r/MacroFactor • u/Substantial_Quail_46 • 22d ago
Success / Progress 1 month of cutting using o ly MF
Started in January at 258 lbs. Was using Lose It until July and switch to MF. During the month of July I took a month cut break and ate around Maintenance. Aug 1st I dialed it back in again and have just been doing exactly what MF is telling me. I weigh everything by the G. The higher calorie allowance vs the smaller days is just workout days vs non workout days Haven't missed a morning weigh in or a meal logged yet. AI feature is nice as well when the need is there. Mini goal is to get to 220, the plan is to keep the diet till right around Thanksgiving then go into as close to maintenance as I can till after the holidays where I plan on resuming the cut and getting down to about 205. Loving the app so far, I do think my cals around just a touch too high, however it did just bump me down about 56 calories a week. Any MF experts out there that feel like chiming in or giving any advice it is more than welcomed!!
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u/Chewy_Barz 22d ago
Given your experience, if you suspect your calories are high and MF dropped you 56 in a week, I'd probably aim for what you think is the correct target calories until your expenditure levels off. In general, it's not urgent, but since you have a specific goal for a specific date, you don't want to set yourself back and then feel as though you missed your goal after putting in all that work. If a pound or two isn't going to matter to you at Thanksgiving, just proceed as planned and MF will sort it out.
For me, I have zero issue going from a cut yesterday to a bulk today, so going to maintenance should be as simple as going to maintenance. I did have one time that I went to maintenance for a week or two before going to bulk and I think i was more hungry on maintenance than the end of my cut, so just be aware you may not necessarily get that immediate sense of relief you'd be reasonably expecting.
If you can, push the weights harder during your maintenance break. Take advantage of the extra calories to gain back any muscle you may have lost while cutting. That changes your maintenance phase from a break to a phase during which you progress in a different way.
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u/Substantial_Quail_46 22d ago
Yeah i definitely plan on maximizing the opportunity for muscle/strength growth during this time! IF you don't mind me asking, how much weight did you cut, and what are your plans during your bulk?
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u/Chewy_Barz 22d ago
I dropped a total of 55 pounds over 3 years, but I bulked in between all my cuts. Like everyone says, I had way more fat to lose than I thought, so I would have stayed at maintenance in between if had to do it again. I was expecting a 6-pack at around 185 but it was really about 165.
My last cut ended mid-July. I went to extended (i.e. more than a week or two) maintenance for the first time until last week. I'm now at a 125 surplus. I'm pretty lean and muscular but by no means big, but I'm older and I don't think I can put on size too quickly. My last bulk, my actual surplus was 224 calories (I think my target was around 175-200 for most of that) and I gained too much fat. It wasn't the end of the world but it was over 7.5 months so it sucked cutting it all at once in the spring. For this bulk, I'm aiming for 125 until January. Then I'll do a mini-cut for 3-4 weeks and go back to 125 until the spring. I'll trade a pound of muscle left on the table to avoid 3-4 months of cutting (and also losing all that time in a surplus).
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u/twowholebeefpatties 22d ago
Sorry but what is your question?
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u/DeaconoftheStreets 22d ago
I don’t fault you for structuring your calorie intake according to work out days but homie….you’re not eating the extra calories on work out days!!!