 Have you recently lost a lot of weight and have plateaued? Watch this. Our first caller is Marie from Missouri. Hey Marie, how can we help you? Hey guys, it's not only nice to meet you guys. I've been listening to you guys for quite some time in late December, so it's kind of exciting to finally get to meet you guys. Cool. So my question is after massive weight loss and maintaining weight for several months, when is it optimal to go into another cut to lose the last 20-ish pounds? I kind of want to give you guys a backstory. I'm 32, a four, five, four and a half female who lost approximately 95 pounds naturally in about a year and four months. I struggled with weight all my life throughout my childhood and as an adult because of the lack of knowledge around nutrition and fitness. I lost weight in the past so I could join the military, but I gained it back once I got out because it wasn't sustainable. I wasn't focused on the long-term approach. It was just a short-term goal being that I wanted to get in the military and that meant getting down to a certain weight. I started my weight loss journey in March of 2020, once again at my heaviest weight of 250 pounds. This time around I focused on taking the long-term approach by listening to you guys, Lane Norton and Jordan Syat. I also researched studies on people who maintain weight loss and methods they use to keep the weight off. One study I read during my weight loss journey was the National Weight Control Registry. And later in my weight loss journey, I made it a goal to join. Not long ago, I received application from them to join the registry and since applied. However, towards the beginning of my journey, I did start to take the wrong approach to my fitness weight loss journey by cutting my calories to like 1200 and just walking. So I didn't know what my maintenance calories were exactly at 250 pounds. But I did later increase my intake and started strength training as I learned the air of my ways. I focused on learning the nutritional value of food in order to properly fuel my body, learn to listen to my body's hunger signals, digestive signals and how to respond to certain foods. I tracked my caloric intake in my activity center and weight daily on Excel spreadsheet in order to get an average. However, I only use the information as a tool to know that I am staying on track. I eventually hired a certified personal trainer after maintaining the weight loss of 80 pounds for a couple of months at 2500 calories. He helped me lose 15 pounds with his guidance. I was able to successfully reverse after my cut. When I ended my cut in July in 2021, I was the same weight I am now about 155 pounds and roughly 27% body fat. Maintenance calories were 2300. Over the last seven months, I've been able to maintain my current weight, lose body fat. Now I'm at 23% and my maintenance calories are 2600. I currently train four to five days a week and I want to get down to 15% body fat, about 140 pounds. Although weight isn't really my concern. It is really my body fat percentage. My coach says we could do a cut in April because he wanted me to maintain for a while, which I agreed. And I'm wondering if I should wait a year before attempting another cut. And if so, what does your all stick on it? Are you looking for a job or you want help? What is it? I feel like you're qualified enough to come over here and work with us, man. I think you're doing incredible. Yeah, you're on track. You're doing all things. Your 22% body fat, 2600 maintenance calories on a five, four and a half woman is incredible. Yeah. Now you can cut based off the numbers. The only thing I would caution you on would be any mental or psychological challenges you may have with this whole process. Because as far as calories are concerned, as far as what you're doing with your workouts, your body fat percentage, that's all good. The only thing, and I'm not saying this is you. Okay, so I'm just saying this is something you want to ask yourself. Because you've gone through this process, you've got a spreadsheet, you're counting everything. If you feel like you're maybe on the side of a little bit too neurotic or too stressed out about everything, then you might want to wait a little longer. But if that's not an issue, then everything else looks good. I would say go for the cut. Based off of what I'm reading and what you just shared, I think you're in an incredibly healthy place to do whatever the hell you want. I think you could maintain and be completely healthy, strong and fit in a great place. If you want to get shredded and you want to get lean, I think you're in a very healthy place calorie-wise to cut calories. I guess the only thing I would just caution you as you do that, and it sounds like you've already done this though, is to not dramatically cut the calories to 1200 or something ridiculous. You just barely got to cut down a little bit, create a little bit more movement, and maybe change up some programming or increase intensity or volume. And I think you're in a phenomenal place to do whatever the hell you want. Now, 15% is pretty lean for a woman. It's really low. Why do you want to get down to 15%? I kind of want to see how far I could take my body, where my body is not fighting me. But I also want to try to compete in a bodybuilding show later on. And I want to be as lean as I can. But then when I die it down to a show, it's not going to be a drastic cut. Love it. I love it. Let me ask you this, Marie, because you said you struggled with weight as a kid and stuff growing up. Do you have any body image issues or do you have any issues with fears of gaining the weight back or any body dysmorphia? At first, I did have fear of gaining the weight back. I honestly thought when I was reversing that I was going to try to cut my calories and stay low calorie. But I had to really work through my mindset of that. I had the tools I learned and that I could maintain it. Yeah, I do. Yeah, because competing in bodybuilding, if you have any body dysmorphia, it's going to blow it way up. So I don't care who you are. If you have any issues with that at all, it's going to make it much bigger. Prepare yourself for that. That's the only thing. That's the only honest of God, because everything else is done. You're so good. Your metabolism looks good. Everything looks good. That would be the only thing to consider. But don't just think it's a small thing. You don't have to tell us on the show, but if you're honest with yourself, you're like, oh, you know what? That might not be good for me to stand on stage and get judged by how I look and go through that whole process. And that might take me 10 steps back psychologically or mentally. Then I said, I would say, don't do it. But if there's no issues there, then everything else looks good. I know we've only known each other for about three minutes, but I feel like from just listening to you tell your story and the things that you've overcome, and I think you have the absolute right mindset. Even the idea of you pushing your body to getting leaner than you've ever been before you even decide to book a show, I think is smart. I think that you should do that. And I think you're at a great place calorie-wise. I think you understand the value of tracking, but also not becoming addicted to that. Yeah, you sound from what I'm hearing right now as a perfect person to play with this and go for it. And I think it's a total fine goal. I think you're... I love people that I think are in a good place to do this. So you learn a lot about your body, taking it to an extreme level of leanness. And I think that there is tremendous value for the right person to do that. And you sound very qualified to do that. Yeah, now I'm going to play devil's advocate, all right, Marie? Is that okay? All right. Yeah, that's fine. Are you an analytical person? Are you a numbers person and a follow systems and organized things type of person? Yeah, it's funny you say that. Yeah, I am. And the government and the military, I used to do budgets and stuff like that. So it's spreadsheets. Okay. Okay. Now here's... Very... Yeah. I could tell. So now here's why... Here's where I'm going to play devil's advocate. Sometimes you get people like you, who the way that they handle their issues is they dive deep into the numbers and the statistics and they just follow them. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but what it does do is it takes the other issues that you might not be addressing, and it buries them and they can resurface. So I know I sound like I'm the turd in the punch bowl here, but what I'm trying to say basically is, what I'm saying, I want you to consider very strongly because I've seen this happen before, where someone's in a great place, then they go do a show and it sets them back really bad. So consider that. I can't answer this for you. This is something you have to be very honest with yourself. And if you have a tendency to either hide or escape into the numbers and just be a numbers person, like a robot, that eventually will not work. Eventually, it'll come out. So just consider that. Now, as far as workouts are concerned, I mean, MAPS aesthetic would be wonderful for you. I would think. Do you follow any of our programs? Actually, I want to. I right now, I actually do the same training program as my husband. He's actually going to go into a show in April. So I've been following, even though Mike, the coach, because I use my coach for nutrition really, even though he does suggest, you know, we do different workouts or whatever, but I do do the ones, but I modified some things, you know, to my own body. But yeah, I did look into your guys' programs because it was something me and him kind of wanted to do after a hit show. Oh, cool. Well, I'll send you MAPS aesthetic. I think that would be great for you. Oh, thank you so much, guys. I do really appreciate it. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for calling in. Thank you. Well, so, I mean, she's doing everything right. The reason why I'm, like, again, I was so cautious in being the downer on this whole thing is because... Oh, it's fair. I think it's a fair assessment. Yeah, because, you mean, she's a couple of things she said early on, which is I dealt with this growing up as a kid. You don't erase that because you follow a plan and you follow it right, and you don't necessarily erase that. And I've worked with people like this before where they hide and escape into the numbers. And that doesn't mean that, you know, what I'm saying is an issue. And so, and then they can come out and rear it's ugly head sometimes. And it sometimes looks like I'm in and I'm on and I'm following the numbers and I'm off. I'm not doing anything at all. So that's why I want to caution... And I'm always going to be cautionary with people who lose weight and then want to do a show. It's like, ooh, that's always tough for me. Well, especially if they've never done it before. Yeah. Yeah, like having, like, mentally preparing yourself for that, going into it, I think is great. But yeah, her mentality just seems like it's on point. Oh, yeah. And to be able to get to a place where you challenge your body, you know, I think it's a healthy thing to pursue. But again, that specific sport, there's just a lot there that it's going to bring up and expose. But I mean, 2,600 calories. Oh, man, she's doing great. No, she's... I mean, I think you're right. I think that sometimes we're the best at selling ourselves. Totally. On like, how good I am and how we're covered and I don't have any issues, right? So I definitely agree with that caution, right? But everything she did say, you know, so whether she's just... She's doing the right stuff. Yeah, I mean, she's done... I mean, she even... I don't know if you heard her when she went on her little spiel, but she even talked about how she's, you know, she tracked just for using that as a thing to look back at, but she's primarily been intuitively eating. Yeah, it wasn't stuck there. Yeah, trying to listen to her body. And so she's done these cuts and bulks and cuts and bulks and a reverse diet. It got her up to a place at 2,600 calories. Oh, yeah, she's definitely following the playbook. Yeah, I mean, I think that she would be a fun client to take to this level and see how she does. And I mean, I like where she at. Not many girls that want to get on stage and compete that I've ever met that are as small as she is, 5'4", and eating 2,600 calories. And she's at the place I would always want to take my clients before I would allow them to get on stage. Many of the ones that would hire me would be at the 1,500 calories, 1,700 calorie mark. And then they have body fat to lose. And they're like, yeah, I want to get ready for a show. And I'm like, well, probably not a good idea for you. But yeah, I like where she's at. And I think it'd be interesting to see how she does over the next year.