Question relating to contest dieting

[cbibb]

I am 5'9" 200-205 right now and about 14-15% bodyfat. My biggest question is this. When someone is cutting for a show (in my case will most likely be 14-16 weeks) do they immediately start with a heavy calorie reduction and cardio? For example, if my normal calorie intake at my bodyfat is 3200 cals/day and I need to be around 1800 cals/day to be at my goal bodyfat. Is it advisable to cut right down to 1800/day or to slowly cut a few hundred cals at a time? My biggest concern is that if I cut them back too slowly that I wont be in the desired bodyfat range when its time. Once I get past the show, I want to stay in the 9-10% range all the time instead of going up and down. Not sure if this matters but I am 34 years old. Thanks for any input. Chris

[Justin-27]

I am 5'9" 200-205 right now and about 14-15% bodyfat. My biggest question is this. When someone is cutting for a show (in my case will most likely be 14-16 weeks) do they immediately start with a heavy calorie reduction and cardio? For example, if my normal calorie intake at my bodyfat is 3200 cals/day and I need to be around 1800 cals/day to be at my goal bodyfat. Is it advisable to cut right down to 1800/day or to slowly cut a few hundred cals at a time? My biggest concern is that if I cut them back too slowly that I wont be in the desired bodyfat range when its time. Once I get past the show, I want to stay in the 9-10% range all the time instead of going up and down. Not sure if this matters but I am 34 years old. Thanks for any input. Chris

Don't ever do extremes. Your metabolism is primed for higher cals currently, so fat loss @ the beginning stages is easy with only a modest calorie reduction. Start with 300 calories under maintenance and then work from there, adjusting as fat loss starts to stall by dropping 200 more.

Same thing goes post show, your body is accustomed to low calories, so you need to slowly re-insert more calories or else you'll just get fat. The post show cheat is fine, but go back to your diet, only with slightly more calories the next day. Adding slowly over 8 weeks is the safest way to not get fat and depressed.

[gottabecool]

What are your current macro's?
Why not try not reducing "Calories" at all in the beginning, most people can see a good amount of fat loss just shifting their macro ratios around.