Time to cut?!

[Geovicsha]

TL;DR:
94kg to 64kg. Entered skinny fat. Currently 82-83kg and doing Starting Strength but feel I’ve got too much fat again.
Keep bulking or time to cut?

Hey guys,

Firstly, I shall sum up my history: from late December 2007 to middle of 2008 I went from 92kg to 68kg. I did so the old method: counting calories, eating healthy, and exercising. However, one problem: I did no strength training whatsoever; only cardio. While I reached, for the first time since I was 8, a healthy weight, I still had excessive body fat on me: I researched this, and I was in a stage called “skinny-fat”. On the one hand I developed more confidence, but I still wasn’t satisfied. After thinking I needed to lose more weight, I reached a low of 64kg, but the fat remained. I realised the problem was that I lacked muscle.

I had a pretty unsuccessful attempt at gaining muscle from December 2008 to February 2009; I simply didn’t eat enough. During the uni year of 2009 I didn’t really care, more or less hovering around the late 60kg’s. I had a better attempt from December 2009 to May 2010 to gain muscle, doing StrongLifts 5x5, reaching 73kg-74kg. I loved the feeling of noticing my strength improving; it was – and still is – a wonderful feeling.

In October 2010, I moved houses and my roommate had his own weights and bench, allowing me to do everything I need. I started Stronglifts, counted calories, protein, carbs, and fat (using MyFitnessPal) and now in March 2011 I have reached about 82-83kg.

Since starting full time work in January 2011, I haven’t been as strict with my diet as I should be. I have opted for a few pizzas, and Chicken Deluxe burgers from McDonalds have been an occasional treat (not the worst thing to get at McDonalds, though!) But except for the past two weeks, I have been rather consistent with my weights.

I have ceased cardio altogether for the past month, and I fear I am putting on quite a bit of fat. I guess the start of a full time job has just made it more difficult than assumed to adjust my routine accordingly. But, at the same time, when one has a caloric surplus, it is inevitable I am going to put on muscle as well as fat. See here:

It just sucks I’ve noticed a substantial amount of fat on my belly, and now to a lesser extent on my neck/chin again, making me seem I have a double chin.

So, three different options have been floating around my head, and I’ve come here for advise on which ones:

1) Keep doing what I’m doing, however make my diet more stricter. Eat about 2,600-3000 calories a day, do Starting Strength for a few more months before I start cutting. If so: should I eat less on my non workout days, or make it regular? E.g: Have less milk on non workout days?

2) As the same as 1, but incorporate cardio/jogs about 2-3 times a week. This is somewhat hard with a full time job, though on Wednesday – for the first time since I ever started exercising – I got up at 6am and went on a morning jog. I did strength training in the evening (apparently this is the better order?). This will allow me to fasten up my metabolism, eat more, and minimize more fat gain.

3) Start cutting now? Being skinny fat to start with, I should do so imminently before I gain even more fat?

I haven’t been counting calories lately, more or less using my better judgement, but these kind of foods circulate my diet regularly:
- Chicken salad rolls
- Musuli
- Oats
- Apples
- Bananas
- Hard boiled eggs
- Nuts
- Up & Go Shakes (occasionally)
- 3 litres of low fat mil
- Grapes
- Oranges
- Wholemeal bread
- Tuna: Sweet chilli, Springwater, Smoked
- Lettuce
- Peanut butter (occasionally)
- Ham

I apologise it isn’t a concrete diet plan including calories. If it is of help, I can post one tomorrow/Sunday?

Moreover, here are my current working sets:

Squats:
100kg/220lb – 3x5

Bench:
60kg/132lb – 3x5

Overhead Press:
45kg/99lb – 3x5

Deadlifts:
100/220lb – 1x5

As well as starting strength, sometimes in between sets I do tricep extensions, shrugs, and dumbbell curls with 20kg dumbbells. 15kg for lateral raises.

So, any advise on where I go from here would be much appreciated. Keep going and face the fact I’ll put on fat, or time to cut?

I shall post some pics to help out as well tomorrow/Sunday if you’d like.

Cheers guys!
Shannon

P.S: I understand this is more of a weight loss forum, and this post is more about strength training and potentially losing weight, but this was the forum that initially helped me a few years ago, and I wanted to come back to the old haunt.

 

[Jeanette401]

It sort of depends on what's easiest for you - generally cutting is the most effective in terms of total time to reach your goal. Leangains also has a protocol where you alternate between high calorie/muscle gaining days and low cal/weight loss days.

I've tried both, and right now I'm on a cut phase but allow myself to go slightly above maintenance on strength training days (2 a week).

Do you have an idea of what your BF is actually at? I think I recall advice that basically said if you're a male and over 18% BF it's time to cut again.

My own advice would be to check out leangains and look at the 'diet' days and workout days and see how that works first. If it doesn't seem to be working well, try a full cut.

Hope that helps!

 

[fortyfour]

I am not a gym junkie so i can't come at your question from that angle.

You don't tell us how tall you are. But you can look up how much your healthy weight range is. Personally i believe your weight should be in this range with all your muscle.

I think you should aim for that and to do this you will have to cut out some calories. Are you really drinking 3 litres of milk a day. That is far too much.

Keep nuts to a minimum. If you eating meat, I"d cut them out altogether unless you find it easy to restrict them. I don't. They are too delicious.

Meusli is often high fat and high sugar. Revert to oats and put fresh chopped fruit on it. Again its too yummy and hard not to keep on eating more than you should.

Try and include more vegetables in your diet. You can steam vegies and then for a bit of added interest, add a little olive oil at the end or saute some garlic in a little polyunsaturated vegetable oil and toss in the steamed vegetables. Its too easy. Just 1tsp should be enough.

The brand of tuna i like the best is sirena. Its in oil though. If you like the springwater version that's good.

If you want to find more protein foods, try also canned brown or green lentils and make a salad with it by adding chopped salad vegetables and a dressing of lemon juice or vinegar and a little olive oil. Its pretty yummy and dead easy. Also other canned beans can be used this way. Or you can buy dried beans and soak and cook them up yourself if you are really kean.

Well they are some of my tips.

 

[Bricka]

I notice you intend to eat around 2600 to 3000 diaries. You are roughly 80kg, which is roughly 140 lbs(ish)

I'm guessing you are in quite a caloric surplus. I am 100kg (tall guy and still slightly overweight) but 2600 calories is much higher than my BMR, which is roughly 2250 calories.

It tales roughly 3000 calories (above your BSR) to gain 1lb.

By my estimates, the excess fat has very slowly but surely crept up on you.

I would suggest a greater cut in calories, and perhaps a different weight training program. It could be that if you havent changed your program, it's in need of a change.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Jynus]

I notice you intend to eat around 2600 to 3000 diaries. You are roughly 80kg, which is roughly 140 lbs(ish)

I'm guessing you are in quite a caloric surplus. I am 100kg (tall guy and still slightly overweight) but 2600 calories is much higher than my BMR, which is roughly 2250 calories.

It tales roughly 3000 calories (above your BSR) to gain 1lb.

By my estimates, the excess fat has very slowly but surely crept up on you.

I would suggest a greater cut in calories, and perhaps a different weight training program. It could be that if you havent changed your program, it's in need of a change.

Hope this is of some help.

Strength training, if done properly, (as in lifting to your max effort levels) will completely blow your metabolism through the roof. I easily get a 100% increase in my metabolism from when I'm training to when I'm not. Olympic Strength Training athletes eat over 10k calories a day to gain weight. So it's more than possible that 2600 calories is perfectly fine for her.

The issue is keeping up normal caloric intake, while being slopping in routine, so lbs are starting to creep back.

It's a month old, but if you're reading this still, cut calories by a few hundred, mostly from carb sources if you can, and keep at your normal routine. Add in a couple cardio days, or sports, or whatever as well.