New Goals, Criticism/Help wanted and welcomed!

[KallieFit22]

Hey everyone! To start: I'd say based on my current stats - 5'2, 138 lbs, I'm probably not in the best position to start building muscle, but I think it's time. Some background- I started dieting as of last decemeber, got down to 126 being my lowest, and stuck to around that for a while. I eventually began yo-yo dieting and floated in the 132-133 range, and well now I'm at 138- after pizza and ice cream from last night lol ( being honest here). As for my yo-yo dieting, I would track my macros, than sometimes i'd guesstimate ( wasn't trying to hard to guess correctly ), along with cheating- and by cheating I mean by just enjoying life, family friends, birthdays, holidays and realizing that I wasn't truly in it to diet anymore. I still went to the gym/ did my cardio/ went for runs and was active and such- diet was just not on point like I know I'm capable of doing so I think I ended up recomping more than anything.

As for building- my macros are going to be 140 P, 250 C, 70 F- 2200 cals. I may have to adjust up/down- I've never tried to build purposefully before so I'm unsure of the actual # to hit so this is just a guesstimate to start.

As for my question I wanna know if:
1) Reverse dieting is necessary, if so for how long/ if not than can I just jump into bulking?
2) As for cardio, I know its not necessary but I enjoy it/ want to do it for cardio vasc health purposes. Do you guys recommend LISS for 30 minutes maybe once a week? or HIIT twice a week for 15 minutes ( spin bike style ).
3) Should I continue my current split and try to increase weights - back/bis, chest tris, shoulders/calves/abs, and 2 leg days- one quad dominant, one hammy dominant. - or should I follow a professional program with hopefully a similar training split because I don't enjoy upper/lower splits where I'd be doing upper and doing chest/back/shoulder excersies in a session. I might be weird hahaha

Below are attached pictures of me currently. Like literally 30 minutes ago, post bagel, pineapple, and eggs lol weird combo but just being real. NOM to the bagel

But all help/criticism/ advice is welcomed! Thanks ladies!

Also- Don't mind my posing haha I have no idea how to really do so :x

[rockangel]

Reverse dieting isnt really needed at this point. It is really only needed when someone has been dieting for prolonged periods of time or they have gotten very lean (as with competitors) or had their calories really too low.

Your macros look like a good place to start and I am always more partial to people following professional proven programs than one they made up on their own. Cardio i wouldnt do more than 2 - 3 times a week, although i am biased towards spinning, i think it is one of the best forms of cardio you can do and studies suggest that unlike running, it does not interfere with gains. Between liss or hitt i think its up to personal preference.

I think you have a really nice frame and shape, great fat distribution, and I feel like at this point if you felt like dieting down more you could but building would also be good as well. I would work on building up your shoulders to give you some balance but overall i think you are in a really nice place

[KallieFit22]

Reverse dieting isnt really needed at this point. It is really only needed when someone has been dieting for prolonged periods of time or they have gotten very lean (as with competitors) or had their calories really too low.

Your macros look like a good place to start and I am always more partial to people following professional proven programs than one they made up on their own. Cardio i wouldnt do more than 2 - 3 times a week, although i am biased towards spinning, i think it is one of the best forms of cardio you can do and studies suggest that unlike running, it does not interfere with gains. Between liss or hitt i think its up to personal preference.

I think you have a really nice frame and shape, great fat distribution, and I feel like at this point if you felt like dieting down more you could but building would also be good as well. I would work on building up your shoulders to give you some balance but overall i think you are in a really nice place

Thanks for the response ! Ill keep my cardio pretty minimal than aside from spin once a week. If I'm gaining too fast I'll just lower the cals a bit, or than ill maybe add in one more little cardio sesh.

As for a program, what do you suggest? I was thinking maybe running baby got back? Ive read good things about that one and saw others on here had great results!

I was gonna continue dieting but I just mentally am not in it for that right now and just keep spinning my wheels so I figure might as well just gain for now and enjoy eating and lifting and once I build up a little bit, cutting won't feel as tragic hahaha. But thank you so much! Its funny how although my weight hasn't changed much, my body comp/fat distribution really shifted significanty

[lillymarchal123]

Yes, you're absolutely right, it is not fair for them, most of them get the most out of criticism if they lost their match, striker missed his team's chances, it is likely to win the game for them, they got less than raising criticism.

[StevieMaria]

I'm just replying to say that this is the closest I've seen anyone coming to my body shape. Mostly in the thighs. No suggestions because my routine is all over the place now and I'm still learning. Good luck!

[KallieFit22]

I'm just replying to say that this is the closest I've seen anyone coming to my body shape. Mostly in the thighs. No suggestions because my routine is all over the place now and I'm still learning. Good luck!

Saw this a tad late but I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one with these thunder thighs! I'm trying to find a way to build them along with my upper body, than eventually cut and really push through with the cut to see how they really look under all the chubs. My problem is is I've always lost patience when trying to lean out because my legs progressed so slowly. They build up fast, but it takes forever to see any type of movement when it comes to losing the fat. I figured might as well build while i can and It can only get better.

I'm starting my cut feb 1st after this short little 3 month bulk right now. But Good luck to you to girl! Especially if your thighs are as stubborn as mine lol !

[jpg68]

How are things going Kallie?