From Skinny to Fattish to Skinny Fat. Bulk or Cut? (Pics Included)

[autobulk]

Hey Guys,

Currently I'm Skinny fat and I'm trying to decided whether to cut or bulk.

Past:

I used to be quite fat, then I lost weight by really restricting my diet and cardio and got down to 60kg (132lbs) and I'm 6 ft 1. I dont have a photo of this time

I then tried to bulk up (though I didnt really know what I was doing and had bad foods, mostly carbs any hardly any protein) and the first pic (003) is when I was 85kgs (187lbs).
I gained alot of fat.

Summer was comming up so I decided to cut and again my diet was poor. I restriced my diet and loss the weight pretty quickly but again I had hardly any protein and mostly carbs (2nd photo) 69kgs (152lbs)

Now:

Currently I'm about 72kgs (158lbs) and not sure whether to bulk or cut. My chest is 97cm (38inches) and waist 84cm (33inches).

If I cut I'll get really thin but if I bulk my bf will probably get even higher and its quite high already hence I'm not sure what to do!

I'm currently trying 2 decided whether to cut to say 65ish KG and try to get abs then clean bulk up or whether to clean bulk another 10KG then Bulk.

The last photo is current.

[Hickson517]

Bulk

[Girn]

lol if you cut you would just be skin and bones dude

[alj_johnson2005]

lol if you cut you would just be skin and bones dude

^^^^this

A slow and steady bulk is what you need imo. Just lift hard and eat right and things will come along.

[autobulk]

^^^^this

A slow and steady bulk is what you need imo. Just lift hard and eat right and things will come along.

Thanks for the replies.

I know I will be really thin / hav real little muscle if I cut now but if I did I would be able to start with a much lower bf% / see results a lot more which will help keep me motivated.

Plan to either;
Cut for 2-3 months then clean bulk for round 4 month 4 summer (I live in NZ)
Clean bulk now untill round end of October then cut 4 summer.

[Animall]

I hope you have learned your lesson about diet and cardio huh?

Try to eat plenty lean sources of protein : Skim milk, egg whites, chicken breast, protein shakes
A little bit healthy fats : walnuts/almonds, whole eggs, fish (salmon/mackrel), fisoil caps
And, not but least : Good quality sources of slow digesting carbs : oatmeal in the morning and rice before and after your workout.

Eat 400-500 kcal above maintenace... and check your bodyscale every week in the morning (empty stomach) to see your bodyweight progress... (on this manner you can measure your diet) when the scale indicates more than a pound a week, reduce kcal intake... and when the scale indicates too little pounds, then increase your kcal intake.

Good luck!

[autobulk]

I hope you have learned your lesson about diet and cardio huh?

Try to eat plenty lean sources of protein : Skim milk, egg whites, chicken breast, protein shakes
A little bit healthy fats : walnuts/almonds, whole eggs, fish (salmon/mackrel), fisoil caps
And, not but least : Good quality sources of slow digesting carbs : oatmeal in the morning and rice before and after your workout.

Eat 400-500 kcal above maintenace... and check your bodyscale every week in the morning (empty stomach) to see your bodyweight progress... (on this manner you can measure your diet) when the scale indicates more than a pound a week, reduce kcal intake... and when the scale indicates too little pounds, then increase your kcal intake.

Good luck!

Lol yea didn't realised that the ratio of protein, carbs & fat was so important. Sounds stupid now but least I know now.

That's what I've been doing for the past 3 weeks (gained about 2-3 pounds). I've been having around 3000-3300 cals a day. Do you think that's a good amount?

[jason92]

yeah probably wanna slow bulk

[alj_johnson2005]

Lol yea didn't realised that the ratio of protein, carbs & fat was so important. Sounds stupid now but least I know now.

That's what I've been doing for the past 3 weeks (gained about 2-3 pounds). I've been having around 3000-3300 cals a day. Do you think that's a good amount?

Yeah, just do the research and do clean bulk. It hard to tell if that a good amount of calories not knowing what your daily routine is like but it seems like a bit much. Just make sure you get 1.5x bw in protein and keep you carbs and fat under control and everything should be fine.

[Shaderer]

I'd try a clean bulk. I look almost like you except I seem to have 1 more inch of fat/loose skin on my gut.
I've been clean bulking and barely gained any fat and lifts have been improving so much that I'm pretty motivated.

I gave up cutting because my strength stalled so badly despite being on Rippetoe's..

[biggerthanlavar]

clean bulk. lift hard, eat, sleep, rinse repeat.

[fibrajacked]

wow **** genetics

obviously gain weight now, though I don't know if "bulk" is the word. You need to take it slowly.
Eat just enough so that you're making consistent strength gains (almost every week) and get plenty of rest.

[JoshuaNeff]

You're in the same spot I was (6-6'1, 154) when I started lifting heavy. I cut from 185-154 in a month by cardio (2x a day, morning 45 minutes, evening HIIT) and eating well. ((again, I was eating VERY bad and retaining water from drinking too much soda and maybe one glass of water a day at most so lots of that was water weight))

Eating clean (and a lot) I shot up about 15 lbs over the last 2.5 months... but my face/abs/arms look much more lean.

The downside is not having muscle... the upside is crazy fast gains, muscle gains visibly show really well, and you can probably burn fat while gaining lean muscle.

[Gosha]

sounds very familiar man, good luck on your goals
try keto diet when you cut, really works

[autobulk]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I'm kind of wanting to bulk now from all the replies but I've noticed that most people are a lot leaner than I am before they start bulking (usually have at least a flat stomach).

What would you think my bf% is now? I',m guessing around 17-18% and if I bulked it wouldn't leave much room before I'd be over 20% bf. It should be possible to slow bulk and not gain much (if any) fat but I do tend to store fat round my lower stomach when I bulk (and in general).

[Tousif24]

dude lift hard during bulk. cuz i don't see that much muscle on any of ur body part.

[E-PRO]

Holy **** dude we are almost alike lol. I was 133 lbs when I started. Failed bulk and now I'm about 175 lbs. Currently cutting to about 150 hopefully I'll reach in a couple months time.

I'm going to get a summer job to save up money for the clean bulk I will start next year and this time do it right lol. I'll be running after work.

Lol pretty much look the same (fat wise and muscle wise) just not exactly the same look/genetics.

Good luck bro. If you're comfortable where you're at now I'd say go ahead and SLOW clean bulk and make sure you're doing it right. Good luck bro.

[E-PRO]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I'm kind of wanting to bulk now from all the replies but I've noticed that most people are a lot leaner than I am before they start bulking (usually have at least a flat stomach).

What would you think my bf% is now? I',m guessing around 17-18% and if I bulked it wouldn't leave much room before I'd be over 20% bf. It should be possible to slow bulk and not gain much (if any) fat but I do tend to store fat round my lower stomach when I bulk (and in general).

Well when you're bulking focus on your strength gains, not how much weight you are putting on each week. If your lifts are going up every week then there is no need to add more food.

[deadforaminute]

lift heavy weights

[bombermwc]

Am i really seeing people telling him to bulk? So that's another string of advice from folks that think weight=awesome no matter what. How about right now, you worry about lifting and don't worry about the bulking. You could stand to make a LOT of definition before you do anything man.

[Dusan_GR]

this is ridiculous. you don't have a single muscle in your body

buy whey and creatine, lift heavy, and ask the same question this time next year

[AgentSquish]

I'd say after a solid year of lifting and correct diet, you'd be doing heaps better.

[CLandry]

lol if you cut you would just be skin and bones dude

I wouldnt say entirely skin and bones he got some muscle under that fat. Bulking and cutting will really depend on whether you wanna get fatter/build more muscle or get leaner/skinnier. I'd cut so I won't have to eat as much to bulk after I cut and you got a high bf%.

[oakwood-jones]

What you need to do first before you do anything else is learn about proper nutrition. Learn the difference between fats, proteins and carbs and learn which foods contain them. Learn about the five food groups (meat, dairy, grains, fruits, vegetables). I'm truely amazed how many people have absolutely no grasp of these simple concepts. Learn basic stuff like that and actually apply it to what you buy at the grocery store and what you put into your body and then (and only then) are you ready to take on any fitness/athletic/weight goal you may have.

Once you get to that point you need to hit the gym. Lift heavy ass weights, don't be scared to do a lot of cardio either. Eat well and eat a lot, give it a few months and I gaurantee you'll see positive changes.

[Murphy_Dee_Raptors]

I think a clean bulk is the way to go, because if you cut without having much muscle mass you'll just look bony. Best of luck!

[autobulk]

Well when you're bulking focus on your strength gains, not how much weight you are putting on each week. If your lifts are going up every week then there is no need to add more food.

If your gaining strength but weigh the same wouldnt this mean yoru not really putting on any muscle or would it be reduced bf and more muscle?

What you need to do first before you do anything else is learn about proper nutrition. Learn the difference between fats, proteins and carbs and learn which foods contain them. Learn about the five food groups (meat, dairy, grains, fruits, vegetables). I'm truely amazed how many people have absolutely no grasp of these simple concepts. Learn basic stuff like that and actually apply it to what you buy at the grocery store and what you put into your body and then (and only then) are you ready to take on any fitness/athletic/weight goal you may have.

Once you get to that point you need to hit the gym. Lift heavy ass weights, don't be scared to do a lot of cardio either. Eat well and eat a lot, give it a few months and I gaurantee you'll see positive changes.

That's what I've been doing (alot) recently. I used to not care much about nutrition as I used to not think its important / a lack of commitment but look where thats got me.

It was only when I first lost weight and got down to 60kg that I didnt do any weights.

I started eating properly and training alot harder around 3 weeks ago and have gained 2-3lbs and pretty much the same bf% (based on waist measurement). The reason I asked whether to bulk or cut was tht I still feel a little chubby (well only when I have my shirt off).

Thanks for all the replies

[autobulk]

Uploaded a couple more pics onto my progress pics

[vorheeze]

its up to you man, BUT if it was me i would be getting my diet in check and doing a slow CLEAN bulk.

eat plenty of skinless chicken breast, kumura (sweet potatoe but since your a kiwi to you know it as kumura) eggs, egg white mainly, broccolli, and buy some WHEY or CREATINE powder for after your workouts.

drink HEAPS of water every day like 4 litres (gallon) and drink plenty of green top or light blue top milk to make up the calories if you havnt already.

at your size bro id start at between 2500-2700 calories per day and just gauge it from there, with your LBM im think 3300 is a bit too much unless your doing mass amounts of cardio AND weights.

i would suggest doin rippetoes starting strength, google it if your unsure. basically it is just getting your ass into the gym every second day and focusing soely on COMPOUND lifts.. deadlift, bench press, sqwat etc whilst slowley increasing the weight each session and by doing that increasing your strength.

once you have a solid base, worry about the isolation workouts etc.

good luck bro, if you want anymore advice, flick us a meesage

[KinsonC]

i'd say clean bulk...

However the main problem I see from your pics is the fact that you have very little muscles on you, which suggest to me that you either not lifting at all and doing only cardio, or you're not lifting heavy enough...

You're not gonna get anywhere solely with diet without actually doing some heavy weight lifting....

Do you hit the weights at all? If so, how many times a week?

You taking protein shake, creatine? What supps are you currently on?

[JonathanJace]

I was very similar to you at 19 5'11. I've yo-yo'd up and down different sizes from a skinny fat 150ish to a evenly big 185, to a leaner 170, then tried a bulk to 185 and i was pretty big... this was all throughout the past 3/4 years. And then i found out the hardest thing to do is get definition and lose fat after a bulk.

now i'm 23 and from that 185 about 8 months ago i've cut down to 163 straight muscle and now doing a slow and steady bulk. I see cuts, definition, v-taper.

So I say cut/strip that body fat and keep a clean diet then slowly bulk up.