cutting

mellon

New Member
I have heard that the only thing which one needs to do in order to lose weight is the following:

calorie consumption < calorie expendature

Most people eat a moderate amount of food, and do extra cardio to increase the calorie expendature. But what if one didn't do any extra cardio, and only decreased the calorie consumption? Would this work just as well? Keep in mind that I am not talking about anorexia, the calorie defecit would never be more than 1000 calories/day.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
for weight loss that would work yes. calorie in < calorie used. But, with extra cardio, HST and just a moderate calorie deficit, it is more likely that you will preserve more muscle and lose more fat. Something about nutrition partitioning and other scientific stuff that I'm still not able to grasp that well, but that's the gist of it.
maybe an expert can elaborate. :D

pzhang
 
hey mellon,

noobie has it right... If you are only concerned with weight loss, then yes, cutting calories is fine. HOWEVER, if you do want to preserve muscle mass, you should try to consume more calories. I would not go below 500 calories for a deficit. Even better, eat at maintenance and create the deficit with cardio, etc... This advice has not only been given to me, but I've tested it on my own. My cutting cycle in '04 was done with a major deficit. As a result, I did get really cut but also lost a lot of muscle (notice how scrawny I look). Now, I've just finished another cutting cycle where I kept my calories at maintenance and did just cardio. I didn't lose as much fat, but I kept about 99% of my strength/muscle.

Since I'm done, you'll probably see me around the boards evangelizing the benefits of keeping your calories up =).
 
Hey mellon :)

Yep, that would work, but as the others said, you'd also probably lose more muscle than if you did it some other way.

If you are just concerned about weight loss, and you don't care about muscle, then go ahead, your plan will work. Perhaps add in a few more light cardio to speed it up, and so you can icrease your food intake somewhat.

But if you are talking about cutting and thus naturally want to preserve as much muscle as possible, do not eat over maintenance, and continue your HST routine but without SD. SD while food is relatively scarce is a bad idea, muscle loss will be much greater.

Hope that helps. Good luck :)
-JV
 
nuff said but one for the road. Dont go under 500 kcal if you want to preserve your muscle mass. However once a while boost your catabolism for one day with eating a little bit over your maintanance. And make sure that is something good thus giving your motivation to continue
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If you go to 1000 kcals you lose rapidly mass but it will diminish with time as your catabolism slows down. This way it`s easy to gain lost pounds
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how much do you weigh and what is your bodyfat?

I would stress a diet that provides adequate fiber, efas, complete proteins a bunch of greens and water. Dont go too low for too long with the calorie issue as this will lower leptin levels and effect other hunger hormones drastically which will hault weight reduction. After 3-4 weeks in calorie deficit thyroid hormone will also decrease. Be careful and not try to rush too much.


coach hale
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Thank you all very much for the information. I do wish to preserve muscle mass, and will implement what you all have said.
 
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