thanks for the head up, i dun think the IIFYM suit me, cos to me calories is important but it doesn't represent everything, there's still % of saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and other element that we should be taken care of while choosing food, hope i'm correct abt this
currently my diet is very blant, eggs, sweet potatoes, tofu, salad (no dressing), i'm doing a vegan diet btw

I don't exactly support IIFYM, I more like support IIWFY (if it works for you). There's a line between flexible dieting, IIFYM and eating junk. A lot of beginners and intermediates will not see that line but if you get into the game longer enough, you'll see it.

so am i eating right? any other suggested food?
i eat eggs for the protein (with whey protein supplement too) and sweet potatoes mainly for the collagen and vit-e for my slight loose skin

Oh man.... too long of a post. You need to research buddy. But before you get influenced into IIFYM and pics of noodles, fried rice and stuff, do your research first and foremost. Find out why some of us can do it and get away with it, then strike a balance between the 2. You cannot be too strict and you cannot be too lax either.

noted, actually am planning to read up this sunday and try to work out a plan

What advise would you give for someone who's on a cut for 3 months+ and have hit a stonewall with a deficit of 400/day? And also low TDEE 2000 - 400 = 1600 (very low already, can't go any lower).

refeed? cardio? reverse diet > slow bulk?

NO refeeds for anyone with high bodyfat. Lol. Or, refeed very infrequently like once every 2 weeks. Bigger deficit. Lol, suck it up.

Can go lower than 1600 calories/day ?

why not?

I've did a lot of readings on this and a lot suggested that going any lower would be health affecting already... this is my understanding... but all of those comments are on bb.com all mat salleh .. prolly diff on us asians?

depend. check your progress. if you find out there are no improvement after 2~3weeks. then you might consider reduce it more.
i personally doing maintenance calories on train day and 30~40% deficit on rest day. and it going well. my strength still same.
you just need adjust according to your body. be patience, check on mirror and progress. hit hard, eat smart.

I've hit a cut plateau at 70.8kg ~ 71.3kg for over a month. I went to a vacation, pretty much eat what I wanted (mostly sea food and rice). I came back and weighted myself at 70.3kg

I guess eating near/at maintenance helped normalize things a bit. I'll go back to eating at 1600 calories per day for 2 more weeks to see if I'm gonna progress further.

My strength level didn't drop much throughout my cut as well. I've considered eating slightly more on my training days but the thing is, I train pretty much 6 days/week. Takkan I eat more 6 days/week lol.

I'm now experimenting on eating more only on my worst body part day (push day for me). If I don't progress further after another plateau, I'll try dropping my calories deficit to 1500 calories per day.

Thanks a lot man.

abang, 6x per weeks is too much. you can try gym every alternative day. your body need rest and heal too.
rest day = calories deficit.
more rest day = burn fat more
easy right?

Hey man I'm alternating several body parts and they have enough rest.

Push/Pull/Legs/Off/Push/Pull/Legs/Off - repeat

hmm I've never though about going even lower after 1600 calories. Is it seriously not gonna affect my over health?

as long as you get your nutrition right, and you didn't feel weak. why not? Big calories deficit (600-800 kcal) for long term, continuously, of course will affect the health.

as for 6x gym per week, it is depend on individual.

for my opinion, i will do 3 times per week, which is (Push/Rest/Pull/Rest/Legs/Rest/ = Repeated). Rest day = Calories Deficit 20~40%.
just my 2 cent. it is depend on individual. it work for me might not work for you. Monitor your progress and do adjustment when necessary.

Thanks bro. I'll instead increase my activity (cardio 15 mins?) everyday.

why not? 2 years ago when i started off cutting, i ate 1k calories, top 1.5k. never more than 1.5k for entire 3 months.
coupled up with 5 days a week workout, 3 cardio sessions every week at least.
i was healthier and more energetic, and pooped mroe than i did when i was eating unhealthily before i went for my first ever cut.



top is my bro, 4.5 months progress overall, from june 2013 to november 2013.
bottom is me.
the timeline goes like this, first pic was in April 2012 (still summer in the states), then 2nd pic was in end of August 2012 (end of summer).
3rd pic was october 2013 (after 3 months cut).
now at my bulking phase, all abs gone. eating at around 2.8k to 3k clean calories. BUT STILL troubles gaining weight.. darn..

you do realise when your weight drops so does your TDEE right?

I dont know how people cut with <1700 cals, I'm cutting with 2100+- and still feeling hungry all the time

But would you be losing lotsa muscles? Though I would give going lower a try if I still stalls. Thanks man.

Yeah man but I've been advised against going any lower than 1600 a lot on BB.com. Hence my dilemma.