Debating whether to stop cutting

[championofnight]

ok..i am so sick of dieting!!
i am looking a whole lot better, but i miss eating a ton, and then just totally kill the weights at the gym. I miss the energy i once had. I care about keeping my bf% low, but i really want my strength back!
I have a plan. It is a clean bulk/cut. lols. Im reinventing the wheel.
i will take in 4500 cals a day.i will lift 4 days a week like a mad-hound. But i will also jog 21 miles a week. this means three sessions of 7 miles. This is nothing unusual, im doing this right now with only 2500 cals in me. Surely i could do it with 4500. The cardio is to keep my bf% low, and the cals are to pack on the mass. I will also try out the spartan workout. I will acheive the spartan workout. No joke. I want to be a beast, but i cannot do it without the dern calories!!
I am in a desperate need to feel powerful again. This diet crap has taken this lion's roar away..lols sorry about the cliche'. But do you know what i mean?
I do not think i will get fat from the bulk because of all the cardio, and if i do the extra weight will surely be muscle. I am in desperate need of advice.
Help!

[Insex]

As long as you continue to workout like freak, you won't ever have to worry about getting fat. Go ahead and increase your daily intake of Calories if you feel the need to. If you're really working out the way you say you are, I don't think you'll see much of a gain in fat mass with an extra 300 or 400 Calories per day.

[championofnight]

but i dont want to raise it by just 400 cals. I want to go all out baby!!!!!
Lets see. With extreme activity, i need 4000 cals a day to sustain my weight. So.. 4500 cals if i want to put on muscle? Or should i take in 4000 and build muscle while maybe leaning down a little bit? Im lost. need help.

[Insex]

Go for the 4500 Calories per day and see what happens.

Trust me, you're not going to get fat. So long as you remain as physically active as you are right now.

[championofnight]

Hoorah!!!
That is just what i wanted to hear. The champion's hurtin' bombs training starts tommorrow baby!!!
Thanks insex. I appreciate your advice!


Tommorrow... i dine...in HELL!!!

[dannymax]

champion,

what are you planning on eating to achieve that 4500cal diet?

[JoeBAR]

How long you been dieting?
How much weight have you lost?
What's your current bodyfat?

I've been dieting for 5 weeks, I've lost 10 pounds, and in the meantime, I've ridiculed my Deadlift PR. If you loose strength while dieting, you're doing something wrong.

If your basic needs are 4000cal/day and you eat 4500/day, that's 3500cal/week over, i.e. 1 pound bodyweight increase. You ain't gonna add a pound muscle per week, so if you start gaining 1 LB/WEEK in weight, no matter how active you are, trust me, you'll be putting fat on.

Good luck none the less

[championofnight]

Im not sure what my current bodfyfat% is, but when i flex my abs i have a distinct 4 pack. i have heard that anywhere over 15% bf you cannot see your abs, so maybe somewhere under 15%?
I have only been cutting for a month, and so far i have lost about 7lbs. Before the cut, i could not see my abs at all. But honestly my diet was insane. 5 meals of 500 calories...it would not be that hard to stick to if i didnt have to take protein powder, which, it seems, im constantely having to buy more of.
What im about to say may seem very unlike me, and very counter- viewpoint to bodybuilding. I like lifting weights, and doing extreme things, but its so meaningless. I have seen more happy people who do not have a good body at all, then people who do have one. It seems though, the need for dignity outweighs my need for comfort. This is why i choose to press on in this rigid way of life.
To be so quite honest, i need more chest muscle. My arms and legs are both looking very powerful, but my chest is somewhat lacking. I do have a good body- i have been told this, but there is so much more to life then looking good.
Im starting to think that girls do not care whether the guy looks good or not. As long as he is not a slob, then most girls might consider him. I have seen so many differnt girls with not so good-looking guys, and life moves on.
Im forgetting about bf%, im just gonna do a clean bulk, along with alot of cardio to atleast keep myself toned. I will do this for an indefinite time.
I have learned that bodybuilding is a meaningless cycle which victimizes(im not sure that is a word, but you know what i mean.) those who actually care.
Bodybuilding has been a profound distraction for me in all areas of my life. It has prevented me from acheiving what actually matters. But at the same time, i need it. I have a whole lot of energy, and this is a way that i can use the energy in a semi-positive way.
Something about my personality: I need something to obsess over. When the object of my obsessions does not give back the way i want it to, i become very frustrated, and i generally seek another thing to obsess over, or obsess even harder. I am seeking something that will give back. I am seeking meaning-Something to constrict myself around so tightly until all other things fade away and i become that which i obsessed over.
i definately still want to lift, and run, and eat. Dammit, i still want to be Spartan.
But, true to my nature, im choosing a different route.
Yes, with 1lb a week, i still might put on fat. But, in my mind, my bodyfat percentage should stay the same. Because im gaining much more muscle than fat.
At any rate, i have done this one month on, one month off crap for about a year, and i am much buffer, yet a whole lot leaner than i was when i started.
And again. I am 17. Which girl would expect the ideal Spartan warrior in a 17 year old? I still hold myself to that standard though, and im afraid i really dont have a choice in it. I have tried to have peace with the way i am, but this has failed miserably. Why relax with the way i am when better is right in front of me?
Sorry for the long post.

[Insex]

Originally Posted by championofnight

Something about my personality: I need something to obsess over.

I think this sentence explains your own personality for the most part.

If you're doing bodybuilding to land a date with a hot chick, then that's fine (it serves as a good motivation factor). But don't let that be the only reason why you should do bodybuilding. As you said, you like to challenge yourself and do extreme things. So that's a healthy reason to do bodybuilding/physical fitness.

However, once you get a girlfriend, are you going to keep this up? For most of us guys, once we fall in love with the girl of our dreams, our physical fitness levels go down the drain (usually because we're spending so much time with the girl, rather than the weights).

Also, if you want to be a Spartan, then just go to Michigan State University.

[pliny_2001]

Originally Posted by championofnight

I have seen so many differnt girls with not so good-looking guys, and life moves on.

Cocaine, man. It's a hell of a drug.


Honestly, though (well, that was pretty honest ), girls often look at more than your body. There are exceptions, of course - after a nasty break-up, after their first four cocktails, after stepping outside their airplane for Spring break - but, generally it's slightly more complicated than (slammin' body) + (beefcake) = monkey love.

And - despite 300 being a kick-ass flick (I don't know if my earlier statement of 'better than Gladiator' was correct; a better comparison may be to Fight Club) - life there wasn't all fun and games; it often took on the appearance of NAMBLA. Just looking like those guys, though - that's a good goal.

Just remember; training takes time. Lots and lots of it. I've been lifting for about 8 years, and I didn't begin to be satisfied with my physique until after 3 or so.

[championofnight]

i appreciate hearing yalls thoughts about it, and insex that seems like a realistic picture of what will probably happen. She may become the new object of my obsessions, taking the place of bodybuilding.
Training does take time- this i have discovered. And unfortunetly time is out of our possession. It would sound better to say that we are slaves to time.lols.
But i am certainly still in- i was just getting tired of such a rigid diet, and feeling so weak all the time. Therefore... indefinite clean bulk! Hoorah! Along with 20 miles a week of jogging! Hoorah!

Thanks

[JoeBAR]

Originally Posted by championofnight

Yes, with 1lb a week, i still might put on fat. But, in my mind, my bodyfat percentage should stay the same. Because im gaining much more muscle than fat.

In your dreams more like Sorry to be blunt buddy, but that's the way it is. Do as you feel though. If you get flabby in the middle for the beach, don't say you ain't been warned though

As for the abs, well, they supposed to be defined below 10%, yet I can see mine at over 16%, so it's more of a genetic matter than simple numbers. MOST people see f*** all above 14%, not even a hint.

To stay realistic, watch your trousers. Once they get too small at the waist, it's past time to reconsider, 17 or not.

Lastly, I know you're young, I've been there even if it's longer ago than your birth date, and it's all about the girls. The girls never hit on me for my body though (I was a lanky skinny b****d, like 150lbs @ 5'11), nor for my pretty face, yet I've had my fair share, and my buddies were usually envious. I wish I had Irish ways with words, he could write you 1/2 a book on the subject. Anyway, to cut it short and to the point, the girls go out with the guy who's cool and not too ugly, not with the fitness buff. If the cool guy's fit, it helps, but it ain't THE choice. Personality DOES go a long way with girls, even if they not THAT bothered about their own (GG, Liza and Linda will spank my arse silly if they read this, anyway... ).

I train because I can. I train because I can set myself a challenge, and beat it, and set a new challenge, and it's been a long time since I felt something to hang onto. Those are MY motivation, find yours... (no, not the girls) and you'll find that it all work out better and make you happier. And if you're not quite-so-happy with training with weights, have some time off, think about it, think how you feel, whether you miss it, etc... You can always get back into it: hell, I started lifting I was past twice your age!

Good Luck champ', and don't bother apologising for long posts, I don't

EDIT: as for your gain diet... Try +500 on lifting days (4500cal or so) and +0 (balanced ~ 4000cal?) on cardio/non-lifting days. It'll slow the fat better. And check some of Berardi's work on nutrition, as well as Doughboy's posts here.

[championofnight]

As for the bf% goes, i am nowhere near tight around the waist. Im a fairly lean guy. Atleast i think. I am not sure what my bf% is. But i can see a 4 pack in my abs when i flex. That is good enough for me.
Honestly, for my own personal standards, i just want to be strong, with no gut, and a great endurance. The rest is because of bodybuilder's getting down to like 6% bodyfat and looking great. It makes me want to look like that too. Alas, comparison kills contentment.
But i just saw a pic of aguy with 21% bodyfat, and i looked much leaner than him. Im thinking im around 17%
The reason for not cutting right now is just because i hate diet, and im 17-plenty of time to cut later. i have a better looking body than about 85-90% of all people i meet. This is largely due to my shoulders, and my height.(six foot eight giant) i know i contradicted my proverb twice in no more than a paragraph, but this goes to show how hard it is to not compare.
With my height, i do not think i should worry too much about the nitty-gritty, especially right now. Im just gonna get huge and powerful, while still doing lots of cardio, then do a slow cut much later on. This seems reasonable to me.
i also want to point out that computer nerds seem much more happier than us, and they do not worry about their body at all.
...just felt like sharing that. lols
Thanks joebar

[orientalkid]

5 meals of 500 calories...it would not be that hard to stick to if i didnt have to take protein powder, which, it seems, im constantely having to buy more of.

er that is actually wat i am having when on maintainence diet lol. I plan to keep it this way and up the cardio ( from zero session lol). I am also going to try cutting for the first time.

[championofnight]

haha. Well im kinda like (6'8") and like i weigh 215. And im pretty active. I need 3600 calories to sustain me, and on some occasions i might need 4000 to sustain. lols.
When you cut, be sure to not make the deficit too much, because then you will lose lbm( lean body mass). i think this happened alittle with me.

[orientalkid]

whoa. i am like50pds less than u and only 5 feet 10. i can see the diff in calorie output now..

[championofnight]

you mean caloric expenditures?
It is really nice being huge and tall. Burns the calories and turns heads.
lols