Not sure if I've been making progress, might need to restructure. Plz help

[eRickety]

OK, so on August 12th I decided to begin working out hard again, and to cut the last few pounds off my body (I was skinnyfat at the time). The first pictures here were taken on August 17th, a few days in. I weighed ~155. For the past month I have been eating ~1900 calories a day working in proteins to try to get up to about 150 grams, and using an online calorie counter to keep track. I eat every three hours. I am 18 btw. I've been working out like this:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Upper body, 20 mins+ cardio
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Lower body, abs
Sunday: off

I've been working out pretty intensely, getting back into squats and benching, etc. I also have a whey protein shake after every workout that contains 26 grams of protein.

I compared my old pictures to new ones that I took this morning, as soon as I woke up, and I see little to no difference. I am now just a little over 155 and am wondering if anyone can input on what I am doing wrong. Is it too few calories? Too many? Wrong workout routine? Or maybe I have been making progress and just don't see it in myself. I've been researching what I should be doing as far as diet and workout goes for my age and body type, and it seems I've been doing everything right.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[ppryts680]

maybe try a bulk and then a cut. dont sweat it too much considering it has only been a little over a month.

[phal]

Being that active + your age, if you're trying to build some muscle I'd imagine you'd need more than 1,900. Otherwise you may run the risk of progressing your skinny'fatness' so to speak. Plus a month is a short amount of time to even guage muscle development tbh, are your lifts going up? Strength increasing?

[crupiea]

You can afford to eat alot more and you will be fine.

Try dialing up your calories a few hundred per day and still keep track of it and see what it gets you. I think you will be happy ith your results.

[Cass]

Eat more brotha!

[phal]

Just as a reference, I roughly weigh the same as you yet still manage to lose weight at 2,100 - 2,200 calories a day.

[JayyC]

Honestly I think you should be bulking first.

[chavizzle]

You can afford to eat alot more and you will be fine.

Try dialing up your calories a few hundred per day and still keep track of it and see what it gets you. I think you will be happy ith your results.

Yep do this, bump up the calories, try to get some mass this winter, cut later. Winter time = time to gain.

[tabasco.sauce]

Honestly I think you should be bulking first.

+1

you're at a really good platform for a lean bulk... you;d be surprised how good you'd look if you if max out on weights and eat more cals..

[eRickety]

Well my main goal was to slim down and mainly go for a six pack. I know I have the muscles developed for it i just have a bit of extra fat/skin there that's covering it up. My lifts have been getting gradually heavier, but not as fast as they have before when I was working out for football and not worrying about cutting.

So where should I bump up the calories to? Obviously I don't want to gain fat but gaining muscle would be welcome. Although keep in mind my main goal is not to "get big" but to add a lot more definition. My thinking is simply that maybe I need more muscle to burn the rest of my stomach fat. Does that make sense?

Thanks for all of the quality answers guys.

[eRickety]

Also, I live on a campus that requires me to walk almost a mile in hills just to get to the gym, and I probably walk an avg. of about 3 or 4 miles a day. Also, even on my non-cardio days I sometimes end up playing basketball or tennis or something with my friends. So....cals up? Does 2300 sound good?

[beyondbasic]

its only been a month bro. i see definition alot more in your abs. eat more though i think a clean bulk would do u much better. good luck any questions feel free to PM me.