Need some help with my diet

frostedtwinkles9.24RPOriginal post

7d ago

Hey folks, I'm starting to wonder whether my diet's the issue or my body is just not cooperating. Long story short: I've been cutting for about 4 weeks and dropped 15 lbs, which I'm happy about. Still can't shift the stubborn belly fat though. Years ago I lost a lot of weight and ended up with loose skin (including saggy chest), so when I go through cuts and bulks I always end up with roughly the same amount of fat and skin over my abs. I eat mostly whole foods and healthy fats, very little processed stuff except on vacations. Right now I'm cutting on roughly 2300 kcal with about 260g protein, 240g carbs, and 55g fat — my meals barely change day-to-day. I drink at least a gallon of water daily, walk 12.5–15k steps, and train 7 days a week for 1.5 hours each session. I lift heavy but can't squat or deadlift because I've broken my back three times. On cycle I'm running about 900 mg Test E/week, 300 mg Tren Ace/week, and 50 mg Anavar/day. My arms and shoulders get lean, and my back, quads, and calves are pretty vascular, but my stomach and chest aren't where I want them to be. I’ve worked my ass off to get here and I want to finally lose the rest of that fat. At my leanest the top four abs show but not the lower ones. At 228 lbs a DEXA showed around 9.1% BF and an InBody about 9.3% — both felt off to me, but I don't really care about…

19 replies · page 1 of 2

asho7.89RP

5d ago

I should mention I have a big scar across my stomach that feels like the skin is stuck to the muscle. That could prevent the skin from shifting with muscle gain, or it might not matter — either way, it's from the scar down that I usually can't see my abs.

rustytrader9.9RP

5d ago

Fat tends to go from the extremities inward — fingertips and toes toward the middle — so belly is often last. You're down a lot in four weeks, maybe even too much; aim for ~1.5 lbs/week. You're eating enough and on enough gear; at 1.5 lbs/week you should be around 2600 kcal. Use this calculator: https://gymgeek.com/calculators/calorie-calculator/ You're likely under-eating. Carb cycling helps: on days training small body parts you don't need many carbs. Also take rest days — training seven days is too much. Rest matters; be patient.

anthonyb11.79RP

5d ago

You might need rest days and occasional refeeds. From what you described you're burning the candle at both ends. On a cut, eating more sometimes helps you lose more fat — do a 24-hour surplus refeed once a week to signal the body it's not starving. Training seven days a week risks injury; rest is important. HGH also helps melt fat if that's an option for you.

brianj464.62RP

5d ago

You need more chest mass to get better vein separation and pop.

bulktrader12.69RP

5d ago

Appreciate the feedback. I'm actually doing the 75 Hard challenge — day 11 — my wife and I are on year five of doing it together. I'll try to have 'active' rest days, maybe skip lifting and do slow cardio instead.

bearhammer8.07RP

5d ago

Thanks — I’ll make small tweaks and try to make my body happier.

patrickr12.44RP

5d ago

Working on chest — muscle doesn't come quickly and the stuff you want to grow always seems slowest. One day at a time!

river_squat5.35RP

5d ago

A lot of guys here use Reta when they want to shift body fat quickly.

nitrocoast9.7RP

5d ago

I'm thinking about trying Reta. My main worry is losing muscle. Would love feedback from folks who've run it — maybe do an InBody before and after to check muscle changes. If I try it I'll track numbers to help others.

rebeccab7812.86RP

5d ago

Backing up Milfy on that 100%.

fixerscribe13.79RP

5d ago

Fine, I’ll go fuck myself.

pumpwild13.6RP

5d ago

Reta itself doesn't directly cause muscle loss. You can lose muscle while dieting, but Reta mainly helps with cravings and stabilizing sugars. With high protein, gear, and smart dieting, muscle loss is minimized — similar to dieting without it. I’ll post a long podcast later from a friend explaining Reta; Phil Viz and Kyle Wilkes know their stuff.

reper3013.78RP

5d ago

I deal with the same issue. My lower back area is stubborn and the skin was stretched when I was heavier. Happy to share what helped me — pick what you want to try. First, the lower two photos still look like double-digit body fat; the rib cage should be visible front and sides in sub-10% — that's a rough guide. You might just need to go further. You could also be holding water. I’ve looked puffy before bed and then woke up dry and lean. Do fasted cardio, ideally early morning 2–3 hours before lifting; 3 times a week minimum, 20–30 mins at moderate HR. Sauna daily if possible — it calms the CNS, helps shed water, and burns a little fat. Do some standing ab moves to keep your waist small, like elbow-to-knee crunches; weirdly, hula hooping helps (not a joke). Keep abdominal muscles defined but small so the waist doesn't bulge. Consider Clen or an ECA stack if you're healthy enough — they synergize with diet and cardio. Keep a food log to find foods that bloat you — things like brown rice or oats can bother some people. Controlling cortisol is key: sleep consistently, keep stress low. Those things helped me.

wildprotein7.16RP

5d ago

Yeah man, your arms and delts are huge. We all have areas to bring up.

dealery4.88RP

5d ago

I don't get why people sleep on the ECA stack. I handle that fine, but can't tolerate Clen.

hunter_valley282.11RP

5d ago

It's mainly diet — you need to push down to a true 8–9% DEXA level. If scans aren't reliable, use the scale and mirror. At that stage you burn lower-ab fat, then lower-back, and eventually glute fat last. A hardcore cut into single digits is humbling: the first two-thirds you just get smaller and flatter, then once you crack single digits everything looks way better and you see your true lean mass, which helps the next bulk. Your gear seems fine for a cut. I'd add a fat-loss stack if you want faster results: Clen, T3, S4, methylene blue plus yohimbine/rauwolscine when close to 8% BF. Running GH year-round helps maintain leanness. Two 45-minute StepMill sessions a day improves conditioning and speeds things up. Don’t take this the wrong way, but in your pic I can’t see abs at all — no way you're in single digits despite scans. From these photos I'd estimate 15–20% BF. No offense — just numbers. Keep dieting hard if you want to push past this plateau.

westloud7.14RP

5d ago

Do you run the full stack? I've just been using 50 mg Bronkaid for fasted cardio — I'm not big on caffeine and figured aspirin doesn't add much.

dealer_hawk4.22RP

5d ago

There's info showing aspirin might not be necessary — just 200–300 mg caffeine and 25–50 mg ephedrine works. I still use aspirin out of caution; it makes me feel safer. Usually two doses per day, morning and after lunch, works for me.

donnah9413.43RP

5d ago

Aspirin actually doubles the rise in energy expenditure versus ephedrine alone. But you don’t want to take aspirin long-term — it can damage your stomach lining. Love me some Bronkaid though.