Answered Cut or bulk?

HArleYQueEN

New member
Hello everyone! My first post disappeared then I had to post again, apologize if it showed twice.
I’d like your opinion if I should do a mini cut or start raising my calories. I’m a short petite girl, any lb of fat or muscle makes a big difference lol. I’m currently 108 lbs eating at maintenance 1500 calories/day lifting 5x/week. My goal is to build lean muscle but I’m natural and I’m afraid to lose hard earned muscle if I cut too much. I appreciate your input.
 
Thank you for your time answering this. I’ve been eating 113g protein, 169g carb and 42g of fat. I’m thinking of cutting 150 calories/day this week. So it would be something like this: calories:1350 day
Protein: 118
Carbs: 118 g
Fat: 45 g
I’m not sure about fat🤔 should I keeping eating 42 grams or when carbs comes down fat goes up?
 
HArleYQueEN said:
Thank you for your time answering this. I’ve been eating 113g protein, 169g carb and 42g of fat. I’m thinking of cutting 150 calories/day this week. So it would be something like this: calories:1350 day
Protein: 118
Carbs: 118 g
Fat: 45 g
I’m not sure about fat🤔 should I keeping eating 42 grams or when carbs comes down fat goes up?
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What you could do is make your first meal of the day just fat/protein (studies show that the first meal being high in fat improves fat burning potential for the rest of the day, and then have your carb meals before/after the workout. You don't have to drop the fat macros.
 
ValiantThor08 said:
What you could do is make your first meal of the day just fat/protein (studies show that the first meal being high in fat improves fat burning potential for the rest of the day, and then have your carb meals before/after the workout. You don't have to drop the fat macros.
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Awesome!! Thank you🙋🏼‍♀️
 
HArleYQueEN said:
Awesome!! Thank you🙋🏼‍♀️
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And when you decrease some carbs, do not fear to raise protein 20g or more. It is thermogenic, and will help keep you in a positive nitrogen balance, yielding a better state to build/keep muscle while beginning to drop calories.
 
ValiantThor08 said:
And when you decrease some carbs, do not fear to raise protein 20g or more. It is thermogenic, and will help keep you in a positive nitrogen balance, yielding a better state to build/keep muscle while beginning to drop calories.
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It looks like Fat is the only thing that stays in place, correct?
I guess when I plateau again I’ll drop some more calories only from carbs and up my protein. Do you think a decrease of 150 cal each time will do?
 
HArleYQueEN said:
It looks like Fat is the only thing that stays in place, correct?
I guess when I plateau again I’ll drop some more calories only from carbs and up my protein. Do you think a decrease of 150 cal each time will do?
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Absolutely should do. Always start small.
 
Resolve10 said:
I’m confused are you trying to lose weight or gain muscle? You state you want more muscle but plan to drop calories in the next post, a precise goal would make it easier to make recommendations.

If you are trying to lose weight keep in mind dropping one macronutrient but then upping another is going to keep your caloric intake the same.

If you want to build muscle increase calories slightly, get in a small surplus and build some muscle and get that metabolism up so that you don’t have to cut on such low numbers.
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Even though there is gluconeogensis, the body prefers not to use protein as a fuel source. Upping protein may up calories, but it shouldn't be counted the same way as fat or glucose.
 
Resolve10 said:
I’m confused are you trying to lose weight or gain muscle? You state you want more muscle but plan to drop calories in the next post, a precise goal would make it easier to make recommendations.

If you are trying to lose weight keep in mind dropping one macronutrient but then upping another is going to keep your caloric intake the same.

If you want to build muscle increase calories slightly, get in a small surplus and build some muscle and get that metabolism up so that you don’t have to cut on such low numbers.
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My ultimate goal is to build muscle but because I’m very petite I can’t just bulk for too long, I get fat. So my initial question was should I cut a little bit more or start bulking. Mini cuts help me so I don’t feel so fat throughout the process. I’m 36 years old I know I won’t put on even 5 lbs of muscle naturally. That’s why mini cuts, to minimize the fat gain. I’m not a pro at this that’s why I’m here. I’m open to suggestions. If you think I’m doing wrong please feel free to let me know. I appreciate your help.
 
HArleYQueEN said:
My ultimate goal is to build muscle but because I’m very petite I can’t just bulk for too long, I get fat. So my initial question was should I cut a little bit more or start bulking. Mini cuts help me so I don’t feel so fat throughout the process. I’m 36 years old I know I won’t put on even 5 lbs of muscle naturally. That’s why mini cuts, to minimize the fat gain. I’m not a pro at this that’s why I’m here. I’m open to suggestions. If you think I’m doing wrong please feel free to let me know. I appreciate your help.
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I am in the camp that says you can build muscle and lose fat at the same time. People call it recompong. Clean bulk. Can be done with a minimal deficit and enough protein.
 
ValiantThor08 said:
I am in the camp that says you can build muscle and lose fat at the same time. People call it recompong. Clean bulk. Can be done with a minimal deficit and enough protein.
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Nice that you found that “sweet spot”👍. I eat clean for years that’s a lifestyle for me but I messed up months ago when I went keto. I gained some fat coming back to carbs. Now I’m afraid to eat fat lol
 
HArleYQueEN said:
Nice that you found that “sweet spot”. I eat clean for years that’s a lifestyle for me but I messed up months ago when I went keto. I gained some fat coming back to carbs. Now I’m afraid to eat fat lol
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Well, it wasn't the fats fault ;)

I do a cyclical ketogenic diet. Eat enough carbs to refill glycogen, and it is usually dinner, and other two meals are fat/protein.
 
ValiantThor08 said:
Well, it wasn't the fats fault ;)

I do a cyclical ketogenic diet. Eat enough carbs to refill glycogen, and it is usually dinner, and other two meals are fat/protein.
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Yeah I couldn’t do that. I was eating 1800 calories. I looked good but I was always hungry. I was thinking about food all the time. Went to sleep hungry and woke up starving lol. My performance at the gym was great in the beginning, felt so much energy but later on I felt weak and too much headache. My friend and I started at the same time and she still going strong, lost over 25 lbs. keto is not for everyone, definitely not for me. I can eat more food eating clean lol
 
Resolve10 said:
Ok well ultimately it’s up to what you want to do, just make sure to commit once you decide!

Again I’d say my advice would be to slow gain, add some calories slowly and try to add weight at a slow rate and help possibly build your metabolism a bit to make it easier to cut.

If you did cut then ya go small drop a little based on how you feel then go to the same advice I gave above.
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I think I’m going to lower my bf a little bit more. I can barely see my delts unless when I got a pump. I’d like to see my arms a little bit more dry. Right after summer is over I’ll start a reverse diet, eating clean and slowly raising my calories. I hope it works. Everything is so easy on paper. It sucks when your body doesn’t respond the way you expecting it to. If it was up to me I would look way more muscular now.
 
It’s just a very fine line and everyone is different. Sometimes it takes years of trial and error to see what actually works for you. Then when you do, age creeps in and changes everything again. I guess that’s what keeps this game fun and challenging. Just make small adjustments either way you go and go by the mirror and how you feel.
 
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