[Cutting for 3 weeks so far] Should I be worried?

[GRardB]

Well, I've been trying to lose fat for the past 3 weeks. At the beginning of September I started my bulking season at around 163 pounds. I ended bulking season at the end of April at about 183 pounds. I know that almost everything I gained was muscle because I didn't gain much fat really, my muscles grew in size and my strength increased a lot. Some people said that I gained fat, although I think it was mostly because they saw me at times where I had already eaten A LOT of food throughout the day and my belly stuck out more than usual (before my 3rd-4th meal my belly didn't stick out much at all).

 

Anyway, I've been cutting for the last three weeks. I always read about how 1 pound per week is considered healthy and that more than that is usually not good. I weigh myself most mornings and during most gym sessions, and it seems like I've lost 4-6 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I don't know if this is normal for guys like me who haven't done cardio in 8 months (like when beginning bodybuilders gain lost of muscle and lose lots of fat simultaneously) or if I'm doing something wrong. This morning I weighed 176lbs. I'm also not sure if it's because I'm just eating less food, so I'm not gaining as much weight throughout the day as before.

 

I know that I'm not losing muscle because my muscles aren't showing any noticeable decrease in size and my strength is either staying the same or even increasing in some exercises, but I'm not getting weaker. I think it's also important to note that I do see a decrease in my belly size (which is where most of my fat is concentrated), although I don't think it looks like a 4-6 pound difference, but then again I never lost fat like this so I wouldn't know what it looks like.

 

So should I be worried? Do you guys think I'm doing something wrong, have good genetics for losing fat, that it's a beginning cutting season thing, that it's mostly from having less food to weigh me down, or is the 1lbs per week not important?

 

Thanks,

Gerard

 

P.S: For those who don't know.

I'm 16.

5'9"

My BF% is still unknown to me, but my electric skinfold caliper's highest reading was 16.2%, although I don't know if I'm doing it right.

[Im Your Man]

4-6 lbs in 3 weeks may be a bit too much -- considering you wanna make sure to lose mostly fat, not muscles -- so maybe try eating a bit more, until you reach the 1lb/week loss.

But it can be anything, maybe some of your weight loss is from water, fat, muscle, we never know. And you can't know for sure that you're not losing any muscles only by looking at your muscles. You're gonna lose first the muscles that you use the less often, and it won't be noticeable unless you have very low bodyfat.

[xjohanx]

i also thinks it's a bit much. i recently lost 7 kg in 21 days when i was cutting but i stopped it cause it felt really really weird

[veggieprincess]

If you just switched up the plan... it is most likely fat and water weight, which is quite normal the first couple weeks.

 

It should taper off to about a pound a week if you have sufficient calories for your workouts and daily activities. Are you getting your healthy fats in?

[GRardB]

If you just switched up the plan... it is most likely fat and water weight, which is quite normal the first couple weeks.

 

It should taper off to about a pound a week if you have sufficient calories for your workouts and daily activities. Are you getting your healthy fats in?

 

If that's the case, I'm extremely happy.

 

And yeah, I'm getting healthy fats in. Occasional peanut butter, hummus, etc. I'm going to start adding some hemp also.

[GRardB]

I hate double-posting, but...

 

I just spent quite a while creating a spreadsheet with my usual meal plan for the day, and the macronutrients/calories.

 

Apparently, I eat about 2208 calories a day.

 

In terms of calories, 66% come from carbs, 25% come from protein, and 9% from fats. Not the ideal ratio for most people, but isn't this much looked down upon by those looking to lose fat? I don't know how I've lost this much weight eating like this. I can't imagine anyone telling me that I'm not eating enough at 2208 calories a day while cutting.

 

For example, I'm Your Man, I had a post asking for advice about my cutting diet, and you referred me to a website that would tell me how many calories I will probably burn in a day. You then told me to subtract it by 500 calories and I would lose a pound per week. I did that, and I ended up with about 1400 calories a day. That would've been insane.

 

My guess as of now is what veggieprincess said.

 

:-\

[cubby2112]

Those systems that tell you how many calories you use in a day are not always entirely accurate. They will be spot-on for some, but for me, they estimate far too high. If I followed them, I would be in the 200lb club, but not the good one.

[Guest]

Thats not too much if you're short...plus not all of that is fat...most likely a decent amount of it is water.