What's up, fools? After hitting my goal under the 150 lb frame in early May, I took 2.5 months to get back into old routines, bulk, live a little, and see what would happen.
I gained back most of the "weight" I lost during that time. For those new to the thread, I started the cut last fall at 175 lbs and got down to 149 lbs in May. As of this week, I got back up to 169 lbs. This surprised me a bit because the weight looks very different than before the first cut, and I'm guessing that has to do with my continued lifting and muscle gain during the past nine months. I still have the strength, definition, and slimmer face (big deal for me. I hate having marshmallow face). Most surprisingly, my waist has stayed at 30" (down from 34" before the original cut).
So, where's all that weight? I assume a chunk of it is water weight, since I'm eating and drinking more carbs. I also noticed that my ab definition depleted a good chunk, so that's probably where the fat weight was added on.
The look has been great. A few weeks back, a local politician told me, "If I looked like you, I'd run for governor." It was maybe the best compliment I've received in a long while.
My doctor has talked to me about "set-point theory", where the human body wants to be at a certain weight and will do what it takes metabolically to stay there. I'm guessing my set weight is about 170.
So, now, my question is, how low of a body fat can I make that 170? This means it's time for a series of cuts and bulks over the next 1-3 years to see what we can do. So, I started cut #2 on Sunday after a two-week vacation (nicknamed Operation Over the Hill). The goal is to do what I did before: 1,600-2,200 Calories/day over the next 8-12 weeks and see what happens, with the goal of being to hit below 150. It's a faster goal than the first time, but I think the weight will fall off faster this time around, especially since I have less fat to lose. I go by weekly weight aggregate, but the Day 1 weight was 169.2 lbs. Already down to 166.4 after four days. I expect that initial drop to be large and mostly water.
Glad to be back. I'll be providing the weekly updates as per usual.
So, the starting weight was 169.2 lbs.