Endomorph dieting/training problems galore!!

[shanks911]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any helpful suggestions for me, my situation is I'm male, 20yrs old, currently about 155lbs, 5ft9in. I used to weigh around 180lbs (being an extreme endo my weight is very erratic! also I had/have rounded features - wide hips, rounded stomach, large thighs). Being unhappy with my bodyweight and more specifically, bodyshape, I underwent a 2/3month cutting phase during which I lost around 20-25lbs through strict dieting (11-1500cals) and occasional cardio.

My weight then settled around 150-154, and I was pleased with this, however, I felt that I was becoming a little TOO lightweight. And although I lost a lot of weight, I'm not too sure how much of it was actually fat, and how much was muscle. Post-cut I was definitely slightly leaner and tighter in all the right places, but I now have a lack of muscle size/definition.

Now I want to re-gain some of the lost mass, through exercise and dieting, and I want it to be muscle rather than fat. However, my diet is posing a huge problem for me as I can put on weight by just looking at food!.. My metabolism is THAT slow. I'm not a compulsive junk-food eater, I lost all those compulsions a long time ago. I recently started a bulking diet, it was very clean, contained a lot of protein and very little fat, yet the simple number of calories (around 2k) was enough to bring back a hint of a pouchy stomach. I stopped the bulking diet about a week in as I was apprehensive of how far the stomach fat would progress.

If I can tweak my routine somehow to allow for a bulking phase, I'd like to continue weights for a year or so, primarily as an experimental exercise - I enjoy exploring what happens to my body when I try new things!!

I have a fairly well-rounded weights program set-up and I am confident on that front, however I have a few, mainly diet-related questions I hope someone can answer for me!!..

1) What (approximately) would be an ideal weight for me to stop at, once I've bulked - I'm 5.9, small frame, currently 155ish lb. I don't want to be popping out of my shirt or anything - just want to have a medium-sized upper body and a trim mid-section.

2) How on earth do I tweak my diet to stop the fat piling on?!, esp to my midsection (I am aware of the dangers of complex carbs n certain sugars late in the evening and I try to only have them post workout - I think the problem is just that my body metabolises food so slowly??)

3) What foods would be best during my bulking phase, considering I have a requirement of the absolute minimum amount of fat with high protein. I have down chicken breast, nuts, protein shakes (2 a day),peanut butter - but I feel I need more to chose from.. I have a very basic pallette so I won't be eating anything fancy, I just would like more basic meal-options!.. And again, fats, at least, saturated fats are an absolute no-no for me!..

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/hints/criticisms!..

Kal

 

[davidjr74]

Try adding on weight more slowly. Get your mainteance calories and add 250 rather then 500. We would also get a better idea of your situation if you can post exactly what you are eating. Good job with the weight loss by the way.

 

[shanks911]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply!.. I think adding the weight more slowly may actually be an idea.. However, the cal jump wasn't THAT great now that I think about it.. I was on maintenance (abt 1650-1750) and then i jumped to 2k so it wasn't really that much of a hike.. I was thinking eventually my cals would get to about 2k+, mid-bulk.. But I don't see how, going on what's happened so far!!

And as for what I'm currently eating, or what I was on the initial bulk-plan, it was a case of.........

Morning Meal - abt 500cals?
2xScrambled Eggs (inc yolks, i likesme cholesterol lol)
made using 2/3 tablespoons of Olive oil
4x Slices of Wholemeal bread.
1x Protein shake (230ml milk, 20g protein)

Lunch-ish Meal - abt 380 cals
1x Tuna Mayo (30g protein) (VERY light mayo, hardly any fat at all and very lo-cal)
2x Slices Wholemeal Bread

Afternoon meal - 300cals
Oats (raw, uncooked in nofat milk) with chopped apple.

Evening meal
Jacket potato with baked beans..
With protein shake

This is just a basic template, showing SOME of the meals I'd have. I'd throw in some chicken breast, some roasted nuts here and there to bump up the cals and the odd bit of fruit. I really don't have a wide choice of foods in mind, I stick to this and I tend do overdo it on the protein shakes sometimes as it seems like a good way to bump up the protein stats but I'd really rather not have so many shakes!!..

I hope this is enough of a guide of what I'm eating? I stopped logging everything I ate after I came off the cut - I just thought "I'm getting bigger, I'll just eat till I'm full!" lol but then obviously I did some research and that went to pot!..

Thanks again!!.. And thanks for the comment on the weight-loss!!.. (But I was never a huge tub of lard or anything so it wasn't a huge achievement, not that I'm not proud, it's just that I don't want people thinking I underwent a gargantuan cut!!)