Wondering how you guys go about dropping carbs while dieting. slowly drop them or what? I don't take in much carbs now (150g daily) but since I haven't been doing any cardio until a few days ago I'm unsure if and when I should lower them. I have about 20weeks until a show. anyways, should I immediately cut them in half or see how I lean up with the cardio within a few weeks and lower them according to that?
You'll hear/read different things from different people or different "experts", but here is one way to do it:
Your carbs are too low right now, unless you are consuming large amounts of fat. When dieting for 12 weeks or longer, your body adapts after you burn off a few pounds of fat and then it stops. For some people it happens every two weeks or so.
To counter this and keep the fat loss going, you must gradually decrease the calories a little, or increase exercise a little, or do a little of both. Your choice. But you have to be careful not to decrease calories too much, or increase exercise too much, or you'll end up dropping muscle mass too.
You should not decrease calories or increase exercise as long as your are slowly losing fat, 1 or 2 lbs per week. Even if you are not losing any weight, if you are looking more and more ripped every week, then don't change anything. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
If you notice that your body has adapted and you are no longer making progress, that's when you cut calories or increase exercise. You can cut 25g carbs if your diet is low fat, or cut 11g fat if your diet is low carb. Or instead you could increase exercise intensity or duration.
Some bodybuilders cut 25g carbs or 11g fat every two week or so, whether or not their diet is still working.
If your diet is low fat to begin with, then decrease calories from carbs only. Do not cut dietary fat if it's already low. Likewise, if your diet is low carb to begin with, then decrease calories from fat only. Do not cut carbs if they are already low.
Never cut protein, especially if you are a natural bodybuilder. Keeping your lifts relatively heavy and your protein intake relatively high is what helps naturals keep muscle mass when dieting.
Again, there are more than one way to do this, and the above are simply suggestions that have worked very well for me and for other natural bodybuilders.
Good luck!