# Cutting Sucks!



## rockhardly (May 27, 2010)

I am not eating nearly as much as I was when I was bulking.  When I first started my cut everything was fine; bf dropping, pounding weights, and still making gains.  Well, now I hardly have the energy to get a good workout in and after doing, for example, squats and bench, or deads and cleans. I just don't have the energy/motivation to continue thru the rest of the workout.  I am affraid that I will start losing muscle because the # of sets have decreased w/ weight staying the same and I am not doing nearly as many excercises as I was a few weeks ago.  Part of the lack of motivation is lack of energy and the other is knowing that all the brutality will not make me any better.  Another thing that is pissing me off is that when I started my cut at the begining of April I was 205# and now 2 months later I am 195#.  I have been at 195 for about 3 weeks straight.  I am getting to the point where eating less than I think I should be but my bf refuses to drop.  I figure I need to lose about 5-8#'s of fat to be cut like I wanna be.  I dont want to spend all summer cutting to get where I want to be just in time to start bulking again.  This sucks.


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## Phineas (May 27, 2010)

rockhardly said:


> I am not eating nearly as much as I was when I was bulking.  When I first started my cut everything was fine; bf dropping, pounding weights, and still making gains.  Well, now I hardly have the energy to get a good workout in and after doing, for example, squats and bench, or deads and cleans. I just don't have the energy/motivation to continue thru the rest of the workout.  I am affraid that I will start losing muscle because the # of sets have decreased w/ weight staying the same and I am not doing nearly as many excercises as I was a few weeks ago.  Part of the lack of motivation is lack of energy and the other is knowing that all the brutality will not make me any better.  Another thing that is pissing me off is that when I started my cut at the begining of April I was 205# and now 2 months later I am 195#.  I have been at 195 for about 3 weeks straight.  I am getting to the point where eating less than I think I should be but my bf refuses to drop.  I figure I need to lose about 5-8#'s of fat to be cut like I wanna be.  I dont want to spend all summer cutting to get where I want to be just in time to start bulking again.  This sucks.




I think this is more of a diet question than it is training.

Why don't you post in the diet section and look for help from sassy, Built, and FMJ? They can help you out.

And, I feel for ya buddy. I'm scared to cut. Like you, I don't like the idea of knowing all that hard training can't lead to new tissue development. I've heard it's possible to make strength gains, but not likely.


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## rockhardly (May 27, 2010)

Yah.  I thought about putting it over there but I was just going on a rant and I tend to spend most of my time here but I guess I will.  And like you said, maybe they will be able to help out.  As I have never had a problem with weight, I sure thought this would be easier.

Mods, can you move this thread to diet forum?


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## N_I_C_K (May 27, 2010)

rockhardly said:


> I am not eating nearly as much as I was when I was bulking.  When I first started my cut everything was fine; bf dropping, pounding weights, and still making gains.  Well, now I hardly have the energy to get a good workout in and after doing, for example, squats and bench, or deads and cleans. I just don't have the energy/motivation to continue thru the rest of the workout.  I am affraid that I will start losing muscle because the # of sets have decreased w/ weight staying the same and I am not doing nearly as many excercises as I was a few weeks ago.  Part of the lack of motivation is lack of energy and the other is knowing that all the brutality will not make me any better.  Another thing that is pissing me off is that when I started my cut at the begining of April I was 205# and now 2 months later I am 195#.  I have been at 195 for about 3 weeks straight.  I am getting to the point where eating less than I think I should be but my bf refuses to drop.  I figure I need to lose about 5-8#'s of fat to be cut like I wanna be.  I dont want to spend all summer cutting to get where I want to be just in time to start bulking again.  This sucks.



It's all your diet. Like Phineas said I'd re-post in the diet section. But for my diet I am eating just *as much* as I was before, the food is just a lot *healthier*. 

I've also had the same problems as you. At first I dropped a ton of weight like you but I still had energy. My workout has stayed the same except more weight actually. Do you take a pre-workout drink or pill or anything? If not I'd suggest getting one. Jack3d is great and gives me a lot of energy, focus, and I lift more when I take it as opposed to not taking it. Yeah I did have a period of time where I stayed the same weight like your having now. Believe it or not I actually had a cheat weekend and then resumed the diet and now am losing more weight. My theory is that your body has adapted to the diet and needs a break. 

Not saying you should, but if you decide to do what I did; don't eat every possible junk food in sight and stuff yourself until your full. Eat normal meals just instead of a tuna sandwich and some beef jerky for lunch eat pizza and potato chips. Not a lot, but enough to fill you up. 

One more thing. I started dieting about half a month before you (so not that long) but I weighed less and have lost a lot more. I do cardio every day though. Do you ever do cardio after you workout? Even ten minutes on the bike will help. Sometimes I even dedicate a day to cardio. Sleep in late. Go the gym and do like two hours of cardio. Hit the hottub after to relax myself. Have a chill night. 

This is just what I've personally done and had success with. I'm not saying you should try any of this. I'm also not saying that it will work for anyone else but myself. Maybe it's good, maybe it's stupid. It worked for me though.


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## Phineas (May 27, 2010)

Who said his diet was bad? He's probably eating properly for a cut. Progress can stall for a number of reasons.

Cutting is too complicated to look for generic answers from those of us who don't know as much about it. Go to the diet section and get the keto lurkers to help you out. They know far better what they're talking about, and I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction.


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## Phineas (May 27, 2010)

N_I_C_K said:


> It's all your diet. Like Phineas said I'd re-post in the diet section. But for my diet I am eating just *as much* as I was before, the food is just a lot *healthier*.
> 
> I've also had the same problems as you. At first I dropped a ton of weight like you but I still had energy. My workout has stayed the same except more weight actually. Do you take a pre-workout drink or pill or anything? If not I'd suggest getting one. Jack3d is great and gives me a lot of energy, focus, and I lift more when I take it as opposed to not taking it. Yeah I did have a period of time where I stayed the same weight like your having now. Believe it or not I actually had a cheat weekend and then resumed the diet and now am losing more weight. My theory is that your body has adapted to the diet and needs a break.
> 
> ...



I'm not an expert on cutting (yet) but based on what I've learned I can say a few things about your post:

(1.) While on keto diets you're supposed to use structured refeeds (i.e. "cheat days"), they DO NOT last an entire weekend. And, while in some sense they can be considered "cheating", it's not really cheating -- as you're simply _refeeding_ your body with carbs to raise leptin levels back to normal to prevent muscle catabolism. 

When you said "cheat weekends" I imagined counterproductive eating. This won't help with cutting.

(2.) Did you just suggest eating pizza and potato chips? Maybe you just worded that sentence awkwardly.

(3.) Though a lot of members here seem to be against cardio, especially on a cut, I believe it's highly beneficial in moderation. However, the volume of cardio you're advocating is extremely risky on a cut and is very likely to cause muscle catabolism.


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## N_I_C_K (May 27, 2010)

Phineas said:


> I'm not an expert on cutting (yet) but based on what I've learned I can say a few things about your post:
> 
> (1.) While on keto diets you're supposed to use structured refeeds (i.e. "cheat days"), they DO NOT last an entire weekend. And, while in some sense they can be considered "cheating", it's not really cheating -- as you're simply _refeeding_ your body with carbs to raise leptin levels back to normal to prevent muscle catabolism.
> 
> ...



I had one cheat weekend in like 2.5 months. That's it. Well pizza and potato chips probably wasn't the best example. But I just stopped my diet for a weekend. I had healthy foods too though. Not all cheat foods. Like for breakfast I'd have eggs and lunch I had like a tuna or peanut butter sandwich. When dinner came around I had pizza. Throughout the weekend I ate Sun Chips for a snack instead of nuts or some beef jerk. I didn't mean like go on a total junk food rant for a weekend or eat out at a McDonald's or go get drunk off your ass. Nothing like that. 

The days I had with all that cardio wasn't like a routine thing. I probably did 3 of them total. I'd just play games on my iTouch and go at a very moderate rate. Honestly the time flew by just as fast as sitting on the couch playing Xbox. 

Honestly that's what I've done though and I went from 178.1 to 154.4. Maybe it sounds like I stretched the truth a bit, or am lying, but I'm being completely honest. It's not like a was a total fat ass either. I had (probably) around 22% body fat before I started cutting. What I said has worked for me. Maybe it's not the right thing to do but I've come a long ways and that's what I did. Once again, I don't think he should try and do what I did because it obviously sounds wrong, but it worked.


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## Phineas (May 27, 2010)

N_I_C_K said:


> I had one cheat weekend in like 2.5 months. That's it. Well pizza and potato chips probably wasn't the best example. But I just stopped my diet for a weekend. I had healthy foods too though. Not all cheat foods. Like for breakfast I'd have eggs and lunch I had like a tuna or peanut butter sandwich. When dinner came around I had pizza. Throughout the weekend I ate Sun Chips for a snack instead of nuts or some beef jerk. I didn't mean like go on a total junk food rant for a weekend or eat out at a McDonald's or go get drunk off your ass. Nothing like that.



Nuts are extremely healthy. Sun chips are not.


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## rockhardly (May 28, 2010)

Can I move this thread to the diet section or do I have to start a new one?


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## N_I_C_K (May 28, 2010)

Phineas said:


> Nuts are extremely healthy. Sun chips are not.



I know. Which is why they are usually my snack. But the weekend I cheated on I had Sun Chips instead of the usual nuts.


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