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by Amber Ellis Johnson
Cut Phase launched! LFG, you all! Beginning at 140# This phase can feel brutal at first, when coming out of a long and very fruitful build, where calories are consistently high, and so is Workout intensity. You might ask yourself WHY I would run a cut at all? When do you need to do it?
The answer is...complicated and variable, but for me, it is health related and personal preference. Having a leaner body, with more muscle and less body fat, is optimizing my long term health. Everyone knows its healthier all around to have less body fat. A reasonable amount is around 20% for women. It feels REALLY good. So, why wouldn't I feel my very best? It is my main goal to slowly shift my body composition toward more fit, keeping less body fat year round and also to feel fully comfortable in my clothes. I feel best, the most confident, and energetic, attractive and like I'm fully reaching my potential physically, when I have less excessive body fat, which looks like a range of about 18-19% BF for me.
During my 5 month long "lean bulk" or building phase,
I reached a solid 2000-2500 calories intake daily.
I was getting a minimum of 12k steps, but often more like 14k.
I was working out to build muscle and strength 4-5 days per week for 1.5-2 hours.
I was eating 135 g protein daily and up to 320 g carbs.
My average calorie intake was about 2200 cal daily
Some cardio 1 x week
I was getting average 7 hrs sleep nightly and had low stress
On My Build
I slowly and intentionally gained weight. I wanted to keep it low and slow, and it wasn't always perfect. Some weeks, I was loose with tracking, adventuring around or just enjoying vacation, or I was less active, and my weight did move up faster and never came back down those times. Sometimes, high sodium caused that! BUT, when life is lifeing in this higher plane, eating a lot of great food, moving a ton, GOGOGOing, sodium weight spikes can jump up and NOT come back down. And that's just a part of it, friends. I didn't let it dictate how I felt about my progress, or about myself in general. I accepted that my more free and less diligent tracking had led to a little extra weight, and that I was okay with that since I just hadn't been in the mental space to care too much about being tight with things over the summer. Se la vie!
One can expect to gain some weight when pushing up energy intake, but it is usually more moderate, like 5 #, averaging about .5-1 # per month. Often, some people don't gain much weight at all though despite eating 1/3 more than they were before building. Why does one want to gain weight, or eat more, on purpose?!
Health! And Awesomeness!
It is metabolically healing to consume slightly more food, at balanced macros, fully nourishing micronutrient-rich meals, and push your workout intensity> I am not talking about 10# of vacation bingeing in 2 weeks, nor a month of holiday parties. I am talking about nourishing balanced meals most of the time, following a macro plan and a workout plan, that lasts many months, 3-6 months on average, ensuring that much of the weight put on is muscle (some will always be water and fat, it must be).
Also, it is in this phase where you can really see what you can do! Your WOs are super fueled, and you've got the juice that will take you far, reaching farther than you ever imagined. I gained so much strength and PRd (made a personal record) of every major lift. I Back Squatted 235#!!! And I Sumo Deadlifted 235# as well, these are big big PRs for me, and my previous best single rep back squat was 215# one year ago, and my previous best Deadlift was 220#. That is a lot of growth! all possible due to super-fueling and following a structured, periodized WO program that allowed me to increase my overall capacity.
So I gained 10 #. That is more than I have gained during any build phase over the past 4 years. It is also maybe the first build where I FULLY EMBRACED the build, ate all the food happily every single day, pushed myself far and hard and loved every moment. No worries. However, my clothes got snug by month 4. I had gained enough that I needed to pull out my next biggest pants size to be comfortable and put away all my smaller pants for a while. I made sure to pat myself on the back for this. No guilt, No shame. But it did begin to bug me a little, to be honest! I was getting mentally ready to cut at month 4, but pushed through 4 more weeks. THAT is discipline. That is a long-term goals based plan, and not emotional. But I did begin to wear baggier shirts so that I wouldn't need to feel any sort of way at all about my slightly growing middle.
As a mama of 6, and healed Diastasis Recti, I still do absolutely struggle with loose skin and abdominals that, when bloated or thicker around the middle than usual, can appear to be pregnant again, 4-5 months along. It is the shape my abs fall into unless I intentionally tightly pull them in. That can make me self conscious a bit, so to save myself from that feeling, and questions from strangers if I am expecting (sigh) I usually choose to cover it up with looser clothes during the tail end of a build phase.
I kept this all in perspective too, friends. You can see in the photo above, a photo I took on day 1 of this cut, that although I gained 10#...it doesn't look like a lot of fat. I didn't come away from this build feeling...flabby. It is clearly NOT excessive. I just added more water, muscle, and a layer of fat over my whole body. 10# on a 5'4 frame is actually a lot of weight, though, but when it is lean tissue, it doesn't appear or feel heavy the way 10# of body fat used to feel heavy. If anything, I just feel stronger! Maybe...beefy? hahaha
Preparing to Cut
I get my head in the game! Positive self talk, encouraging and loving words. Things like
"I am so pumped to see what I can do this cut!"
"I have been working really really hard, I am so proud of myself."
"I am totally ready and able to eat less and be on point to take care of myself and clean up the fat layer I've put on. I'll feel better for a long time after this!"
"I am really excited to get back into more disciplined, organized tracking of my habits."
"I love me, and need to focus on myself and my goals for a while right now. I am doing this cut phase out of love and respect for the awesome person I am :) xx"
I journal sometimes. I've made a vision board in the past or posters for my bedroom. I've put really really cute leggings in my cart and let them SIT THERE until I complete my cut and then will reward my awesome effort by buying those cute leggings. ;) I inspire myself to DO HARD THINGS! Because it's good for me.
I tell people I'm about to "go on a diet" to make it socially "real" and to make sure I am public about it so I stick to my intention, no question. I also sometimes try to build a community of people to do it with me. It is about the energy and support for me, not necessarily accountability, but at times this really does hold me steady, having others in on the project.
This cut phase, my husband is lovingly and wisely joining me. I encourage couples to try to time cuts together if it works out, because cuts are tough! It helps to have support and encouragement and "suffer together". It also can be quite irritating to have 10 carbs left for dinner, and you fill your plate with a steamed zucchini, feeling extremely famished, only to have your spouse sit down right across from you with a plate overflowing with pasta.
NOT gonna lie, that is a dangerous, dangerous situation, hahahaha. Doing a couples-cut is marriage preserving! And very fun. And VERY HOT to see each other transform into healthier, leaner bodies. There is nothing as motivating as your beloved checking you out as you walk casually by them ;)
The CUT Plan
I am planning to make it 6 full weeks in a deficit. My goal is to drop at least 6#, but a little more is fine; some will be water, some will be fat, and I am doing my best to protect my hard earned muscle. My calories are nice and high so my first macro adjustment down will bring me to 1400-1900 calories, averaging 1550. That is perfect as it's 500 calories less than I was used to eating. My metabolism is very healthy right now, and burning high and hot and is still operating as if I were eating 2200 cals!
I am also continuing to take my supplements, and adding a few extra too to make sure I am well nourished even while cutting back food. I take 5 g creatine daily, mushroom powder, vit c, a probiotic, DoTerras Lifelong Vitality line of supplements, and my hormonal supports. To that I'm adding in extra zinc, vit d, and Power Greens powder.
Staples
Fill your kitchen and fridge with a ton of fresh, high volume, low calorie foods. Think watery veggies. I buy weekly:
beets, carrots, sweet potatoes
Cruciferous veggies, green beans, cauliflower...etc
zucchini, radishes, celery, onions, cabbage, cukes, lettuces
I buy pre-shredded bags of Cole slaw mix and broccoli slaw
Boxed bone broth like Kettle and Fire
Egg Life egg white wraps for sandwiches (0 carb)
boxed egg whites plus eggs
high protein milk/yogurt (I eat ripple pea milk)
protein shakes and powders (essential!) I use O.W.Y.N.
meat sticks, protein bars like GO MACRO and Aloha bars
Low sodium rice cakes, GF bread
It's Skinny pasta (Konjac noodles) and Kelp noodles
bananas, berries, melon, frozen fruit
Meals I eat look like 1-2 cups of veggies, 2 tsp fat, 3/4 cup (4 oz) lean meat, and if I have it to spare, 1/2 cup rice or slice of toast.
Snacks are mini meals: Go Macro bars, meat stick, baby cukes, carrots, protein shake and half banana, or a protein powder smoothie, eggs and toast.
Energy and Exercise
The first week of a cut phase is funny. I definitely can feel...starving, empty, uncomfortable, desperate for food. But my workouts usually feel ok. My energy is still good and my lifts are on par with where I've been lately within a margin. So, I try NOT to dial back my intensity too much unless I need to. Unless I'm feeling...blah.
This week, I luckily began my TOM (time of the month) Yaaaayyyy great timing! So I was starving AND crampy and headachy and lower oomph. Oh well. I still showed up at the gym and got done what I could. I was flexible and on my heaviest flow day, I decided NOT to squat like I'd planned to, and to focus on upper body instead. I had a great WO! Being on your TOM doesn't mean you have to avoid exercise, not at all, but certain movements might be less comfortable. I would rather save my heavy leg day for a day I could do them well and get more out of the session.
As the weeks roll by, my energy will likely wax and wane and I will take it day by day. I will not push heavy weights, I will instead focus on muscle preservation by higher reps of lower weight. and work more in my 70% range for heavy set days.
Weight Updates and Thoughts
After my first 5 days, weight began at 140# and went down to 138#, although it moved up and down daily, 138# was the lowest of the week. My abdomen is becoming leaner already, less bloated, even during my TOM, and that feels great already. I'm motivated and super stoked to see what my upper body looks like in 5 weeks, since I've been focusing on it this whole build phase! I'm hoping for more muscle definition. I've also been spending more quality time working my glutes and adductors, and I'm hopeful to see a lot of progress there.
I'm settling in to lower food intake, but it is still hard some days. My life is extremely busy in the fall from dawn to dusk, and I don't always have what I need at hand, so my macros this week have not been perfect. Close but not perfect, and I did have to go pretty hungry one night when I had none left. One day I walked 22,000 steps on top of working out and coaching and teaching, so I ate extra carbs that day than was in my plan to make sure my body could recover from so much activity. That felt like the right call.
My goal this coming week is to be totally tight with my macros. I'm planning my days meals in advance to makes sure I can divvy out my macros evenly, know what I have for snacks and lunch, and NOT go over my macro goals any day this week. I plan to WO 4 full and 1 partial/shorter days. I plan to increase my water intake to 3 full liters and watch my sodium better, keeping it around 2000mg max.
I ALSO PLAN TO GO ALL IN ON THE HARDCORE RESET!! OCTOBER 1st, BABY!
Recipe
RECIPE
One of my favorite extremely low macro meals, for a day where I used most of my macros earlier in the day when I was hungry and busy and not paying close enough attention, because it HAPPENS to all of us sometimes:
Filling very low macro
MAGIC MACRO CUT SOUP!
1/2 cup lean meat like 99% lean ground turkey
1/4 onion diced
radishes diced
1/4 cup carrot
1/2 zucchini
bunch of ripped kale
1-2 cups bone broth
salt, pepper, garlic, Italian herbs
If you are super starving, I toss in a whole package of It's Skinny pasta (Konjac noodles) or kelp noodles to fill up!
5 min reheat meal!!
Ok, that's all from me today my friends. Message me if you want to jump in on a cut phase along with me, and we can be bad-asses together!
Your body will thank you.
Love, Amber
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