Ok so…as far as I’ve seen you don’t really need to cut. We can discuss this further but this is probably all in your head.
anyone whose in the process of cutting or leaning out without meticulously counting calories.
What I do is basically no system. 14 to 20 hour fasting a few days a week, eat large meals with a mix of whole grains and fats. Avoid certain kinds of junk food completely
I actually don’t recommend this because it’s easier to just do 1-2 hours a day of long-slow-distance cardio which burns a few hundred extra calories.
Also, the male human body is designed to cope with a lot of systemic shocks, whereas for females, rapid changes to your metabolism is much more likely to affect your hormones to a concerning extent. Specifically, I believe I already sent you a link several weeks ago discussing how to ease into intermittent fasting.
In your case, I’d be super concerned because I’d estimate with medium-high confidence that currently your system is not well adapted to fasting, fat metabolism, and stuff.
It seems like I'm always in the frame of mind that when I'm cutting everything has to be perfect
You said it yourself…might that be influencing your decision making in general?
I can't have more than 1500 calories or less than 150 g of protein, I always have the same rigid meals everyday
See above.
That reminds me of someone actually. A classmate who had eating issues at the time I knew her. She’s the one I sent you the vsco link to actually (not the Colombian cutie from way back obvs, the one I sent a few weeks ago)
What about fruits?
no more than 50g of carbs, etc.
However, this route always leads to extreme hunger
You have less than 50g of carbs WITHOUT going all keto and consuming plenty of fats? No wonder!!
and I end up binging and not even caring for a couple days because I'm so ravenous, around like 4000 calories which leads me back to Square 1.
Sounds like your animal brain is trying to correct things. But apart from fast-feast habits which work differently, binging isn’t good for you.
I always have lived in the mindset of that when I get down to that certain weight I can finally enjoy my life again
This sounds like a limiting belief.
A lot of emotional and physiological factors are way more important to feelings of well-being than your weight.
I would carefully examine your emotional relationship to food.
Also, if you’re “already pretty thin”, why not reduce your body fat % by bulking?
I especially want to lose some of the weight before university fall semester starts.
Worth mentioning, the vast majority of guys generally prefer girls with average weight. Up to a point (esp when she’s young) a bit of fat is better than too thin. When guys are stressed, their preference for fat and curves increases, to the point that in the 20th century the measurements of the Playmate of the Month had a non-trivial correlation with the national economy.
Also, muscular > thin. I’ve met student-athletes (e.g. Rower Girl with her Leonardo looks) who would be way less attractive if they had the same size boobs and butt with no muscle. (Would you rather be like Maya, or like a TikTok gym “influencer”?)
As for other girls, most of them care less about aesthetics than guys (think stereotypical obese butches). Those who do care generally aren’t into Kate Moss types.
I'm objectively pretty thin but this is just vanity weight for me
Again, you said it.
I was just wondering if you guys have any tips on how to cut without losing your sanity!
If you must do it:
-Stop thinking about it.
-Fast half the day. Make sure to drink plenty of water; I often forget to.
-Eat lots of fat. This is counterintuitive but once you look into the physiology it starts to make more sense. It gets your system used to burning fat. It helps you feel more full. It increases the number of available inefficiency hacks. And it’s just good for you in general.
-Get plenty of exercise of the right kind.
-Spend less time at the gym and more time exercising in nature. A good rule of thumb is at least 3x30 min/week at a park or similar and 5 hours/month in real nature outside the built environment.
-Activity-based exercise is way better than a machine. Soccer > treadmill, mountain bike > “stationary”, climbing > pull-ups etc. These things also help you with aspects of genuine fitness such as flexibility, balance, even distribution of strength, etc.
-Focus on other aspects of health-based fitness, such as sleep, hydration. Think holistically.
-Ignore numbers. The human brain can do differential calculus in real time (think catching a baseball or football) and considerably faster than a 1950s mainframe; we’re generally good with imprecise analog things. Focus on how you feel and (only if you can avoid any anxiety or obsession) body fat, as measured by using your hands as calipers.
About that…lookup the US Navy body fat test; it’s easy to get the measurements and at least as accurate as whatever fancy stuff they were doing at the gym.
Also, for women:
Athletic | | 14%-20% | | |
Fit | | 21%-24% | | |
Acceptable | | 25%-31% | | |
Keep those numbers in mind.
Healthy women in the “athletic” category are usually getting a lot of exercise and activity. How much are you currently getting and of what kind? How many push-ups can you do? How far can you walk, run, swim, and bike?
In short, you should probably be assessing your holistic fitness instead of obsessing about weight/fat.
I hope you don’t mind the tough love. If you want to discuss this more, feel free.