Cutting Diet Macros
A "cut" is a structured fat-loss phase with a defined start, end, and exit plan. Macros change as the cut progresses; knowing how to adjust is what separates a cut from chronic dieting.
- Set the deficit at 15–25% below maintenance, sized to your body fat starting point.
- Protein climbs to 1.0–1.2 g/lb during a cut. Fat holds at its 0.3 g/lb floor. Carbs absorb the deficit.
- Plan the cut in 6–12 week blocks with planned diet breaks every 8–12 weeks.
- End the cut when the goal is reached, when training crashes despite a refeed, or when life stress is too high. Then transition to maintenance — never straight to a bulk.
Cut vs "diet" — the distinction matters
A cut has:
- A starting weight and target weight
- A planned duration (typically 8–16 weeks)
- A defined macro setup that gets adjusted on data, not vibes
- An exit plan into maintenance
"Dieting" without those parameters drifts into chronic under-eating, hormone suppression, and a slow build of binge behavior. Treat the cut as a project with a deadline.
Sizing the deficit
Match deficit to body fat starting point. Leaner people need smaller deficits to protect muscle.
| Body fat (M / W) | Deficit | Weekly loss |
|---|---|---|
| >30 / >38% | 25% | 1.0–1.5% BW |
| 20–30 / 28–38% | 20% | 0.7–1.0% |
| 12–20 / 22–28% | 15% | 0.5–0.7% |
| <12 / <22% | 10% | 0.25–0.5% |
Macro setup
- Protein: 1.0–1.2 g per pound of bodyweight. Push higher as the cut progresses.
- Fat: 0.3 g/lb minimum. 0.35–0.4 if you tolerate carbs poorly.
- Carbs: remaining calories ÷ 4.
Example for a 175 lb lifter at 1,950 kcal cut: 200 g protein (800 kcal), 60 g fat (540 kcal), 153 g carbs (612 kcal).
Diet breaks and refeeds
- Refeed: a single day at maintenance, mostly extra carbs. Useful for hard training weeks.
- Diet break: 7–14 days at maintenance, tracked normally. Insert every 8–12 weeks of continuous deficit.
Both restore leptin, thyroid hormones, and training capacity. They aren't "cheats" — they're scheduled maintenance to keep the cut progressing.
Adjusting as you go
Read 7-day average bodyweight. Compare to target weekly loss.
- Losing on target: change nothing.
- Losing too fast (>1.5% BW/wk for two weeks): add 100–150 kcal (carbs). Aggressive losses cost muscle.
- Stalled for 2 weeks: first audit logging. If clean, drop 100–150 kcal (carbs or fat, never protein) or add daily steps.
- Stalled for 4+ weeks despite tight tracking: take a 7–14 day diet break, then resume.
Training during a cut
- Keep lifting heavy. The stimulus to maintain muscle is mechanical tension, which means heavy compound work in low-to-moderate rep ranges.
- Drop training volume by 10–20% if recovery is suffering. Don't add cardio to "burn more calories" if it crowds out lifting quality.
- Cardio is fine and probably helpful — keep it to 2–3 sessions of 20–40 minutes, ideally low-impact (incline walking, cycling).
Signs it's time to end the cut
- You hit your target body fat / weight.
- Training quality has crashed and a diet break didn't restore it.
- Sleep, mood, libido, or menstrual cycles are clearly disrupted.
- Life stress is too high to sustain the discipline (new job, illness, big project).
None of these are failure. They're data. Transition to maintenance for at least 4 weeks, longer if the cut was long. Many lifters use a structured reverse diet to ease back up.
Common cutting mistakes
- Starting the cut too aggressively (40%+ deficit) — usually self-sabotaged within 3 weeks
- Cutting protein along with everything else — the worst possible adjustment
- Skipping diet breaks because "I'm finally seeing progress" — costs more progress in week 12
- Going straight from cut to bulk — almost guarantees rebound fat gain
- Weighing once a week at random — use the daily 7-day average
Sample cutting day — 175 lb male lifter at 1,950 kcal
- Breakfast (470 kcal): 4 whole eggs (288 kcal, 24 g protein), 80 g oats dry (303 kcal, 11 g protein) — actually 480, close enough. Adjust by 1 egg if needed.
- Lunch (550 kcal): 200 g chicken breast cooked (330 kcal, 62 g protein), 200 g cooked rice (260 kcal, 5 g protein), large salad with 10 g olive oil (90 kcal).
- Pre-workout snack (200 kcal): Greek yogurt 200 g (120 kcal, 20 g protein), banana (90 kcal).
- Dinner (600 kcal): 180 g salmon (370 kcal, 36 g protein), 250 g sweet potato (215 kcal), large serving of greens.
- Evening (130 kcal): Casein or whey scoop in water (110 kcal, 25 g protein).
Total: ~1,950 kcal, ~200 g protein, 60 g fat, 155 g carbs. Five real meals; nothing exotic.
Mental side of cutting
The hardest part of a cut isn't the food — it's everything else. Hunger, food preoccupation, lower social tolerance for restaurants, mid-week irritability. A few things help:
- Plan eating-out occasions in advance and bake them into the week.
- Keep training brief and intense rather than long and grinding.
- Treat the scale as one data point among many. Mirror photos every 2 weeks tell a different story than daily weigh-ins.
- Sleep is non-negotiable. Under-slept cutters eat more, train worse, and quit faster.