My Bulk Progress and Cutting Question
It has been about two and a half weeks since my last post and I have gained about 4.5 lbs since then with the same fat measurements. I am really happy with my progress and hope to be about 175 by the end of February. (~167-168 at the moment) Recently I have been researching cutting diets and tips and I have a couple questions about cutting. I am about 13% body fat at the moment and my goal is to get a six pack by June, will this be possible if I start cutting in March? Should I gradually reduce my calories over a couple of weeks at the beginning of the cut? (eating about 3300 calories a day at the moment) Or should I just drop my intake instantly? How many calories should I eat on my cut? I have read some articles that say that the caloric intake depends on body type, does it really matter? (Pretty sure I am a mesomorph) I have read that the rule of thumb is about 10-15 x body weight in calories. I am just looking for a good starting point and then I will adjust after that.
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Sounds like you're making great progress, congrats! Going from 175 lbs and, say, 14% body fat in March to, say, 160 lbs at 10% body fat by June is certainly doable. It'd mean losing about 9 pounds of body fat (from 25 lbs to 16 lbs of body fat) as part of losing 15 pounds of overall weight in about 3 months -- just about the 1 pound per week pace that I usually recommend. The catch is that a lot of guys simply hit a wall at right around those body fat levels. No matter what, their bodies refuse to drop to lower body fat. It happens more commonly with those who were once very overweight.
If you were losing weight before, then you can gauge how willingly your body responds to going to lower body fat. Was going from 15% body fat to 12-13% as or almost as easy as going from 20% to 17-18%? If so, that's a good indicator that you should be able to hit your six-pack 10% goal.
As far as your other questions, those details don't matter that much -- you'll mainly just have to drop calories and monitor your weight to stay on 1 pound per week pace (or even slower if you have more time to lose weight and can control your diet that precisely).
I would cut the calories gradually, over maybe a week or two. But, as I said, it's not a major decision either way. If you are still slowly gaining weight at the time you start your cut you should aim to cut 800-1000 daily calories from your diet, mostly in carbs. If you are just maintaining your weight, then cut 500-700 calories. If you go with the 10-15x multiple rule, then I definitely would start on the 15x side. In any case, you will have to monitor your weight and adjust calories accordingly, just as you said. Good luck!