Cutting: Difficult Decision

[Hsmas]

Wrong forum, apologies.

[Miranda]

what? how tall are you? male or female?

[catskills]

but what is the FASTEST & most EFFECTIVE path I can take within my options?

This is probably not what you want to hear but I think you might want to ease up on the time factor. Recomping is hard work and takes a lot of time. Fat loss, with respect to retaining lean body mass, is a slow process. If you choose to lose 2lbs of week of fat, you will also lose lean body mass. If you are recomping the best way is to lose fat and retain muscle is to work to lose 0.5lb/week. Also keep in mind that when you are losing fat you are also losing water, so when the scale says you have dropped 10lbs, some of that is water loss. For example you might find that you underestimate how much fat you need to lose, it is only because the numbers on the scale reflect fat loss and water loss. My suggestion is to read the sticky in the nutrition section on calorie and macro nutrient requirements and set yourself up a diet based on a 250cal deficit from maintenance and get onto a good lifting program and see how it goes from there. Over time you will start losing fat and become leaner. It is a good idea to eat at maintenance every few months for a week. You may want to do some bulk/lean cycling to get you to the place you want to be. You have to be prepared to put in the time, for what you want to do, I am thinking it will take at least a couple of years.

[Hsmas]

what? how tall are you? male or female?

5'8, Male

[wakechica]

5'8, Male

This is female BB section.. maybe head over to the male fat loss section?

[Hsmas]

This is female BB section.. maybe head over to the male fat loss section?

Wow...

I apologize I followed a link to this site and didn't notice.

[julikred]

I'd appreciate it if you'd suggest me what to do in the following situation... Id like to lose around 5-7% fat and gain muscle, but I don't know what to do first- either bulk or lose the fat? What do you think would be better?
Thanks!

[kimm4]

I'd appreciate it if you'd suggest me what to do in the following situation... Id like to lose around 5-7% fat and gain muscle, but I don't know what to do first- either bulk or lose the fat? What do you think would be better?
Thanks!

Based your stats, you're already at the lowest end of the scale. It makes no sense to cut, when there's nothing to cut. Get yourself on a solid building program, which means a surplus in calories and a consistent weight training program. Adding more muscle will give you a tighter, more shapely look.

Go to the female nutrition section and look for the link at the top to calculate calories needed. Then hit the female training section and there's a link called "Training program basics."

These 2 links will get you off to a good start.

[kimm4]

5'8, Male

If you're sitting at a higher body fat, it makes more sense to cut for a bit. When building, you're adding more body fat to what you already have. This will only make it harder when it comes time to cut.

[julikred]

Based your stats, you're already at the lowest end of the scale. It makes no sense to cut, when there's nothing to cut. Get yourself on a solid building program, which means a surplus in calories and a consistent weight training program. Adding more muscle will give you a tighter, more shapely look.

Go to the female nutrition section and look for the link at the top to calculate calories needed. Then hit the female training section and there's a link called "Training program basics."

These 2 links will get you off to a good start.

Thank you soooooo much for the advise! Good luck to you!