I am not looking for a PT...?

[FranRob]

Hey guys, I have a question as I'm quite baffled about what I'm looking for.

I have been into fitness/nutrition and working out regularly for a few years now; I'm completely self taught and I can say I have learnt a lot on my own and trust my knowledge, especially when it comes to nutrition. For the past year though I have hit a plateau where I want to focus on slow bulking and muscle building, but I am not lean enough for my liking and in order to get leaner I would have to decrease my caloric intake to a dangerous amount, which I have tried in the past and, as you can imagine, comes with muscle loss. Bit of a conundrum over here; I find myself gaining weight in the most unflattering spots as soon as I change my diet to a slight caloric surplus of around 200 calories per day, which is very uncomfortable to deal with.

Now, the question is: I am looking for a fitness consultant to share my concerns and struggles in detail and overall the advice of an expert, as I train alone and have no one to talk to about fitness; but whenever I look for 'fitness coaches' or 'fitness consultants', 'fitness experts' all i find online is personal trainers! I am not looking for someone to teach me how to work out, I'm just looking for an expert's advice that is tailored to my own experience and body.

Any advice?

[SuffolkPunch]

You probably don't need one, I suspect you are labouring under a couple of misapprehensions - which we see commonly on this forum.

You can lose fat at slightly less that your current maintenance level of calories, there is no reason to go dangerously low, I think you're just being impatient - it will be slower... The main problem with doing it slowly is that water weight changes can make it look like its going up as well as down, you need to weigh in every morning and look for the long term average.

Pictures would help but I'm guessing that have another common issue with gaining muscle - that is if you start eating more, you add some water weight or bloating. This is not sudden fat gain, it's temporary and you just have to push through it in order to sustain mass gain for long enough for it to be worthwhile.

Post in Nutrition, Fat Loss or Workout Programs - this forum section is pretty quiet.

[xsquid99]

^^^^ What he said.

As a trainer I will say that its true, a lot of people don't need trainers and often times my favorite clients are the ones that just meet with me once for about an hour so I can help them sort through all the fitness and nutrition BS that is floating around in the world and get them on the right path. Nobody needs to eat "dangerously low" calories to lose weight, you just don't. Unfortunately so many people in the western world are conditioned to think that portion sizes we see on our dinner tables and in restaurants are "normal", when in fact most are not. But bottom line is that if you're losing about 1% of your bodyweight per week on a cut then your calories are not "dangerously low".

Most people have a range of calories they can eat in and not see any weight change, or the change is so slight that they don't notice because they aren't weighing themselves daily and looking at the long term trend. When someone says they go into a 200 calorie surplus and all of a sudden see weight changes in the mirror I have to wonder if they're really in a 200 calorie surplus or they are much higher than that, and putting on weight way too quickly. Generally a bulk should be so slow that you barely notice any changes at all in the short term.

You also sound confused with regard to your goal. You say you're not lean enough for your liking but you want to focus on building.

Pics would definitely help in this situation so I can sew where you are currently.

[FranRob]

^^^^ What he said.

As a trainer I will say that its true, a lot of people don't need trainers and often times my favorite clients are the ones that just meet with me once for about an hour so I can help them sort through all the fitness and nutrition BS that is floating around in the world and get them on the right path. Nobody needs to eat "dangerously low" calories to lose weight, you just don't. Unfortunately so many people in the western world are conditioned to think that portion sizes we see on our dinner tables and in restaurants are "normal", when in fact most are not. But bottom line is that if you're losing about 1% of your bodyweight per week on a cut then your calories are not "dangerously low".

Most people have a range of calories they can eat in and not see any weight change, or the change is so slight that they don't notice because they aren't weighing themselves daily and looking at the long term trend. When someone says they go into a 200 calorie surplus and all of a sudden see weight changes in the mirror I have to wonder if they're really in a 200 calorie surplus or they are much higher than that, and putting on weight way too quickly. Generally a bulk should be so slow that you barely notice any changes at all in the short term.

You also sound confused with regard to your goal. You say you're not lean enough for your liking but you want to focus on building.

Pics would definitely help in this situation so I can sew where you are currently.

Thanks for your reply guys.

I understand why I may sound confused, as I'm not confused about my goal, but more about what my next step is to progress in my fitness journey.
When I'm on a cut. I normally settle on a deficit of 500 calories a day; if I'm on a bulk, I go for around 250 calories of a surplus.

My goal would be to build more muscle and improve performance and endurance, however as I stated before I've been trying to get leaner prior to building more muscle. I have very stubborn lower back fat, which I hate and seem to not be able to get rid of! The only time I was able to make some progress in shredding and break through this plateau was earlier this year, when I was on 1500-1600 calories a day for a couple of weeks as an experiment, which is obviously too bloody low for a 5'10.5", 27 year old male who works out at least 6 hours a week.

I know my nutrition and I know how to keep track of it, therefore whenever I track my calories it's usually pretty accurate.
However I also acknowledge that I'm not a certified fitness expert, therefore I'm open to any suggestion or feedback, giving that I am self taught and work out alone.

P.S. I'll attach photos soon.

[Darkius]

Your deficits and surplusses sound good.

As for 1% per week, that is for people who are not already rather lean, and also assumes you are getting good sleep. 0.5% per week is for lean folks.

People who get poor sleep can lose muscle even at 1% per week. I'm trying to break my habit of late night web surfing and get better sleep consistently before I really increase my deficit. Keeping muscle is faster than building it.