Skinny fat, lean bulk the way to go?

Body recomp is usually eating at maintenance, keeping weight the same, and only lifting heavy.

You'll slowly trade fat for muscle mass.

Better at the start as a newbie, so keep to the calorie level no matter how hungry you feel, body will really want to make changes.

Then as that slows after 3-6 months, you could indeed do the more efficient method of actually bulking to gain muscle, then it's easier to lose the fact afterwards.

As to gross or net, a bulk is eating more than maintenance, more than TDEE. However you chose to do it is up to you.

You could follow MFP's method of eating at maintenance calories for no exercise, then log your strength training and eat back those calories on that day you do it.
That would be net.

Or figure out the TDEE method, and eat the same amount daily, and make sure you get your exercise in that the TDEE is based on. example, if TDEE is based on 4 x 45 min lifting sessions weekly, better do them.

And skinny fat is the right term, it's what many get that could have been prevented doing the diet reasonable from the start. You'll discover just how hard it is going to be to gain muscle back now, compared to retaining it in the first place.

So you're saying I should eat at maintenance net? I follow MFP method because I have a heart rate monitor and my workouts usually varies. Oh and I'm not sure if I should do body recomp or a lean bulk.

HRMs are just for steady rate cardio. Trying to use them for weight training is going to give you highly exaggerated numbers.

Whether you eat at maintenance or do a slow bulk then cut, you'll still need to include a strength/resistance training routine.

If you have access to a gym with weights, then look into Stronglifts, AllPros, or Starting Strength. Heavy lifting with barbells is recommended for getting the most bang for your buck (so to speak).

If you don't have access to a gym or barbell set, then consider body weight routines like You Are Own Gym, NerdFitness, or Convict Conditioning.

Bodybuilding.com has a really great exercise database that you can search based on equipment (or lack thereof).

Other options:

TRX Suspension (home edition). I believe it is about $200.

Using sandbags

Doing sprint training

Using dumbbells in place of barbells. There is a Cap Barbell Dumbbell set (w/ plates) on Amazon for about $50. It is about 30-35lbs to start. You can purchase heavier plates as funds become available.
http://www.amazon.com/Cap-Barbell-40-Pound-Dumbbell-Set/dp/B000VCDXNS/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386018141&sr=8-1&keywords=cap+barbell+dumbbell+set

Check out craigslist and Ebay for benches, plates, weights, etc.

Get an Iron Gym Bar. It's about $30 on Amazon and can be used for chin-ups, pull-ups, hanging leg raises and such.
http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Gym-Total-Upper-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386018197&sr=8-1&keywords=iron+gym+pull+up+bar

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/850719-strength-training-the-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/902569-barbell-routines-when-you-only-have-dumbbells


ETA: My bad, I think I misunderstood what you were saying. Are you unsure whether you want to work on body composition via eating at maintenance or doing a slow bullk then cut? Is that right? What exactly are you unsure about with either method?

I'm not that new to strength training, I'm btwn beginner to intermediate I think! So how do we know how much calories we burn during strength training? Oh and one more qns, can HRM be used for HIIT?

Sure, but not for getting a decent estimate of calories burned.

The formula in HRM's that figure calories from HR are based on steady-state aerobic exercise, same HR for 2-4 min.

Lifting and intervals of any sort are neither steady-state, nor are they aerobic - if you are doing them right.

Actually, that's what the HRM is useful for, if you look at your HR and your intervals turn in to nothing but a 20 bpm bump from easy to hard effort - you are doing too much exercise if you really felt like you were pushing it.

Same for lifting - if it feels tiring and worn out by the 8th rep, but your HR only went up 15 bpm - then you did the lifting tired and are getting nothing useful from it really - not compared to what you could be.

So when you reach a high avg HR from lifting or HIIT that the HRM tracks, and it thinks that was reached aerobically - it's going to give you a high calorie burn.

Now, you may just luck out and you really recovery well, your avgHR is not really that high, and your estimated calories burn matches the better MFP estimate. But that would be mere coincidence, not because the HRM happens to work for you while doing anaerobic activities.

And be aware on the TDEE calc's, the better ones say hours a week, not days a week.

Because really, is 5 days a week of walking 30 min daily the same as 5 days a week of 2 hrs of running?
Even the hours, is 1 hr of walking the same as 1 hr of lifting as 1 hr of running?

And what if your daily job is actually active too, not a sedentary desk job, but actually lightly active TDEE level just by work alone.
Now how does the exercise stack up?

For what it's worth, 21-24% body fat is fitness level. It's definitely not 'skinny fat'.

Very true. For the health aspect of it.

For the aesthetics aspect, someone could be genetically predisposed to an abnormal amount of their fat being on their tummy, so in pants that fit right elsewhere, when you sit down - here it rolls over. Actually, that is health aspect too.

I have very little fat that shows up in arms, very vascular, core gets it first before limbs in general. So while a number appears not bad, it's because not evenly placed.