coming up with a new plan?

[the_substitute]

Hi all,

I am on a 3rd cycle of UD2. The first two, each 4 weeks long, I finished just before Xmas 2016 -- and they got me from about 18% to 12% BF while bringing my 20 day average scale weight up by about 2lbs.

All my lifts gained over that period. I took 1-2 weeks off between each cycle and just ran the Lyle maintenance diet, but didn't really take it too seriously. I'm definitely way stronger and look much better than when I initially started, so I totally love how effective it's been.

Currently I'm in week 2 of this cycle, planning to do 4 weeks total again.

My goal is to be sub-10% BF by June 1st. My question is a pretty broad one: what should I do next?

UD2 is pretty tough for a variety of reasons (I *am* starting to lose my mind... ). I can't see myself doing it repeatedly as above until June (but maybe I should try until I hit the goal?). I could try switching to the maintenance diet afterwards for a month, then cycling that and UD2 every month until June. Or...would it be smarter to just stick to the maintenance diet and adjust TDEE down very very slowly? Would extending my current cycle by 2 weeks for 6 total make more sense?

I feel like I can make progress on lifting in either UD2 or maintenance mode well. I don't do a ton of cardio (boxing for 1hr and some mobility work once a week each). I could add more cardio.

Basically, I'm looking for input and advice. Would be grateful for any ideas or suggestions.

Thank you!

[LightCrow]

Now you see why the recommendation is not to do UD2 above 15% body fat, or even 12%. Just follow the moderate diet and bring in stubborn fat protocols when you get to 10%. Why are you only dieting for 4 week blocks? You can go as long as 6-8 weeks. Either way you can manintain for now and restart in the spring or go on now. If you're a real 12% you should get sub-10% during your next dieting round.

[zLeeKo]

Originally Posted by LightCrow

Now you see why the recommendation is not to do UD2 above 15% body fat, or even 12%. Just follow the moderate diet and bring in stubborn fat protocols when you get to 10%. Why are you only dieting for 4 week blocks? You can go as long as 6-8 weeks. Either way you can manintain for now and restart in the spring or go on now. If you're a real 12% you should get sub-10% during your next dieting round.

Yep, just as the book says. But people like to suffer, I guess.

Personally, I get to 12-10% with simple straight deficit (25%) and once a week refeed, just to keep myself motivated.

Sub 12 or sub 10, then I go with something more complex (i.e. UD2, EOD refeeds).

[the_substitute]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Too late now I suppose :-).

Larger context would have helped. I dropped from 184 to ~159lbs over the course of 1 year, averaging about 0.5lbs/week on a straight deficit (I'm a 5'10" guy). This worked well, and since I'd done something like it ~20 yrs prior I knew being patient with it was worth it.

I guess I got a bit "goosed" at the end though when I saw my BF go up and my lifts go down over a month when I lost a bit too much weight too soon, hence the interest in an alternative approach like UD2.

The 4 week window was due to various schedule constraints. Would have preferred 6-8.

Anyway, it worked as advertised. I'll finish this round out and see where things are. Maybe fine-tuning the maintenance diet for the rest of the few months will be enough by that point.