Cutting gone bad...

I

intensum

New Member
Last night I got my skinfold measurements, putting me at 10.5% bf. Two months ago I started out at 12%, and have lost ten pounds since -- so 4 lbs fat, 6 lbs muscle.

I followed a somewhat loose CKD diet, with more complex carbs ending up during the week than I should have had, but always with 1g/lb of protein daily. I'm beginning to think that either the caloric deficit (closer to 600-800 cal) was too much, or I wasn't getting in enough good fats.

I've been doing a conditioning program (www.crossfit.com) that incorporates lots of HIIT activity to dial in my endurance and functional strength for the rugby season. Every other day, I followed the same HST setup that earned me 8 lbs of lbm several months ago.

And as far as supplements, which I know are the least important factor in all this, I took ECA, Dicana, and SAN Blaze for a month and a half, and then followed with ECA and Sesamin.

Any help would be really appreciated, because I'm not happy with the way things have turned out...
 
Some of that weight could have been water... judge by how you look in the mirror. If you've lost 10 pounds then some was probably muscle, but it's probably not as bad as you think..
 
I'm willing to bet at least a few pounds of that was water as well. If you are doing a CKD, you may need to carb load before you can get accurate measurements. But anyway, a 600-800 calorie deficit with how much work you are doing is insane. You should definitely eat closer to maintenance or at least pick a couple days a week to eat at maintenance if you are going to be doing that much.
Remember, it's usually better to create a calorie deficit through exercise than it is through diet.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 30 2006,18:11)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I'm willing to bet at least a few pounds of that was water as well.  If you are doing a CKD, you may need to carb load before you can get accurate measurements.  But anyway, a 600-800 calorie deficit with how much work you are doing is insane.  You should definitely eat closer to maintenance or at least pick a couple days a week to eat at maintenance if you are going to be doing that much.
Remember, it's usually better to create a calorie deficit through exercise than it is through diet.</div>
Yeah, I eat at/over maintenance on two carb load days per week. But that may not be compensating for the ridiculous calorie deficit from the work I do and the diet restriction.

Perhaps I should eat at maintenance for a week and lift heavy in a low-rep range, then jump back in with a more modest calorie deficit?

Thanks for the input, everyone.
 
Well if you are eating at or over maintenance two days per week, that should be sufficient to compensate for the huge deficit the other days. When I do UD2.0, I tend to have an almost 1200 calorie deficit on the low carb days, but then eat a fair amount over maintenance during the carb load.

Keep in mind that bodyfat measurements aren't really always that accurate. I'd be willing to bet that 10 pounds was more like 4-5 lbs fat, 4-5 lbs water and maybe a pound of muscle lost.
Have you lost any strength? If not, you probably haven't really lost much muscle. Obviously on the low carb days, your strength will be effected, so the best time to judge that would be on the second day of the carb load or the day after the load. How low are you cutting the carbs during the week anyway?
 
yes, definitely, 600-800 calorie is on the high side, next time you can try shooting for 300-500 and protect your muscles with protein + glutamin before cardio and vitamin C 3 times a day (1 of them with the protein before cardio)... it is important to eat 6 times a day in order not to put your body in starvation mode.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top