WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOUR FIRST CUT
If you want a flat stomach, lean abs, and muscles you can actually see, then you need to do a cut.
Cutting is a phase in your fitness journey where you commit to being in a calorie deficit for a few months up to 1 year in order to reduce body fat and overall body weight. However, I usually only recommend a cut for someone who’s spent at least 2 years strength training and eating high protein consistently.
A successful cut means you’ve reduced your body fat without losing too much muscle mass. The end result is a lean, athletic physique that showcases your muscle without the extra “fluff.”
The “fluff” — or body fat — is when you consumed more energy from food than your body needed and it became stored for future use. To lose the body fat, we need to deplete those stores by putting our body into a calorie deficit through diet, strength training and cardio.
The strategy for a cut can be summarized as:
Burn 3,500 calories per week by eating less and moving more, while consuming 1.0–1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.
That’s roughly a one-pound fat loss per week while protecting your muscle mass from excessive breakdown.
Seems simple enough, right? Well, that’s like telling a F1 race car driver the only way to go get faster is step on the gas pedal harder.
The Big Problem
Your body is an adaptation machine. When it realizes it’s getting less food, it starts working against you.
Your metabolism slows down.
Your hunger hormones increase.
You start feeling more tired and less motivated to move.
This is your body’s way of trying to survive. It doesn’t know you’re cutting for abs. It thinks you’re starving!
That’s why so many people start strong for a few weeks, then stall, crave junk food, or feel like their energy crashes halfway through the day.
INSTEAD, YOU NEED THE SAUCE
The secret to a successful cut is what I’ll be sharing in this blog post. How can we make a cut transformative, fast and less stressful (cause it will be challenging at times).
A successful cut can be determined by the work you put in before it even in starts
Picking a strategy and a deadline.
Not being aware or prepared for the obstacles to come (If you expect something to happen, it is much less unsettling and daunting when it does happen)
YOUR STARTING POINT
During your build phase, this is the perfect low-stress opportunity to hone your nutrition skills. This is because the build phase is when you’re eating more than usual, so you don’t have the pressure of restricting your diet. You have time to input a wide variety of foods into your tracker without worrying about going over your calories or falling short on protein. Every food you log teaches you something—how many calories it has and what its macros are. Over time, you’ll start to get a sense of which foods will serve you well during a cut phase and which ones won’t.
In addition, being at maintenance calories or a slight surplus increases the amount of calories your body needs. This means that when you eventually cut, you’ll have more calories to work with, and you’ll often notice a reduction in cortisol and adrenaline, which are commonly elevated in high-stress individuals.
Your training shouldn’t change much when transitioning from a maintenance/surplus phase into a cut. It should still be centered around 3–6 days of weight training to maintain strength, muscle, and size.
Now that you’ve built the habit of training and tracking in a low-stress environment—and added more muscle—it becomes the perfect time to cut. Cutting means reducing your calories and increasing your activity to a point where you begin to lose fat and bodyweight. This process will absolutely push you out of your comfort zone, and there will be moments where it feels extreme. For example, when I was getting to my competition physique, I was consuming as low as 1,400 calories per day and averaging 16,000 steps daily on top of strength training five times per week.
Nothing about a cut is meant to be sustainable.
It’s a short-term phase (4 weeks to 1 year) where you push your limits to achieve a result. Once you reach that result, you pivot back into a build phase—but now from a much leaner starting point.
In this short-term phase, you’ll encounter many obstacles that I’m about to share. Not because I want to spoil the surprise or take away from the journey, but because I want you to be fully prepared so you can have an enjoyable cutting experience. Nothing ruins a cut more than stalled progress—working incredibly hard, only to have a binge or skipped sessions slow things down so much that it becomes discouraging and overwhelming. It can feel like drowning: doing just enough to stay afloat but knowing that if you continue the same way, you’ll sink. Instead, you want to swim that distance with purpose, confidence, and focus.
YOUR STRATEGY
1. Diet: Set Up a Realistic Calorie Deficit
To lose 0.7–2 pounds per week, you generally need a deficit of 500–1,000 calories per day. Rather than slashing calories aggressively on day one, start with a moderate approach to protect energy, performance, and sanity.
How to Set It Up
Calculate your maintenance calories (track current intake for 5–7 days or use your body weight × 14–16 as a quick estimate). Alternatively, you can check your nutrition targets with our calculator (www.lamlab.ca/tdee-calculator)
Subtract 300–500 calories to start.
Keep protein high: 0.8–1.2g per lb of bodyweight to maintain muscle.
Balance the rest of your calories with carbs and fats based on preference.
Use a food tracker for awareness—not obsession.
What You Should Feel
Slight hunger at times (this is normal).
Consistent energy on training days.
No extreme cravings or dizziness.
If you experience those, the deficit is too large.
2. Strength Training: Keep Lifting Heavy
Your training during a cut shouldn’t drastically change. Your goal is muscle retention, not chasing new PRs every week.
Training Guidelines
3–6 strength training sessions per week
Focus on maintaining strength in big movements (squat, deadlift, bench, rows, presses)
Keep 1–3 reps in reserve for the first 1–2 lifts
Accessory work can be closer to failure
Track your performance to ensure strength isn’t dropping too fast
Why This Matters
Muscle is metabolically expensive. The more you maintain, the more calories your body burns even at rest.
3. Cardio: Add It Gradually, Not All at Once
Cardio helps increase your calorie deficit without excessive food restriction. But if you add too much too early, you’ll have nothing left to increase later.
Start Here
8,000–10,000 steps per day as your foundation
2 low-intensity cardio sessions per week (Heart Rate: 60-70% of your max, 30 minutes)
Add Only When Needed
When fat loss slows (and it will), add:
+2,000 steps per day, or
+10 minutes to existing cardio sessions, or
an additional low-intensity session
Keep HIIT limited; it’s taxing and harder to recover from during a deficit.
When using the LamLab app with your coach, it will track your training, diet and cardio output. The key to making continued progress is seeing the relationship between all these things and your weight. If all 3 of these pieces are dialled in, that’s when the progress starts to come fast. If one of these 3 pieces are off, progress can stall and that’s when you want to figure out how to overcome the obstacles holding you back.
OBSTACLES AND SOLUTIONS
1. LOGISTICAL OBSTACLES
Cutting requires structure, routine, and planning.
Obstacles:
Hitting high protein on lower calories
Needing to meal prep or buy meal prep
Tracking calories more accurately
Scheduling 3–6 workouts + steps + some cardio
Managing social events, travel, birthdays, work lunches
Ensuring your life isn’t chaotic (new baby, moving, job change, etc.)
Practical Solutions:
✔ Prep 2–3 proteins ahead of time (chicken, lean beef, egg whites, cod, turkey)
✔ Use “template meals” — repeatable meals you don’t have to think about. consistency in food selections reduce weight fluctuations
✔ Block out training sessions in your weekly calendar as non-negotiable
✔ Walk 8–12k steps per day instead of relying on cardio only
✔ Plan ahead for social events (eat protein + veggies beforehand, check the menu and decide what fits)
✔ Avoid starting a cut during major life stress
2. PHYSIOLOGICAL OBSTACLES
Your body adapts to the deficit and pushes against fat loss.
Obstacles:
Hunger increases
Feeling colder
Lower carbs = less pump
Strength fluctuates
Slower digestion
Worse recovery
Sleep disruptions
Metabolism slowing over time
Practical Solutions:
✔ Drink 1L of water per 50 lbs of body weight + electrolytes
✔ Eat high-volume foods: vegetables, soups, berries, popcorn, cucumbers
✔ Save carbs around your workout for better strength and pump
✔ Take 1–2 maintenance days per week when needed to reset hunger/stress but only when you’ve made significant progress
✔ Increase protein to stay full (protein is your hunger shield)
✔ Go to bed earlier when energy drops
✔ Increase NEAT (steps) when calories decrease
Cue to remember:
“These sensations are normal. My body is adapting because fat is coming off.”
3. PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSTACLES
Obstacles:
You look worse before you look better (flat + soft stage)
Scale fluctuations mess with your head
Nighttime cravings
Irritability
Feeling smaller
Feeling unmotivated
Wanting comfort foods
Social pressure
Practical Solutions:
✔ Track weekly averages, not daily scale weights
✔ Take photos every 1–2 weeks for visual progress
✔ Brush teeth after your last meal to kill nighttime snacking
✔ Keep your environment clean of tempting foods
✔ Use caffeine only in the morning
✔ Use the “10-minute rule” for cravings (walk for 10 mins first)
✔ Remind yourself of the “soft stage” — it’s temporary
✔ Tell friends/family you’re cutting to reduce pressure
Cue to remember to fight the nonsense thoughts in your head:
“A cut is temporary, but the discipline you build lasts. You’re not meant to live like this forever—just long enough to reach the version of yourself you’re chasing.”
4. ENVIRONMENTAL OBSTACLES
Obstacles:
Junk food at home
Bad sleep environment
Chaotic schedule
High-stress work days
Travel
Partners or family who eat differently
Practical Solutions:
✔ Remove junk food from the house — willpower always loses eventually
✔ Set a sleep routine (no screens 60 mins before bed)
✔ Create a predictable daily eating structure
✔ Batch-cook proteins + carbs weekly
✔ Keep “emergency meals” (Greek yogurt, tuna packets, protein shakes, fruit)
✔ Have a plan for restaurants (order protein + greens first)
Cue to remember:
“Your environment must match your goals. Get your home on board. Get your people on board. Create a system that serves you - not fight against you.”
5. ENERGY MANAGEMENT OBSTACLES
Obstacles:
Morning fatigue
Afternoon crashes
Lower motivation
Slow warmups
Harder recovery between sets
Practical Solutions:
✔ Front-load protein and water early in the day
✔ Get sunlight in the morning to boost energy
✔ Use a 10–15 minute warmup to get your body firing
✔ Take rest days seriously
✔ Choose low-stress cardio (incline walking over HIIT)
Cue to remember:
“Low energy doesn’t mean I’m failing — it means my body is doing its job.”
6. CONSISTENCY OBSTACLES
This is the real test.
Obstacles:
Boredom
Stress
Busy days
Slow progress
Fatigue
No one cheering for you
Wanting comfort
Practical Solutions:
✔ Follow the same simple meals 80% of the time
✔ Have a weekly check-in routine (photos, weight average, adjustments)
✔ Stay connected to your coach/community for accountability
✔ Remind yourself why you’re doing this
✔ Prepare your environment every Sunday (groceries + schedule)
Cue to remember:
“Just don’t break the chain. One good day at a time.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT CUTTING
Cutting is simple, but not easy. It’s uncomfortable. It requires discipline. It challenges your stress management, your habits, and your patience.
But if you plan for the obstacles, the cut becomes predictable and effortful but not chaotic.
Most people fail because they go in blind. You won’t.
THE BEST PART
Once you break through the middle “soft” phase and keep going, everything changes fast:
Each pound you lose, the more drastic the visual change as you get closer to your goal weight.
Your waist tightens
Your face leans out
Your muscle separation appears
Your confidence skyrockets
Training feels athletic
Clothes fit better
Photos look sharper
THE WEIRD PART
When you finish your cut, you might still not feel satisfied. Maybe you expected a better physique under the fat. Maybe you do have an amazing physique, but you struggle to see it in yourself. Cutting is a self-discovery process, too. Whatever the outcome, remember that you’re on your own journey, and the only person you can truly compare yourself to is you.
If you’re unsatisfied, it’s usually because your reality doesn’t match your expectations—expectations shaped by looking at others and the results they’ve achieved. Remember: you can’t compare your chapter 2 to someone else’s chapter 20. And even when you reach your “chapter 20,” you’ll probably still want more. That’s human nature. The goal isn’t to eliminate that feeling—it’s to learn how to work with it. Appreciate how far you’ve come, stay humble about where you want to go, and understand that wanting more is a sign that you care. Just don’t let it steal the joy of what you’ve already earned.
FINAL MESSAGE
If you want that flat stomach, visible abs, and lean athletic look — you absolutely can get it. But you need structure, strategy, consistency, and a mindset that understands the challenges ahead.
Do it right, and you don’t just end up lean… you end up disciplined, confident, and in full control of your physique.