I cut weight all last year. Went from 203 lb to 181 lbs at my leanest, while training hard. I was obsessive about it. After 9 month I started stalling hard. I hung on for 2 more months and then quit because it was almost Christmas.

I tried to start the cut again but it was too mentally grueling for me. I crept back up to 195 and now I’m just maintaining until I don’t have a visceral reaction to the idea of a cut again.

I definitely gained some muscle during the process, and don’t look as soft when I started but still a bit discouraging.

Also it’s nuts how your body can hold 2-5 lbs of carb reserves