Summer shredding: Three-month cut
Week 9
More stories from Ryan Allen
Shelby Foster and Rilee Stapleton
Thinking about the most important things when on a clean cutting diet. I will be executing a healthy, three-month cut losing fat while retaining as much muscle as possible. It’s important in the cutting cycle not to crash diet (cut too many calories) and sacrifice all of the hard-earned muscle from the gym.
Week 9: 197.4 lbs – 196.1 lbs
This week and next week are going to be very tough because I’m wrapping up high school and things are starting to get a bit stressful. Being exhausted and stressed is the feeding ground for poor nutrition choices and binge-ing. Whenever I find myself eating a lot of junk food is typically after a long, stressful day when I’m at my weakest.
But these are the times that the will-power needs to be at its peak. It’s easier said than done, but it’s important we don’t mess up our progress over a couple of stressful nights.
One of the worst things you can do is beat yourself up and feel guilty after binge eating or eating passed your calorie limit for the day. The following day people tend to eat much less to compensate for messing up, but that’s not how it should be approached. The best thing you can do is just approach the following day as if it was any other day. Those extreme fluctuations can affect you negatively and throw your body off if it becomes a pattern. Your body needs balance.
It’s easier said than done, but it’s important we don’t mess up our progress over a couple of stressful nights.
— Staff Writer Ryan Allen
This stage of the cut is also where things get rocky. My motivation is running low, cravings are spiking, temptations are appearing, and I’m becoming weary. When you’re in a deficit, you’re putting your body in starvation mode so it’s essentially eating itself (fat for energy). When you’ve been in a deficit for so long you’ll notice you’ll get weaker and snippier. I’ve noticed my temper flares every now and again and I’m more open to cheating the diet.
This part of the cut is when people begin to fail because the going gets tough. This is where the dieters regain all the weight they’ve lost and quit the grind. They quit because the results slow down and it becomes demotivating. I find that it’s important to surround yourself with things to remind you what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Those constant reminders that drive you are key to pushing through when things get tough.
One of the reasons I lost all the weight was to lose the idea of self-consciousness in my head. To be able to live my life comfortable in my skin and not have to worry about what others think. The uncomfortable part of a heavy bulk is putting on the excess fat with the muscle. I had gotten to the part of the bulk where I was uncomfortable with the amount of fat I put on, and that’s when I knew it was time to cut.
I still have a few weeks left, but it’s been successful and everything is going to plan. On to week 10.
