to regular weight, dropped some water and lost the volume in my stomach. Maybe I'll even be a bit thinner now that my leptin levels are up.

Are you taking anything to assist with the cut? e.g. Ephdrine, Yohimbine, ECA, Green Tea.... I'm interested to see your progress bro so post up some pics when your not 'carbed up' lol

 

[LintRoller]

Are you taking anything to assist with the cut? e.g. Ephdrine, Yohimbine, ECA, Green Tea.... I'm interested to see your progress bro so post up some pics when your not 'carbed up' lol

Yeah, I'm taking lipo 6x which has synephrine, caffeine, yohimbine etc. I drink green tea throughout the day too.

I'll get those pix up asap, most likely by the end of today. I upped my water intake yesterday and I think I pee'd out alot of the water I put on during the carb up.

Starting HIIT today. Stretch followed by a 4 minute jog and then 16 minutes of 1 minute high 1 minute low loops. Figure I'll get in about 8 loops.

 

[LintRoller]

Pix up. Still just a bit water bloated and had just finished about half of a chicken W/ beans and lots of water... lol overdid it a bit so I'm skipping a meal later.

One week in and progress is great, I figure If I continue at this rate I'll reach my goal in 3-5 more weeks of this.

Thanks for everyone who's been following my cut so far and thanks for the suggestions.

Keep you updated.

 

[rikishi]

i like the idea of BCAAs over whey. BCAAs can signal GH release and other signaling effects. whey protein is very insulingenic which can blunt fat burning a bit.

 

[cgar1228]

Pix up. Still just a bit water bloated and had just finished about half of a chicken W/ beans and lots of water... lol overdid it a bit so I'm skipping a meal later.

One week in and progress is great, I figure If I continue at this rate I'll reach my goal in 3-5 more weeks of this.

Thanks for everyone who's been following my cut so far and thanks for the suggestions.

Keep you updated.

It looks like you're making some good progress already to me. These pictures were kind of dark so I couldn't see them quite as much as the first ones but I can tell in the side profile (second to last picture) that you obliques are becoming more visible which is a great sign. When I start to cut I always have a problem with loosing a lot of muscle so try and stay in an anabolic state as much as possible with BCAAs and high protein intake. Keep it up dude.

 

[smtimelevi]

It looks like you're making some good progress already to me. These pictures were kind of dark so I couldn't see them quite as much as the first ones but I can tell in the side profile (second to last picture) that you obliques are becoming more visible which is a great sign. When I start to cut I always have a problem with loosing a lot of muscle so try and stay in an anabolic state as much as possible with BCAAs and high protein intake. Keep it up dude.

Its hard to keep muscle if you dont up protien. Ive tried several different strategies. For me ive had the most success with keeping a maintenence level diet and doing extra cardio to burn the fat off.

 

[cgar1228]

Have any updates for us lint?

 

[LintRoller]

Haven't been posting much but make no mistake I'm still on my cut. About 2 weeks ago I took a break from the cut and ate above maintenance for 4 days. It got hard to keep my cutting diet because my GF just gave birth and I was running back and forth from the hospital and building the crib etc. You get the picture.

Haven't taken any official progress pictures in a while but after my 4 day break I took some quick pix.

Those pix are from two weeks ago. Right now I'm at the flabby skinny looking phase on account of being completely water and glycogen depleted. I haven't lost any noticeable amount of LBM. My lifts remain the same or have improved. Lost somewhere around 5, 3, 2 inches from my waist, navel, hips respectively. Progress pix coming after a refeed on July 4th.

 

[cgar1228]

Haven't been posting much but make no mistake I'm still on my cut. About 2 weeks ago I took a break from the cut and ate above maintenance for 4 days. It got hard to keep my cutting diet because my GF just gave birth and I was running back and forth from the hospital and building the crib etc. You get the picture.

Haven't taken any official progress pictures in a while but after my 4 day break I took some quick pix.

Those pix are from two weeks ago. Right now I'm at the flabby skinny looking phase on account of being completely water and glycogen depleted. I haven't lost any noticeable amount of LBM. My lifts remain the same or have improved. Lost somewhere around 5, 3, 2 inches from my waist, navel, hips respectively. Progress pix coming after a refeed on July 4th.

Nice work dude. Definitely progress!!