u/stratusnimbo

My love for bodybuilding has grown exponentially this past year. But with that, so has my precision and obsession with being as perfect and meticulous with my diet and routine as possible. While being so precise and working with a coach has gotten me some awesome results, I want to find some more balance. I want to be able to enjoy the occasional night of drinking without guilt, or enjoy nights out eating whatever I want without thinking I’m ruining my gains. I want to be able to eat a bowl of ice cream without feeling bad for going “off plan” I want to be able to enjoy a weekend away without worrying about not hitting the gym, but at the same time I love my routine and love being dialed and hate going off track with training/diet. I hate missing gym sessions and always feel a bit of guilt when I eat something that isn’t “optimal” - The gym is so necessary for me, but at the same time I think I take it a bit too seriously at times, especially since I don’t even compete. I just care so much about being as optimal as possible and care so much about achieving my physique goals, that I want to milk out ever last possible % of progress I can even if it’s fractional differences. Anyways, has anyone found success in dialing back their obsession and how did you approach it?

I’m working with a coach for the first time and just finished up a very productive 8 week cutting phase. I’m 5’11 and I went from 180lbs to 167lb. And am looking pretty lean. My coach has a reverse plan to bring me back up to maintenance and start a very long, slow and controlled gain phase. However my mindset is sort of stuck on “shred mode” and now I feel sort of nervous about reintroducing mode food. I feel great about how I look and am having a hard time getting out of this mindset that it’s time to get lean. I’ve been very excited to start eating more carbs, but now that the time has come I just want to stay lean or even get more lean. Any tips to shift my mindset?

Last year I did my first calculated cut around 2300 cals dropping down to 1900 for a bit. I remember being pretty miserable the majority of the time even when eating 2300 cals. Always hungry, crazy food focus, lifts decreasing etc. Fast forward to today I’ve been cutting for 6 weeks, down 8lbs, eating 225g carb/2200 cals on training days and 170g carbs/2050 cals on rest days. I’m honestly not feeling anywhere near as hungry and my fatigue really isn’t bad, lifts are maintaining. Compared to last year, this cut has been a breeze so far. Why is it so much easier this time?