O
obell5367
Iron
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2025
- Posts
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Fuck you, I'm not formatting this. No, I won't add a TLDR. No, I will not center orient my text and make the colors change after every vowel to keep your tiktok porn rotted brain scrolling through my "looksmax.org" post. If you want to fucking ascend and see real results, you'll read anything. If not, you're just another guy who's gonna get passed by those who took the time to read some blank white text. Jesus, the fact that needs to be said should speak volumes to the userbase here. Also, this thread is directed at newbies/intermediates mostly, so those who will not dabble in advanced PEDs/metabolic disregulators/aqua, etc. I hope this makes it into BOTB, although I doubt it will. It contains good information that newbies are not digesting through existing posts. Anyway, onto what you're here for.
Fat loss. Why is it important? What causes it? How much should you lose (or gain?) are all questions I see 24 7 on here, typically from other greys or some people who simply haven't discovered BOTB. I'd like to make this post to provide a baseline of things everyone should know prior to posting here, or asking simple, brainless questions.
Getting lean is important - as males, we've been socially engineered to accept the shredded 6 pack abs, chiseled jawline, broad shouldered superhero to be the ideal look. However, no amount of muscle will magically make your love handles disappear, or the fat under your chin vanish. Unfortunately, there is no way to reduce fat mass in a certain area vs another one. It simply isn't up to you. To lose fat in one area, you'll have to lose it throughout the whole body. Fat is extremely important to have little of on your face. Low bodyfat will make your bones look thick and defined, highlighting your strong points and giving you new, attractive features you never knew you had. For example, some people may have slightly negatively hooded eyes (the fat mass under your eyebrow that should cover your upper eyelid), which can give you a sad, or concerning look. Getting leaner can reduce this, and ascend your eye area.
Alright, getting lean is important. But how lean are we talking?
A good spot to journey towards is 10% bodyfat. Here, you won't be dickskin shredded, or absolutely peeled to levels unimaginable. However, you'll have great facial definition, a strong set of abs, amazing vascularity everywhere, striated delts, quads, etc (assuming you have some muscle already). Being leaner than this has its downsides, as you will experience more difficulties doing daily tasks, like sleeping, or getting out of bed. We need some bodyfat for our organs to function, and the minimum amount possible is anywhere from 2-5%. Whenever you get within a stones throw of this value (genetically determined between 2-5%, never lower), you may experience brain fog, restless sleep, low libido, etc. I recommend 10% because I believe that 99.9% of people can maintain 10% year-round as long as they are very consistent with tracking their micronutrients and eating accordingly, but absolutely everyone can shoot for 12% if you feel the slightest bit more comfortable there.
What if I want to bulk to put on some muscle? Don't I need to bulk and cut?
NO. This is gymbro blabber, and has no real evidence supporting it (even the opposite). Your muscles require stimulus and protein to grow. You can fuel the stimulus with carbs, and fuel your brain to push hard with healthy fats. You can very, very easily achieve enough of these nutrients while in a decently sized deficit to still be GAINING muscle during your cut. Yes, GAINING. There is no super magical switch that requires extra calories on top of your maintenence for the rest of your bodily functions to grow.
Okay, you've got a goal in mind. 10-12% bodyfat. How do you even know where you are, and where do you even start?
For most people, you aren't below 20% bodyfat. Sorry, it's just the truth. To find out your bodyfat percentage, I would recommend watching 2-3 YouTube videos that show comparisons of whatever people at whatever bodyfats. Take the people who look closest to what you look like, and take an estimate from there. If you would like, you may DM me with a front-relaxed mirror selfie, and I can quite accurately tell you what BF % you are. To start, let's outline a few parameters. Stay with me here, I'm not typing this for nothing. Calories are units of energy, like a watt. One calorie is a unit of energy required to raise the temperature of one liter of water by 1 degree. Not much. So, like machines, or water needing to be boiled, our bodies run on a power source: calories. We have a few sources of them. We can eat carbohydrates, which have 4 calories per gram, protein, which has 4 calories per gram, or fat, which has a whole 9 calories per gram. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, making just a few drinks very calorically saturated. We can eat any combination of these macronutrients to fuel or bodies, or we can draw those calories from inside of our body. Our bodies store extra energy that goes unused as fat. When we need energy due to a lack of it coming from our food, we can pull it from our fat cells, as if we were just charging and draining a battery (except you want to not have a super full battery here). If you eat far too little though, you'll begin to burn through muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is made of protein and can be broken down into calories for our body to function on. This process is much more ineffective than fat burning, so our bodies only use this if we truly are eating much, much too little.
Okay, fat is burned by us not intaking as much energy (calories) as we expend. But... how much do I even burn a day?
You'll want to look up a "TDEE" calculator. TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, and is the total number of calories your body uses per day. Note that these calories may be very slightly inaccurate (100-300 calories at the absolute highest end, 0.01% chance of it being this high).
I'll use myself for this example. I am 5 11, and weight 182lb~. I go for frequent physical activity - cardio, the gym, evening walks, etc. Punching my stats into a calculator shows that I burn approximately 3,000 calories per day, and would burn 2,000~ if I dropped all exercise completely. I am about 15% bodyfat right now, and am still weaning down to 10% (was fat+stupid, now less fat and maybe less stupid). I need to get to 10% bodyfat, but how should I do it? How many calories should I eat per day?
One pound of fat is about 85% fat and 11% water (some tiny organelles, vitamins, proteins make up the rest). Because one pound is approximately equal to 454 grams, we can say that 454x.85=386 grams of fat. Since 1 gram of fat is equal to 9 calories, we know that one pound of fat has approximately 3,500 calories. This part is tricky. For newbies on their first cut, I would recommend a deficit of 300-700 calories per day. If you have stronger willpower, go for more. If you cannot handle it, wean back. But never cheat. For example, me at 182lb with 15% BF has 27.3lb total pounds of fat on my frame (182x.15 lol). If I take my current BF % (15) and divide my goal BF % (10) by it, I get 2/3. Take 1, and subtract that number from one (so I get 1/3), and multiply your fat mass by that. So, 27.3x0.33~=9.1lb of fat to lose. If I were to stay in a daily deficit of 500 calories for 9 weeks (eating 2500 calories/d), I would burn 9 pounds of fat, and would reach my BF % goals. Use this logic to your own goals, and ask for help when needed. This site was and is here to be a resource. Don't be a dickwad. If you have any questions, put them below. I did not cover micro/macro dieting or training volume adjustments because I did not want to. I have a thread already made about training, and that will work perfectly even in a hefty deficit (1k+). For dieting, eat 0.8g of protein per lb of BW, make 20% of your food be fats, and the rest with carbs. Track your food with a scale and app like Macrofactor (paid), Cronometer (free), or MacrosFirst (free). TRACK YOUR MICRONUTRIENTS. If you are deficient, fix it with your diet, or supplement the odd thing if needed. Fish oils are a great resource to make your fat needs easily.
No your metabolism does not vary with genetics no you do not have a fast metabolism no you do not have a slow metabolism no your hormones do not make you unable to burn fat no carbs do not make you burn less fat no protein does not make you burn more fat
It is all about caloriescaloriescaloriescalories. The body is a machine, it takes in energy, and it uses it. Energy runs out, you're dead. No, your blood sugar does not make you defy the laws of thermodynamics and make you a furnace of infinite energy that cannot burn fat.
Fat loss. Why is it important? What causes it? How much should you lose (or gain?) are all questions I see 24 7 on here, typically from other greys or some people who simply haven't discovered BOTB. I'd like to make this post to provide a baseline of things everyone should know prior to posting here, or asking simple, brainless questions.
Getting lean is important - as males, we've been socially engineered to accept the shredded 6 pack abs, chiseled jawline, broad shouldered superhero to be the ideal look. However, no amount of muscle will magically make your love handles disappear, or the fat under your chin vanish. Unfortunately, there is no way to reduce fat mass in a certain area vs another one. It simply isn't up to you. To lose fat in one area, you'll have to lose it throughout the whole body. Fat is extremely important to have little of on your face. Low bodyfat will make your bones look thick and defined, highlighting your strong points and giving you new, attractive features you never knew you had. For example, some people may have slightly negatively hooded eyes (the fat mass under your eyebrow that should cover your upper eyelid), which can give you a sad, or concerning look. Getting leaner can reduce this, and ascend your eye area.
Alright, getting lean is important. But how lean are we talking?
A good spot to journey towards is 10% bodyfat. Here, you won't be dickskin shredded, or absolutely peeled to levels unimaginable. However, you'll have great facial definition, a strong set of abs, amazing vascularity everywhere, striated delts, quads, etc (assuming you have some muscle already). Being leaner than this has its downsides, as you will experience more difficulties doing daily tasks, like sleeping, or getting out of bed. We need some bodyfat for our organs to function, and the minimum amount possible is anywhere from 2-5%. Whenever you get within a stones throw of this value (genetically determined between 2-5%, never lower), you may experience brain fog, restless sleep, low libido, etc. I recommend 10% because I believe that 99.9% of people can maintain 10% year-round as long as they are very consistent with tracking their micronutrients and eating accordingly, but absolutely everyone can shoot for 12% if you feel the slightest bit more comfortable there.
What if I want to bulk to put on some muscle? Don't I need to bulk and cut?
NO. This is gymbro blabber, and has no real evidence supporting it (even the opposite). Your muscles require stimulus and protein to grow. You can fuel the stimulus with carbs, and fuel your brain to push hard with healthy fats. You can very, very easily achieve enough of these nutrients while in a decently sized deficit to still be GAINING muscle during your cut. Yes, GAINING. There is no super magical switch that requires extra calories on top of your maintenence for the rest of your bodily functions to grow.
Okay, you've got a goal in mind. 10-12% bodyfat. How do you even know where you are, and where do you even start?
For most people, you aren't below 20% bodyfat. Sorry, it's just the truth. To find out your bodyfat percentage, I would recommend watching 2-3 YouTube videos that show comparisons of whatever people at whatever bodyfats. Take the people who look closest to what you look like, and take an estimate from there. If you would like, you may DM me with a front-relaxed mirror selfie, and I can quite accurately tell you what BF % you are. To start, let's outline a few parameters. Stay with me here, I'm not typing this for nothing. Calories are units of energy, like a watt. One calorie is a unit of energy required to raise the temperature of one liter of water by 1 degree. Not much. So, like machines, or water needing to be boiled, our bodies run on a power source: calories. We have a few sources of them. We can eat carbohydrates, which have 4 calories per gram, protein, which has 4 calories per gram, or fat, which has a whole 9 calories per gram. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, making just a few drinks very calorically saturated. We can eat any combination of these macronutrients to fuel or bodies, or we can draw those calories from inside of our body. Our bodies store extra energy that goes unused as fat. When we need energy due to a lack of it coming from our food, we can pull it from our fat cells, as if we were just charging and draining a battery (except you want to not have a super full battery here). If you eat far too little though, you'll begin to burn through muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is made of protein and can be broken down into calories for our body to function on. This process is much more ineffective than fat burning, so our bodies only use this if we truly are eating much, much too little.
Okay, fat is burned by us not intaking as much energy (calories) as we expend. But... how much do I even burn a day?
You'll want to look up a "TDEE" calculator. TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, and is the total number of calories your body uses per day. Note that these calories may be very slightly inaccurate (100-300 calories at the absolute highest end, 0.01% chance of it being this high).
I'll use myself for this example. I am 5 11, and weight 182lb~. I go for frequent physical activity - cardio, the gym, evening walks, etc. Punching my stats into a calculator shows that I burn approximately 3,000 calories per day, and would burn 2,000~ if I dropped all exercise completely. I am about 15% bodyfat right now, and am still weaning down to 10% (was fat+stupid, now less fat and maybe less stupid). I need to get to 10% bodyfat, but how should I do it? How many calories should I eat per day?
One pound of fat is about 85% fat and 11% water (some tiny organelles, vitamins, proteins make up the rest). Because one pound is approximately equal to 454 grams, we can say that 454x.85=386 grams of fat. Since 1 gram of fat is equal to 9 calories, we know that one pound of fat has approximately 3,500 calories. This part is tricky. For newbies on their first cut, I would recommend a deficit of 300-700 calories per day. If you have stronger willpower, go for more. If you cannot handle it, wean back. But never cheat. For example, me at 182lb with 15% BF has 27.3lb total pounds of fat on my frame (182x.15 lol). If I take my current BF % (15) and divide my goal BF % (10) by it, I get 2/3. Take 1, and subtract that number from one (so I get 1/3), and multiply your fat mass by that. So, 27.3x0.33~=9.1lb of fat to lose. If I were to stay in a daily deficit of 500 calories for 9 weeks (eating 2500 calories/d), I would burn 9 pounds of fat, and would reach my BF % goals. Use this logic to your own goals, and ask for help when needed. This site was and is here to be a resource. Don't be a dickwad. If you have any questions, put them below. I did not cover micro/macro dieting or training volume adjustments because I did not want to. I have a thread already made about training, and that will work perfectly even in a hefty deficit (1k+). For dieting, eat 0.8g of protein per lb of BW, make 20% of your food be fats, and the rest with carbs. Track your food with a scale and app like Macrofactor (paid), Cronometer (free), or MacrosFirst (free). TRACK YOUR MICRONUTRIENTS. If you are deficient, fix it with your diet, or supplement the odd thing if needed. Fish oils are a great resource to make your fat needs easily.
No your metabolism does not vary with genetics no you do not have a fast metabolism no you do not have a slow metabolism no your hormones do not make you unable to burn fat no carbs do not make you burn less fat no protein does not make you burn more fat
It is all about caloriescaloriescaloriescalories. The body is a machine, it takes in energy, and it uses it. Energy runs out, you're dead. No, your blood sugar does not make you defy the laws of thermodynamics and make you a furnace of infinite energy that cannot burn fat.
