Managing Carbs During Cutting Phase

[zoee]

The toughest part of bodybuilding for me during the cutting phase is managing my carb intake. I see different advice everywhere—some people cut carbs almost completely, while others suggest keeping them at a moderate level. What’s your approach to handling carbs during cutting, and in your opinion, what’s the best strategy?

 

[Worldsfastestfatty]

For me personally -

protein is fixed at 1.5g per KG bodyweight per day

Fats are fixed at 60g per day

Remaining calories come from carbs - to lose weight I remove 100g carbs across the day and hold that until weightloss slows - I then remove another 50g to so.

Reverse to add weight.

I don't get on with super low-carb style diets, no do I like cyclitic diets; nothing wrong with them from a technical perspective - they just don't suit me personally.

 

[luki7788]

Really, in today’s times… Someone still asks this? It all depends on the person. If you lose body fat or not depends only on if you are in a calorie deficit or not. If you are in deficit, it does not matter from where you cut calories. Keep protein high to protect muscle, at least 2 g per kg of bodyweight. Then cut calories from carbs and fats until you are in deficit. If you don’t want to cut too much, then do more cardio, do more steps, move more. It’s simple. Cutting carbs to zero is stupid, because you will not have energy for training. But that should be obvious. It’s not carbs that decide if you burn fat or not, only the calorie deficit. Doesn’t matter how you create it.

 

[qbkilla]

I use carb cycling cutting or gaining. In a hardcore cut id probably go low carb off days. Training days keep them pre and post workout. Protein always high.

 

[neutrino]

The toughest part of bodybuilding for me during the cutting phase is managing my carb intake. I see different advice everywhere—some people cut carbs almost completely, while others suggest keeping them at a moderate level. What’s your approach to handling carbs during cutting, and in your opinion, what’s the best strategy?

The only thing that makes a "cut" phase effective, as @luki7788 said is a deficit. You can have an effective cut phase on cheesecake if your really wanted to. Only 2 important components to it: sufficient protein intake and adequate deficit. I would add in cardio first and lower fats before I touch the carbs. Slow and steady.

Make a tweak - observe for 1-2 weeks. Make another tweak if no change, or stay the course until weight stabilizes. Dont overthink this.

 

[pesty4077]

First, figure put what your BMR is first. That means calories to sustain weight currently. After that cut calories slightly and not drastically. Keep your protein intake high. 2 to 2.5 per kg at least. I really don't cut that back. Cut fats first and then carbs. Don't cut your fats out completely.

If people were not letting themselves get fat, this process can be a lot easier.

 

[oldskater]

it really doesnt matter.
Just keep animal protein around 1g per lb and eat whatever you want for the remaining calories.
Its incredibly simple. Unfortunately simple doesn't sell. There's so much bad information and so many bad actors with an agenda who complicate everything. Get an app like cronometer or mfp to track everything and be consistent with your calories every day.
Weigh yourself daily first thing in the morning before you eat, after you use the bathroom so you can get a weekly average and take pictures in the same room at the same the time.
this will give you data to use. If you're body composition is improving then keep calories the same. If the weekly average stalls and bodycompisiton isnt improving then lower calories or up your cardio.
dont stress fats and carbs. If you enjoy your food and dont feel restricted youll have a much easier time sticking with it.

 

[buck]

I always keep protein at 1.25gr/lb these days when i was at my biggest 1.5gr/lb was my go to. Only healthy fats that were in the foods i was eating. Then cut carbs 300-500 calories to lose the fat. Then slowly pared carbs down from there when weight loss stalled. And added in aerobics when i thought that was needed/beneficial. Mostly it was just simple arithmetic. Calories in vs calories out. It is not rocket science just personal preference for me as to how i go about it.

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

Determine initial calorie requirements to meet your goal deficit.
Set protein first
Set fat second
Fill the rest of your calories in with carbs.

When you hit stalls in weight loss, reduce carbs further OR add cardio OR a combination of both.

The nice things is if you find carbs are getting too low you can move the macros around a bit for shorter periods of times to get a bump in energy. Reduce protein or fats for a week and add in some cardio. Just make sure you dont let fats get too low. 20% of calories from fat is usually the absolute basement, but 25-30% should be the range for a deficit. Dipping below thos numbers for short periods near the end of a diet is not suicide, but nothing good comes from getting fats too low.

I tend to like to see people eat a bit more, and do a bit more activity, than always just cut food. Also energy expenditure does not always have to be adding time to the stair mill or treadmill (dedicated cardio) Stan Efferding postprandial 10 walks are great for extra steps / activity, and also have a plethora of other benefits. Other ways like John Jewitt has mentioned, walk around the gym in between sets, walk around your kitchen while waiting for the microwave to finish