Being on day 80 of my first real attempt to get shredded -- just fantastic information - and great timing. As always - Thanks Bro for the channel - Love it !
hey mario! great content as always really love the work you put in the community, my question is if you are on a diet that you love, and aren't thinking about food all the time and feel great, is there any reason to change it?
What to do when you've been on a diet for over half a year, and you can't get rid of that last bit of belly fat? In this video, I decided to answer this question sent in by Alex from London about his fat loss plateau. Enjoy the vid! And if you have a question you'd like to get covered in future vids send it over to youtube@shockingfit.com Talk soon! -Mario
Massive respect to all these people I'm seeing eating clean and in a defecit for 6-8 months. That's insane; even including days off. I'm in my third month and I had to cut my week off to two days as it resulted in a messed up binge. I basically realise I'm now happier with restriction. But it's still hard, I'm at a stage where when I feel strong mentally; I feel STRONG. But when a craving or something similar hits; I really struggle. The real struggle for cuts is finding your balance across a week. My low calorie days are strong after two days, then my third day is tough. It's literally what I gift myself in small doses of crap food across a week that helps me. It's like playing a damn violin.
Glad I'm not the only one! I started my serious weight cut July 1st. I had been working out and running since January and lost 10lbs right away, then I kind of stayed there for a while. That's when I decided to seriously cut calories and do a better job tracking my macros. My starting weight was 217.5 and now I am 169 after almost 4 months of dieting. 48.5 lbs total weight lost so far. My biggest transformation in my entire life! My goal is 165. So close! I am 6'1" tall and 39 years old. I've almost reached my goal so I'm not stopping now! Thanks for making these great videos. I'm a big fan of the channel. Peace!
This is very true. I've been on a maintenance/slight surplus diet break for about a month after being at a deficit since February and I look bigger and fuller while still maintaining the body fat I got down to before!
went from 13% bf to 7.5% in about four months on a strict low cal diet 1500-1700 cals a day. Just finished with that about two weeks ago and I feel fantastic now that I'm eating maintenance cals again. Thanks for all the teachings, Mario, you rock!
You have no idea Mario!! I've been watching your videos since 2½ months (2-3 videos per day at least) and I am following you literally religiously. Early morning I wake up and while brushing and having pre workout apple I watch your videos. I have been consistent in the gym for the last 75 days and I have lost 12kgs. Almost 1kg per week. From 85kgs to 73kg now. I am 5ft 6inch. But as you say, I have increased my protein intake (140-150gms). So, I haven't lost any muscle. In fact I have gained muscles which is a great thing! And you know what helped me more? WALKING! It's such a simple yet brutally powerful way to speed up fat loss combined with weight lifting. I have been walking at least 10,000 to 12000 steps per day without fail and man I feel so blessed by you. Walking really really helps a lot. I wish I could meet you one day. You're my idol❤️ Huge shoutout to you Mario. God bless u for the work u do big brother. Lots of love from India 🇮🇳❤️
Taking a diet break when you’re so close to single digit body fat is extremely hard mentally. You know how close you are so you want to be hardcore and just cut even more calories and ramp up the cardio but that’s what I did and I had a terrible binge. I’m forcing myself to take 6 weeks at maintenance and re adjust but I already feel more energy for the gym and just life in general. These videos have helped me a ton and I’m very grateful for your information brother, thank you
Great video Mario and definitely one I resonate with at the minute. I'm 5'7 and was around 205lb at something like 20-25% BF, after a lot of experimenting (and now down to 150lb and a guess of 12% BF) I've pretty much been on a 1600kcal/day diet for almost 2 years with no breaks (with a bit of off and on with the calorie intake experiments, but seemed to adapt to the low kcals and got stuck there). I've recently been reverse dieting and adding 100/day every week and this week I'm up from 1600kcal to 2100kcal/day and amazed at feeling better without any changes in weight other than the usual fluctuations. Once I find my my new maintenance I'll stick with it until into the new year and then may try a small lean bulk for a few months to regain some lost muscle during the stupidly long cut. Then early spring I'll try a short, planned cut with a deadline, to try and get down to below 10% and this time I'll avoid getting stuck in a 'Perma-cut'! All about the long term game! Thanks for all the consistent no BS advice!
Can't say enough good stuff about diet breaks/reverse dieting. It feels slow and people don't understand but like you said it is worth it for the long term.
FreeKekistan wow, I thought I was reading my own post. I am in the same boat as the original poster. I’m stuck at 150 pounds and probably less than 15 percent body fat but lower abs not fully shredded yet. Do you think a few days a week for a diet break (refeed days) is a good idea? A two week to 4 month break is way too much for me to feel comfortable doing. You have any suggestions on how long a break? Thanks all
Great video. It's so refreshing to hear you speak of calories in a realistic way. The RUclips fitness world often gives the impression that eating under 2,000 calories is starvation for a man. This is, in my opinion, why relatively so few men are lean these days. Even my fitness pal will suggest an absurd quantity of calories once you punch in your data. Making the world more muscular and aesthetic is a great goal. It's amazing how good looking nature has made most of us, but how few of us maximize our potential. Keep up the good work!
well to me it does sound really odd thou to be at those calories as a guy... I am fit myself (even thou I don't do cardio!) and was always naturally skinny.. But I'm a women currently at 49 - 49.5 and I'm on a cut with 1700 calories and I feel that it is already restricting for real... Was at 50.5 - 51.2kg to begin with but since I started alteady without high bodyfat I go for a slow but steady approach. My maintainance calories at the beginning were about 2300-2500 calories a day! Last time I tried to change my weight was when I did a bulk as an experience and went from 47kg to 54kg and I had to eat 2800 calories a day to get there and that's when I hit a plateau and I couldn't manage to add more calories.
Nino Circus Freak I know right, I'm still relatively young, but at 80kg I still lose weight rather quickly at a caloric intake of 2800 - and I'm not a hardgainer and at around 13% bf. I can barely imagine other men having to eat less then 2000 kcal a day, unless you have a horrible metabolism...
I totally agree. I’ve been eating only 1200 calories per day since August and I rarely feel hungry. I’ve lost 25lbs and dropped from 24% to 13% body fat. And that’s not the whole story. I broke 3 ribs at the end of September and couldn’t workout for 7 weeks, so really, I’ve done this in about 3 months real time. It’s really not that hard if you’re being honest with yourself and really sticking to it.
@@clb4947 It sucks being a short dude haha, I'm 5'4 and to stay lean my maintenance calories if I'm not doing cardio like every single day alongside lifting are literally around 1900. You really have to factor in height is the most important thing for determining that kind of thing, so yeah it's not common since most guys are 5'7 and taller, but when I'm cutting I seriously have to eat like 1300 calories sometimes it is a bummer.
Well said ! I am almost 2 months in my diet and lost 7 kilos. Will diet 2.5 months more and see where I land up. Then will drop the diet for some time to go on a lean bulk.
It was also the case for me. I've been dieting for 4 months, getting shredded and I stopped to get leaner about a month ago. I am also very hungry most of the times, I feel like I can't eat enough and I'm tired sometimes. I think I'm gonna do 3-4 weeks of maintenance calories. Thanks man! Such great content!
Taking a diet break is always hard for me to start because I can't differentiate between actually needing one and just pussing out. I'm down to 8-9% BF and am finding I need these more frequently though. Finished up my last break almost two months ago and it feels time for one again. Here's hoping I can get myself to do it, haha.
After starting to care about my body I finished exactly one year of cutting where I went down from 86Kg to 70Kg and it feels so damn good now to go on my first clean bulk with a little surplus. I feel how much more energy I have now and how much better my gym results are. But im still looking forward to go cutting again in Spring/Summer to go down even more and hopefully get those sixpacks to show for the first time inn my life :-)
I have been working out since the end of April. I lost 19kg and in the last 2 months I have been eating really low amount of calories ~1700 a day. This helps a lot to keep going. When I can grab skin on my lowest abdominals then I will go into my honeymoon phase :)
Yeah I've been dieting for 8months. Lost 27lbs but the scale hasn't moved for 5 weeks. So I'm going to try a 2 week diet break and see how it goes! :) Thanks for the vid!
Subbed. Super informative. My goal is to get ripped. Guess, I'm at 20% body fat. Flat stomach but just a bit of abs definition. Like you said, "Being persistent is key." Thank you for educating the masses!
I’m on day 175 and it’s gonna be another 3-4 months before I’m done. SW215 CW171lbs with a goal of 155-160lbs I plan to stay at maintenance for a good 6mo to a year before even considering a light bulk. And yeah my lifts are pretty stale They’ve been sitting around: 65kg dumbbell press (3 sets of 5) 145kg dead lift (3 sets of 5) 115kg squat (3sets of 5)
Sorry, Mario. In my mind, the advice should be “no quitting until you’re done” and the goal is attained. It takes a long time and requires patience. I’d suggest tweaking the diet, but don’t take a break and end all the progress. No going backwards. Add some carbs and get right back after it.
Good video, I also would’ve mentioned too the drop in natural anabolic hormone production that accompanies being in a caloric deficit that also slows metabolism that can be reversed by increasing calories with the diet break.’
This is tough advice (mentally ) to take. I've lost 20+ pounds over the past 6 months. Vascularity is through the roof, veins on my shoulders, forearms, and biceps veins on my calves and yet I still have a coating of fat covering my abs and lower back. I've been at 1400 cal for months, I'm only 5 foot even and I'm down to 121 pounds from over 140. Doing a diet break is very scary to me but I may have to otherwise I'd have to drop my calories down to 1200-1300.
Kind of bummed out Mario, just talked to ries in my interview i felt like i was perfect fit for your coaching program but as a student i couldn't afford it! sooner or later!. Cheers Mario ill do my best with these videos for now.
most important start with a healthy metabolism. you guys whos been dieting multiple times with failure have wrceked ur metabolism. first of all reverse diet then after a really long reverse start a good controlled diet by lowering macros slowly according to fat loss. ive been training for over 15 years and still i fuck up sometimes. but nowdays i can go from 21 % to around 11-12 % in 4-5 months. if ur an athlete u perform the best between 10-15% bodyfat, remember that.
I’m not at the point I want to end the diet and I’m not at the point where I’m at a body percentage im happy with. I’m still loosing so I’m gonna go ahead and continue on
@BlackMinkCoat I got down 85 pounds then Covid hit, I was somewhat serious for a while, but when gyms closed I took a break. I’m up 10 and pretty lax. I’m gonna start activity just cuz I hate sitting in quarantine doing nothing
I think 50% of diet time is an unnecessarily long time. 2-3 weeks might not be enough to completely reverse all the effects that dieting for 8 months has had, but it will reverse more than enough to recover and be able to kick into another gear for the next phase of dieting. 4 months of basically zero progress can be extremely frustrating and demotivating.
It will vary, and depend on how severe the diet was. For a competition doing a 6-8 month prep they probably won't feel right until 3-4 months of back to normal. For regular dieters who don't go as hard, it can of course be shorter. And for beginners and intermediates they'll be making a lot of progress in the gym in those 4 months of maintenance and eating more.
Holyyyy Shit.... this is my exact same situation! Seeing this video further backed up my plan to go on a lean bulk for winter and try again to get lean come mid Spring. I feel exhausted and although I am leaner, I am not where I want to be. Great video I needed to see this
Your question askers problem in the first place was the fact that he didn't want to be "huge" but just ripped. Guys with more muscle will burn more calories/day and have their metabolism ramped up.
I’ve been going for 5 months now. From an obese 190 to a normal 150 at 5’7” and pretty consistently eating 2000 and under. I don’t often go over. Maybe once a week I’ll go 2300 or so. Anyways I’m nowhere near tired. My body is not tired whatsoever. My body and mind wants to keep going but still no full abs. I can kind of see a shaping on the outside when I suck in a little but no pack of abs at all. I’ve never had visible abs in my life so I’m trying hard now at age 29. I’m thinking I should cutdown to 1800 cals a day or maybe 1500 on a few days a week. And since my body isn’t use to that, it will lose that last amount of fat. I guess we’ll see in the next 6 weeks or so
always great info , nice vid mario, keep them coming, also the vlog was amazing keep those coming too! also i have a question, do you track on mfp the cooking spray oils? like pam and all, or you just mentally track them and let a little buffer?
Hey Mario. Your videos are always awesome and really informative, thank you. you do an amazing job. just a quick question. when you track your daily calorie intake do you take into account any exercise etc and eat extra calories or do you ignore your net calories (like on myfitnesspal) and just stick to a number, say 3000 calories despite any cardio/gym work? Thanks again. Jonathan.
There's no way to accurately measure expenditure. Focus on the intake, that's under your control. I recommend not tracking exercise with MFP unless you have the premium where you can prevent the changes in your calories.
thanks Mario. I do have the premium and funnily enough I had turned off the exercise calorie thing because it was confusing me so much. I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing by just sticking to my standard calories and you've definitely confirmed what I kind of felt but just wasn't 100% sure of. Awesome stuff, Thank you. Jonathan.
Hey Mario, I value your opinion, so I wanted to ask you this. I get the video when you want to get ripped, but how is it when you're coming from an obese state? I went from ~35-37% bodyfat to around 25-27% now. I'm officially not obese anymore, but fat loss is obviously still my biggest goal I've been in a deficit for over a year. How long until I would have to take a planned break? My inclination would be just to keep going
Good Video man you said at the end that it shouldn't take more than 6 months to get a six pack at 15/16% body fat I started with 18/19% 7 weeks ago I was 85kg and I'm now at 75kg lost around 10kg but I can't see any six pack and I still have belly fat will it take more time to see some abs
Hi Mario!! So recently I gained about 3 lbs but I have not increased my calories. In fact, I lowered slightly. I meticulously track in my fitness pal and I lost about 60 lbs from 2015-2017. I was at about maintenance calories so I slightly lowered to help. My weight has not budged and I am sitting at 113, 3 lbs above my goal weight of 110 that I had previously maintained for about 6 months. How do I know whether to lower calories again, or up workouts, or just stick with my current plan and hope it's water weight? Thank you so much for your channel!!
Mario! great video! very informative, I wish there was someone like you in the female fitness community! I need some advice, If i eat at a deficit of 1200 calories, and I burn 300 in the gym. Should I eat the 300 I expanded?
currently about 5 days out from 3 months cutting. Can just barley see my top 2 abs if I flex as hard as possible and I'm 150 lb but I know I'm moving forward. I feel like most people overestimate their bf% by a ridiculous large amount. If this guy has been cutting for 8 months at 1800 calories he was NOT 17% body fat, probably around 23% or 24% in my opinion
Keep up the great work Dylan, and you're definitely right about underestimating how much body fat people have. This is one of the reasons why I tell guys whatever they calculate their diet will take it's probably a good idea to double that amount :)
EXACTLY! what i am dealing with at 72 kg now my arms all Vascular back chest all good infact upper two rows of abs visible without flexing but that naval area "Arrrggrggghhh" like 2 inches of thick skin there. dieting for 7 months now lost 60 lbs. 12.5% Bodyfat now i think might be 11.5 even not sure on that 100%. when can i start bulking? i really want to eat at maintenence and slightly above.
Glad you found it useful. I don't recommend a gaining phase until you see your abs (unless you're happy with the fact that you won't see them while bulking until you cut again)
Ok bro thanks. Than i have to continue cutting. Seems like another 2 to 3 months atleast. Your videos and advices are best for natural lifters. Because i see it everything you mention is exactly how my body is reacting. Keep it up bruh!!!
What I needed to hear, but not what I wanted to hear..... so worried that if I stop now, the gains I made over the last 7 months will evaporate over the holiday season. I'm afraid that the last 10 pounds I want to lose will (again) turn into 35 pounds.... sometime around March 2017..... fml
I was 16 when i started lifting and since i was fat, i started with a cut. And now reached about 14 - 15 percent range from 25 - 30 percent bodyfat, i literally made no gains as i can see when i reached 15 percent, and in the last 3 months my strength was gradually decreasing in the gym. In the last three months i was feeling like shit and always cried when i overate or binged. then i realized these restrictions fucked me up so stoped the cut and started lean bulk, never saw that six pack and was pretty much disappointed. I am now worried that due to calorie defecit my body didnt grow to its full potential. And also concerned whether my newbie gains are gone. Does anyone have an answer for this?
I've had to bring my daily cal down to 1250 to keep the scale moving 1.5lb/week. Not normal or fun for a 6'5" (195cm) guy that's only around 15% bodyfat. Not sure if 10% is gonna happen.
I was on an over year long diet but after that and crazy ammount of workout(mma + cardio 6-7 times a week) I break my diet and slowly gained half of the mass that i've lost. I felt crazy tired almost all the time and couldn't focus on anything. Right now I wanna get back on a diet and training but how long should a healthy diet be for?
dude, in the last year and a half I've leaned down from 33% to 23%, also gained a lot of strength. I've been currently stuck for about 5 months, I travelled for a month so I was sloppy, then when I got back I didn't readjust immediatly. Last 2 and a half months I've been pretty consistent. Tracking, doing IF and IIFYM but I just been stuck. I'm 173 cm (5'8) and eat about 1300-1600 calories mon-thu, 1700-1900 frid-sat and sunday I eat about 2500-3000 being that I'm over 20% BF. Should I take a break? Add more cardio? eat less on weekends? Hope you can give me some advice, it has been pretty frustrating
If you're not losing body weight you're not in a calorie deficit. Lowering calories and being more accurate with tracking is the first thing to look at.
Unfortunately, there's no way for me to know what you need to do next without having more data, a full client assessment and working with you for at least a few weeks.
You said that you achieved the body in your link in 6months? Really? Is that possible :O What about if I'm 6ft and 58kg, how long would it take me to get the body like you? or not even, but get into a healthy lifestyle where I can feel good about my self? I suppose 6months would be enough either way, if that's 70kg, I would still make progress right. Though if I set y self a goal to be like you, are now, exactly like you, but at my height 6ft , how long would it take me? From that skinny to a physique like you? I suppose a year no? Since i woudl need to put, i think around 26kg? I want to be realistc on what to expect. I did also work out before so i have small skinnny muscles you can see but they are empty.
Results may vary. There's no way to predict how someone will look in 6 months even if you do every bit right and it doesn't matter. It matters that you do the best possible thing you can in the moment.
Hey man! I lost around 20 kgs since I first started (from 95 to 75 kg at 6'1").As of now I'm at almost 20% bf .I love the strength gains at this point.Should I continue dieting or build enough muscle and then cut again? Btw,amaazing vids!!
good work bro .... thanks really big helpful.... I'm also on cutting from 8 9 month all going good ..... but i just did my liver function test my sgot is 40 and sgpt is 42 sgpt increased bye 7 point is it good or bad please help me .... i don't wanna loss anything my body in very good shape know please help.....
Being on day 80 of my first real attempt to get shredded -- just fantastic information - and great timing. As always - Thanks Bro for the channel - Love it !
Thanks Jeff!
hey mario! great content as always really love the work you put in the community, my question is if you are on a diet that you love, and aren't thinking about food all the time and feel great, is there any reason to change it?
i'm on day 14
Jeff Litherland Keep it up. It may take 6 months but don’t give up bro. It will come if you diet long enough. Roadblocks=More calorie cuts or cardio
How goes it, you shredded yet?
What to do when you've been on a diet for over half a year, and you can't get rid of that last bit of belly fat? In this video, I decided to answer this question sent in by Alex from London about his fat loss plateau. Enjoy the vid! And if you have a question you'd like to get covered in future vids send it over to youtube@shockingfit.com Talk soon! -Mario
Massive respect to all these people I'm seeing eating clean and in a defecit for 6-8 months. That's insane; even including days off. I'm in my third month and I had to cut my week off to two days as it resulted in a messed up binge. I basically realise I'm now happier with restriction. But it's still hard, I'm at a stage where when I feel strong mentally; I feel STRONG. But when a craving or something similar hits; I really struggle. The real struggle for cuts is finding your balance across a week. My low calorie days are strong after two days, then my third day is tough. It's literally what I gift myself in small doses of crap food across a week that helps me. It's like playing a damn violin.
This is EXACTLY where I’m at. Helped me more than this video
Glad I'm not the only one! I started my serious weight cut July 1st. I had been working out and running since January and lost 10lbs right away, then I kind of stayed there for a while. That's when I decided to seriously cut calories and do a better job tracking my macros. My starting weight was 217.5 and now I am 169 after almost 4 months of dieting. 48.5 lbs total weight lost so far. My biggest transformation in my entire life! My goal is 165. So close! I am 6'1" tall and 39 years old. I've almost reached my goal so I'm not stopping now! Thanks for making these great videos. I'm a big fan of the channel. Peace!
Great job!
This is very true. I've been on a maintenance/slight surplus diet break for about a month after being at a deficit since February and I look bigger and fuller while still maintaining the body fat I got down to before!
Awesome!
went from 13% bf to 7.5% in about four months on a strict low cal diet 1500-1700 cals a day. Just finished with that about two weeks ago and I feel fantastic now that I'm eating maintenance cals again. Thanks for all the teachings, Mario, you rock!
Great work!
8 months and he was only 17% BF at the start?
Wow that is slow
This video was actually the perfect time for me to end my year long cut
Cheers!
lmfao year long?
are you still maintaining?
You have no idea Mario!! I've been watching your videos since 2½ months (2-3 videos per day at least) and I am following you literally religiously. Early morning I wake up and while brushing and having pre workout apple I watch your videos. I have been consistent in the gym for the last 75 days and I have lost 12kgs. Almost 1kg per week. From 85kgs to 73kg now. I am 5ft 6inch. But as you say, I have increased my protein intake (140-150gms). So, I haven't lost any muscle. In fact I have gained muscles which is a great thing! And you know what helped me more? WALKING! It's such a simple yet brutally powerful way to speed up fat loss combined with weight lifting. I have been walking at least 10,000 to 12000 steps per day without fail and man I feel so blessed by you. Walking really really helps a lot. I wish I could meet you one day. You're my idol❤️ Huge shoutout to you Mario. God bless u for the work u do big brother. Lots of love from India 🇮🇳❤️
Taking a diet break when you’re so close to single digit body fat is extremely hard mentally. You know how close you are so you want to be hardcore and just cut even more calories and ramp up the cardio but that’s what I did and I had a terrible binge. I’m forcing myself to take 6 weeks at maintenance and re adjust but I already feel more energy for the gym and just life in general. These videos have helped me a ton and I’m very grateful for your information brother, thank you
Great video Mario and definitely one I resonate with at the minute. I'm 5'7 and was around 205lb at something like 20-25% BF, after a lot of experimenting (and now down to 150lb and a guess of 12% BF) I've pretty much been on a 1600kcal/day diet for almost 2 years with no breaks (with a bit of off and on with the calorie intake experiments, but seemed to adapt to the low kcals and got stuck there). I've recently been reverse dieting and adding 100/day every week and this week I'm up from 1600kcal to 2100kcal/day and amazed at feeling better without any changes in weight other than the usual fluctuations. Once I find my my new maintenance I'll stick with it until into the new year and then may try a small lean bulk for a few months to regain some lost muscle during the stupidly long cut. Then early spring I'll try a short, planned cut with a deadline, to try and get down to below 10% and this time I'll avoid getting stuck in a 'Perma-cut'! All about the long term game! Thanks for all the consistent no BS advice!
Thanks for sharing Steven! I'm glad this resonated with you and that you got out of the "perma-cut" trap. It's a really nasty one!
Can't say enough good stuff about diet breaks/reverse dieting. It feels slow and people don't understand but like you said it is worth it for the long term.
FreeKekistan wow, I thought I was reading my own post. I am in the same boat as the original poster. I’m stuck at 150 pounds and probably less than 15 percent body fat but lower abs not fully shredded yet. Do you think a few days a week for a diet break (refeed days) is a good idea? A two week to 4 month break is way too much for me to feel comfortable doing. You have any suggestions on how long a break? Thanks all
Gary Michael Flanagan hire a coach honestly because you can easily up the calories and start losing weight
Thank you for this video! I was feeling miserable from months of dieting and have decided to take a break because of you. Feeling much better!
Great video. It's so refreshing to hear you speak of calories in a realistic way. The RUclips fitness world often gives the impression that eating under 2,000 calories is starvation for a man. This is, in my opinion, why relatively so few men are lean these days. Even my fitness pal will suggest an absurd quantity of calories once you punch in your data.
Making the world more muscular and aesthetic is a great goal. It's amazing how good looking nature has made most of us, but how few of us maximize our potential. Keep up the good work!
Thank you James!
well to me it does sound really odd thou to be at those calories as a guy... I am fit myself (even thou I don't do cardio!) and was always naturally skinny.. But I'm a women currently at 49 - 49.5 and I'm on a cut with 1700 calories and I feel that it is already restricting for real... Was at 50.5 - 51.2kg to begin with but since I started alteady without high bodyfat I go for a slow but steady approach. My maintainance calories at the beginning were about 2300-2500 calories a day! Last time I tried to change my weight was when I did a bulk as an experience and went from 47kg to 54kg and I had to eat 2800 calories a day to get there and that's when I hit a plateau and I couldn't manage to add more calories.
Nino Circus Freak I know right, I'm still relatively young, but at 80kg I still lose weight rather quickly at a caloric intake of 2800 - and I'm not a hardgainer and at around 13% bf. I can barely imagine other men having to eat less then 2000 kcal a day, unless you have a horrible metabolism...
I totally agree. I’ve been eating only 1200 calories per day since August and I rarely feel hungry. I’ve lost 25lbs and dropped from 24% to 13% body fat.
And that’s not the whole story. I broke 3 ribs at the end of September and couldn’t workout for 7 weeks, so really, I’ve done this in about 3 months real time. It’s really not that hard if you’re being honest with yourself and really sticking to it.
@@clb4947 It sucks being a short dude haha, I'm 5'4 and to stay lean my maintenance calories if I'm not doing cardio like every single day alongside lifting are literally around 1900. You really have to factor in height is the most important thing for determining that kind of thing, so yeah it's not common since most guys are 5'7 and taller, but when I'm cutting I seriously have to eat like 1300 calories sometimes it is a bummer.
Hey mario, thank you for your videos, you keep me motivated on this journey to love myself, 6 kg gone, 7 to go!!!
Awesome work!
Well said ! I am almost 2 months in my diet and lost 7 kilos. Will diet 2.5 months more and see where I land up. Then will drop the diet for some time to go on a lean bulk.
Man, Mario you’re a freaking legend. Thanks for keeping it real and giving us the real no bs and respectful info
It was also the case for me. I've been dieting for 4 months, getting shredded and I stopped to get leaner about a month ago. I am also very hungry most of the times, I feel like I can't eat enough and I'm tired sometimes.
I think I'm gonna do 3-4 weeks of maintenance calories. Thanks man! Such great content!
Taking a diet break is always hard for me to start because I can't differentiate between actually needing one and just pussing out. I'm down to 8-9% BF and am finding I need these more frequently though. Finished up my last break almost two months ago and it feels time for one again. Here's hoping I can get myself to do it, haha.
If you’re at 8-9% body fat, why would you need to diet??
@@MikaelLewisify "you can always be thinner....look better"
@@colinduellman7809 if u like the anorexic look, sure.
After starting to care about my body I finished exactly one year of cutting where I went down from 86Kg to 70Kg and it feels so damn good now to go on my first clean bulk with a little surplus. I feel how much more energy I have now and how much better my gym results are. But im still looking forward to go cutting again in Spring/Summer to go down even more and hopefully get those sixpacks to show for the first time inn my life :-)
This is why a refeed day every couple weeks and even a refeed week every few months can be very beneficial long-term.
Psychologically, sure. Physiologically.... all the research says that it's worthless.
I have been working out since the end of April. I lost 19kg and in the last 2 months I have been eating really low amount of calories ~1700 a day. This helps a lot to keep going. When I can grab skin on my lowest abdominals then I will go into my honeymoon phase :)
You really need more support, been watching for 6 months since i started my first real diet ! always great info on the point thanks!
Thanks man
Yeah I've been dieting for 8months. Lost 27lbs but the scale hasn't moved for 5 weeks. So I'm going to try a 2 week diet break and see how it goes! :) Thanks for the vid!
I’m 5 yrs late but did this work for you?
Subbed. Super informative. My goal is to get ripped. Guess, I'm at 20% body fat. Flat stomach but just a bit of abs definition. Like you said, "Being persistent is key." Thank you for educating the masses!
Thank you!
I’m on day 175 and it’s gonna be another 3-4 months before I’m done.
SW215 CW171lbs with a goal of 155-160lbs
I plan to stay at maintenance for a good 6mo to a year before even considering a light bulk.
And yeah my lifts are pretty stale
They’ve been sitting around:
65kg dumbbell press (3 sets of 5)
145kg dead lift (3 sets of 5)
115kg squat (3sets of 5)
exactly the same problem i will take that break thanks for the video !
Glad to help
Sorry, Mario. In my mind, the advice should be “no quitting until you’re done” and the goal is attained. It takes a long time and requires patience. I’d suggest tweaking the diet, but don’t take a break and end all the progress. No going backwards. Add some carbs and get right back after it.
u havent actually been listening to the vid. u dont actually lose progress.
Good video, I also would’ve mentioned too the drop in natural anabolic hormone production that accompanies being in a caloric deficit that also slows metabolism that can be reversed by increasing calories with the diet break.’
This is tough advice (mentally ) to take. I've lost 20+ pounds over the past 6 months. Vascularity is through the roof, veins on my shoulders, forearms, and biceps veins on my calves and yet I still have a coating of fat covering my abs and lower back. I've been at 1400 cal for months, I'm only 5 foot even and I'm down to 121 pounds from over 140. Doing a diet break is very scary to me but I may have to otherwise I'd have to drop my calories down to 1200-1300.
I can sooo relate to this...... I was like how accurate can this video be.... I have been facing same problem now. Yay!!! Now time to take a break
You won't feel tired if your body has adjusted to using fat as fuel source instead of sugar (carbs) .
Excellent tips. Many thanks
Kind of bummed out Mario, just talked to ries in my interview i felt like i was perfect fit for your coaching program but as a student i couldn't afford it! sooner or later!. Cheers Mario ill do my best with these videos for now.
Hi Julio, we do our best to make it as affordable for students as possible with the current demands. A lot of guys join a bit later
Really helpful content once again! Thanks Mario! 👍
Thank you!
just found your channel, Instantly subscribed and am going through all your videos. so good keep it up :)
I was just wondering about this same topic. Thanks man. Keep up the good work.
Cheers!
Helpful video bro. Great work!
Thanks bro
wow great advice. You and Radu are the best on here and where the heck has he gone??
Thank you!
I was thinking this exact question this morning haha , been going 4 months so another 2 and I'm taking a break
If you've been dieting for 4 months straight it's probably a good idea to take a break now as well.
Mario Tomic I think I will, I'm so drained
Cutting diet is my new way of life with an occasional cheat meal every couple weeks. Don’t fall off the wagon for too long!
most important start with a healthy metabolism. you guys whos been dieting multiple times with failure have wrceked ur metabolism. first of all reverse diet then after a really long reverse start a good controlled diet by lowering macros slowly according to fat loss. ive been training for over 15 years and still i fuck up sometimes. but nowdays i can go from 21 % to around 11-12 % in 4-5 months. if ur an athlete u perform the best between 10-15% bodyfat, remember that.
I’m not at the point I want to end the diet and I’m not at the point where I’m at a body percentage im happy with. I’m still loosing so I’m gonna go ahead and continue on
@BlackMinkCoat I got down 85 pounds then Covid hit, I was somewhat serious for a while, but when gyms closed I took a break. I’m up 10 and pretty lax. I’m gonna start activity just cuz I hate sitting in quarantine doing nothing
Grt video Mario.. Very informative..
👍
I was on diet and exercise for 2.5 years, I dropped from 84kg to 67kg, body fat 9.8%, I’m 1.78m, I’ll remember to take a break.
I think 50% of diet time is an unnecessarily long time. 2-3 weeks might not be enough to completely reverse all the effects that dieting for 8 months has had, but it will reverse more than enough to recover and be able to kick into another gear for the next phase of dieting. 4 months of basically zero progress can be extremely frustrating and demotivating.
It will vary, and depend on how severe the diet was. For a competition doing a 6-8 month prep they probably won't feel right until 3-4 months of back to normal. For regular dieters who don't go as hard, it can of course be shorter. And for beginners and intermediates they'll be making a lot of progress in the gym in those 4 months of maintenance and eating more.
Holyyyy Shit.... this is my exact same situation! Seeing this video further backed up my plan to go on a lean bulk for winter and try again to get lean come mid Spring. I feel exhausted and although I am leaner, I am not where I want to be. Great video I needed to see this
Glad it helped!
Your question askers problem in the first place was the fact that he didn't want to be "huge" but just ripped. Guys with more muscle will burn more calories/day and have their metabolism ramped up.
I lost 12kg in 3 months down to 16-18 bf.
I feel like I need a break.
Honestly, if that’s how you feel, you are doomed. It’s a permanent lifestyle change not a temporary fix.
Not at all. Took a break, now I’ve lost another 3kg down to 12% 🤔
@@thebusinessfinder2543 amazing progress, im looking forward to my diet break, not gonna lie :D
Great video Mario.
Thank you!
Hi Mario, love the information that you provide in your videos but I'm wondering how much of this can be applied to women as well?
Thanks Jessica, a lot of it applies to women. I would say that taking regular breaks from the diet is even more important than with men.
Great video as always.
Thanks man!
I lost 75 lbs this year (January to August) . 263 to 187. I think I have lost a lot of muscle and I'm going to take this advice and go on a diet break
Great work!
tired is an understatement😣
hehe
great work man
Thanks bro
Thanks for answering this
Cheers!
Mario Tomic I will keep cutting upto Dec or Jan and then decide how to go forward. If I don't lose weight then I will go for maintenance or bulk
I’ve been going for 5 months now. From an obese 190 to a normal 150 at 5’7” and pretty consistently eating 2000 and under. I don’t often go over. Maybe once a week I’ll go 2300 or so.
Anyways I’m nowhere near tired. My body is not tired whatsoever. My body and mind wants to keep going but still no full abs. I can kind of see a shaping on the outside when I suck in a little but no pack of abs at all. I’ve never had visible abs in my life so I’m trying hard now at age 29. I’m thinking I should cutdown to 1800 cals a day or maybe 1500 on a few days a week. And since my body isn’t use to that, it will lose that last amount of fat. I guess we’ll see in the next 6 weeks or so
How did it go?
always great info , nice vid mario, keep them coming, also the vlog was amazing keep those coming too!
also i have a question, do you track on mfp the cooking spray oils? like pam and all, or you just mentally track them and let a little buffer?
Thanks man, you can find the item in MFP and just keep it consistent.
Iv'e had the same problem. To the point I would eat one meal a day. I have to be eating more than I think still.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it gets hard somtimes
Hey Mario. Your videos are always awesome and really informative, thank you. you do an amazing job. just a quick question. when you track your daily calorie intake do you take into account any exercise etc and eat extra calories or do you ignore your net calories (like on myfitnesspal) and just stick to a number, say 3000 calories despite any cardio/gym work? Thanks again. Jonathan.
There's no way to accurately measure expenditure. Focus on the intake, that's under your control. I recommend not tracking exercise with MFP unless you have the premium where you can prevent the changes in your calories.
thanks Mario. I do have the premium and funnily enough I had turned off the exercise calorie thing because it was confusing me so much. I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing by just sticking to my standard calories and you've definitely confirmed what I kind of felt but just wasn't 100% sure of. Awesome stuff, Thank you. Jonathan.
Hey Mario, I value your opinion, so I wanted to ask you this. I get the video when you want to get ripped, but how is it when you're coming from an obese state? I went from ~35-37% bodyfat to around 25-27% now. I'm officially not obese anymore, but fat loss is obviously still my biggest goal I've been in a deficit for over a year. How long until I would have to take a planned break? My inclination would be just to keep going
I recommend 2 weeks of maintenance as the bare minimum. Ideally 4-6. Enjoy the maintenance and use it to make gains in the gym.
Video suggestion: How to properly use foam rollers and importance of streching :)
Cheers :)
Do you still recommend taking a break at 6 months if you started at ~25% BF and haven’t stalled in losing fat?
most important topic. you need to explain this a little more elaborately
No....thank YOU!!!!
Good Video man you said at the end that it shouldn't take more than 6 months to get a six pack at 15/16% body fat I started with 18/19% 7 weeks ago I was 85kg and I'm now at 75kg lost around 10kg but I can't see any six pack and I still have belly fat will it take more time to see some abs
Hi, you've most likely underestimated how much body fat you had. This is a very common mistake. Just keep dieting.
So you’re saying if you can’t get to your goals. Give up?
Hi Mario!! So recently I gained about 3 lbs but I have not increased my calories. In fact, I lowered slightly. I meticulously track in my fitness pal and I lost about 60 lbs from 2015-2017. I was at about maintenance calories so I slightly lowered to help. My weight has not budged and I am sitting at 113, 3 lbs above my goal weight of 110 that I had previously maintained for about 6 months. How do I know whether to lower calories again, or up workouts, or just stick with my current plan and hope it's water weight? Thank you so much for your channel!!
I can relate, im female, 46 kg, 5’2, i look so thin, but i still have a belly fat
I starved myself for a week didn’t do anything except send me to the hospital
Starving is not a solution.
Awesome!
Mario! great video! very informative, I wish there was someone like you in the female fitness community!
I need some advice, If i eat at a deficit of 1200 calories, and I burn 300 in the gym. Should I eat the 300 I expanded?
If you're losing fat too fast maybe eat more. Otherwise if it's about 0.5-1% per week on average there's no need to eat more
currently about 5 days out from 3 months cutting. Can just barley see my top 2 abs if I flex as hard as possible and I'm 150 lb but I know I'm moving forward. I feel like most people overestimate their bf% by a ridiculous large amount. If this guy has been cutting for 8 months at 1800 calories he was NOT 17% body fat, probably around 23% or 24% in my opinion
Keep up the great work Dylan, and you're definitely right about underestimating how much body fat people have. This is one of the reasons why I tell guys whatever they calculate their diet will take it's probably a good idea to double that amount :)
Man I'm not getting video notifications 😢
Thanks, going to try by not doing IF every day and take a break with 3X a week and see what happens. Thoughts??
Im in a cut for 1,5 year... Holly sht
EXACTLY! what i am dealing with at 72 kg now my arms all Vascular back chest all good infact upper two rows of abs visible without flexing but that naval area "Arrrggrggghhh" like 2 inches of thick skin there. dieting for 7 months now lost 60 lbs. 12.5% Bodyfat now i think might be 11.5 even not sure on that 100%.
when can i start bulking? i really want to eat at maintenence and slightly above.
Glad you found it useful. I don't recommend a gaining phase until you see your abs (unless you're happy with the fact that you won't see them while bulking until you cut again)
Ok bro thanks. Than i have to continue cutting. Seems like another 2 to 3 months atleast.
Your videos and advices are best for natural lifters. Because i see it everything you mention is exactly how my body is reacting. Keep it up bruh!!!
good information man... ive benn dieting for 6 months and im feeling like crap but i dont want to take a break and get fat, what would you recommend?
Take a diet break to maintenance, you won't get fat on maintenance lol
What I needed to hear, but not what I wanted to hear..... so worried that if I stop now, the gains I made over the last 7 months will evaporate over the holiday season. I'm afraid that the last 10 pounds I want to lose will (again) turn into 35 pounds.... sometime around March 2017..... fml
As long as you work hard in the gym the gains are loyal :)
A reset is always good when calories are extremely low and you're stuck. Great video brother.
Cheers
I was 16 when i started lifting and since i was fat, i started with a cut. And now reached about 14 - 15 percent range from 25 - 30 percent bodyfat, i literally made no gains as i can see when i reached 15 percent, and in the last 3 months my strength was gradually decreasing in the gym. In the last three months i was feeling like shit and always cried when i overate or binged. then i realized these restrictions fucked me up so stoped the cut and started lean bulk, never saw that six pack and was pretty much disappointed. I am now worried that due to calorie defecit my body didnt grow to its full potential. And also concerned whether my newbie gains are gone. Does anyone have an answer for this?
if i could i would give u 10 tumbs up just for puting the essentialls in the description!
2 years dieting 12% body fat and still have a little belly fat. Ugh
I got that little bit left and its insanely tough. Been at it for 2 weeks.
The last bit hard. Keep going!
@Justin W Did u manage to loose it
do you ever take into account the thermal effect of food?
It's a part of the equation but not something you'd try to manipulate deliberately. It's 10% on average. Focus on what you can control, you intake.
How to lose fat and build muscle or maintain it please answer Mario
ruclips.net/video/VstBZT5gfoA/видео.html
First try change macros same calories
I've had to bring my daily cal down to 1250 to keep the scale moving 1.5lb/week. Not normal or fun for a 6'5" (195cm) guy that's only around 15% bodyfat. Not sure if 10% is gonna happen.
You should take a break and try to eat at maintenance for a week or two and then cut calories from there
Damn bro. Make sure your macros are right. I throw in 48 hour fasts if I hit a roadblock. It’s easier to just not eat then go that low daily
Damn it’s like this video was made me
Hope it helps!
I was on an over year long diet but after that and crazy ammount of workout(mma + cardio 6-7 times a week) I break my diet and slowly gained half of the mass that i've lost. I felt crazy tired almost all the time and couldn't focus on anything. Right now I wanna get back on a diet and training but how long should a healthy diet be for?
The trick is not to gain all the weight back when you get off. One step back can mean different things to different individuals.
hello mario give some example pf diet and exercise for the age of 25
A plan needs to be customized to the individual to maximize results.
Spoiler Alert: As long as it takes
Indeed
dude, in the last year and a half I've leaned down from 33% to 23%, also gained a lot of strength. I've been currently stuck for about 5 months, I travelled for a month so I was sloppy, then when I got back I didn't readjust immediatly. Last 2 and a half months I've been pretty consistent. Tracking, doing IF and IIFYM but I just been stuck. I'm 173 cm (5'8) and eat about 1300-1600 calories mon-thu, 1700-1900 frid-sat and sunday I eat about 2500-3000 being that I'm over 20% BF.
Should I take a break? Add more cardio? eat less on weekends?
Hope you can give me some advice, it has been pretty frustrating
If you're not losing body weight you're not in a calorie deficit. Lowering calories and being more accurate with tracking is the first thing to look at.
Mario should I do the lean bulk phase instead so I can cut after 6 months if this is also happening to me
Unfortunately, there's no way for me to know what you need to do next without having more data, a full client assessment and working with you for at least a few weeks.
I agree with him. I have done the same thing (not intentionally) but after the break in diet i felt boost on coming back to my diet.
sir i am facing same problem
You said that you achieved the body in your link in 6months? Really? Is that possible :O
What about if I'm 6ft and 58kg, how long would it take me to get the body like you? or not even, but get into a healthy lifestyle where I can feel good about my self? I suppose 6months would be enough either way, if that's 70kg, I would still make progress right. Though if I set y self a goal to be like you, are now, exactly like you, but at my height 6ft , how long would it take me? From that skinny to a physique like you? I suppose a year no? Since i woudl need to put, i think around 26kg? I want to be realistc on what to expect. I did also work out before so i have small skinnny muscles you can see but they are empty.
Results may vary. There's no way to predict how someone will look in 6 months even if you do every bit right and it doesn't matter. It matters that you do the best possible thing you can in the moment.
Hey man! I lost around 20 kgs
since I first started (from 95 to 75 kg at 6'1").As of now I'm at almost 20% bf .I love the strength gains at this point.Should I continue dieting or build enough muscle and then cut again? Btw,amaazing vids!!
Awesome work! it's probably a good idea to maintain your current weight for a while, and then pick what you want to do later.
good work bro .... thanks really big helpful.... I'm also on cutting from 8 9 month all going good ..... but i just did my liver function test my sgot is 40 and sgpt is 42 sgpt increased bye 7 point is it good or bad please help me .... i don't wanna loss anything my body in very good shape know please help.....
Hi, I can't comment on blood work results. I recommend seeking out a doctor who can help you interpret results.
Mario Tomic thanks man i really appreciate it yes i fix appointment with my dr....
Mario I'm trying to eat around 1800kcal to drop my bodyfat percentage, do you think it's a lot for a 20 year old women?
Unfortunately there's no way for me to know that without having more data, a full client assessment and working with you for at least a few weeks.
8 months ? that went extemely slow.