Weight loss - bulking : when and how to transition ?

AskMorphis

Hello everyone !

I've started using MFP last december : I am a male, 1m74 (5'9''), and went from 94.7kg (209 lbs) to 74kg (163 lbs). I just reach healthy BMI, but I haven't reached my goal yet. I'm starting to think about it though, and what the future is made of. My current goal is 66kg (146 lbs), which is basically mid range healthy BMI. But it's not where I want to stop : eventually, I'd like to start bulking.

So far, I'm exercising regularly. I'm exercising everyday, but I'm not doing the same thing everyday, I'm alternating strength training/running and cardio so that some muscles rest for a day while others are working.
My "strategy" so far, exercise wise is mainly to push me to integrate exercise in my daily routine (which is pretty much done now), to do enough to make losing weight easier, and to try to minimize muscle loss while losing weight.

What I was thinking of doing was to :
1) Keep on doing what I'm doing (focusing on weight loss) until I reach my goal. This should happen in a few months if everything keeps going well.
2) Set a different goal for 1 year : maintain the weight. It's for a few reasons : I know yoyoing is a thing, I think I made the choice of a lifestyle change rather than a diet, and I think I can keep on doing what I'm currently doing for the rest of my life. Thus, I think I'll be ok, but I want to be sure : slow and steady ! Moreover, as far as I know, bulking involves eating more calories than your TDEE, so I want to make the transition between weight loss a weight gain smooth : I am not searching for a quick solution, and so far giving it time and being patient has helped a lot.
3) Then, try to bulk. I have no idea yet on how to go about doing that, but I'll try to learn at the appropriate time.

What do you think about all of that ? Among other things, do you think my current weight loss goal is a fine weight to start bulking ? Is it a good idea to first try to maintain the weight loss before bulking ? Should I change my fitness goals now, or wait for the weight loss to be over ?

Rusty740

AskMorphis wrote: »

Hello everyone !

I've started using MFP last december : I am a male, 1m74 (5'9''), and went from 94.7kg (209 lbs) to 74kg (163 lbs). I just reach healthy BMI, but I haven't reached my goal yet. I'm starting to think about it though, and what the future is made of. My current goal is 66kg (146 lbs), which is basically mid range healthy BMI. But it's not where I want to stop : eventually, I'd like to start bulking.

So far, I'm exercising regularly. I'm exercising everyday, but I'm not doing the same thing everyday, I'm alternating strength training/running and cardio so that some muscles rest for a day while others are working.
My "strategy" so far, exercise wise is mainly to push me to integrate exercise in my daily routine (which is pretty much done now), to do enough to make losing weight easier, and to try to minimize muscle loss while losing weight.

What I was thinking of doing was to :
1) Keep on doing what I'm doing (focusing on weight loss) until I reach my goal. This should happen in a few months if everything keeps going well.
2) Set a different goal for 1 year : maintain the weight. It's for a few reasons : I know yoyoing is a thing, I think I made the choice of a lifestyle change rather than a diet, and I think I can keep on doing what I'm currently doing for the rest of my life. Thus, I think I'll be ok, but I want to be sure : slow and steady ! Moreover, as far as I know, bulking involves eating more calories than your TDEE, so I want to make the transition between weight loss a weight gain smooth : I am not searching for a quick solution, and so far giving it time and being patient has helped a lot.
3) Then, try to bulk. I have no idea yet on how to go about doing that, but I'll try to learn at the appropriate time.

What do you think about all of that ? Among other things, do you think my current weight loss goal is a fine weight to start bulking ? Is it a good idea to first try to maintain the weight loss before bulking ? Should I change my fitness goals now, or wait for the weight loss to be over ?

Excellent post, good strategy so far. It is good that you are looking forward, best that you acknowledge you think you can do this the rest of your life, that's the ticket to success right there.

Because you want to bulk eventually, and your roadmap goes through 146 (which is correct, to lose bodyfat, then bulk), you should make sure of two things during your weight loss 1) make sure you are lifting using a decent weightlifting program with progressive overload (you won't be able to overload much if any during a cut, but that's ok, just do your best to keep the weights from decreasing) 2) ensure you are getting enough protein to help you keep your muscle on the way to losing fat. During a long weight loss, more muscle is lost, the easiest way to shorten any bulk you might do is to keep as much muscle as you have currently, so definitely focus on lifting and protein. A decent protein number for this is about 1g/lb bodyweight. It's more than your body needs normally, but helps keeping muscle and helps with satiety. When you finally do reach your goal, you can drop your protein to a normal amount for maintenance.

If you decide to maintain for a year, I think that is a good strategy, just to dial in the maintenance lifestyle if that's what you want to do, I'd definitely not try to tell you otherwise. You know yourself.