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How much more to cut?

R

RealTopSecretAgent

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New here.

  • 34 years old, 6'3'' and currently 183 lbs.
  • Started at 215 lbs 4.5 months ago.
  • lifting 5 days per week. no cardio since calorie deficit is so high. Been eating 200 g protein, 50g fat, 50g carbs every day.
  • Taking Reta and also just started Proviron yesterday since my SHBG is sky high and free test is low. All bloods are fine. Never done TRT and Proviron is the first “steroid” I’ve taken.

Used to be a D1 athlete then got a dad bod. Just finishing cutting down the fat. Muscle memory seems to have really helped from over a decade ago. My SHBG is really high and low free test since I’ve been doing 50 g carbs per day.

Question - how much longer should I go? I feel fine and I'm in no big rush. I want to get under 10% body fat so I can have a long bulking cycle. Not sure what the ideal weight should be. I was thinking no lower than 175 but maybe I'm wrong.
 

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No, I’m at 1,500 - 1,600 calories daily. I usually go over 200g protein. Still a big deficit, but my lifts are still going up.

Usually drink 3 or 4 of the Fairlife 42g protein shakes per day. Then chicken and broccoli for lunch, and lean ground beef for dinner.
 
Meetketchup said:
You are only eating 850 calories a day? Dude, slowly reverse out of the cut by added more calories and train your balls off. You need to put on some lean tissue.
Click to expand...

Isn't that more like 1500 cals? Or am I missing something
EDIT: 1450 actually is what I get
 
Time to build some muscle bro, you’re at a good starting point. Wouldn’t push any leaner being natural.
 
Nood said:
Time to build some muscle bro, you’re at a good starting point. Wouldn’t push any leaner being natural.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that’s what I was looking for. Wasn’t sure if I really needed to keep going. Reta makes it pretty easy LOL
 
RealTopSecretAgent said:
Awesome. What should by macros look like going forward?
Click to expand...
It's not perfect (Don't know activity outside lifting)..... but here's a starting point

Calories Needed for a 35 year old, 185 lb Male

A 35 year old male who is 185lbs needs an estimated 3,390 calories per day
tdeecalculator.net tdeecalculator.net

1793640891986.webp

There are studies showing not much difference between jumping to maintenance vs slowly scaling although most seems to go with the later. Weigh your food and track your calories with cronometer. Lots of different views on how much protein you really need. Seems most studies show not much after 1g/lb of body weight, but the enhanced community pushes that higher. No studies on enhanced individuals. Fats should be about .3-.5 of BW. Most try to keep the fats pretty low. Pretty much keep the 1st two static then you fill the rest up with carbs depending on growing, maintaining, cutting.

So, lets say your target is 3000
200p - 800kcal
50f - 450kcal
(3000 - 1250) / 4 - 438 carbs

If you want to "reverse" add 50-75 carbs every two weeks or so (structure them mostly around your workout window if possible), track your weight daily and you'll eventually hit a true baseline. You'll see the scale jump initially due to glycogen and just extra food waste in your system.
 
WED said:
It's not perfect (Don't know activity outside lifting)..... but here's a starting point

Calories Needed for a 35 year old, 185 lb Male

A 35 year old male who is 185lbs needs an estimated 3,390 calories per day
tdeecalculator.net tdeecalculator.net

View attachment 282070

There are studies showing not much difference between jumping to maintenance vs slowly scaling although most seems to go with the later. Weigh your food and track your calories with cronometer. Lots of different views on how much protein you really need. Seems most studies show not much after 1g/lb of body weight, but the enhanced community pushes that higher. No studies on enhanced individuals. Fats should be about .3-.5 of BW. Most try to keep the fats pretty low. Pretty much keep the 1st two static then you fill the rest up with carbs depending on growing, maintaining, cutting.

So, lets say your target is 3000
200p - 800kcal
50f - 450kcal
(3000 - 1250) / 4 - 438 carbs

If you want to "reverse" add 50-75 carbs every two weeks or so (structure them mostly around your workout window if possible), track your weight daily and you'll eventually hit a true baseline. You'll see the scale jump initially due to glycogen and just extra food waste in your system.
Click to expand...
Thx. So in your math, you’re saying 437 carbs per meal for 4 meals a day = 1,750 carbs?
 
Meetketchup said:
Keep your proteins and fats the same and add 50g of carbs for the week. See what your weight does. If it stays the same increase another 50g, etc.
Click to expand...
Ok. I’m going to try cream of rice. One serving is like 25g carbs. So 2 serving a day for a week and see what scale does.
 
RealTopSecretAgent said:
New here.

  • 34 years old, 6'3'' and currently 183 lbs.
  • Started at 215 lbs 4.5 months ago.
  • lifting 5 days per week. no cardio since calorie deficit is so high. Been eating 200 g protein, 50g fat, 50g carbs every day.
  • Taking Reta and also just started Proviron yesterday since my SHBG is sky high and free test is low. All bloods are fine. Never done TRT and Proviron is the first “steroid” I’ve taken.

Used to be a D1 athlete then got a dad bod. Just finishing cutting down the fat. Muscle memory seems to have really helped from over a decade ago. My SHBG is really high and low free test since I’ve been doing 50 g carbs per day.

Question - how much longer should I go? I feel fine and I'm in no big rush. I want to get under 10% body fat so I can have a long bulking cycle. Not sure what the ideal weight should be. I was thinking no lower than 175 but maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

I would increase carbs to 100g per day for a couple weeks and then reassess.
 
Dropping carbs that low always flattened me out completely until I added back some complex starches.
 
soumikr said:
Dropping carbs that low always flattened me out completely until I added back some complex starches.
Click to expand...
Same here, super low carbs just flatten me out. Adding some starches back made a big difference for training and energy.
 

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