The Physique
It is currently 15 weeks from the time I will be stepping on the bodybuilding stage for the first time in my lifetime. My current physique is about 14% body fat weighing in at around 183 pounds. When I first started my competition prep and cutting I was about 17% body fat and weighed 187 pounds. Here is a picture from when the cut began and what I am looking like only a little over a month into my prep.
June 14, 2017
July 17, 2017
The Plan
I decided to try and do a longer prep than most people would do to prepare for my first bodybuilding competition. Taking 20 weeks to cut down and burn off as much body fat that that one can. Since the starting weight was approximately 187 pounds the goal weight originally was to be 165-168 pounds on stage. The main reason and goal of taking longer to prepare is to keep as much muscle as possible and even try to build some muscle in the beginning stages of the cut. My body fat percentage has dropped around 3% over the first 4 weeks according to the machine I have been tested with. Only losing 2 pounds because I have lost around 7 pounds of fat and replaced it with 3 pounds of muscle. That being said, the plan now is to try to be as heavy as possible on stage while coming in as shredded as possible as well.
My Macros
Since my plan was originally to lose about 1 pound a week I have not been in a big caloric deficit. The best part about dieting slow and gradual is that the probability of one losing muscle mass when cutting is less likely. My starting macro nutrients were 300 grams of carbohydrates, 180 grams of protein, and 70 grams of fat. It has been a little over a month with my diet being consistent with those macro nutrients and I have hit a bit of a wall. So now my macros are 275 grams of carbs, 180 grams of protein, and 65 grams of fat. Since the first month yielded great results and progress as far as burning fat and building muscle I am only making minor changes to my diet. If more changes need to be made they will be made in a couple of weeks or so.
Summary
So I am currently 15 weeks away from my first bodybuilding competition. Choosing to do a 20 week prep it has been about a month since the beginning. My physique has already shown some changes weighing 2 pounds less and 3% less body fat than when starting. The diet and macro nutrients have been very consistent since starting but have recently made some changes since I have slowed down on the scale and amount of body fat I am losing. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of this journey bodybuilding blind and to also follow along with us on youtube.
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