Stephanielynn76's Blog

Howdy yall! So it's been 4 weeks since I started my cut. I'm still doing IF and I've FINALLY adjusted to it. The first week was pretty bad... my strength took a dive and there were times I felt like I was going to black out. I wasn't certain if it was because of skipping breakfast, the overall calorie deficit, or something else. I mentioned it in a post on bodybuilding.com and someone suggested it could possibly be my pre-workout supplements. I quit taking the supplements for a bit and I did feel better, but then my appetite was through the roof. The pre-workout I had been taking, Jacked3d, kills my appetite so without it I was insanely hungry. After 3 weeks I still felt like I couldn't find my groove. So frustrating!!!

Fast-forward to this week.... and finally... everything went better than expected! I got back on the Jacked3d. My lifts started to strengthen again and I'm no longer quite as light-headed. I've adjusted to the morning fasting to the point where I don't really even get hungry until about noon. I finally feel like I'm trucking along and doing well on this cut. The only downside to it all is that the scale is moving veeeeeeeerrryyyyy sloooooowwwww. I am well aware that the scale isn't always the best way to measure progress. I know that it's better to have a slow loss than a quick one to preserve muscle. I realize that what matters more is body fat vs lean mass. Yes... I know all of this... however just like eveyone else I want that tangible measurable proof that the diet is accomplishing the intended task.

So, I weighed in today at 134lbs... 3lbs down from where I started 4 weeks ago. It is what it is and I am learning to just be patient. The contest I want to enter is 15 weeks from today so I still have plenty of time to get lean. I don't really have a goal weight I just know that I need to come in between 10-11% body fat. I am guessing I would need to be around 125lbs but I'm not certain.

Well, without further ado, here are a couple of snaps from this afternoon...