Cutting Weight when under already under 15% body fat, while maintaining social eating & drinking
Let me start by saying, this is not the best way to cut weight. The best way to go from lean to shredded is to
- Maintain a daily caloric deficit of 400ish calories (don’t count exercise calories as negative)
- Ideally low-carb (I’m carnivore)
- Don’t drink alcohol!
- Only cheat on day per week for up to 500 cal
- Lift at least 240 min/wk
- Only do 20 min / day of walking for cardio
Now, let’s say your reality means you are going to go out socially 2–3 times per week and you’re going to overeat and drink and therefore bust your daily average calories.
Here’s what I’ve done that works
- Lift at least 240min/week
- 100min of ULTRA SLOW cardio per day, 100–110BPM**
- Even though I blow my calories on the 2–3 days I go out, only one day per week do I “carb out”
- All my cocktails are sugar-free. Pack that stevia!
- Aggressively mitigate hangovers with electrolytes and hydration pre/during/post drinking.
- I don’t let a cheat meal turn into a cheat day.
**Why so much slow cardio, you ask? It’s because that’s the only way to burn the calories and not have your body punish your BMR the rest of the day.
If you consider yourself a high-achiever, spending 100min per day on cardio is NOT sustainable unless you use that time in a way that meets your other life goals.
- I took an online PMP class
- I read business books
I’m able to do this because my slow cardio is on an eliptical with an iPad Pro. If you prefer walking outdoors, you’ll need something that works via audio.
I highly recommend indoor cardio that allows for an iPad because having visual options opens the world to you. Also, if you find it difficult to read on an iPad while on the cardio equipment, things you should know.
- Your eyes adjust after a couple hours of doing it
- Increase the zoom factor
8/16/2023 Update
I’m going to try to integrate my lifting with my slow cardio to see if I get great outcomes in less time per day.
- In the morning and Fasted
- 100min cardio (<=110BPM)
- every 4–5 min, get off the elliptical and do a set
- Immediately after, 40g of powdered protein
I’m able to get a full lift in and I feel super strong each set b/c of the rest. Hopefully the catabolic effect of the fasting isn’t too bad. We’ll see in a month…
