That Time Dad Lost 15 Pounds in 15 Weeks

After 15 weeks of consistent calorie restriction, I’m currently on a diet break. Losing weight is never easy, but a plan helps. I lost 15 pounds in those 15 weeks, exactly as planned, which makes this my most successful planned fat loss phase ever.

Below I break down my original plan and offer some key takeaways from my experience, which you might find useful the next time you try to lose weight.

This conscious effort to deliberately lose weight is called many things by many people: a “diet”, a “cut” if you’re into bodybuilding lingo, or “leaning out” if you want to be casual about it. But a successful cut all comes down to the same thing: creating a consistent calorie deficit.

Consistent Calorie Deficit

This is the longest and most meticulous cut I’ve ever done. The goal was to lose 1 pound of bodyweight per week for as many weeks as I could keep it up. I did this by slowly working down my calorie intake, while trying to keep my calorie output (exercise and daily activity levels) as consistent as possible.

I’ve seen others cut by manipulating both calories in and calories out, by ramping up cardio over the course of the cut. I wanted to see how much progress I could make by just manipulating my diet as the primary variable.

Key Elements of the Plan

• 11,000 minimum steps daily on my FitBit
  • A few weeks into the cut, I started a daily 400m lunges as well
• 4 weight training sessions per week, focused on higher rep hypertrophy for most of the 15 weeks.
• 2,500 calories per day to start
  • Reviewed average weight and if needed adjusted daily calories down by 100 calories, then reviewed the following week
  • Sometimes I would be able to continue losing weight such that I’d go a few weeks without dropping calories.
• Mix of protein, carbohydrates and fat
  • Goal every day was to hit the calorie target and the protein target, not worried about carb or fat grams
• Meal timing was not much of a factor
  • I did a couple of 24-hour fasts along the way and some intermittent fasting, but not consistently
  • I resorted to fasting when it felt like I was losing control and cheating on the target for a few days, and the fasting served to get me back on track

Things That Helped Make it Easier

There were a few hacks I employed that I wanted to pass along, because they might help you.

1. Eat calorie dense foods
   • Go review some of Remington James and Greg Doucette videos on YouTube for details.
   • The point is to eat high volume at very low calories.
   • Staples like Smartpop popcorn, big bags of spinach, recipes like protein ice cream and protein donuts that use things like pumpkin and egg whites to add volume.
   • It makes you feel fuller and it makes you less likely to binge.
2. Drink lots of coffee, water, sparkling water, diet soda, whatever you can.
3. Stay consistent – take it one day at a time, but put a consistent effort even if you mess up at times.
4. Don’t freak out, about anything
   • Progress isn’t linear, sometimes a few days go by with no progress, but trust the process.
5. Make adjustments, but only after not freaking out!
   • You will mess up, but remember your ultimate goal and get back on track.
   • I wasn’t perfect these last few months, but I was close enough and consistent enough to get the job done.

Key Takeaways

What happened during the cut? I lost weight and bodyfat (naturally). I gained more visible veins and look better in the mirror. My strength also dropped, which is inevitable, but also quite frustrating.

The chart below breaks down the numbers over the 15 weeks. While I did lose bodyfat, the percentage stalled out and still shows around 12% bodyfat, which is where I ended up.

My expectation going into this cut was that if I reduced body fat into the low 170s after bulking up to 190, then I would have more muscle mass and be more defined when I got back to those lower weights. I was disappointed to return to basically the same body composition that I had before I tried to bulk and cut a year or so ago.

So, I am questioning a little bit whether the whole thing (bulking then cutting) was worth it in the end. If I’ve cracked the code on getting lean, I should probably just stay lean and try to get stronger within the limitation of that 170-175 body weight range.

This is somewhat disappointing, but doesn’t deter me from continuing to push myself in the gym and the kitchen to achieve my best possible physique.

You’ll see what I mean below when you look at pictures from pre-bulk, then bulked, then today. The changes are very subtle. No wonder my wife barely noticed I was up to anything.

What’s Next?

So, I’ve reached my goal. Now what? I have the following options:

• “Maingain” – Try to establish my new maintenance calories and eat that amount. Attempt to recomp by slowly adding muscle over time without adding bodyfat.
• “Bulk” – Start a weight gain phase. Basically, just run back the playbook from last year, when I gained 15 pounds in 15 weeks.
• Get “shredded” – After a diet break, re-engage to cut another 5-7 pounds to see if I can get leaner than I’ve ever been

I talked about the concept of reverse dieting in a recent post, and I talked about the concept of diet breaks in last week’s post. Both are reasonable things to try when you come off an intense cutting phase.

I’ve enjoyed the diet break this past week, using the week to try to establish my new maintenance calorie level. The challenge is maintenance level can vary wildly based on your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditures).

For example, on one day this week, I had just 12,000 steps. On another day I had 18,000 plus weight training and 400 push-ups. I ate at least 500 calories more on the higher activity day, but I lost weight the next day, because clearly I had expended more than 500 extra calories vs. the lower activity day.

There does seem to be a limit to how much of a calorie surplus can be walked off. As the old adage goes, “you can’t outrun a bad diet.”

Plan: Get Leaner Than Ever

Ok, I’ve decided what to do next. For the next week, I’ll maintain my current weight while trying to pinpoint my new maintenance calories. Then from there I’ll re-engage for a final push to try to get down another 7 pounds. At that point, I hope to be a legitimate 10% bodyfat percentage.

I will drop calories slowly again from maintenance. But this time, I will also ramp up activity levels by raising minimum daily step count when I stall. That way I won’t end up at a calorie level that’s too low.

One final takeaway from this “cut” process: it wasn’t that hard. That makes me think I need to push myself until it is hard to see just how lean I can get. If you keep it on the DL, I’ll let you know how it goes.