Advice on cutting body fat and adding muscle

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craighasmillie
craighasmillie Posts: 4 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
3 months ago I started lifting weights and can feel myself getting stronger. However I am at a stage where I need advice and direction.

I am a 6' 2 male and at the start of February 2017 I weighed 189lb with BF at 24.1%. My figures are now 175lb and 20.4% BF. With this amount of BF I still feel flabby but skinny and my clothes are falling off me! I really don't want to lose any more weight but obviously want my BF to be lower than it is just now.

My aim is really just to look good and have more definition with less flab. The advice I am after is essentially, do I keep "cutting" to get down to BF in the region of 15% and then try to "bulk"? I am concerned that at the rate I am losing weight just now I will need to get down to 160-165lbs to do this. I have read about recomposition but I am clueless about how to do this in terms of daily calorie intake and macros. I currently lift 3-4 times a week and on those days I am consuming 2000-2400 calories and on the other days around 1800-2000.

Replies

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    At 20% bodyfat you aren't in a good place to bulk. I would cut down to sub 15% before considering trying to gain muscle.

    1) Calorie deficit
    2) Lift weights
    3) Be patient
    4) Don't worry about the scale
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    craighasmillie wrote: »
    I have read about recomposition but I am clueless about how to do this in terms of daily calorie intake and macros. .

    Train hard, calories roundabout maintenance calories, macros not particularly important but get sufficient protein.
    There's nothing complex about it.
  • craighasmillie
    craighasmillie Posts: 4 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    At 20% bodyfat you aren't in a good place to bulk. I would cut down to sub 15% before considering trying to gain muscle.

    1) Calorie deficit
    2) Lift weights
    3) Be patient
    4) Don't worry about the scale

    Thanks. I think point 3 and 4 are very valid and something I keep trying to tell myself. I just worry what I will look like at 15% or less with only 135-140 lbm....!!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    How are you measuring body fat?
  • mattyice1989
    mattyice1989 Posts: 18 Member
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    I feel you on this @craighasmillie. It's frustrating trying to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss but it's an inevitable juggling process while cutting, at least in my experience. I think refining your diet (macro split, total calories for the day, nutrition timing, etc.) based on results over time is an important piece of the puzzle but my main suggestions have already been mentioned above: continue operating day to day at a caloric deficit while making sure that you're progressively overloading your muscles, i.e. that you're pushing yourself in the gym while lifting.
  • craighasmillie
    craighasmillie Posts: 4 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    How are you measuring body fat?

    Only on a scale. I know this will not be absolutely 100% accurate but accept it will be to perhaps within 0.5%. I have also used a mathematical formula incorporating height, weight and BMI and this comes in at virtually the same.

    As I said above, I can keep "cutting" but even getting down to 15%, in a best case scenario where I only lose fat from now on, I am going to come in at 164lbs. I haven't been that weight since I was about 15 and for a 6'2, 40 year old man getting down to that weight now will be a hard slog. I reckon I may look like an unhealthy rake with no clothes that fit........
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    craighasmillie wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    How are you measuring body fat?

    Only on a scale. I know this will not be absolutely 100% accurate but accept it will be to perhaps within 0.5%. I have also used a mathematical formula incorporating height, weight and BMI and this comes in at virtually the same.

    As I said above, I can keep "cutting" but even getting down to 15%, in a best case scenario where I only lose fat from now on, I am going to come in at 164lbs. I haven't been that weight since I was about 15 and for a 6'2, 40 year old man getting down to that weight now will be a hard slog. I reckon I may look like an unhealthy rake with no clothes that fit........

    So I ask because of this. Depending on how I set up my scale (athlete vs not) my scale body fat ranges from 9% to 22%. An 11 point caliper test has me pegged at 16% (well as of 6 lbs ago). I am almost 35, 5'11, 173. If you get to a point where your stomach is fairly flat or have some ab definition, you may consider bulking. Or posting pictures could be helpful too.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    OP - take your deficit down to .5 pound per week, get on a structured lifting program, an then when you get to 15% body fat re-assess your goals...
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    OP, I would get an accurate BF scan, DeXA or bod pod or hydrostatic. I'm in the same boat, lost 60+ lbs but too much was lean body mass (too fast and no lifting) and now I'm at ideal weight (165), but 20% BF. I'm just going to suck it up and lose another 10-15, but slowly so I retain lean mass. I won't look great at 150, but I'll be in a better position to gain more muscle as I bulk back to 165.
  • craighasmillie
    craighasmillie Posts: 4 Member
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    Thanks for all the advice so far. Given me a bit of reassurance and a confidence boost to keep at it
  • blizzasco
    blizzasco Posts: 1 Member
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    OP, have you looked into time-restricted eating (a.k.a. circadian fasting)? Studies show dramatic positive effects -
    decreased body fat and increased lean muscle growth even without changing any other factors. Check out anything that Dr. Rhonda Patrick has written or recorded on this. This discussion between her and Joe Rogan is long, but ridiculously interesting, and they get pretty deep into TRE and its effects - if you have a chance to listen to it, her guest appearance on the Tim Ferris Show is similarly fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxM_CLsvieE
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    blizzasco wrote: »
    OP, have you looked into time-restricted eating (a.k.a. circadian fasting)? Studies show dramatic positive effects -
    decreased body fat and increased lean muscle growth even without changing any other factors. Check out anything that Dr. Rhonda Patrick has written or recorded on this. This discussion between her and Joe Rogan is long, but ridiculously interesting, and they get pretty deep into TRE and its effects - if you have a chance to listen to it, her guest appearance on the Tim Ferris Show is similarly fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxM_CLsvieE

    nope, IF, warrior diet, etc are not going to change the fundamentals of physics and energy balances...

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