Looked in the mirror this morning....

M

mciarlo1287

New Member
And it hit me at how much my body has changed. Not just muscle, but in my face and stomach I see fat. Now, I won't share my whole story, but I used Atkins and lost 40 pounds. To see myself gaining it all back isn't quite what I had in mind when I began working out. I'm 17 years old 5'7" and 155lbs. I was down to 135 (unhealthy) when I began to work out. Someone came up to me and told me I looked anorexic and that I "look like you're in the holocaust." Anyways, I don't do much cardio becasue I am afraid of losing any muscle that I have gained. However, I really could use some advice as how to keep off the fat while still gaining large amounts of muscle.
I eat about 2800-3300 calories per day and don't know what to do to solve this problem.
Thanks in advance.
 
Some of that could be water gain, but if I were you, I would cut back on the calories just slightly. 2800 to 3300 calories seems like a lot for someone your size... don't cut the calories back that much on your workout days though, just on your off days. You could add HIIT or steady state cardio on your off days, that could help quite a bit too.
 
Too many bad fats. Too many sugary carbs. Stay away from canned hash, creamy veggies, processed sandwich meat like bologna, etc. 500+ calories a day in bread is too much. Switch to low fat cheese. Mothers will buy their sons any food they want if it is healthier.

Or, buy a concave mirror!
happy.gif
 
The power bars aren't so great either.  Pretty much just a candy bar.
 
Also, 500 calories is a big range (2800-3300) -- I would close the gap a bit.
 
A couple of other things to keep in mind: (1) only so many of your "extra" calories will go toward building muscle; the rest will go towards fat (so don't go TOO far above maintenance calories); (2) the leaner you are the better the partitioning ratio.  That is, the more the extra calories will be used for hypertrophy.  Thus, as you get fatter, more of those calories will start to go toward fat (another good reason to not allow too much fat gain).
 
Lastly, don't be afraid of cardio.  Take a protein supplement right before and you'll be fine (you can order some online if you can't get mom to buy it).
 
I have an extremely hard time gaining fat, so I don't normally worry about this... but if I was having a problem with this, you know what I would do? HST every day. Maybe one day off a week to load up on carbs and get a bit of rest. But seriously, if you do fullbody six days a week, it will be very hard for you to eat too many calories.
I would still recommend eating better foods though.
 
I started doing HIIT this week. I figured I would do it Tue, Thur, and Sat (possibly sunday). I just have a few questions. When is the best time to eat before and after running and how many calories should i be eating on my on and off days?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top