My decision to go on a cut was let’s just say, spontaneous at best, premature at worst. I’d been bulking since the year started, but somewhere along the way, the “lean gains” part of the plan got lost in translation. I wasn’t tracking anything. No calories, no macros, not even the mirror test. It was one of those goals I had on my 2025 list that sounded nice on paper but I wasn’t sure how I was going to implement it. Between school, work and leadership responsibilities, the idea of practicing dietary discipline felt unrealistic. Also, I’m a massive foodie. That alone should explain a lot.

After my birthday in July, though, I realised I was about to go another year without having been able to tick it off my goals for the year and I’d hate to have to repeat it in my 2026 list so I knew it was about time. It didn’t come as a grand revelation but I just looked at myself at 88kg and knew it was time. No excuses.

The good thing was, I wasn’t going in blind. My sister had gone on a cut earlier in the year and she basically became my blueprint ahead of the cut and my accountability partner. My brother hopped on a cut as well and watching both of them pull it off made envisaging same for myself easier. 

Disclaimer: This article might be a trigger for people dealing with eating disorders like bulimia, body dysmorphia or anorexia. Everything I share here is purely based on my experience. My approach was quite aggressive and I’d strongly suggest tweaking things to fit your own pace and goals.

To make this as simple to follow as possible, here’s how I’m breaking this down.

There are three pillars one should pay focus to; Diet, Physical Activity and Rest.

1. Diet Control

I’d begin with diet. Now let me say this; diet control is the single most important part of cutting or weight loss. In other words, you can reach your weight-loss goals by adjusting your diet alone without necessarily adding any physical activity. It is also the hardest in my opinion. It is the realest test of discipline. And in some ways, it can get expensive. Healthy options cost more. Sometimes in money, but mostly in willpower. It’s about saying “no” when your cravings say “yes” and learning how to be brutally honest about your portion sizes.

First thing I did was to get myself a small plate and a food macros tracker. A food macros tracker is basically a digital food scale that tells you how many calories you’re actually eating. It became my reality check. If you’re not sure where to find one, I got mine from Jumia. I’ll drop the link below for anyone interested.

https://www.jumia.com.gh/generic-10000g-lcd-digital-kitchen-tool-food-weighing-scales-white-40142530.html?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pdpshare

Now for those who might be new to all of this, here is a little context about what calories and macros tracking actually mean. And don’t worry, I’d make it very simple to understand.

The calorie, as I’ve learned, is the single most important metric we have to determine if we’re consuming too much, too little, or just enough food. A calorie measures energy. Just as gasoline creates the energy necessary to propel a car forward, so too do calories provide the energy needed for digestion, physical activity and the basic functions of the human body. Every second you are alive, you are burning calories. Yes, even while you sleep, the engine that is your human body is breaking down and making use of them. Similar to an idling car at a traffic light. The number that you burn every day depends upon a number of factors, including age, height, sex and the amount of physical activity you get. It’s important to figure out how many calories are enough for you because unlike the car analogy, humans don’t tend to stop eating when their tanks are full. If we continue to eat excess calories, they will be stored as fat in our cells, and unless we slow down our intake, that fat will never get used, which is when you gain weight. And there’s only one way to lose it, through a calorie deficit. Basically when you burn more calories than you take in. You can get there in two ways. Limit the amount of calories you eat or burn them through exercise.

And take it from me, it’s far easier to lose weight by restricting calories than by doing more exercise. It will take me about 10 minutes to eat a pack of loaded fries which is a 2000+ calorie meal. But if I wanted to burn 1000 calories, I’d have to sprint for about an hour and 15 minutes.

So if you burn 2000 calories a day, you need to eat 2000 calories to maintain your weight. If you consistently eat over that amount, you’ll gain weight. If you consistently eat less than that, you’ll lose weight. To find out how many calories you need to consume a day, that is, your maintenance calories, tap the link below. It is a website that helps you calculate your maintenance calories based of your stats for free.

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

In the beginning, tracking my meals was both fun and mildly overwhelming. I suddenly had to think about every bite I took and how it fit into a number. It took a few days before I got a sense of how much I should be eating at each meal. Honestly, the only reason I figured it out so quickly was because I was eating pretty much the same thing every day. If you like variety, it’ll take a bit longer to get the hang of it.

After running a quick test using the calorie tracker link I shared above, I found out my maintenance calories was around 2,700. I decided to stretch things a bit and go into a deficit of about 700–900 calories which put me at roughly 1,800–2,000 calories per day.

Now here’s what a typical day on my diet looked like.

This is what the finished product looked like.

Lunch came in around 700–850 calories.
•90 grams of jollof rice / four slices of boiled sweet potatoes •2 boiled eggs •air-fried or grilled chicken •a bowl of vegetables and •tomato sauce. Balanced, filling, and easy to prep on Sundays. It helped me hit my protein goals and the vegetables kept me full thanks to all the fiber. Everything else was just chef’s kiss mostly because, well I’m a pretty great cook.

Supper was the lightest. I was consuming roughly 250–350 calories.
Either a bowl of watermelon or a bowl of Greek yoghurt with three eggs to close out the day without weighing me down.

I ate the same meal every day for twelve weeks. It was monotonous. Predictable. Routine. Boring. Safe.
Just how I like my stuff.

There was something comforting about the routine. No decision fatigue. No wondering what to eat. I’d meal prep every Sunday, stack the containers in my fridge and know exactly what the week ahead looked like. Simple, efficient, almost robotic. Loved it.

But counting calories came with its own set of problems. Somewhere along the way, it got obsessive. I remember my first “cheat meal” and how guilty I felt afterward. I actually purged (ie I self induced vomit). It was week six of my cut and I panicked. I worried I had undone all my progress although my sister had reassured me that it’s totally okay to have a cheat meal every once in a while. That night, I walked 20,000 steps. Two and a half hours on a treadmill, inclined and fueled by self-loathing.

With time, I learned to ease up. One cheat meal doesn’t erase weeks of effort. So, I built it into my plan. Fridays were cheat days. Loaded fries, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, chocolate syrup… basically, anything chocolate in edible form. Merhn I love chocolate. Other times I’d just go out to a restaurant to eat.

2. Physical Activity

In my opinion, physical activity is usually the easiest part of weight loss except it wasn’t the case for me. And it wasn’t because the workouts were hard, but because the timing and circumstances around my cut were far from ideal.

Under normal conditions, this should be the simplest piece of the puzzle because it really comes down to prioritizing movement. And by movement, I don’t mean hitting 10,000 steps every day. I mean consistently using your body. Find a form of cardio you actually enjoy and do it at least twice a week. Go to the gym three times a week if you can. You don’t need to be in there seven days straight. And above all, stay consistent. You have to keep at it long enough for it to actually make a difference.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you already know I workout six times a week using a push–pull–legs split. That part’s non-negotiable. As a morning person, I like getting it done early. In the gym by 5:00am, out by 6:00am. Check it off my to-do list and move on with my day. It’s become so routine that I barely think about it anymore.

What wasn’t routine was cardio.

Last year, I challenged myself to walk 10,000 steps every day for 30 days (I’ll link that post here).

I WALKED 10,000 STEPS EVERYDAY FOR 30 DAYS. HERE’S WHAT I OBSERVED.

It was a great experience but fitting cardio into my schedule as a medical student during when school was in session was another ball game. Eventually, I realized the only way it would work was to make it a part of my night routine. So after school, I’d hit the gym again at 6:00pm, hop on the treadmill, and walk for an hour. So I’m usually out of the gym by 7:10pm at the latest. Walking on the treadmill gave me around 10,000 steps and other movements I made throughout my day totalled about 13,000 to 15,000 steps a day.

Beyond that, I made small lifestyle changes to stay active throughout the day. I stopped using the elevator and took the stairs, every time. I walked 30 minutes before and after lunch. After every two hours of sitting down to study, I’d take a 15 minute walk. I skipped the Uber and walked to campus instead every night for group study sessions or to use the library and that was a 15 minute walk. And somewhere in there, I decided to throw in 100 pull-ups a day. I did this two hours after lunch, every single day, for twelve weeks. So I got a pull-up bar and had it fixed in my room. I got it from Jumia as well, I’d link it below if you’re interested in purchasing one for yourself.

https://www.jumia.com.gh/white-label-iron-rod-gym-total-upper-bar-blackwhite-19221593.html?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pdpshare

Together with my morning workout sessions, this routine held up even during my Final Part 2 MBChB exams. It was a brutal three-week exam marathon that tested every ounce of my discipline. My sleep suffered, sure, but I didn’t quit. I couldn’t. Looking back, I still unsure how I pulled that off. Or maybe I do. It was grace. God’s grace. I passed my exams. Now, I’m in my sixth and final lap.

The idea behind my routine was simple; once food enters your body, it’s either used for energy, stored as glycogen, or converted to fat when your glycogen stores are full. My goal was to make sure my body used that energy immediately. That’s why I walked after every meal and followed it with 100 pull-ups.

With that setup, I was clocking around 13,000 to 15,000 steps a day. But honestly, you don’t need that much. Research shows that 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day works just fine. I didn’t run, jog or do any HIIT workouts. Just walking. Slow, deliberate, steady. Turns out, walking burns fat more efficiently than running because it taps into fat stores for energy while high-intensity workouts (eg. running, jogging, skipping) mostly burn glycogen.

At the end of the day, getting results comes down to being intentional. You’ll have to trade comfort for progress. You’ll have to push your body until your mind catches up or perhaps it’s the other way around. I have this mantra I live by: humans are good at adapting. Whatever feels unbearable now will eventually become normal. And like my mum always says, ‘the boiling water always cools down’.

When I started cutting, it was brutal. I eat a lot so dropping into a deficit felt like torture. There were nights I went to bed at 8 p.m. just to escape the hunger. But by week six, everything changed. My body adjusted. My mind adapted. The system synced.

Take a chance on yourself. Surround yourself with the right people. Be patient. Be consistent. And you’ll realize there’s really nothing you can’t do when you set your mind to it and this goes beyond the scope of the cut. It’s a principle which applies to every domain of life.

3. Rest & Recovery

Adequate rest during a cut is crucial for so many reasons. And I’m not just talking about getting 6–8 hours of sleep a night. I mean the mental and physical reset your body needs to function. Stress elevates cortisol and cortisol plays a huge role in weight gain and fluid retention.

But here’s the ironic part, rest was the one thing I didn’t do well.
I’m usually an early sleeper. The type to be in bed by 8:30 or 9 p.m. unless I have an assignment or some late-night studying to wrap up. But my cut landed right in the middle of the most chaotic part of my academic year: my senior clerkship exams in paediatrics and my MBChB Final Part II. So yes, I was burning the midnight candle.

If you nor pass how you go take explain say you burn midnight candle?

During that period, every second mattered. Every gym session doubled as a lecture session. AirPods in, treadmill moving, brain working. Every walk was a study break and a study moment. My sleep schedule fell apart but that’s a story for another day. For now, let’s stay with the cut.

Naturally, your body needs time to repair and rebuild because rest is part of growth. If you have the privilege of prioritizing rest, do it. I’m convinced my results would’ve been even better if I’d had the luxury of sleeping like a normal human being.

This blog post wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t talk about consistency. Consistency doesn’t mean giving 100% every day. It means showing up. Even if your best that day is 5%. Little drops really do make a mighty ocean. You’ll need to callous your mind and stay focused on your goal. And I won’t sugarcoat it, I developed some unhealthy habits along the way. My body dysmorphia peaked and counting every calorie started to mess with my head. The obsession wasn’t healthy. It’s better now, but traces still show up in my daily life. I’m sharing all of this because I want you to know you’re not alone. If you ever find yourself on a similar journey, maybe this offers some clarity or at least someone to relate to. Be gentle with yourself. My approach was aggressive because I wanted fast results. But the truth is, weight loss takes time.

A little tip: I weighed myself only once a week. On Sunday mornings, right after waking up and before my morning walk. I don’t recommend weighing yourself every day. Our weight fluctuates for a hundred different reasons: water intake, bloating, hormones (especially during shark week for females), stress, sleep… the list goes on. Daily weigh-ins can be discouraging and misleading. What helped me the most was taking progress photos every three days, from the start of the cut to the final day. Pictures don’t lie and they capture change long before the scale does.

In all honesty, this cut ranks high on the list of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Like I’ve aforementioned, circumstances surrounding my cut made it even tougher. I began my cut on the 28th of July, 2025 and ended on the 20th of October, 2025. I started at 88 kg and ended at 74.6 kg, with a body fat percentage of 12.4% and these are the changes I noticed.

• I feel lighter.
• Bodyweight movements like pull-ups and push-ups are so much easier.
• My shirts are still a good fit but my pants don’t fit anymore. My waist dropped from a 34 to a 30.
• My face leaned out.
• My veins popped out more but I was especially impressed when I started seeing veins in my quads during the peak of my cut.
• And most importantly, I gained a healthier understanding of food and my relationship with it.

I ended the cut in a very maintainable place. For me, 12.4% body fat is sustainable. It gives room for the occasional cheat meal while still staying lean.

For now, I want to maintain my current physique. I’ll keep eating clean, leave space for cravings, hit the gym consistently and maintain my 10,000+ steps a day. School is currently on break, so I’ve been staying active by going to the gym twice daily (weight lifting sessions in the morning and cardio in the evening), walking before and after lunch, daily 100 pull-ups, hitting 10,000+ steps daily and swimming three to four times a week. It’s been great so far and I’m honestly enjoying it. Walking doesn’t even feel like a task anymore. At this point I’m convinced I could walk from Tseaddo-La all the way to Kasoa without breaking a sweat.

Before I wrap up, I want to leave you with this. I’m no discipline guru. Lord knows I have my days. But from the few experiences I have had, I believe true discipline is when your identity becomes so clear that you stop negotiating with your feelings. There is nothing you can’t do once you’ve made up your mind so this might just be your sign. Whatever’s been sitting on your to-do list for a little too long, take this as your sign to finally cross it off.

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you so much for making it to the end of this post, I genuinely appreciate it. I pour a lot of myself into these blog posts, and it means a lot that you’re here. I’m excited to share whatever self-experiment I dive into next.

If you enjoyed this or found it helpful, feel free to leave a like, drop a comment, or share it with a friend. It really helps support my blog and keeps this space going. Don’t let all this online vulnerability be in vain lol. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, you can leave them in the comments or reach out through my social buttons. I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Thanks again, and here’s to an amazing rest of the year.❤️

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