Post-Cut to Power Build: Your How-To Guide!

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. When you are in prolonged caloric restriction, it leads to these types of adaptations, and it makes it super, super hard to continue to lose body fat without further reducing the caloric intake to an unsustainable level, right?

00:38So like a lot of women that come to us, and they're not eating enough, and they're wondering why they're not seeing the results that they want. Well, it's because they're not feeding the body what it needs. Yo, yo, yo, what is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of Warrior Babe. And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident.

01:09I'm your host, Nikki Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode 143, where this is a heavily requested topic that I bring to the podcast. So a couple weeks ago, I always pop up my story time and time again on Instagram, and I put up a questions box, and I always ask you guys, what concepts do you want to learn that I can dive deeper, that I can take what you want to learn, and then bring it to this podcast and dive deeper in the answers,

01:41and educate you and give you tactics. And that's exactly what we're going to do today on the specific concept that has been heavily, heavily, heavily requested, which I'm super excited to dive into. I'm going to try not make it so, like, heady, and I'm going to try to keep it at a fifth grade level, which you guys can, like, jump off the podcast and be able to implement it if it's something that you're working towards doing in your fitness journey now. Which probably some of you guys aren't. A little hint of what we're going to talk about since we're leading into summer.

02:12But maybe you are, or maybe you can save this podcast for when you are planning to do this type of transition along your fitness journey. Okay, so what we're going to talk about today is how to transition, like, move from phase to phase. But specifically, I want to talk in this podcast for purposes of time, one, because moving from phase to phase, right, moving from a cut to a bulk, moving from a bulk to a cut, or, like, what I like to call it a build, I like to call it a bulk,

02:44that could take up, like, an hour and a half's worth of time of me talking to you guys and, like, giving you information, education, and knowledge on how to do those transitions. So for the purposes of time and keeping it condensed to, you know, like, 30 to 40 minutes, hopefully I can get through it all in that time. But I want to just specifically speak to moving from the phase of, like, cutting, right, or, like, decreasing your body fat to transitioning into a building phase.

03:15There's sort of specifically requested, right, a cut to a bulk. But, like, don't forget about you guys, like, there is the middle in between that, which is maintenance, which is, like, honestly, where all the magic happens. So I don't want you to think that you have to move from a cut to a bulk. Like, you don't have to do that. But you can move from a cut to maintenance. And you can sit at maintenance. And you can live at maintenance. Maintenance is literally where, like I say all of the time, you've probably heard me say it time and time again in podcasts, but maintenance is where the magic happens. And I've done in podcasts earlier on of the, like, talking about the phases, like a cut, a maintenance, a build.

03:51I'm pretty sure I talked about a reverse, too, as well. It's earlier on the single digits of the podcast episode. So if you want to find that, dive into it and totally learn about it, I would highly recommend you do. But for the purposes of this, right, what we're going to do is I'm going to specifically talk in buckets so that you guys can, like, conceptually grasp this information that I'm going to share with you guys. And if you don't want to, you know, have to worry about doing this yourself, remember, Warrior Babe is there to support you guys.

04:22And this is what we specifically do inside of our program. We help women move from cutting to maintenance to building for the purposes of changing their body composition. Like, you have to go through those different types of phases just really for the adaptability of your body and not staying in one phase for too long. And then also, in terms of results, like, building more muscle needs more food. So you sometimes have to move into, not sometimes, you have to move into a maintenance and a build to be able to give your body the food that it needs in order to build a type of muscle that you want to build in order to give you that toned aesthetic appearance that you want.

04:56But think about it in terms of buckets like this, okay? So we're going to talk about just understanding, like, a cutting phase and a bulking phase, super high level. Then I want to talk about the signs of when it's time to switch from, like, you finishing out a cutting phase and moving into a building phase. And then the next bucket will be, okay, when you're then moving and adjusting. Okay, how do you adjust your macros, right? So, okay, understanding first is the first bucket. The second one is the signs of when it's time to move out and into the new phase.

05:30And then when you're in this phase, the third bucket is going to be adjusting. And then the fourth bucket is going to be monitoring your progress. These are all very, very important buckets to do. You can't do one without the other. So for the purposes of this whole, I'm very excited, first of all, to bring this concept to you guys. I think, I hope, I hope you guys can understand it. Because, like, keep in mind, I've been doing this for eight, nine, ten years. This is my jam.

06:00This is my world. I love this stuff. I could talk about this stuff all day long. Our coaches love this stuff. They're very passionate about this. They could talk about this all day long. So if I am getting ahead of you guys, I apologize. But I'm going to do my best to, again, bring it down to, like, how you guys will understand this. So that you can apply it the best freaking way. So just for purposes, again, of understanding the phases. The first thing I want you guys to understand is the definition of the phase and the goal of the phase.

06:33So first, let's talk about a cutting phase. The cutting phase is a period where the primary goal during that phase is fat loss. While at the same time, you are preserving as much muscle mass as possible. I've talked about this in many podcasts before. You are not just losing weight when you are in these types of phases. You are trying to, because your goal is to build more muscle, be more toned, change your body composition, right? So with that, you, in a cutting phase, need to hold on to as much muscle.

07:08If you're just looking to lose weight, you will, and you're putting yourself in, like, you know, eating less and da-da-da, you will also lose muscle mass. You don't want to do that here in a cutting phase. You want to preserve as much muscle as possible. And while losing the body fat around it, that's what's going to give you that toned appearance. And so during this phase, what happens is you typically, you consume fewer calories, then you burn. This creates a caloric deficit. And so the focus is on losing body fat to highlight the muscle definition and to improve your overall body composition.

07:43Like I said, it's not just about weight loss here. It's about reducing the body fat percentage while maintaining muscle. That's the cutting phase. That's the definition. That's the goal. So a building phase, or what people like to call it, a bulking phase, is where you aim for muscle growth. And for somewhat, you can't have muscle growth without a little bit of weight gain. And so in this period, or in this phase, you are to consume more calories than you expend.

08:14And this creates what you may hear in the industry as a caloric surplus. The surplus is intended to support muscle recovery, to support muscle growth from the weight training that you are doing. And the goal here is to increase more muscle mass, more size, more strength, and not just overall body weight, right? Like you will put on a little bit of weight, but keep in mind here during this phase, the weight that you may be putting on is also muscle mass too as well. So that's the definition that those are like the goals of each of those phases, high level.

08:50Now, some of you guys may be like, okay, well, why cutting? Why bulking? And so for those of you that want to cut, right, or to lose body fat, that phase is crucial for those looking to improve their overall physique, like the aesthetic appearance, like the aesthetic appearance. It's helping to reveal more muscle definition that may be hidden under layers of body fat. And this can significantly enhance the physical appearance and your performance too as well, to your body composition, okay?

09:22So why cutting? You want to decrease body fat. Why building? For more of these people that want to go into this phase, is to increase muscle size and strength. So it's particularly for people that may not be giving, that may need to add a little bit more muscle tone to the body, right? Like if you don't have much muscle tone underneath of your body and you go into a cut, the cut may, you may not be able to go that far in a cut. But when you have more muscle and building more muscle to your body, that actually puts you in an advantage to be able to go into cuts easier in the future.

10:04Okay, I don't want to try, I don't want to get ahead of myself here with how I'm explaining this, but the more muscle that you have, the easier future cuts will be. So that's why I like to say like a lot of people should start out at maintenance and at their maintenance calories and focus on a period of time where you are just trying to make your muscle bellies more full, you're feeding them appropriately, you're maybe increasing a little bit of muscle mass, and then doing that will support the cut that you go into next. I wouldn't recommend for probably 80% of people to start their journey out in a cut.

10:35It depends on really, like there's over, I need to just like plug this in. It totally depends on you individually as a human, where you're at, your body type, where you're starting, how advanced you are, how much of a beginner you are, like what's your experience with strength training, what's your experience with eating properly and eating enough. Like it totally depends on all of those things. But for majority of the time, like through my coaching experience, and I know through our coaches coaching experience, and the way that they coach the clients inside of Warrior Babe, majority of the time we are trying to get our clients to eat enough food.

11:09And so that consists of not putting people into a cut, and to training their metabolism in a reverse manner to take on more food, while at the same time a lot of people will either maintain their body weight, or drop body weight because their body fat, because their body is like, oh my god, thankfully, it's about time that this human is giving me enough food. Right? So like we're really, a lot of the time, we're having people eat more food, and then we get them up to their maintenance calories.

11:41We hold their maintenance calories for a little bit of time, so that their metabolism and their body can adapt metabolic adaptations, all this jazz. And then after a period of time, we can go successfully into a cut, because we've spent, that's what a lot of people don't like. They don't like that part. But it's a very, very, very important part to a successful outcome of the results that you want when it comes to building more muscle. And most important, when it comes to changing your overall body composition.

12:11Okay? So let's talk about, so that's really just like high level, understanding the difference and like, you know, the goals, the definitions, why you would go into those phases. Now I want to talk about, okay, let's just like, say that you've done everything that I just said you did, right? If you're a warrior baby, especially reverse, you've ate more than what you started at when you joined. Now you're kind of sitting in maintenance. And you are, you've, you know, experienced a cut with your coach.

12:44Or maybe, you know, I'm just speaking, generally speaking to you guys listening to the podcast, you are in a cut, you've put yourself into a caloric deficit, and your macros are reflecting that caloric deficit. And now you are ending the period of time where you are finishing your cut. And now you want to transition into either coming into maintenance or going into a building phase. So some signs of which it's time for you to switch from the end of your cut,

13:15or from cutting into going into maintenance or into building, is number one, you've reached your goal. Okay, you've reached your body fat percentage goal. I'll talk a little bit about each of these specifically in detail. But number two is that you've plateaued in your fat loss, or in your body composition changes. Number three is you've decreased energy levels, and you've decreased performance. Like you are like to a point where like, naps are like, you need, you're so tired throughout the day, and you're relying on either caffeine, or, you know, maybe a nap to get you through or whatever.

13:49That's a really, really big indicator, which I think a lot of people ignore. But that's a really big indicator that, okay, it's time for you to give your body more fuel, which comes from food. And then just being psychologically ready for a change, right? Like adding into the mental fatigue, and then just wanting a motivation for a new goal. So let's first unpack reaching your body fat percentage, right? So the indicator that you've completed your goal is that you have reached your target body fat percentage, right?

14:21This is a clear sign you successfully reduced body fat to your desired level. How you would know that is not by the number on the scale. How you would know that is by either getting in body scans, or, you know, measuring yourself with calibers, or getting a DEXA scan, or... These are comprehensive analysis, body type analysis... What am I saying? Like these are comprehensive tools that will give you the body analysis results that you would want to understand

14:51if you've progressed the way that you wanted to. Um, these are accurate ways too to track your body fat progress. Like the scale is not going to tell you that you dropped body fat if it's just giving you numbers. So, and then for you guys that are wondering, okay, well, what's like a target range that I should be looking for? First of all, it's completely different. It varies on the individual. It varies on your health. It varies on your goals. It varies on your body. But a range, a target range,

15:22of which we say is like a healthy range for women to live in, is typically between like 15 and maybe like low 20s percent. That's like a great range. Maybe being like 15, 16, 17 is like a goal that you want to aim for. But again, it totally depends on the individual, right? Like, mainly what it pops in my head as I'm talking and sharing that is like, if you, because I've experienced this, if you stop getting your period and you're still menstruating, you stop getting your period

15:53and you're not menstruating monthly normally, it's because you're sitting at an entirely low body fat percentage of which the hormonal processes aren't able to do what it needs to do on a monthly basis. So just keep that in mind. So number one, signs of switching is, okay, you've reached your goal. Number two is that you have kind of hit a plateau in fat loss or in seeing body composition changes. And guys, first and foremost,

16:23another way like to attract your body fat, if you don't want to do all those fancy, like high tech tests, taking your progress pictures is a sure tell free indicator of how you're progressing. But let's say you've, you know, your second thing is a sign of switch from being in a deficit for, it's one, it's being in a deficit for way too long, right? You've been in an extended period for, with weight loss or with fat loss. You've been in an extended period for way too long and you've stalled for several weeks

16:54and your body is no longer seeing the changes that you want. This is a sign that your body has adapted to its current caloric intake and it might be time. It's actually an ideal time to just either, what I used to do in coaching and what I know our coaches do is like, cool, we're just going to have you sit at maintenance for like two weeks. Like we're going to bump up your calories and we're going to have you sit at maintenance for like two weeks and we're going to see how your body adjusts. If you decrease body fat, there it is. There's the signal of which your body, your body was sitting in a deficit

17:24for too long. It didn't have anywhere, more to go and it needed more food. And here's the data and the data really that it's, that's exactly what your body needed in order to continue to progress forward. What happens here too is like is your metabolism, your body is metabolically adapting, right? To the caloric intake that you have been consuming.

17:55And when you are in prolonged caloric restriction, it leads to these types of adaptations and it makes it super, super hard to continue to lose body fat without further reducing the caloric intake to an unsustainable level, right? So like a lot of women that come to us and they're not eating enough and they're wondering why they're not seeing the results that they want. Well, it's because they're not feeding the body what it needs. And so their body is metabolically adapted to 1100 calories

18:26and it's not going to go anywhere from there. And it doesn't matter how hard you work out. It doesn't matter how many hours you spend running. If you are not feeding your body what it needs to help you get the results that you want, it's just going to totally plateau. Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it and there's so much more to come with it. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also it would help this podcast

18:58reach others who need to hear these messages too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show. You guys need to understand how important nutrition is to the game of you getting the results that you want. You have to be feeding your body enough, especially in this world of which I talk about and share with you here on this podcast, which is getting you toned. It's getting you to build more muscle. It's getting you to change your body composition. Nutrition is the king. Um, of concepts to understand when you are working towards that type of result.

19:31Exercise is queen. Exercise is like the tool, the resource is going to help you get there too as well. So if you're sitting in a caloric deficit for way too long, or you're not eating enough food for way too long, this is leading to the metabolic adaptations. It's making it harder for you to lose fat. And like the only way people think that they can go is I need to eat less. I need to eat less. And then you're reaching unsustainable levels. And this is where you want to pull your hair out because you're not getting the results that you want.

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20:37to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. And I can understand that you fear that if you eat more food, you're going to get fat, but like we just need to like,

21:09like throw that concept in the fucking trash, okay? Because what your body really needs is just that. And the second that, and I've literally seen this happen to thousands and thousands and thousands of women, and I know our coaches can say the same exact thing. When they have their clients eat more food, 99%, and they're doing it consistently, 99% of the time, they are not gaining unwanted body fat.

21:40They are losing it because the body is finally like, damn, this is what I've needed for so freaking long. I needed this food. I needed this fuel. Now, if you're doing it inconsistently and you're eating more, but then you're not, and then you're like eating more, and then like you overeat, and then like you don't eat, like if you're doing it inconsistently, yeah, you're probably gonna gain unwanted body fat, okay? I gotta like plug that you have to be consistent with the process of eating more food. Okay, so that's another sign, like that you need to like get into maintenance, and if you're like plateaued

22:12and you're not seeing the results that you want, you need to eat more food and you need to get to maintenance or you need to start like really putting effort into the building process, like the bulking phase. Another big one, which I said earlier on the podcast, was that I feel like a lot of people ignore, when you experience the signs of decreased energy levels or decreases in your performance when you're getting too low into a cut or like especially because you aren't eating enough food, this is the very important time that you need to transition yourself into maintenance or into the bulking phase.

22:43If you find your energy levels are consistently low or your performance inside the gym is suffering significantly, that is a sign that your body needs more nutrients to recover and grow. And extended periods of cutting, and being in a caloric deficit for long periods of time, it leads to nutritional deficiencies that can affect your overall well-being and your performance inside of the gym. That, this, what I'm talking about, is a sign that your body might need a break from the caloric deficit that you are in.

23:16And that is a telltale sign that you need to give your body more fuel, you need to transition up into maintenance, you maybe need to go into a building bulking phase. And then another sign is just like, okay, I am mentally fatigued. Like, diet fatigue is real. I've been working with my clients for almost four years now. And we just had this conversation about a month ago or two months ago where two of my clients are like, literally like,

23:46do not want to track their food, do not want to adhere to the protocol of which they know will get them the results because they are totally experiencing the fatigue of following macronutrients. That is so freaking true. And I feel like that could be a totally another podcast topic for another day, which I would love to talk on because I have been there. I've experienced that. And there's totally a way through it of which you're like renewed and excited and like understand that this is like

24:17just a part of the life and part of the journey. And like, you know, it's like when you're fatigued of working out, doing not going to the gym for a couple of days or maybe even taking a week off is like so freaking bomb because you take that time of rest and recovery and then like you find a new love and passion of why you love going to the gym and working out even in that short amount of time. So diet fatigue, same thing. It's real. If you are mentally drained from the constant calorie counting, the restrict like,

24:47and like being in a caloric deficit, then it might be time to switch out and go into like the maintenance bulking phase and give yourself a like psychological break. It's so real. And that's so powerful to bring that awareness if you have ever experienced that and actually act on doing that and going into maintenance and building. And then transitioning, transitioning from the cutting, like it just gives you a motivation for new goals, right? When you're like, okay, like I'm experiencing these things,

25:19one of these four things, you've either reached the goal, you've hit a plateau, you've decreased in energy, whatever. If you just, you know you're there and you're at the end of the cutting phase and it's like, okay, cool. Well, now I can transition to maintenance and bulking phase and like I can shift my focus from fat loss to muscle gain and I can shift my focus from focusing on like a percentage that I'm aiming for and instead focusing on like my strength with pull-ups, my strength with push-ups, my strength with squats, my strength with deadlifts, my strength just inside the gym,

25:49strength gains in general and then seeing your overall body composition change. So those are like the main four signs of which it's time for you to switch from this phase to this phase, from cutting and then either into maintenance or if you want to go all the way up into building, bulking. The next bucket that I want to talk about is adjusting. I hope you guys are still with me and staying with me. I'm actually 24 minutes in. Let's go. I feel like this is being very conceptualized and down to an understanding level

26:21for you guys and if it is, please, I would love if you guys like, I haven't said this in a while on a podcast, but screenshot this podcast and tag me in on Instagram. I would love to be able to know how this episode is helping you guys and just like a general understanding and, you know, add up to air, like adding this into like your fitness journey, how it's serving you, how it's helping you. So take a screenshot of it, tag me. I would love to see it.

26:52This next bucket that I want to talk about is adjusting your macros. And this is by far, probably, I mean, understanding the signs is also important, but this is definitely up there in terms of importance because when you understand how to do this, and this is what we do inside of Warrior Day, we do this for the clients. Like you don't have to worry about doing this when you're working with one of the coaches, which is nice because it takes the mental thought out of it if you're doing it right or doing it wrong, which is a lot of what I hear with women trying to do this by themselves.

27:22They're always, one, it's like, oh, I adjust my macros. I'm not seeing results. I'm like, well, how long ago did you adjust your macros? Or I adjusted them last week. I'm like, yeah, keep going. This is where the impatience scheme is so real. You have to apply patience with it. So, when you are going from cutting to maintenance or the bulking phase, you, you need to increase gradually. Okay? You, when you're transitioning from cutting to building

27:53to bulking, it involves increasing your caloric intake to create a caloric surplus, which is necessary for muscle, for building, adding, getting more toned, building more muscle. And then, when you do build more muscle in the building phase, it's like, then you're going to do a future cut and you're going to be able to decrease the body fat around the muscle you've built in this phase, which is like, I like to say, it's like Christmas morning when you're revealing a present underneath the body fat that you probably will put a little bit on in the building phase, but then you unwrap it

28:23and reveal it and drop it inside of the cutting phase. You can see your hard work. Super cool. I've done this, like, my journey's probably consisted early on of anywhere from, like, three to five building, building cutting phases, like, going back and forth, maybe even six. That's where tons of my gains were made, you guys. This body was made in building phases and eating. Um, so when the increase

28:53should be gradual to minimize, hear me out, fat gain. You want to make sure this is an entirely gradual process because if you do it too fast and you do it too quickly, you will gain weight and you will gain it fast. Um, so at best, putting, starting out, what I would say when you're transitioning from a cut to a build, it's like, okay, you're adding in, like, 150 more calories on a bi-weekly basis just to see how your body adjusts and adapts and it's mainly

29:24coming from your carbs and your fats. You will notice that during, um, this transition phase, your protein may not drastically increase. Like, a common recommendation is just to keep your protein intake at, like, one to, like, 1.2 grams per pound of your body weight. It doesn't really change that much. So as you're gradually increasing your calories here, it's coming mainly from your carbs and your fats. Your carbs are usually increased significantly when you are going

29:54into a building phase because it fuels your workouts and aids in your recovery. Um, it, they should constitute, like, a larger portion of your increased caloric intake. And then, this is very individual for every human being, so that's why, like, I'm speaking broad terms right now. If you want help and you want to do this process the right way and you don't want to have to think about it, warriorbabe.com is your go-to for the tools, resources, and support and accountability and you reaching your goals and us being able to do this for you.

30:25Your fats, um, they should be increased in, like, a balanced manner here. They are so essential for hormone balance and, most importantly, for the nutrient absorption when you are transitioning between phases. So, typically, um, with this, fats make up, like, anywhere from, like, 20 to 30% of your total caloric intake. So, again, out of the gate, when you are transitioning, you are starting at, like, 150, maybe 200 calorie increase, mainly coming from carbs and fats, for, like, two to three weeks.

30:55Like, you are allowing your body here in this time to adapt to that new caloric intake. If you, after one week, are like, I'm not seeing the results, I'm not feeling any better, da, da, da, da, da, wait, pause, patience. Because if you add in more calories after a week and you do it too fast, that is how you screw up this process. And then, you can fix it, but, just be patient. Be patient. And as you continue,

31:29based on your progress and how your body responds, you can then continue to make small, incremental, gradual increases that will get you up to a surplus, which is typically, either you can sit at maintenance where you just are maintaining your composition, or you can go anywhere from, like, 250 to 500 calories above your maintenance calories, which is going to push you in a surplus if you're truly going into a building, bulking phase. So, the most important takeaway that I want

32:00you guys to know there is you are gradually increasing your caloric intake and appropriately applying the right macronutrient breakdown when you are transitioning. If you, again, adjusting your macros from this, from cutting to building, is probably, arguably, second to the signs that we already talked about in the second bucket, one of the most important things. Because if you do it wrong, you will gain weight. And I know that's a lot

32:30of the fear. But if you do it right and you're patiently increasing, you will do it right. Okay? The second thing that I want to talk about is, or, I'm sorry, not the second thing, sorry, there's a little gnat flying around in my office right now, and he just got in front of the camera for those of you guys watching this on video. The last thing I would talk about is you monitoring your progress throughout this whole transition. What I think is so important for you guys to do

33:01is to set clear goals. When you're moving out, you had a goal and a cut, right? Okay. You also need to have a goal in a maintenance and you also need to have a goal in a building phase. Because if you don't, like, we are humans. We love striving for goals. We love striving for achievements. And that is a short-tail sign that you will be consistent to follow through. When progress could totally maintain, you may not see much change in anything outside of a cut.

33:34So, you want to define clear objectives before you begin your bulking phase. Set clear, measurable goals. These could include, like, you know, target body composition changes, strength improvements, anything that you want to be able to watch when you're taking your progress photos, like, physical achievement. So, I would mainly, what I tell clients to do is just focus on strength gains here. Focus on your strength improvements. And establish these benchmarks

34:04to measure your progress. So, it could be weekly, it could be bi-weekly, it could be monthly. All of these should align with, like, your long-term goals. Like, if you know that you want to build more muscle and you don't have much muscle mass to your body right now, then set benchmarks that you can check in with yourself weekly. But this is what we do inside the program with our coaching team. Checks in with their clients on a weekly basis, but then is also responsible for setting some benchmarks to be able to uphold the clients and see where they're at on a monthly basis.

34:35So, that's number one. Like, setting clear new objectives as you're moving from one phase to the next. Then, kind of to piggyback off of that concept with the clear goals, it's like, okay, I'm tracking your body composition. How are you tracking it? Well, you're either measuring it with DEXA scans or Embody or, you know, you're scheduling Embody's every four to six weeks because when you're moving and you don't, it's not as consistent of a check-in with yourself as weekly

35:05when you're doing the cutting phase. So, it's like, okay, when am I going to check in and when am I going to see, when am I going to measure my, right, it's the benchmarks again. Keeping strength gains, measuring your strength progress, lifts exercises, like, are you increasing your strength? Are you increasing your weight? That is a huge indicator of you gaining more muscle. The most important thing, though, that I want to say when you are monitoring your progress is taking those progress photos, taking regular

35:36photos and consistent lighting and poses and potentially even the same clothes, these comparisons can be incredibly motivating and more reliable of an indicator of changes than the scale ever will be when it comes to changing your body composition. I think you know that by now by listening to previous episodes that I've recently recorded where the scale is not going to tell you the full story. It's really not going to tell you the full story when you're building more muscle and changing your body composition. The most, you know,

36:07invaluable asset to you is your progress photos along your journey. So those are some of the main like ways to monitor your progress. How, and then listen, most importantly too, actually, is like listen to your body. As you're making these adjustments with the increases in the caloric intake and changing the macros with the carbs and the fats, how is your body responding to that? Are you feeling like, you know, the end of week one or week two, you're actually, you know, you're more hungry and you're, feel like you're going

36:37to gnaw your hand off like you're, you're, you're, you, that, that increase in food has almost like awoken your metabolism a little bit more, then that would be a clear indicator. Okay, that's a measurement of progress. I'm progressing the right way. I'm going to increase my food a little bit more. Or let's say after week one, this is a really good indicator that you need to hold at where you're at. Let's say that like you're feeling a little bit full with the increase in macros and calories. It doesn't mean that you need to cut back down

37:08to where you were before. It just means you need to allow your body a little bit more time to adapt to the current intake that you've adjusted to. So it is totally normal after you've made an adjustment and increasing your food that you will feel fuller at the end of the day. You will feel like your body, your stomach is a little bit more extended. It is okay. Allow your body to adapt. It's been, I just used an example, one week, give your body two weeks. If you're still feeling that way after two weeks, give your body a third week before you,

37:38and then I guarantee you third or fourth week is like the magic spot of being like, oh, my body is adapted to this increase in macros and calories. Now I need to give it a little bit more. Those are ways to measure your progress. Okay? So all in all, you guys, I hope that with the buckets that we just talked about, we just went through talking about monitoring your progress, setting clear goals, benchmarks, tracking your body composition, tracking your strength gains, your performance gains, listening to your body,

38:09paying attention to how you feel physically and mentally, how you're feeling with your adjustments and your macros. That was that bucket that we just covered. And then we also talked about adjusting your macros. The most important thing you can take away is make sure from that bucket is to make sure that you are gradually increasing your caloric and macro intake at a slow rate. Okay? Another bucket was a sign so when you know it's ready, your body is ready to switch from a cutting phase to a building phase,

38:39like you've reached your goal, one, or like you're plateauing and there's not much more room for you to really cut your calories anymore if you're, because you may get into uncharted, unsustainable territory. So it's like, okay, you've got to give your body a little bit more food to break through the plateau. If you're recognizing that you're decreasing in energy, your performance gains are suffering, give your body more food. That's a sign to switch. And then just like the mental fatigue, diet fatigue, or the want and need for new motivation for new goals. Great time to switch from a cutting to a building phase.

39:10And then just the first bucket was just having you guys conceptually understand the phases, the definition, the goals of a cutting phase, of a building bulking phase, the importance of each phase. So all in all, that wraps up the podcast of me wanting to talk about this topic with you guys. I hope that you guys thoroughly enjoyed it. I really enjoyed talking through that with you guys and sharing that knowledge and that insight and really just helping paint the picture of like, you know, what is really required?

39:41Like it's, building muscle is not easy. It's not a sexy thing to say that it takes so much time to do. But like, if you really want to feel confident in your skin, if you really want to, you know, show, like muscle show is like a, it's like a statue of dedication, a statue of hard work. It's a statue of perseverance, a statue of resilience, a statue that, you know, you are, you're a strong individual. If you really want those goals for yourself, you've got to put yourself through these types of phases. It's not just that I want to lose weight.

40:12It's that you want to change your body composition, right? So, the change your body composition calls for a completely different protocol of which a lot of people are used to. So, I hope that this podcast was super enlightening for you all. If it was, please screenshot it. Please tag me on Instagram. I would love to see that. Appreciate you guys and I'll see you in the next episode. Hey guys, real quick, if you're interested in taking your body to the next level, lose body fat, build more muscle, feel more confident, do it alongside one of our 30 plus professional coaches.

40:45Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all of the guesswork that you may have and all you need to do is just do the work that she tells you to do to get to those goals of yours. Now, to learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now. Thank you.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.