I feel you man. I’ve been cutting, not as long as you, but cutting is the most difficult thing mentally. In addition to being hungry- the most base level biological drive- which even if successful in living hungry/ finding strategies to manage hunger, creates a mental space of urgency and discomfort.
I’ve gained a new respect for it, and I don’t see Exactly how I’ll fit it into my life in the long term. But I remember back to my most excited times of creating and forming the habits of my protocol early on. That’s what I live for right now, the creation of these protocols and watching them change my body in seemingly real time as I live my life.
One thing I’ve noticed, some nights Im able to go to bed in a huge deficit of like -1400 calories. Take advantage of those- even if it’s way steeper of a deficit than your trying for. Because it won’t be easy to go to be like that every night. They’re few and far between. Well like I get 1-3 days per week like this soemtimes. But, the thing is, I’ve still eating like 3,400 calories and got in 338 or some grams of protein for the day. So the days I’m able to push the cardio longer first thing in the morning- Refill with protein rich meal, and then some sugar free pudding etc If I need it to feel full - then do a killer workout because I recharge the carbs pre workout I need to get me through it.
Early on, I didn’t want to be in that steep of a deficit, so on those days I would be like- yay more food. And eat more even though I wasn’t hungry actually. But now I’m realizing, some days it’s hard to gain a -400 calorie deficit without feeling hungry, especially if I’m inactive. So I now just let those -1400 days be, and I go to bed like that and don’t feel hungry. I’ve even gotten ballsy and taken Mk-677 pre bed lol. It’s fucked me up about 25% of the time and I woke up at 1 am and tried to find the least calorie dense things to eat lol.
I know you prob don’t need advice because I’ve seen your progress pictures man and everything is comming along as it should be. So your doing it right. Just wanna share any tips I’ve learned since I’m still a newbie to this. I Had a killer off-season though, I was able to get to 200lb around 14.5% starting at 128lb on my first cycle in 8.5 months. The first 3 months were actually natty, so 128 to 150lb natty, then 150 to 200 enhanced to the tits.
Get cronometer, that’s my favorite, I use my Apple Watch to estimate my base calories/active calories. I’ve found it’s slightly over estimating I think, so I’ve just compensated myself. It’s a very useful tool to see a number there in calories burned for the day, and calories eaten in Cronometer. Helped me mentally so much. I’ll be using it for the off-season going forward now too.