you just copped to spending $30,000 on equipment and whatever else. those two books together are excellent and cost less than $100. yes most of the info in them is available online for free but you have to search for it and put it together yourself. the whole point of lyle's books is to help people lose weight without losing strength, or to gain weight without getting overfat. so while your experience is what it is, you don't have to lose all strength while cutting quickly or slowly.
just sayin', priorities...