I also recommend counting calories and attempting to lose as much fat weight as possible. You could easily lose around 5-10 pounds in 6 weeks. However, if you are already lean and don't have much fat to lose, it will be more difficult or impossible. Then consider cutting water.

If you need to cut water weight, start practicing now. A guy at our gym fights pro and he says when he is active he cuts water weight once or twice a month so his body is used to it. He has suddenly cut 15 pounds without practicing taking a last minute fight and got destroyed. One of his only losses.

I cut water weight for my first tournament and I wish I had practiced. I was drained at the tournament. But it was really hard mentally and physically and I don't know how many times I could do it. It really sucked. That whole week before the tourney was torture. Maybe it get's easier the more times? Also my scale was off and I lost 3 more pounds than needed.

People here will say don't do it, but a lot of people at tournaments were clearly doing it. It's not so much of an advantage unless you are cutting more than 10 pounds (since everyone is doing it). Most people were 1 lb to .1 pound less than the max for their weight class. Jugging pedialytes right after weighing in. Talking about cutting weight in line, etc, etc. A lot of people do it, especially when weigh ins are the night before. If you are at the very bottom of a weight class in a small tournament, you will be going up against people much bigger than you and that won't be fun. If they cut weight they could be 15-25 pounds bigger.

However, it is probably better to compete at or around your natural weight. You will have the edge on being 100% against people who cut and are only 50% - 80% depending on how sensible they were about the cut and how their body reacts. Recovering from cutting water is really hard on your body. This is why I recommend practicing if you decide to do it.

But it isn't necessary and competing at a natural weight would be nice. You get to focus on training with no added stress or worry. If you practice you will know that you can do it and it will be less worrisome. I overdid it on mine because I already sacrificed so much to make weight, I was terrified of not making weight. Then at the tournament I was more afraid of failing because I had sacrificed so much to get into my weight class.

My tips: Research water cuts now and have a solid plan (most plans start two weeks out from competition). The most important part is how much water you drink 7 days before, 6 days before, 5 days before, etc. You do it in a very specific way to manipulate your body and it is much easier on you if you do it this way. Practice it at least once and train the same day / following day to see how you feel. Invest in a good quality accurate scale. Plan your meal immediately following weigh ins. Bring an electrolyte drink (pedialyte is good), then 5-20 minutes later eat a small snack, then have a carb heavy meal. Pasta with red sauce is good. Don't attempt to lose more than 3 pounds if weigh ins are the same day as the tournament. You can lose much more the night before, but that will depend on how your practice runs go.