Started cutting 3 weeks ago - noticing strength loss

For anyone who's been lifting may be able to answer this.

So basically I started gyming like a month or so ago properly, and I had around 20% BF, couldnt see abs or anything and kept lifting with basic protein intake knowledge. I was noticing gains in size and primarily strength.

3 weeks ago, my friend told me to cut down fat and get to around 13-14% BF then start bulking, but I asked if I should take advantage of the 'newbie effect' that you get when you first start lifting but he told me to cut down because at 20% BF I'll just make it harder for myself to lose the fat later.

So yeah I was like sure, and in 3 weeks I've seen progress in losing fat/weight but at the same time I can't lift as much as I used (lost strength) and losing size in my arms/chest and whatnot. Is this normal? Also I'm planning on taking 2 weeks off gym because I'm heading overseas.

 

Yes, completely normal. It's a cutting cycle. The point is to loose fat but in turn you loose some overall bulk. When you're back off of it, it will come back fairly fast.

 

Also, as I said ill most likely take 2-3 weeks off gym but still try to do whatever I can such as pullups or whatnot whenever possible.

If I took that long off, how long will it take to recover losses?

 

Its normal. You eating less = less energy to lift. Think about powerlifters. A lot of them are fat but they are the strongest in the world.

 

lemme explain when you cut you can't cut only fat and maintain all your muscle your gonna cut a decent ammount of your muscle with it but to get less muscle lose i'd do a long run cut like no cardio just clean foods and intense workouts so you probally will maintain alot of muscle and your lift stats wont drop what i did.