|Progress|M25|6'1"|194lb-164lb|This is the most I've ever cut and it was so worth it

T

trivette

New member
Hello /r/naturalbodybuilding

This is the first time I've ever posted here but I've posted my progress on reddit before. This time around, it's the most I've ever cut and I think the most successful I've been so far, so here's my write-up for what I did to achieve this.

Progress Pics:

January 2023 @ 194lb

July 2023 @ 164lb

Diet:

I used Jeff Nippard's MacroFactor app for the first few months of the year. I think this app is leagues above MyFitnessPal at this point, and is much cheaper for the premium subscription (I think less than $10 a month). The way it coaches you and modifies your diet based on your expenditure is incredible, and I had a really good idea of my TDEE all year as well as a nice weight trend graph that reminded me to "trust the process" even if my scale weight went up over a few days, since the weight trend is overall down on the year.

From January-May I logged everything I ate, and went from 2700 calories/day to start the year to 2200/day by the time I reached 180lbs at the beginning of May. At this point, a trainer I know from the UK started accepting clients for an '8-week summer challenge,' which I was very interested in. This guy helped my aunt and uncle lose a lot of weight before, he seemed legit from the success stories on his profile so I said "why not, I'll give it a try."

I had never worked with a personal trainer before and I can say with certainty that this is something I would do again. The program he gave me was solid (which I will describe in more detail below) and allowed me to go from 180lb to 164lb in 8 weeks. It included a weightlifting routine as well as a diet program.

The diet on that program is as follows:

2000 calories on days you lift (4x a week), 1700 calories on off days (3x a week), and try to eat 140-150g of protein a day. Simple enoguh right?

Here's an example 1700 calorie day of eating for me:

Breakfast:

Coffee with Oat Milk (40 calories)

Lunch:

2 scoops soy protein powder, 1 cup berries, 1/2 cup egg white, 1/3 cup oatmeal blended with water [460 cal, 65g protein, 5g fat, 38g carb]

Dinner:

90% lean Turkey patty x2, American cheese slice x2 burger bun, mayo + ketchup + mustard, lettuce + tomato + onion + pickle [850 cal, 61g protein, 47g fat, 80g carb]

Snacks:

170g 0% Greek yogurt, 50g kashi berry crunch [300 cal, 27g protein, 5g fat, 42g carb]

Soy protein powder in water [110 cal, 24g protein]

Total: 1700 cals, 176g protein, 57g fat, 123g carbs for the whole day. There is lots of flexibility within this diet, too.

Training:

From Jan-May I had a lot more energy so I was able to run nSuns 5/3/1 5-day routine, links to those spreadsheets can be found here. I was able to increase my bench from 225x3 to 255x3, but as I started decreasing my calories even more with my trainer, my strength went with it, so I tried to just focus on maintaining strength after I started working with him, and didn't mind some strength loss.

My trainer's 4-day routine basically consisted of 1 day each Upper, Lower, Push, and Pull, with the main lifts programmed in as well as accessories for arms, shoulders, and back on their respective days. I wouldn't spend more than an hour in the gym on this routine.

On the 3 "off days" (1700 calorie days), I also did an ab circuit consisting of 4 ab exercises done in 3 circuits with a minute rest in between, this never took more than 20 minutes.

In addition to lifting, I also tried to get at least 8000-10000 steps a day and tracked all this with my Apple Watch to get an idea of the amount of calories I'd burn a day. Usually my watch told me I burned anywhere from 700 - 1200 calories a day just by exercise and passive movement.

Right now as my lifts stand: Front Squat: 225x1, OHP: 135x3, Bench: 225x3, DL: 275x1 (weak I know, I basically stopped training heavy deads a few months ago but I will again soon)

Conclusions:

I didn't think I had 30lbs in me to lose, I originally targeted 175 as a goal but wasn't fully satisfied with my physique, and I'm glad I was able to have my trainer's help to push me through.

Going out to eat wasn't as hard to fit into my diet as I thought, if I knew I was going out I would just only eat my shake and some coffee to start the day, then by dinner time I was famished so I ate a big meal to fill out the rest of the 1200 calories I had left. Or if I was already near my limit for the day, I would just order a salad with some grilled chicken on it and a low-calorie vinegar dressing (not oil). I also tried to avoid alcohol as much as I could, and if I did drink it would just be tequila + soda.

I did have some cheat days sprinkled throughout this journey, and I went on a few business trips + vacations throughout the year too in which I was more lax with my diet on some days, but still tried to stick as closely as I could to what MacroFactor told me. I knew that if I just ate at my maintenance I wouldn't gain any weight on the day so having an idea of my TDEE was crucial.

Overall I'm really happy with my progress and proud of myself for sticking to it! I feel so much better being this much lighter, and I can't wait to start building more muscle. I'm switching to Layne Norton's PHAT this week, which should be a great way to get back into lifting heavy.

Thanks for reading!
 
@trivette I think you are a good example of how for a lot of people, the answer to how to really get their abs looking great is just, "Lose more weight." I mean, you look great in the before picture, but you were still 30 pounds away from having the really outstanding abs of the after. Getting that shredded takes a lot of discipline and I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to do it, but if you want abs like OP's, that's what you've got to do.
 
@dawn16 Exactly this, I was looking pretty good at 175 and even 170 but there was still a bit more definition to be desired, I think I hit a really sweet spot in my final product
 
@dawn16 I definitely have a better haircut than in the before pic but that’s what everyone has been telling me lately too, they can see the weight loss in my face
 
@whoselinefan Thanks! I’ve been lifting for close to 8 years now so I definitely had a good base to start. My all time best lifts are as follows for 1 rep: bench 265 squat 315 deadlift 420 OHP 165
 
@trivette Man i finished my bill at 6’1” 196. Currently sitting at 185 without much visible difference. The thought of dropping to 165 is terrifying, but I’d like to be as cut as you are even briefly. The strength loss is a killer
 
@hamiido Mid section fat strips off in that last 10 pounds. You’ll lose fat in your legs and glutes etc and feel like nothings changing and the bam your midsection will shred out of
Nowhere.
 
@hamiido I have to say I agree with you, the grind down to 165 was incredibly difficult and losing strength was not fun. But getting this lean has made it all worth it, and I’m even more excited to pack on muscle now that I can see the new definition more clearly

Think about it this way: if you bite the bullet and get lean as hell now, your next bulk is going to be all the more rewarding because of it
 
@trivette Yeah that’s what I’ve been thinking about doing. I was skinny all my life and the past few years I’ve focused on bulking. Thinking I’d rather be lean than consistently at 15% BF. just that mental block of wanting to be at a heavier weight is tough to overcome.
 
@theflower I disagree entirely, strength loss is inherent in a cut, no getting around that. And if I were to go on stage I’d have to cut another 10lbs at least.

Besides that, it’s entirely subjective anyways, I look and feel great so I think I cut the perfect amount
 
@trivette I'm the same height as you. The thought of being in the 160s terrifies me. My clothes started to feel incredibly floaty even in the 170s.

However, as someone else put, this is a testament to how much one needs to cut to reveal their abs clearly. More often than not, it's not just 10-15lbs. It can be double that.

Great stuff!
 
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