Bulk? Keep Cutting? Need help and support!

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SoulDaemon
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Bulk? Keep Cutting? Need help and support!

Post by SoulDaemon »

I’m 5’8”, 158lbs. http://imgur.com/a/FKiBd. I’m trying to figure out if I can “bulk” for a bit or if I need to keep trying to lose some more weight first.

Background:
I started a little over two years ago at 230lbs. I looked in the mirror, realized just how fat I had gotten and decided to do something about it. I started off with P90x, did a few other programs since as well to keep things new and interesting. About a year ago I did a stint of 6 months where I did pure weights to try and get stronger…which worked but I hit a hard wall because I was still cutting calories. Now I do cardio 3x a week and bodyweight exercises/cardio the other three. I’ve plateaued several times and gotten over it by changing routine and cleaning up eating habits. I’ve never set foot in a gym yet either, it’s all been at-home with a bench, dumbbells and good old fashioned sweat. So far, so good.

So I mentioned these plateaus I’ve hit? I think I’m back on one. I’ve been between 157 and 160 for the last month and a half and I can’t seem to lose any more weight. I’ve boiled diet down to chicken/rice/broccoli with nuts and cheeses for snacks, but it isn’t helping this time. I’m eating between 1500 and 1600 calories a day and I’m afraid to cut much more out - I’m already hungry often enough as it is.

It’s like I’ve been losing weight so long body has just decided it is done losing. Can I do a few months of a light bulk at like 2100 calories, just to reset everything before trying another cut later on or will I just be sabotaging past efforts? I can’t really tell what is fat and what is just extra skin anymore. It’s all around midsection while chest/legs are skinny and tight.

I need some encouragement/suggestions as to where to go from here. Getting tired of being constantly hungry for the last year and change and I’m anxious to start putting on muscle.
Thanks!
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Boss Man
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Re: Bulk? Keep Cutting? Need help and support!

Post by Boss Man »

Hi SD, good to talk to you.

Firstly CONGRATS on the weight loss and yes your calories are too low and you didn't really need to go that low to lose the weight.

An extra pound of muscle burns and extra 45-50 calories per day, so that should help once you get on a bulk, but I think you should follow for now, a regime of 2,500 calories a day with 6 meals, working off an approximate ratio of 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat, so that works out at around 1,000 calories protein, 750 calories carbs and 750 calories fat, or around 666 calories protein per meal, 125 calories carbs, 125 calories fat.

So in grams it's 250 grams protein, 187.5 carbs and roughly 83 grams of fat per day.

Don't be about these things, just aim for the ballpark amount and for now keep the training the same, as you need to allow the diet to start working for you and if you change the training you might compromise the effects of the eating and without any isolation effect, you'd make it harder to analyse the effects of the eating, whereas if changes to your eating are the one thing you do, then you'll be able to monitor how it goes for 4 weeks minimum, before considering any training changes.

You may find you gain a little fat for a while possibly, as your body is suddenly becoming accustomed to around 800-990 more calories per day, but as the muscle comes, with any luck and your body adjusts, the fat should, if it goes up, come down a bit again and you'll hopefully find yourself gaining a better muscle to fat ratio within the first 3 months and then beyond.
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sveek
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Re: Bulk? Keep Cutting? Need help and support!

Post by sveek »

With winter coming up I would do a very clean bulk till around March then start cutting down for the summer.
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