Opinions wanted

SkepticalOwl

Hi all,

Here is a picture showing my progress from October last year to today. In that time I've lost about 10 pounds (I'm 43, 5'7", now 119 lbs), 1" off my chest, and 2" off my hips (none from my waist, bleh). I did a bulk and cut in between, though the bulk was a bit more aggressive in terms of fat than I would have liked. I have also taken about 4 minutes off my 5K time and am running more, and enjoying it more than I have in years.

So the question is: I'm not all that happy in terms of the fat I can still see in the picture -- I'd really like to be able to see my abs better. At the same time, I'm skirting the lower end of the healthy BMI range. So should I try to recomp at maintenance (still trying to figure out exactly what that is, but I think around 2200 cals/day with the amount of cardio I enjoy doing) or should I do another bulk and cut? In terms of my diet I try to get about 100 g of protein daily (my diary is open) and I've been trying to reverse diet out of a deficit that's probably been too large.

I'd appreciate well considered advice and opinions.

Thanks!

Pmagnanifit

Since you are happy and feel good I'd vote for maintaining. 119 is thin.
Lift more .

Sarauk2sf

Do you have any other goals re body composition? For example, increasing the size of dat booty, showing more muscle definition elsewhere?

How long have you been lifting and what does your program look like?

SkepticalOwl

I've been lifting since June, trying to do SL, but not keeping it up very well in the past month for a variety of reasons having to do with work and family scheduling, mostly. I must admit that I love doing cardio, running usually, but some other stuff too; OTOH, I have a hard time getting motivated to lift. I think this might be from trying to do too much on a deficit, so my main goal right now is to increase calories slowly to find out where maintenance is for me.

As far as other goals, booty would be nice! My upper body definition is pretty good-- I'll try to post pics that show it. I would also like some more muscle all over, my ribs are a little to prominent right now!

Thanks for the input!

_benjammin

I don't see too much fat. You say your deficit was probably too large and lots of cardio and no love for lifting. That = muscle loss. I got lean and wasn't happy with my abs too. Don't believe the "Abs are made in the kitchen" saying. More like abs are "revealed" in the kitchen. Abs are "made" by doing heavy compound lifts and/or heavy ab exercises. I think your plan to reverse into maintenance is a good approach. If you don't like the SL program and want to work on your booty maybe try Brett Contreras's Strong Curves. http://bretcontreras.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Strong-Curves-Womans-Building-Better/dp/1936608642

SkepticalOwl

Here are some pictures so you can see my upper body definition.

@_benjamin: I think you're right that I must have lost quite a bit of lean mass. I'm looking pretty bony in these...






Thanks again for the help!

ETA: sorry for the poor quality on the last two. I haven't mastered the art of the "back selfie" yet. LOL.

DopeItUp

Well, you've certainly got some leanness going on there. You can basically see your entire spine and even the ribs in the center of your chest. I think you've got some...unfortunate genetics as far as fat placement. If I were you I'd probably keep focusing on bulking and cutting. Recomp won't hurt but a lot of people find the process limited and excruciatingly slow.

DopeItUp

PS - your delts are excellent. Nice work.

SkepticalOwl

@Dope: LOL "unfortunate genetics." Thanks for the feedback!

_benjammin

A slow bulk (1-2 pounds per month) may result in some recomping.
Your diary looks like your still in a deficit.

Pmagnanifit

You won't like this but core work- including obliques will increase your an circumference. You will look firmer in the middle. I am 42. To get stronger I had to accept that my waist measurement could not shrink.

SkepticalOwl

_benjammin wrote: »

A slow bulk (1-2 pounds per month) may result in some recomping.
Your diary looks like your still in a deficit.

Yes, I am still in a deficit. I'm reverse dieting to find out what maintenance is for me. I've been trying to increase calories by about 50 per day per week and cut back on cardio by about the same amount until I find maintenance. Once I find maintenance I think you're probably right that a bulk would be the way to go. I'm kind of dreading the cut, though.

_benjammin

Don't sweat the potential cut. I'm over months into a bulk with minimal fat gain and have seen year long bulks with BF% only increasing ~2%. Just gotta go slow. Patience. Then the cut should be relatively quick and easy. I'll bet a year from now you could be 10 pounds heavy with more distinct abs.

SkepticalOwl

That sounds awesome. Thanks!

Can anyone give me some advice about upping my calories to find maintenance faster than I've been doing? I'm really sick of losing weight at this point but I don't want to overshoot, nor do I want to mistake repleting my glucogen stores for gaining fat. This week I cut my long run from 12 miles to 7, though to be honest, I'll probably increase that gradually again because I want to run a half-marathon in the not too distant future. I cut out my weekly 30 mile bike ride a couple of weeks ago. I've been trying to increase intake by 50 cal/day/week as well. Is that too few? I'm also going to a family reunion in New Orleans this weekend so I won't be able to track as well (and I won't be able to weigh daily) and I'm comfortable with going over while I'm away, so that might help a bit.

Thanks again!

_benjammin

Are you looking for a TDEE maintenance goal or a MFP maintenance goal and eating back calories? If your weekly exercise is relatively consistent I would go with TDEE and willing to bet you'd still be in a deficit at 2K with your current/recent activity level.

heybales

Go by an extra 250 daily for 2 weeks at a time.
You'd have to eat 100 daily over true maintenance for 35 days to see a slow increase of 1 lb - that's too slow.

With 250 extra daily, at least it would only take 2 weeks for that 1 lb.
Faster or more is just the water weight from the slightly depleted muscle carb stores all diets cause.
So then add another 250 beyond that for another 2 weeks.

SkepticalOwl

Ok. So I'm thinking that I need to 1) eat more and 2) decide whether I'm more interested in getting the six-pack or becoming a better runner. So far I'm not sure but I'm going to try running SL for real and cutting back some on the cardio and see how I feel. That and wrap my head around weight gain being a good thing sometimes... All in moderation, of course! This weekend I'm going to try to eat to enjoy myself while still getting enough protein, which I always find to be kind of a struggle. I'll work out as I can, probably body weight stuff and running. When I get back I'll be able to track better and I'll up calories to 1850 and cut the cardio a bit more. I can reassess in a couple of weeks and see where I am and increase intake again. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks again for all the help!

Sarauk2sf

Hi! I am going to get back to this with a longer response, so just letting you know I have not forgotten the thread.

I actually posted this on my wall the other day, which may be relevant:

"Having a 6 pack has a lot to do with genetics. Some people can be really lean and just not have them (tendons are not 'tight enough' to create that separation). You can help them out by developing your ab muscles - but that may mean that your waist thickens. I have obliques that show as they are very developed from deads and squats (never do ab work), but do not have the genetics for the separation needed for more than a hint of a '6 pack'. While I could possibly try to get them by doing ab work, its not very important to me so I will not. I suppose my point is, try not to get caught up in chasing a 6 pack, especially if genetics or other things like loose skin do not make it very attainable. Try to focus on other goals that are achievable and give you joy - getting leaner, increasing your strength/lifts, increasing your speed, increasing muscle mass, improving your health etc etc."

SkepticalOwl

This sounds very sensible. I'm going to try follow the SL program more faithfully than I've been able to recently and see how that goes. I would like to get stronger and I think I'll take the winter to work on that. It's often hard to get 3 days of lifting in because of the combination of my work schedule and the hours my gym is open on the weekends, but I think I can do a better job of it than I've been doing.