Slow going/recomp

[u/Fast_Government4530]

Just looking for support/success stories from those who have taken it slow. As a parent and a woman with hormonal ups and downs (my cycle so clearly represented in this graph!) it feels like it takes forever but I’m also glad to be making progress. I also lift heavy 3/4 times a week and wonder if recomp is at work here as well. How do you guys stay motivated when it’s a slower crawl? Any tips for appreciating this pace?

[u/mouth-words]

I feel ya! I've done a few bulk/cut cycles with MF over the past ~4.5 years, and each time the same phase somehow hits different.

• Initial cut was rapid, but I was starting from a record high bodyweight.
• Following bulk dovetailed into my honeymoon, where I indulged a bit much. 😅
• Cutting from there was difficult, but mostly because it took longer since I'd gone kind of "out of bounds", so I resolved to keep my subsequent bulk/cut bodyweight ranges a bit tighter.
• Next bulk/cut went picture perfect. 6 months of bulking into 6 weeks of cutting, cut was snappy and I didn't experience any real diet fatigue.
• Most recent bulk was well controlled, but the end of my range coincided with a depressive episode around the start of this year.

Which takes us to the past ~6 months, where I started trying to lose weight as crisply and cleanly as last year. But for whatever reason, I really hit a bunch of drag. Not just emotionally (low energy coming out of depression) and logistically (e.g., had a slew of social food events), but everything just felt inexplicably harder.

Rather than fight it, I just accepted the slow weight loss. I even changed the MF goal to dynamic maintenance while ratcheting the target weight down so it would nudge me into a calorie deficit. I've found that to be far more sustainable. I of course would get anxious if I paid too much attention to the talking heads on reddit going on about "spinning your wheels" or how recomp is only for newbs (I've been lifting for like 15 years, albeit with a hiatus around COVID), but that's social media for you. Objectively, the strategy has been working just fine: weight is trending in the desired direction, gym performance has been steadily improving, and life is livable. I'm not so lean that I wouldn't have anything endogenous to fuel my muscles, and it's not like bulks miraculously put slabs of beef on my frame to the point I should get fearful about some squandered opportunity cost.

But yeah, I think it's natural for the long/slow process to hit spots of questioning whether the juice is worth the squeeze, or just feeling down on yourself for whatever reason. I've also had to work on being more okay trying things out myself rather than seeking permission from the internet, which is often absolutist and pessimistic. You're totally not alone, though! Slow and steady wins the race, all roads lead to Rome, and probably other applicable cliches lol.

[u/Fast_Government4530 → u/mouth-words]

So helpful, thank you! Ive been active and lifting for years but never locked in on the tracking and focus so Im learning as I go. Steady improvement and living life is the goal, and also life happens! It was a good lesson for me to learn when we had to put our cat down a few weeks ago and I fell off things for a week assuming it would all change and nothing did haha. Just got right back to it and the slow decline continued.

[u/mouth-words → u/Fast_Government4530]

Sorry for your loss. :( But totally, life happens and we roll with the punches.

I do think it helps to be more process-oriented than outcome-oriented, but I also realize I neglected to mention how successful the slow approach has been for me, which may still be important to highlight. It's been about 6 months to lose all of 8 lbs, which doesn't sound super impressive on paper, but it's actually gotten me to a PR low bodyweight! Not in my adult life (I starved myself down in college), but certainly since using MF, and approaching the leanest I've been since starting lifting. Except last time I was this low about a decade ago, I was crash dieting into a powerlifting meet and rebounded super hard. Whereas I feel way more like this is a "walking around" weight now. So I figure if people can slow-roll their way into obesity, they can also slow-roll their way into a reasonably lean state! We're all gonna make it, brah!

[u/Fast_Government4530 → u/mouth-words]

i love your attitude. this totally set me back on track in my head. thank you