Calorie Deficit, Maintain, or Surplus? (Pics included)

[NoodlePDX]

So I was sitting in a meeting yesterday afternoon sipping on a protein shake when one of my coworkers commented that he'd never seen such a skinny guy drink so much protein. This really caught me off guard as I definitely don't consider myself skinny...although perhaps I'm just skinny fat (fat skinny?). Which leads to my question...

I'm 6'2" and sitting right around 187 and 20% BF (according to my scale) and wondering how I should manage my diet -- more specifically whether I should aim for a daily calorie deficit, maintenance or surplus. I very consistently lift weights 3 mornings/week and perform cardio the other 3 mornings.

I understand that finding the right diet balance will take some trial and error because everyone's body is different, but I'm still seeking some basic advice based on my pictures for what general direction I should head.

Thanks!

[oatdust]

I couldn't tell you what to do but heres what to consider-

If you go into deficit first to lose the fat, you'll be able to see a lot more progress when it is made.

Going into a bulk before losing the fat can be frustrating b/c while you are lifting and probably gaining mass, you'll be gaining some fat too and sometimes its difficult to tell if you're making progress in the muscle department b/c the fat is covering up most of your work. However, once you bulk and add some muscle, it should be a bit earier to get rid of fat because your new muscles will be eating up a lot more calories a day than you are now.

[Dracoy]

Go into a clean bulk. I was the same way in which I thought losing fat then bulking woudl be nice, DEAD wrong. When you cut you slow your metabolism so when you first bulk you put on fat more easily.

Start bulking now and then cut when you hit your desired weight.

[Marion_Cobretti]

just tan dude, if you got a nice tan w/ a little fat it looks good. that's what im working on currently b/c i can't control my eating habits.

[GApump]

Clean up your diet and eat a caloric surplus of foods (ie clean bulking). Also, I don't know your lifting history but you've got the skinny-fat thing going on to a certain extent right now. Clean bulking will help you to fill out your frame and make it that much more rewarding when you cut down.

[NoodlePDX]

Clean up your diet and eat a caloric surplus of foods (ie clean bulking). Also, I don't know your lifting history but you've got the skinny-fat thing going on to a certain extent right now. Clean bulking will help you to fill out your frame and make it that much more rewarding when you cut down.

Thanks, GAPump. I've only been lifting consistently for about 6 weeks now -- and it doesn't really show since I've been trying to lose weight in a poor fashion and consuming < 2,000 calories a day on average. Hence the skinny fat...

I calculated my BMR x activity factor and it came out to ~3,500 calories/day -- holy sh*t!! I've just started tracking all my macros this week and and have been averaging around 2,600 calories/day...so it looks like I'll need about 1,000 more (no wonder I haven't seen any gains in the last month or so).

Your tips are great. I will bump up to at LEAST 3,500 calories -- eating clean of course!! Any recommendations on a good bulking macro split? Again just looking at my past few days I've been around 40P/30C/30F. My understanding is a little higher fat may be better...

[xamadeix]

Theres nothing to cut, so bulk it uppp

[GApump]

Thanks, GAPump. I've only been lifting consistently for about 6 weeks now -- and it doesn't really show since I've been trying to lose weight in a poor fashion and consuming < 2,000 calories a day on average. Hence the skinny fat...

I calculated my BMR x activity factor and it came out to ~3,500 calories/day -- holy sh*t!! I've just started tracking all my macros this week and and have been averaging around 2,600 calories/day...so it looks like I'll need about 1,000 more (no wonder I haven't seen any gains in the last month or so).

Your tips are great. I will bump up to at LEAST 3,500 calories -- eating clean of course!! Any recommendations on a good bulking macro split? Again just looking at my past few days I've been around 40P/30C/30F. My understanding is a little higher fat may be better...

It really is shocking at first to see how much food you need to consume in order to gain effectively. Increase your calories to around 3500 and see how it goes. A really popular split is 40/40/20 (p/c/f), I usually try to get around 45/35/20 just b/c I like a little less carbs than most. As long as your getting enough calories from the right sources you will gain and since you just started lifting you should see some fairly drastic improvements. I would recommend keeping a log of your diet and workouts, that really helps you examine yourself and its also really cool to look back and see the progress you've made. The 40/30/30 would be a fine starting point, just realize that the same thing doesn't work for everyone and make changes as your body tells you to.

There's a good sample diet here, just to give you a rough starting point:
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=9275.0

[NoodlePDX]

I know the rule of thumb is 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight. Based on a 3500 calorie diet on a 40/40/20 split that translates to about 335g protein, whereas 1.5 x my body weight = 275g.

I'm sure in the end, as I've read on most threads, what matters most is that I'm getting those calories and generally enough protein -- but I'm wondering if those calories from the excess protein intake would be more effective coming from carbs or fat?

275g of protein is only 30% of a 3500 calorie diet, so that would look more like a 30/40/30...

(P.S. I got around 3600 calories today, roughly 37/36/27...man do I feel stuffed!)