π₯PROOF OF WORKπ₯
June 25, 2024: 204.6 lbs, 25-28% BF
April 26, 2025: 161.2 lbs, 12.3% BF (April 3 DEXA scan)
800+ daily calorie deficit
4x workouts per week
6.1 million steps, 20k daily average
No gimmicks. No skipped gym days.
This is how I did it:π
I started cutting June 25, 2024 with CoachFHM (Twitter handle) as my trainer, thanks to a referral from
@Steven Lubka . The goal was to build muscle, but the fat had to go first.
Francis' plan was an aggressive 800+ daily calorie deficit for 6 months. I wanted to stick with the carnivore diet, and he wanted me to eat some yogurt and fruit pre-workout. I compromised and agreed to this macro plan:
2005 calories
60g carbs
205g protein
105g fat
A few months in, I ran into issues trying to stay carnivore while cutting. I went into greater detail here:
X (formerly Twitter)
Mandrik (@Mandrik) on X
I'm done with the carnivore diet. π
I defeated carb addiction, and boosted my testosterone with lifestyle changes, in 5 months.
Long read:
I'...
TL;DR - my body needed carbs. It was time for a change.
New daily macros:
1885 calories
185g protein
185g carbs
45g fat
Foods I introduced - sweet potatoes, rice (white & black), lots of fruits and vegetables, bread, and more dairy options.
Things were going well, but it was clear this was going to take longer than six months. I'd have run away if Francis told me 10 months, but I wanted to keep pushing after seeing so much progress.
I took Christmas week off, eating maintenance calories with a light workout schedule. It was a much needed break, but weight loss slowed down from there.
January was rough. I live in the northeast US. Cold, no sun, and eating less. Oh, and I was caffeine-free (still am), which makes cutting extra hard mode.
A perfect storm for losing my mind.
By the end of the month I was cracking, and Francis recognized what was going on. He said it was time for a break - eat maintenance level calories for all of February.
I literally wept with joy that first day. I can't believe the toll this cut was taking on me, and how incredible it felt eating a normal amount of calories.
That month changed me as a human being. I began to recognize I could do normal things, like go to a restaurant and even have a little taste of dessert. Enjoy life without overindulging.
Up until that point I had never experienced this. I never felt in control of my eating. I had to restrict myself from certain foods because I couldn't moderate them. That's why the carnivore diet was so good for me.
Not anymore.
I used this energy for one last push. The goal was always to get in that 10-12% body fat range. My weight dropped down into the high 160s, so I knew I was close. I scheduled a DEXA scan for early April. Results?
Total body fat: 12.3%
I could keep pushing. Try to work towards more ab definition as I worked closer to 10% BF. That sounds great, but I was mentally done. I was getting close to cracking again, spending the past few months waking up at 4AM every day. We agreed to end the cut on April 26 no matter what, so I hung in there.
Now here I am, having just crawled across the finish line. Could I have done better? Of course. I still see body fat around my midsection that would have been nice to lose.
I will always be one of those people who needs to be reminded by others of my accomplishments. I focus on what still needs done vs what I worked so hard to do.
So today I take a step back, and recognize that I've accomplished something that I never in my life thought possible. I spent the past 10 months undoing decades of bad eating decisions.
It's ok to feel great about that. I did it!π₯
So I'm going to celebrate this W. Spend a few weeks going to the gym, eating maintenance level calories. Recovering from this incredible and awful experience.
Then it's on to phase 2:
We build. ποΈββοΈ
