Bulking phase?

For the past couple months I've been taking supplements and making smarter decisions on food to lose 30 lbs. I've reached a plateau and now have started working out to include a couple days a week of HIIT and a couple days a week of weight training. Beginning weight was 235. I've been hovering at 205 for the past couple weeks. I'm at 30% body fat.

Should I still be focused on trying to cut, or should I increase protein and weight training in favor of bulking, building muscle mass? Focus on that for a few months and then return to cutting for better results?

Replies

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    If you're 30% you need to cut!

    Keep protein at 1g/lb, lift weights and eat in a calorie deficit.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    I definitely know that BFP is entirely too high, but would packing on muscle help to burn that faster if returned to a deficit in 6-8 weeks?
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    bluehayan wrote: »
    I definitely know that BFP is entirely too high, but would packing on muscle help to burn that faster if returned to a deficit in 6-8 weeks?

    You'd burn significantly more fat by using those 6-8 weeks to cut. Keep doing what you're doing.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    bluehayan wrote: »
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?

    Typical recommendations would be anywhere from 0.6-1.0 g of protein per lb bodyweight. So somewhere around 150 g should be fine.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    The more fat you have, the more likely any weight gain you have in a surplus would be fat too, right? Like the potential for muscle growth/development is lower if you have too much fat?

  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
    bluehayan wrote: »
    I definitely know that BFP is entirely too high, but would packing on muscle help to burn that faster if returned to a deficit in 6-8 weeks?

    When you pack on muscle you also pack on fat which makes your weight loss harder. Stick to fat loss until you reach 12%.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    bluehayan wrote: »
    For the past couple months I've been taking supplements and making smarter decisions on food to lose 30 lbs. I've reached a plateau and now have started working out to include a couple days a week of HIIT and a couple days a week of weight training. Beginning weight was 235. I've been hovering at 205 for the past couple weeks. I'm at 30% body fat.

    Should I still be focused on trying to cut, or should I increase protein and weight training in favor of bulking, building muscle mass? Focus on that for a few months and then return to cutting for better results?

    What is your goal? Do whatever will lean you in that direction.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?

    Typical recommendations would be anywhere from 0.6-1.0 g of protein per lb bodyweight. So somewhere around 150 g should be fine.

    That's what I thought. I got 134g yesterday and it was showing red like I had too much protein, which is confusing.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    The more fat you have, the more likely any weight gain you have in a surplus would be fat too, right? Like the potential for muscle growth/development is lower if you have too much fat?

    Correct. As you become more overfat, insulin sensitivity decreases, allowing nutrients to convert to fat more easily (at least from my mediocre understanding of nutrition partitioning).


    OP, for ever lb of muscle you gain, you only burn an extra 4-6 calories per day. You'd have to gain a lot of muscle to even make an impact on TDEE. But at 30%, you should cut.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    cheldadex wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    I definitely know that BFP is entirely too high, but would packing on muscle help to burn that faster if returned to a deficit in 6-8 weeks?

    When you pack on muscle you also pack on fat which makes your weight loss harder. Stick to fat loss until you reach 12%.

    MFP currently has me at 1850 calories. I will continue to work on cutting down BFP and eat at a deficit till I reach a good percentage. I don't know that I've ever been at 12% but I sure will try.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    That might be a bit low. The way MFP is designed is to eat back exercise calories.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    bluehayan wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?

    Typical recommendations would be anywhere from 0.6-1.0 g of protein per lb bodyweight. So somewhere around 150 g should be fine.

    That's what I thought. I got 134g yesterday and it was showing red like I had too much protein, which is confusing.

    That's because your goal - per MFP - is 95 g (as of just peeking at your diary now). Whenever you go over any goal, MFP puts it in red. Kinda silly, as it'll remain green even if you're waaaaaaaaay too low on a nutrient.

    You can manually go in to Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals>Edit and change values, if you like.
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?

    Typical recommendations would be anywhere from 0.6-1.0 g of protein per lb bodyweight. So somewhere around 150 g should be fine.

    That's what I thought. I got 134g yesterday and it was showing red like I had too much protein, which is confusing.

    That's because your goal - per MFP - is 95 g (as of just peeking at your diary now). Whenever you go over any goal, MFP puts it in red. Kinda silly, as it'll remain green even if you're waaaaaaaaay too low on a nutrient.

    You can manually go in to Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals>Edit and change values, if you like.

    This is what I do. It makes everything so much cleaner. OP, if you want you can also calculate your daily calories using a TDEE calculator. That calculation takes weekly exercise into consideration so you don't have to worry about a changing calorie target every day like you do with MFP. I like knowing what my target is every day so I can meal plan a week at a time.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    bluehayan wrote: »
    MFP currently has me at 94g protein recommended. Should I be doing 1g/1lb weight or the recommended 94g?

    Typical recommendations would be anywhere from 0.6-1.0 g of protein per lb bodyweight. So somewhere around 150 g should be fine.

    That's what I thought. I got 134g yesterday and it was showing red like I had too much protein, which is confusing.

    That's because your goal - per MFP - is 95 g (as of just peeking at your diary now). Whenever you go over any goal, MFP puts it in red. Kinda silly, as it'll remain green even if you're waaaaaaaaay too low on a nutrient.

    You can manually go in to Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals>Edit and change values, if you like.

    Thank you for the tip! I'll go in and adjust my protein
  • JB035
    JB035 Posts: 336 Member
    I had to adjust mine too. What MFP suggested for protein was way to low.

    Congrats on the weight loss.
  • bluehayan
    bluehayan Posts: 26 Member
    JB035 wrote: »
    I had to adjust mine too. What MFP suggested for protein was way to low.

    Congrats on the weight loss.

    Thank you!