Decision Dilemma

[The_Don]

Alright Gang.
I have a bit of a Dilemma; after returning from Christmas, i was planning on resuming training. But for the past 2 weeks i have been seriously unwell, so i am going to resume training this coming Sunday/Monday.
But i am torn between what to do. I don't know whether to continue bulking, and gain size, or whether i should cut and shred some fat.

After bulking for a while from being so skinny, i am an 'average' size. Although some people tell me bigger. I have seen big gains in my shoulders over time, thus making me appear broader and wider. And whil my chest has increased, i have also gained fat around my chest and stomach,mainly due to poor food choices while training a long time ago. Back then, i wasn't as knowledgable about training and nutrition as i am now.

I am going on Holiday with some friends in July; around six months time. So although i don't train just to have a 'beach bod', i am going to use the Holiday as a target to help keep me motivated and goal orientated. So i will aim to have that 'beach bod' by then.

My only worry is i do not know if i should continue to try and gain size, or shred the fat from now.

Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions?

Much appreciated, need help badly!
I really can't decide.

Thanks
TD

[justaguy87337]

go for the shred man, once you come back from your holiday you can resume your bulking if ya want.

[JoeBAR]

Well, since it's SIX months till your holidays, and seeing as Winter is the best time for gaining mass overall, I'd advise for a bit more gain (not fat bulking, just steady muscle gains) and worry about the diet in May/June. Do Dr Berardi's 'get shredded' diet from T-N for 8 weeks, that'll be plenty enough to get cut

[Hans_Rachid]

I agree with JoeBAR, I say bulk for another 3-4 months, it's enough to gain another 10 pounds of muscle if you do everything right and aren't on roids, and then cut

[burntrat]

did you lose alot of muscle mass and gain fat while not training for those 2 weeks?
maybe you can bulk for 3 months and cut for the last 3 months

[Insex]

Well, since you say that you now know more about proper training and nutrition than you used to, you now have enough information to make that decision on your own.

Also, you admit that you made some mistakes in the past by making poor food choices. You already know what those poor food choices are right now. So you shouldn't make those same mistakes again, because now you know more about sports nutrition than you ever did before.

There's one thing that you need to keep in mind: shredding fat is a long process. It's not easy to do, and you can't rush yourself through it. It's going to take a good amount of time before you notice any significant results.

If you choose to start cutting right now, make sure you ease yourself into it slowly. Don't drastically cut off 1,000 Calories from your diet in one day. Try something like restricting 250 Calories per week, that way you don't shock your body into thinking it's starving itself.

If you are not yet satisfied with your size gains and wish to gain a little bit more, then do it right now. But make sure you realize that the more weight you gain right now, the more time you'll need later on to lose it.

[The_Don]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions, they all helped!

I have just joined a new gym, which is literally 30feet from where i work. I don't live near my work, I joined mainly for convenience. I can now work out during my dinner hour and when it comes to cutting i can attend the gym multiple times per day.

I think i'll go for bulking for a couple more months. 3 - 4 months, depending on how much more bodyfat i gain. I am determined not to gain too much more, i am going to do my best to completely cut everything out, including alcohol.

According to the 'get shredded' diet, you can drop around 1% Bodyfat per week. I believe i am currently at 17.4%, and abs become visible at around 10-12%, is that correct? Therefore, if i bulk for 4 months, then cut for another 2 (8 weeks), and strictly follow the 'get shredded' diet, i should be able to drop around 8% bodyfat, thus leaving me in the 10-12% range providing i don't add too much fat. Does this sound logical and achievable?

Thanks
TD

[Insex]

If I were in your shoes, I would try to allow more than 2 months to get ripped. Even on the Get Shredded Diet, you're probably not going to consistantly lose 1% of body fat per week every week. In the beginning you'll notice a significant difference. But after a few weeks, your body is going to get tired of being on such a severely Calorie-restricted diet, like the Get Shredded Diet, and the results each week won't be as significant as they were in the beginning. Plus, you're going to be very low on energy being on a diet like that.

The diet I did prior to my last bodybuilding competition was similar to Dr. Bernardi's Get Shredded Diet. However, I only had 6 weeks to prepare for it, and I didn't use all of the supplements that he used in his diet. The first 4 weeks were great, with significant results. But the last 2 weeks were a constant struggle. I was very low on energy by that point, and it seemed more difficult to lose anymore body fat.

I think you would benefit more if you dieted for 16 weeks. For the first 12 weeks, do a clean diet, but nothing as drastic as the Get Shredded Diet. Then by week 13, after you have eased yourself into a Calorie-restricted diet, then try doing the Get Shredded Diet for the last 4 weeks and see what happens. Besides, Dr. Bernardi's Get Shredded Diet is disigned only for guys who are already lean (10% body fat or less). Guys like you, who are more than 10% body fat, need to more time for dieting and need to ease yourself into a severely Calorie-restricted diet.

[JoeBAR]

The idea of the 'Get Shredded' diet is to shock the system. I have read some interesting stuff about diets that go along the following:
- When dieting, your body is starved, and eventually will struggle to feel 'not starved' by 1) dropping your metabolism and 2) storing whatever comes in excess whenever it happens.

The longer the diet, the more you train your body to these reaction. However much exercise you do to maintain the metabolism high, it WILL drop (ask me mum, she been dieting with little success and little calories for 40 years. Her metabolism is probably below 800 cal / day despite much cycling).

More importantly, when you stop dieting, your body doesn't immediately switch off the 'store whatever comes in excess process, rather the opposite!' Hence the constant need to stay in tight control, or the risk of 'putting it all back very shortly'.

The get shredded diet is much criticized in the T-N forum, mainly because people saw less results than advertised. I see 2 reasons for this:
1) A lot of people in T-N forum are SERIOUSLY controversial in nature, and cannot post a positive comment (just read the 3~4 pages following Christian's or Berardi's or Ellington's '2 weeks' posts).
2) Few people can live on such a drastic diet... Anyone WILL cheat. It's design for people who stay at home all day waiting for their muscle to grow, and imo not quite for people who spend 8~9 hrs / day at work on top of trainning etc...

Anyway, paramount to the diet is the use of the supplements! I don;t really want to debate on supp with you my firend, knowing how you see them but they are part of the famous Dr's plan, and cannot be taken lightly.

Having had bad experiences of diets and the dire consequences of 'the months after', I wouldn't recommand lengthy 'low calories' diet to anyone to 'cut' but rather a short drasti approach to the cycle, and whether the goal is attained or not, get off the damn thing before the system gets used to it!

As for 'safer bulking', or rather controlled growth (some people systematically assume that bulking means stuffing 10,000cal/day @ 200lbs bodyweight *cough*), I saw somewhere here or on BB or T-N a 3/4 days plan which was along the line of 3 days at cal eaten = cal burnt and 4 days of cal eaten = cal burnt + 500 (or more depending on bodyweight) which seemed rather interesting. I've already spet hours on google for my little milk essay, I leave you the privilege of finding such diets and potential benefits (mods feel free to assist, I'm sure you seen this before!).

My 2 cents

PS: I've put on WAY too much weight over crimbo.