I'm prolly at like 22% BF how long will it take to get to like 12%?

And should my deficit be at 500? or lower like 200-300?

You'll know once you're done

Yeah ok but what should the deficit be?

Depends on the person

Specificity

20% off maintanence

This depends entirely on your goals and your tolerance for low to 0 carbs -- and whether you're taking any supps/foods to boost metabolism/for thermogenesis. It's about 3.5k calories per pound of fat loss, you can go based on that. If you know your weight and body fat % it's a pretty simple calc. You can go online to find out roughly how much energy you're losing in a day based on your activity, and you can also find out how much you're putting in by finding out how many calories you're consuming.

Should take you like 12-15 weeks if you do everything right.

One of my clients went from 25% to 17% in two months time

This post was edited by Crestron on Oct 3 2016 01:36pm

A lot of people say cut at 500 deficit.

I've read that a deficit along the lines of 750-1000 calories may be more beneficial though. I will be cutting at about a 1000 calorie deficit for 2, maybe 3 months. To do so, though, I will eat 2000 calories and add in cardio to my daily routine (rather than eating even less). I'm going from about 25% bf (could range from 23-26% honestly) to a target of 12%, starting November.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Oct 3 2016 04:05pm

Gonna piggy back this and say that if someone is doing it faster than this, they most likely won't be able to sustain it. 1%/wk is pretty decent. Some people jump a lot of fat % early because they are especially heavy, but the amount of fat/water being lost down the road will eventually see a diminishing return. 22-12 is a steeper drop than 25-17; 2% more but also a slightly less fatty physique.

Also, use the same measurements for your bf% the entire time or you'll go batshit crazy. Different devices, different results, And use the same device 3-4x if you can before accepting a result.



Couple factors here:

starting diet: if it's a MASSIVE diet you won't suffer as much with a slightly bigger deficit

energy levels/hydration: if you can stay hydrated and keep your energy up, by all means cut at a greater deficit

I found out the hard way that I can tolerate a very low carb diet. the hard way, because I had to fight cravings for a while when first experimenting.

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Oct 3 2016 04:05pm