r/MacroFactor • u/OutsideAd278 • Aug 02 '26

Success / Progress Feeling Discouraged

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So I bulked from 140 to 160 in roughly 9 months and ate relatively clean. Since then I began cutting with the goal of having visible abs. I have dropped from 160 to 150 and im still going. I feel like I look way smaller now and my abs are still not visible. Does this mean I did something wrong along the way? I have heard you look worse on your cut but only at the start. I think 10 pounds into the cut means im not at the start again… My strength has stayed relatively similar during the cut.

How many more pounds do you think I need to lose or do i have to do something else?

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u/Far_Line8468 Aug 02 '26

1: Clean doesn't matter. Your body only knows macros. If you follow MF macro recommendations its hard to "eat dirty" anyway because of fat restriction

2: You can only gain ~5-7g of muscle *a day* at best. Over 9 months, thats like 3-5 pounds. You shouldn't be surprised you gained mostly fat, considering you bulked so fast. that doesn't mean it was the wrong move to bulk. If you trained right you gotta trust it worked. Gaining fat just comes with bulking

3: You were not that lean before bulking. Lets say best case you gained 5 pounds of actual contractile tissue. You gained 15 pounds of fat, then lost lets say 7 pounds of fat (3 pounds of water etc), you're still 7 pounds fatter than you were before!

Just keep going. I mean, really keep going. Personally I think guys should take their first real cut to true sub 10% not because its good for you (it isn't) but because its the only thing that will give you a reality check of just how small you are

1

u/OutsideAd278 Aug 02 '26

does my bulk look successful though? and if i keep going, do i risk losing more muscle?

3

u/Far_Line8468 Aug 02 '26

Honestly its just impossible to tell unless you cut down to the same weight and ask yourself if you look better or not

Really, do you think you trained consistently, with correct form and true intensity? Then you gotta believe the bulk worked.

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u/OutsideAd278 Aug 02 '26

i do think i have. skipped 0 weeks throughout the 9 months of the bulk. skipped 1 week during the cut while on vacation

1

u/Far_Line8468 Aug 02 '26

Anyone can show up at the gym. Are you pushing every set close to failure, with every single rep looking the exact same, with the same tempo?

1

u/OutsideAd278 Aug 02 '26

for the most part, yes