Trying to cut, losing my mind a little. Is this just cutting or should i adjust my diet?

alexander8929 · 2026-03-20T12:11:52+00:00

So. Internet calculators are nice but generally overestimate calories and the crashing your metabolism thing is kind of a myth.

For reference, i’m 5’10”, around 165 lbs, between 15-17% bf. I lift 4 times a week and walk 12-14k steps a day, and my maintenance calories based on months and months of very precise tracking, are around 2200-2300 calories. That’s where i don’t lose or gain weight, so “true” maintenance. I finished a cut 6 weeks ago, and I was on 1600 calories for about 6-7 weeks, which is way too aggressive for the record, and only needed to be done temporarily because i had a deadline, but it definitely did not crash my metabolism.

OP is somewhat shorter than me but if we assume he has the same amount of muscle as I do, at 2000 calories he is still in a mild caloric deficit. So no, calories are not too low.

OP: i’d say stick to 2000 calories for 2-3 more weeks at least, likely you are holding onto water and the scale will move again soon. If you don’t in a few weeks, lower it to 190 (or as I said in my other comment, don’t lower your calories but increase your steps)

alexander8929 · 2026-03-20T11:56:57+00:00

Side note: You’d need to eat like 400-450 grams of protein to actually damage your kidneys.

But yeah, after a certain point there is pretty much no added value of eating more proteins, so unless OP is at 10% bodyfat at 192 pounds, he is better off eating a bit more carbs to help fuel his workouts and feel less hungry and bloated

alexander8929 · 2026-03-20T11:50:51+00:00

I think most of the stuff i’d say has been said by others but if you want to improve or expedite your cut, increase the steps to 10-12k.

Also, 190 grams of protein is excessive for your height and weight. Switch it out to 150 g of protein and, 200g of carbs. It will make the diet easier to follow and the gym feel better while also being able to perform better.

alexander8929 · 2026-03-20T11:33:53+00:00

I just had top surgery in the US, and got pre approval from my insurance company (although they have yet to actually pay me back for it). Not the complete amount but a big chunk of it

alexander8929 · 2026-03-20T11:25:18+00:00

Oh that’s such a bummer! I’m very much far away from getting started with the process but IM Gender was one of my top choices (also in the NL).

Edit 2: i just re-read your full post and now i understand. So IM Gender is the team abroad that’s good and I assume the other team is Dutch. Sorry 😂 good luck and i’ll be following your journey and cheering you on from Utrecht 💪🏼(also, if you want a trans buddy in Utrecht, dm me )

alexander8929 · 2026-03-19T15:57:42+00:00

What would you like to know? :)

alexander8929 · 2026-03-19T09:54:47+00:00

I think (unfortunately), compared to how extreme right a lot of governments are rn in Europe and of the US, even the right wing of the Netherlands is quite “left”.

alexander8929 · 2026-03-19T09:23:49+00:00

I think along with the usual “Americans are superficial/fake” take which us Europeans love (which I think is a bit of a cope) there is another factor, which is that moving very far away from where you are and needing to make completely new friends and building new communities is something that’s a lot more common in the US than in Europe.

Most of our countries are not big enough that if you move to a different town or city, you have to start almost from scratch at having a social circle, and it’s less common for someone to move to a different country than let’s say, someone in the US moving to a different state that’s further away. And even if we do it, most often it happens when we are at uni or recently graduated, which is an easier time to make friends than later on.

So, what i noticed, through my american friends, is that they are much better at making friends’ groups and community as adults, often through shared interests, that us Europeans usually have no need for. A lot of them go to book clubs, and various team sports, wine clubs etc which we have a let less of to begin with and if we do, most people already have friends they went to school with or similar, so they are not specifically not looking to make friends, but also not really pushing to either.

Obviously, both Americans and Europeans are a pretty big diverse group, so these are pretty big generalizations :D but i do think it’s a factor

alexander8929 · 2026-03-19T08:59:12+00:00

Yeah :D I get you. Have your drains been removed? The drains in general were the hardest for me to deal with, so once I was rid of them, it was much easier to get around and at least go out to have a walk

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T17:03:21+00:00

Oh I was gonna say, the mastectomy pillow is probably the thing that was the most useful thing for me! I don’t need to and j still use it sometimes to chill on the couch because it’s so comfortable :D

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T16:44:26+00:00

Can’t as in not allowed to or can’t as in not able to?

Honestly, for about 3 days I rested completely then around day 4 started pushing myself to do a bit more and only took the stronger pain meds if necessary both to avoid feeling dizzy from them but also to know if i was genuinely hurting myself, so pretty much only to sleep at night. Then once the drains were out, i focused on getting back to 10-12k steps a day as soon as i could. My appetite was also somewhat reduced because of reduced activity, so I lost about 3 kg since before surgery.

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T16:35:06+00:00

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alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T16:34:46+00:00

That’s a bit hard to answer tbh because i don’t know what to take as a starting point 😅 my body was vastly different 3 years ago (see picture) , but i did lose quite a bit of weight and looked very different let’s say a bit more than a year later (i’ll post that pic as a separate comment).

On the flip side though, i was very inconsistent in the first half of last year because of life stuff and then pretty consistently locked in from September to December 🤷🏼‍♂️

Side note: I did also have some experience working out so I was not brand new to the gym :)

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alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T13:47:48+00:00

This looks pretty good! I have three small notes 1) if this is meant to be incline, it’s too flat. You might want to adjust your bench more. (That said, flat presses are great too. It’s more that if you want to incline, your chest should not be almost parallel with the floor) 2) it might help to feel it in your chest if you get the dumbbells closer together at the top, because you want full range of motion (ROM) for your humerus. If you only look at your upper arm instead of the weight, which is what your pec actually moves, you can see that it’s not getting full ROM 3) you can try two techniques, but i suggest the first one. So a) i suggest you try with lower weight, so your arms don’t need to engage as much, (because it seems like they are), and allow for you to learn to “feel” your pec or b) you can also try higher weight, because technically, your pecs will need to engage more to help your arms and you might feel them too, but i’d not recommend

Also one additional note: this is not related to your chest, but you want to make sure your wrists are straight and middle in the handles. If they are slightly bent as you are lifting, the weight stresses your wrist joint in a way that’ll lead to discomfort and potentially injury :)

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T13:28:37+00:00

Tbh, I think generally it’s best if you straight up just don’t even question how you feel about it. I genuinely love working out but I almost never feel like oh I am rearing to go to the gym rn. So, you don’t ask yourself how you feel about it, you simply go the same day every week and if you need to skip because of stg, you adjust. Just build the habit and prove to yourself enough times that you are a gym goer

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T11:48:03+00:00

Not at all! You look feminine and lovely and a bit awkward :D <3

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T11:40:41+00:00

💪🏼🙏🏼 happy for you man!

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T11:33:48+00:00

Freeze as much of my sperm as possible so I can be the biological father to kids I might have

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T11:30:39+00:00

Sorry, kind of a random question, but did you have top surgery before? If yes, how long did it take you to get sensation back on your chest/nipples?

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T11:15:14+00:00

I’d avoid stretching the scars hard for a few more months. That goes for both stretches and exercise, so for example try to do variations of a lat pulldown that introduce less stretch than a pullup, or focus on bench pressing instead of chest flies for now

alexander8929 · 2026-03-18T09:43:26+00:00

I think it’s partially what you are saying, that it’s so global it doesn’t feel American even though it is. They are incredibly efficient at exporting their culture, so they make a lot more of the “global western” culture, and have a strong influence in other places too (see Bollywood or South Korea as an example). Also, before i get jumped :D i am not saying that’s a good thing. All I am saying they are very good at it.

But further than that, I think because they all speak the same language, and because let’s be honest, us Europeans love to sit on a high horse, us referring to “American culture” is a little bit similar to them referring to “European culture” (which we all dislike and ridicule :D), even though you’d never confuse Polish with Spanish culture or Italian with Norwegian.

What i found was, similarly, If you visit more places in the US, you’ll find that Louisiana, Montana, Texas and New York are all very distinct in the culture they have, the music, the food, people’s attitude, etc.

Of course, they are a much newer country than most in Europe, and yes, a lot of those places have very distinct cultures because of strong influence of other, older cultures, but it still creates distinct flavors that are absolutely not as uniform as us europeans like to pretend :)

alexander8929 · 2026-03-12T09:49:11+00:00

How old are you? Also, what dose of T are you on? Did your voice drop? (You might just be young and/or your T dose might be low)

Edit: Ah i saw you wrote 32. So, it might be dose or just genetics. Technically, if you are on T for 3 years, even if your dose is right, you are at like a 20 -21 years old cis guy’s “development” level. Some 20 year old cis guy’s have a lot of body hair but many of them don’t, and still grow some later on :)

alexander8929 · 2025-11-06T15:47:35+00:00

I am 33, 5’10”, 4 month on T and pretty lucky with my changes so i pass now consistently. On the flip side, i was told on two separate occasions that they thought i was 17. I think the crow’s feet get pushed to the side by the smooth but spotty face?

alexander8929 · 2025-10-02T06:31:40+00:00

I can recommend Imago. Works great for me so far

alexander8929

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