When to stop cutting and start bulking?

batorkin

I'm down 98 pounds in the last year and my BMI is now 21. My waistline is 31.5" around the belly button, but the lowest part of my gut it is 33.5" because my skin is a bit saggy now. This seems to puts me at about 13-18% body fat as a male. My stomach is not flat by any means, I can still grab some mass there and I do not see abs.

I am eating about ~1700 calories a day and losing about .5 to 1 pound a week. I ride a bike 10-20 miles (almost every day), cardio, and lift 3 times a week. I have been told I am "skinny" which I do appear that way with clothes on, but without clothes I still have some moobs and a gut. Very "skinny fat".

Right now my plan is to keep cutting until Winter (I won't be able to bike in the cold), and focus more on bulking and lifting then. I am not really happy with how much fat I still have at my waistline, I think at about 30" it would look a lot better.

Not sure if that is a good idea or if I should start bulking now.

middlehaitch

Start maintaining. Your BMI is fine and losing more would be counter intuitive. to your goal.
This is a good time to figure out what your maintenance is so you can go into a bulk with confidence.

Do your normal routine for this time of year, using the data you have to work out your calorie burns for individual exercises, then adjust as you move into your winter routine.
Maybe hold on maintenance when you switch so you know you have your intake down pat, then increase ~250 a day if you want to bulk.

Cheers, h.

batorkin

middlehaitch wrote: »

Start maintaining. Your BMI is fine and losing more would be counter intuitive. to your goal.
This is a good time to figure out what your maintenance is so you can go into a bulk with confidence.

Do your normal routine for this time of year, using the data you have to work out your calorie burns for individual exercises, then adjust as you move into your winter routine.
Maybe hold on maintenance when you switch so you know you have your intake down pat, then increase ~250 a day if you want to bulk.

Cheers, h.

I started eating a bit more lately and I've been at 160 for last 3 weeks. My weight has stayed the same but I lost an inch off the gut. I thought I was maintaining even earlier, but whoosh 5 pounds flew off overnight after 3 weeks of nothing (and it stayed off). I kinda expect the same to happen again but we'll see!

My exercise habits has been changing (increasing) the last month, so it's really hard to figure out what's happening.

TavistockToad

tyrindor wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

Start maintaining. Your BMI is fine and losing more would be counter intuitive. to your goal.
This is a good time to figure out what your maintenance is so you can go into a bulk with confidence.

Do your normal routine for this time of year, using the data you have to work out your calorie burns for individual exercises, then adjust as you move into your winter routine.
Maybe hold on maintenance when you switch so you know you have your intake down pat, then increase ~250 a day if you want to bulk.

Cheers, h.

I started eating a bit more lately and I've been at 160 for last 3 weeks. My weight has stayed the same but I lost an inch off the gut. I thought I was maintaining even earlier, but whoosh 5 pounds flew off overnight after 3 weeks of nothing (and it stayed off). I kinda expect the same to happen again but we'll see!

My exercise habits has been changing (increasing) the last month, so it's really hard to figure out what's happening.

i doubt your maintenance is 1700 cals, so i'm sure the scale will move again.

i agree with a very small deficit or maintenance for a while. also, if you keep the deficit, add in some diet breaks.

Silentpadna

tyrindor wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

Start maintaining. Your BMI is fine and losing more would be counter intuitive. to your goal.
This is a good time to figure out what your maintenance is so you can go into a bulk with confidence.

Do your normal routine for this time of year, using the data you have to work out your calorie burns for individual exercises, then adjust as you move into your winter routine.
Maybe hold on maintenance when you switch so you know you have your intake down pat, then increase ~250 a day if you want to bulk.

Cheers, h.

I started eating a bit more lately and I've been at 160 for last 3 weeks. My weight has stayed the same but I lost an inch off the gut. I thought I was maintaining even earlier, but whoosh 5 pounds flew off overnight after 3 weeks of nothing (and it stayed off). I kinda expect the same to happen again but we'll see!

My exercise habits has been changing (increasing) the last month, so it's really hard to figure out what's happening.

When you diet for a long time and then stop for a time, that whoosh is likely some extra water weight that our favorite hormone cortisol helped you hang on to. Diet is a stress. Cortisol is a stress hormone. Cortisol is affected by diet and by exercise - especially cardio. You didn't suddenly lose more fat (or at least it's unlikely at your weight).

You're at a low BMI now, so if you were planning to bulk by lifting, I'd go ahead and start that now. I know you say you've been lifting, but have you been lifting heavy? What does your lifting program look like? If you have a high load of cardio, that bulk will be slower because your body is not going to want to build muscle while at the same time use it, along with fat, to fuel your workload.

Also it's harder to begin a bulk after a prolonged diet than it is to bulk and then cut. That is not to say that it doesn't work. It does, but it's just a little harder.

mmapags

Bulk of you are below 15% BF. If you want to. There's no "need" to. You sound like a good candidate for recomp. Eat at maintenance and lift. You'll drop fat and gain mass.