MFP Women and Men, opinions needed....

SoldierDad
SoldierDad Posts: 1,602
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, here it is... I am 10 pounds from my goal which would still put me at 20 pounds over my army weight (of 165). I was always very cut and strong in the army, but smaller than I really liked. I wanted to start doing a lot of heavy lifting and add on about 10-15 pounds of muscle once I hit my goal weight. My wife thinks I should start now. She thinks 195 is actually to small for me. At work they call me skinny now and one of my employees even said he thought he could take me now (lol then i reminded him that I took kickboxing for several years and have combat experience and he changed his mind, lol). If you look at my profile pics the one near the end of me in the black shirt (with my son) is my newest pic. That shirt is a tent on me. So the question is... Should I bulk up or continue to lose. I would be doing lots of heavy lifting (lots of supersets) and tons of pushups. I would increase my cals and eat even more protein. My wife thinks I should bulk up now but suggested asking yall.
Thank you my dear friends! Love you lots and sorry for rambling lol.
Blessings,
Ed

Replies

  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
    Ed, are you asking us if we think you should bulk up or continue trying to lose?
  • SoldierDad
    SoldierDad Posts: 1,602
    Ok, here it is... I am 10 pounds from my goal which would still put me at 20 pounds over my army weight (of 165). I was always very cut and strong in the army, but smaller than I really liked. I wanted to start doing a lot of heavy lifting and add on about 10-15 pounds of muscle once I hit my goal weight. My wife thinks I should start now. She thinks 195 is actually to small for me. At work they call me skinny now and one of my employees even said he thought he could take me now (lol then i reminded him that I took kickboxing for several years and have combat experience and he changed his mind, lol). If you look at my profile pics the one near the end of me in the black shirt (with my son) is my newest pic. That shirt is a tent on me. So the question is... Should I bulk up or continue to lose. I would be doing lots of heavy lifting (lots of supersets) and tons of pushups. I would increase my cals and eat even more protein. My wife thinks I should bulk up now but suggested asking yall.
    Thank you my dear friends! Love you lots and sorry for rambling lol.
    Blessings,
    Ed

    Weirdly enough it cut out like half my post earlier!
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
    I think this is entirely a personal choice!

    In my opinion I think focusing on building muscle/bulking up would be a good choice for you right now. I think if you're doing heavy lifting and all that you might lose weight still despite the muscle training... but it's really on you. Do you want to be smaller then you are or do you want to be stronger?
  • melgibson
    melgibson Posts: 702 Member
    It's easier to build muscle if you have a covering of fat in the area you want to build, I reckon bulk up now.
    Good luck with your next goal :o)
  • leannadkins77
    leannadkins77 Posts: 14 Member
    number one let me just say the army regulations on weight are crazy. my husband is still active and struggles with the weight regs all the time because he is a husky guy - not fat just not built to weigh what the regulations are lol. in my opinion they don't take into consideration that muscle weighs more than fat unless that is why they do the measurements he always passes on that part. anywa...sorry to start rambling, but you should do whatever makes you feel the best about yourself of course taking your wife's opinion into consideration. ;) i personally prefer lots of tone muscle to big bulging muscles so my suggestion would just be to try and maintain your weight while doing strength training.
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Ed, I would say eat at your maintenance level and strength train. Don't eat at a surplus just yet. Maybe your body will use the extra flab to feed your muscles. :tongue:
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    PS: I am always an advocate for heavy lifting! I love it. :smile:
  • Dom_m
    Dom_m Posts: 336 Member
    I agree with Steph, I think I'd keep the deficit, but start doing more strength training again. Once you've done that for a while and maybe gotten leaner while maintaining weight, then it might be time to consider a bit of bulk. Having said that, if I were you I'd put a big premium on your wife's opinion!
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    I think the desicion is yours. I do know when building muscle you will add some fat, because that's just the way it is.
  • kcdrake
    kcdrake Posts: 512
    Muscle helps to burn fat, so either way you'll probably see some of that extra fat you don't want starting to go away, even if you don't see the numbers go down.
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    YOU are the one who needs to be happy with your body (okay, and maybe your wife too :wink: )

    I'm not sure how tall you are, but unless you're shorter than 5'7" then I'm thinking 165 (or even 175) is REALLY skinny. My boyfriend is 6'1" tall, at his thinnest weight since we've been together he was 215 - and IMO, about as small as I'd have liked him to be.... it'd really have taken me a lot of adjustment and time to get used to it if he'd gotten any smaller. (Don't tell him, but I'm kinda GLAD he gained some back!)
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