Share your tricks for cutting!

[tombradycardia]

Currently in a cut phase, here are some of mine:

-Focus on low caloric density and high satiety foods- potatoes (air fried), fish, oatmeal, apples, whole wheat pasta, kidney beans, cooked egg whites with veggies, etc. Low fat is generally key too.. ie; don't cook in oil.
-I prefer fasting in the morning then organizing meals surrounding training and pre-bed for productivity purposes. I also prefer going to sleep full
-Keep water and electrolytes high
-Low calories sauces- any kind of hot sauce, walden farms, low sugar bbq sauce, etc
-If a coffee drinker, use splenda+fat free half and half
-Generally I like to refeed 1x a week unless I'm getting super lean then after every 4 days or so or as needed (physique/performance dependent). I like to schedule them on my primary upper day which falls before my primary lower day- aka the two hardest sessions of the week
-Don't exceed around 1% bw/week loss unless overfat/obese
-Keep protein a bit higher than bulk

 

[zelevin]

I just finished 3 weeks of my cut, and I haven't made a single mistake yet.
Planning out every bite days in advance and eating the exact same thing everyday, regardless of if it's a lifting day, a cardio day, or a rest day, has made this the most successful 3 weeks of my life for cutting. (11 weeks to go)
Idk the carb/fat grams, but I'm at about 210g of protein at 199lb of body weight (~16% bf)
6 eggs for breakfast, 1 apple whenever it sounds good, then I have 3 prepped meals with 200g chicken breast (measured cooked) and about 180 calories of a carb in each box. I was eating about 155g of rice per box, now I switched to 190g of sweet potato. I'm doing really well.
Oh, and I try to eat at the same times everyday. Eggs between 9:30 and 10:30, and then the 3 prepped meals at 2:30, 5:30, and 7:30. It's important for me to feel full in the evenings because that's when I get quality time with my gf

 

[rastaman69]

I just finished 3 weeks of my cut, and I haven't made a single mistake yet.
Planning out every bite days in advance and eating the exact same thing everyday, regardless of if it's a lifting day, a cardio day, or a rest day, has made this the most successful 3 weeks of my life for cutting. (11 weeks to go)
Idk the carb/fat grams, but I'm at about 210g of protein at 199lb of body weight (~16% bf)
6 eggs for breakfast, 1 apple whenever it sounds good, then I have 3 prepped meals with 200g chicken breast (measured cooked) and about 180 calories of a carb in each box. I was eating about 155g of rice per box, now I switched to 190g of sweet potato. I'm doing really well.
Oh, and I try to eat at the same times everyday. Eggs between 9:30 and 10:30, and then the 3 prepped meals at 2:30, 5:30, and 7:30. It's important for me to feel full in the evenings because that's when I get quality time with my gf

Tell me more. What is the total calories per day? In a cut I always feel like eggs add too much fat though I'd like to eat more of them.

 

[zelevin]

Tell me more. What is the total calories per day? In a cut I always feel like eggs add too much fat though I'd like to eat more of them.

Ah, you see, eggs are my ONLY fat, that's why they work for me.
The diet is simple:
600g chicken (about 1000 calories)
550 calories of rice OR sweet potato
6 eggs (about 400 calories)
1 apple (about 100 calories)
Total calories - about 2100
I never use a drop of oil when cooking my food. There are absolutely no hidden calories in my diet.

I split the chicken and carb into 3 meals, so if I'm eating rice, I have 3 meals containing 200g chicken breast and 155g of rice, usually loaded with lite soy sauce.

It's tough, but everyday is just "ya do it or ya don't"

 

[rastaman69]

Do you hard boil the eggs? Every weekend I boil up eggs for my upcoming week. I like them a lot and look forward to them. Oatmeal and 2 eggs at work everyday at 10:00am.

 

[Bando]

I just finished 3 weeks of my cut, and I haven't made a single mistake yet.
Planning out every bite days in advance and eating the exact same thing everyday, regardless of if it's a lifting day, a cardio day, or a rest day, has made this the most successful 3 weeks of my life for cutting. (11 weeks to go)
Idk the carb/fat grams, but I'm at about 210g of protein at 199lb of body weight (~16% bf)
6 eggs for breakfast, 1 apple whenever it sounds good, then I have 3 prepped meals with 200g chicken breast (measured cooked) and about 180 calories of a carb in each box. I was eating about 155g of rice per box, now I switched to 190g of sweet potato. I'm doing really well.
Oh, and I try to eat at the same times everyday. Eggs between 9:30 and 10:30, and then the 3 prepped meals at 2:30, 5:30, and 7:30. It's important for me to feel full in the evenings because that's when I get quality time with my gf

I don’t think the timing has anything to do with it but everything else looks solid.

 

[Gullinbursti]

Ah, you see, eggs are my ONLY fat, that's why they work for me.
The diet is simple:
600g chicken (about 1000 calories)
550 calories of rice OR sweet potato
6 eggs (about 400 calories)
1 apple (about 100 calories)
Total calories - about 2100
I never use a drop of oil when cooking my food. There are absolutely no hidden calories in my diet.

I split the chicken and carb into 3 meals, so if I'm eating rice, I have 3 meals containing 200g chicken breast and 155g of rice, usually loaded with lite soy sauce.

It's tough, but everyday is just "ya do it or ya don't"

How much do weigh that you're staying at 2100 cals? Or just stats in general if you don't mind. Just curious. I went from 4300+ cals in bulk to now holding around 2700 give or take. Ended bulk at 227ish, shooting for 190, already down about 12lbs

 

[zelevin]

I don’t think the timing has anything to do with it but everything else looks solid.

The timing is important for mood. I eat more in the evenings because that's when I get to be with my fiance. But idc that much if I get moody at work.

How much do weigh that you're staying at 2100 cals? Or just stats in general if you don't mind. Just curious. I went from 4300+ cals in bulk to now holding around 2700 give or take. Ended bulk at 227ish, shooting for 190, already down about 12lbs

200lb 17%bf 5'7" I've hit both squat and deadlift at 505lb, also squatted 425x10. Nothing special, I know.
A simple bmr calculator puts me at about 2000 calories a day and then I guess my exercise to burn between 700 and 1200 calories depending on if it's a cardio or a lifting day.

 

[Gbunk]

Swap whole eggs with egg whites
Zero cal sauce/soda
Swap carb sources to potatoes vs rice or pasta
Something else that will help, add salad. If you are making some lean ground meat, throw it in a bowl with some potatoes, salad, zero call sauce, maybe even some salsa and then you have more volume.
Lots of water
Ive heard electrolytes help
Have a cheat meal/day once a week or once every 2 weeks.
I have very good willpower but another thing that helps me when I want to cheat or eat more food is remembering what I want to look like and how I get there. Cheating on a diet only brings joy in the 5 minutes you eat it. The way you want to look will bring you joy 24/7 for a very long time as long as you maintain it. This works well for me but may differ for other people. Currently cutting close to 2k calories a day and as the weeks progress adding more cardio.

 

[rastaman69]

Swap whole eggs with egg whites
Zero cal sauce/soda
Swap carb sources to potatoes vs rice or pasta
Something else that will help, add salad. If you are making some lean ground meat, throw it in a bowl with some potatoes, salad, zero call sauce, maybe even some salsa and then you have more volume.
Lots of water
Ive heard electrolytes help
Have a cheat meal/day once a week or once every 2 weeks.
I have very good willpower but another thing that helps me when I want to cheat or eat more food is remembering what I want to look like and how I get there. Cheating on a diet only brings joy in the 5 minutes you eat it. The way you want to look will bring you joy 24/7 for a very long time as long as you maintain it. This works well for me but may differ for other people. Currently cutting close to 2k calories a day and as the weeks progress adding more cardio.

Why potatoes? Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan.

And yes, zero calorie sauces are pretty awesome. Tapatio for example, it's like "damn I can make this taste pretty good for free". Pickles are another one that surprises me. I like to add a couple slices of pickles on my tuna sandwiches - it makes them a little more exciting at zero calorie cost. And yet, I for some reason still add them to my macro counting app - I think to avoid any sort of cheating.