Hey man.
Research seem to suggests that the optimal way to set up the size of your caloric deficit is to base it after your body fat percentage. This seems to be because fat loss is inversely proportional to the level of leanness someone's at. Meaning that the leaner you get, the slower the deficit should be in order to maintain metabolism, hormonal balance, muscle mass and mood etc.
Now, one approach that I like to do is this one which has worked insanely well for myself, as I've completely transformed physique and am able to stay around 8-10 % bf year-round
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Basically here's how it works:
1. Set up your deficit based on your body fat percentage
This is key
Why?
Research has shown that there’s a theoretical limit to how much fat that can be released from the body’s fat stores in a single day. Where any additional weight lost above this limit will be muscle mass, no matter how high the protein intake is.
And research has shown that this limit is inversely proportional to how lean we are, meaning that the leaner we get, the smaller the deficit must be to ensure muscle retention and to also feel well and healthy.
Here’s the rate of weight loss recommended per week based on BF %:
20%> --> ~1.1 kg (2.4 lbs)
15-20% --> ~0.9 kg (2 lbs)
12-15% --> 0.45-0.7 kg (1-1.5 lbs)
10-12% --> 0.45-0.6 kg (1-1.3 lbs)
8-10% --> 0.35-0.45 kg (0.75-1 lbs)
<8% --> 0.2-0.35 kg (0.45-0.75 lbs)
2. Slow down your rate of fat loss as you get leaner overtime using refeeds
This is an incredibly powerful strategy!
By taking 1 extra refeed day each time you reach a new body fat percentage bracket you get both positive mental benefits as well as some physiological one.
Here’s the amount of refeeds I recommend based on BF %:
20%> --> 0-1 refeeds
15-20% --> 1 refeed
12-15% --> 2 refeeds
10-12% --> 3 refeeds
8-10% --> 4 refeeds
<8% --> 5 refeeds
The power of this approach is that you will reduce your caloric deficit simply by taking one more refeed day at maintenance, close to your already existing one. Convenient and easy!
You will also maintain your metabolism, hormonal balance and top of glycogen more often throughout your cut, which will result in better training performance, well-being and health.
Have a great day!
