Skinny fat: bulk or cut?

[kbayer]

Hey guys! I read the forums pretty frequently on here, but I made this account primarily for the reason to ask this question because I need some guidance. I'm a 5'1'', 114 pound, 18 year old female. Last year I wasn't into lifting at all. I basically starved myself eating 1200 calories a day and doing tons of cardio, and I was 103 pounds at my lowest weight. I gained it all back over the summer and was 120ish around Christmas 2013. I know that's not overweight but I was flabby and felt gross. My cliche New Years Resolution was to get back in shape. This time I did it the healthy way, eating around 1500 calories/counting macros/more lifting/less cardio. So far, I'm impressed with my results and can see the slight outline of abs but only first thing in the morning. I'm still skinny fat and have a layer of fat covering the slight amount of muscles that I have. I carry most of it around my midsection and hate how it looks when I'm sitting down. I want to build more muscle but I know in order to do that I need to eat at a surplus. I'm torn between continuing to eat at a deficit, or to deal with the fat and begin doing a slow bulk. If I continue to lose fat, I feel like I will be unhappy with the very minimal amount of muscle that is revealed, plus I'll be at an unhealthy weight. Should I start bulking or should I lean down a bit more first? I'm leaning towards bulking, but I just wanted some input from the pros before I start :-) Thanks in advance for any advice you could give me.
I also apologize for this post being a lot of babbling and basically me talking to myself.

[kimm4]

Hey guys! I read the forums pretty frequently on here, but I made this account primarily for the reason to ask this question because I need some guidance. I'm a 5'1'', 114 pound, 18 year old female. Last year I wasn't into lifting at all. I basically starved myself eating 1200 calories a day and doing tons of cardio, and I was 103 pounds at my lowest weight. I gained it all back over the summer and was 120ish around Christmas 2013. I know that's not overweight but I was flabby and felt gross. My cliche New Years Resolution was to get back in shape. This time I did it the healthy way, eating around 1500 calories/counting macros/more lifting/less cardio. So far, I'm impressed with my results and can see the slight outline of abs but only first thing in the morning. I'm still skinny fat and have a layer of fat covering the slight amount of muscles that I have. I carry most of it around my midsection and hate how it looks when I'm sitting down. I want to build more muscle but I know in order to do that I need to eat at a surplus. I'm torn between continuing to eat at a deficit, or to deal with the fat and begin doing a slow bulk. If I continue to lose fat, I feel like I will be unhappy with the very minimal amount of muscle that is revealed, plus I'll be at an unhealthy weight. Should I start bulking or should I lean down a bit more first? I'm leaning towards bulking, but I just wanted some input from the pros before I start :-) Thanks in advance for any advice you could give me.
I also apologize for this post being a lot of babbling and basically me talking to myself.

You can use a very slight surplus (100-200 calories) above maintenance and your fat gains will be minimal. It's a slower process, but less panic when it comes to women and fat gains.

Good luck!

[Jodie10]

Kimm has given me similar advice and after taking it-and feeling better-I look back at what I was doing before (similarly to you-loads of cardio and minimal calories) and wonder WHY. Mainstream 'nutritionists' and 'dieticians' give us terrible, terrible advice.

Right now a friend of mine is going 'vegan' for a month with her daughter (who is studying at university to become a nutritionist). She is eating things like rice cakes with a whole avocado for snacks. This is somehow related to a class she is taking. I just want to shout: Don't let them screw up your metabolism! Eat enough protein! But its none of my business, they didn't ask for my advice. I used to listen to advice like that as well.

[kbayer]

Thanks a bunch!

[IronCitGrl]

If you are skinny fat bulking will make you look better. If you cut you will just waste time you could be using to build more muscle. Start with a small surplus of calories. It doesn't have to be "clean" food either.