Hi everyone, A bit stuck on where I (M27 176cm) am going wrong with dieting.

I recently came back to the gym (March 24')after a 8ish month break for medical reasons where I put on a fair bit of weight. I was typically weighing mid to low 70kgs and went all the way up to 94kgs.

In this time i have been medically prescribed TRT.

Although i have dropped a significant amount of weight overall I'm now at a point where I'm losing too much muscle over fat even with consistent calorie tracking and dropping them every time i hit a plateau. Even at my previous maintenance weight of 70-75kgs i would still hover around 18% bf regardless of my dieting.

My current calories are 2150 split between 45% carbs 37% protein and 18% fats, which i had been dropping by 150 calories and keeping these percentages.

I've come from 94kg down to 80kg but for the past 8-10kg I've stayed around 17-18% bf. I would consider myself quite advanced in the gym training 7 days a week and 30 mins of cardio every night except prior to a leg day but struggling with the diet aspect. I am by no means "small" but would really like to lean out before I do a clean bulk.

I am wanting to see a dietician in the new year but am looking for any help prior to this and if anyone here has time i am willing to discuss payment for a one off "coaching" per say if they can provide adequate qualifications.

Any help is appreciated in advance.

I'm unsure how to post photos and i cant for whatever reason signup for imgur in my region (AUS)

Hey all I just did a complete program of Jim's 6 weeks shortcut to shred

Link to the program PDF: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:ec2f5f2e-ba5d-46d7-b152-fac79c7063ab

I was around 84kg and now about 80kg

Still want to burn a bit more fat so you can see abs

The program's last 3 weeks has you reducing carbs significantly and you do weights and cardio in between sets so it's pretty intense

I just want to to know if I should do the program again without break or have a break and eat regular calories before starting the program again

I am 17 years old, started working out for 3 months now and have been having clicking/popping/cracking in the back side of my left shoulder/shoulder blade or just my shoulder can’t really tell, it happens when doing any sort of chest press or even lat pulldowns, even when just doing it without weight I still feel it. I’ve been warming up my shoulders before any chest or back workouts by doing some band work. How can I go about treating this? If I stop benching can I still work chest in other ways, or do I just take a break and focus on stretches and shoulder exercises.

I'm a 37 year old make who does IF 8:16. I am also a ex vegetarian and I have had my best results in my life once I went meat's back on the menu, boys this summer. However, eating this much meat is making me want to switch to meat only on the weekends or potentially 3 months on 3 months off, kind of like a bulk/cutting cycle if that makes sense. In theory I love steak but sometimes seeing 4lbs of it in my fridge makes me want to hug a tree. Was curious about y'alls experiences?

Little background first. I am 6’ tall, 49 years old. I started my fitness journey about 2 years ago at 260 lbs, roughly 36% body fat (all bf measurements by a smart scale, so not the most accurate).

First 6 months I just cut calories and walked every evening 4-5 miles and towards the end started lifting some full body lifting and got down to 219lbs/28%bf. Then I hired a coach who put me on a plan- lifting/cardio/meal prep. Under him I’ve done the following:

-4 month cut to 195lbs/23.5%bf -6 month lean bulk to 196/23.9%bf -9 month cut to 169.8/18.3%bf -currently back in lean bulk till Feb. Diet is 2000-2300 cal/day, 270-300 G protein. PPLA split, 4-30 minute cardio sessions, 3 low intensity and one HIIT.

I have not hit my goal of sub 15% bf yet, but honestly my body gets tired of cutting after 9-10 months, so I lean bulk to do something different and hopefully make some gains and reset my metabolism. I’ll get there in 2025.

During my previous lean bulk I did notice strength gains, but the only big thing I noticed was I developed biceps veins (I don’t track how much weight I lift or max out). So, considering my bf is still too high to see body changes, what are some ways that one can measure progress during a lean bulk? Any ideas?

What did giving up alcohol do for your muscle gains (yes I know it’s not good for it) just curious as to different people’s experiences with doing so

gonna start taking it wanna know what ones the best for money

The method calls for 3x10. So I suspect, set two is 12 reps, but what is set 3?

Have you experienced with top set of max 5 reps and if so, would the two following sets still be 8 and 12 or what range makes sense?

Those who tried both 5 reps for top set and the standard RPT of 8/10/12 reps, what got you most success?

Hey all - I have seen a couple posts here suggesting different unflavored protein options

Does anyone have experience adding it to Fairllife 2% milk?

My drink right now is

2 servings of 2% Farilife = 26g protein

2 Nespresso Pods

2 pumps Torani Sugar Free Chocolate Sauce

Over ice

I would love to have another 10-15g of protein in the drink if I can do it without altering any flavor/texture

do i just take my BMR and subtract like 500 calories to determine how much i should be eating to stay in a defecit or should i eat up to my BMR and try to track how many i burn in a workout? im really not sure so sorry if my questions sound dumb.

I’m F, 5’3 132 pounds, I’m lowkey skinny fat so I’m choosing to go on a smaller calorie deficit so I lose 1.7 pounds a month approximately. But I also want to keep my muscle from when I was bulking. Is this achievable? Any tips?

I'm a skinny fat with big belly, flabby chest and love handle. I want to do cutting to reduce my body fat. I did some moderate weightlifting 5 years ago and now I'm planning to take body building seriously. I have several questions I want to ask.

Question 1:
Will I still have that beginner gain where I can lose body fat while gaining muscle at the same time?

Question 2:
I'm planning my diet. I'm 5'7 157 lbs. According to the calculator, in order to stay caloric deficit I need 1500cal/day. Right now, I'm planning to eat 300gr chicken breast, 100gr broccoli, and 100gr white rice and 2 scoops of protein whey in a day. This meal plan gives me 144gr protein and 900cal. While it gives me enough protein, it is lacking in calories (around 600cal). I don't want my body to convert the protein into fuel. I'm also scared adding another protein since I read that excessive protein is no good for your kidney. Any food recommendations that I can add to my diet?

29M

185

5’11

What should my macros be for recomposition? My goal is to lose some fat and lean out a bit while work on building lean muscle mass.

Im currently on a lean bulk, and in finishing it very easy to hit every macro, except carbs.

I’m eating 3000 calories per day, 200 gr of protein, 123 gr of fats and 277gr of carbs, but I can barely hit half of my carb intake while fulfilling my daily amount on every other macro.

Are carbs important when lean bulking or should I view my carb intake more like a limit than a minimum?

Also This is the current Bulk program I am following according to martins recommendation idk if I am rightly doing this so feel free to correct me

Monday : rest Tuesday : bench press , t bar rowing , tricep Wednesday:- squat , chin-ups , calf’s Thursday: rest Friday : upper chest , shoulders press , tricep Saturday: deadlift , Row , biceps

Also this is according to my schedule I cant workout on monday

I was working out about 3 times a week at the gym plus walking, being in a 50-100 caloric surplus trying to gain muscle mass. I was also walking every day. Then I got bronchitis, and I've been unable to do much for the past 3 weeks. For the first week of bronchitis, I was eating at maintenance, and then I started to eat in a caloric deficit as I felt I was gaining fat. I've been in a 200-300 calorie deficit for the past two weeks, recently started going to the gym again (as of 4 days ago), and am still gaining weight, mostly around my abdomen. Is this fat gain, or am I just retaining liquid? Any advice? Should I keep in my caloric deficit to lose some fat or consider this bloating and keep doing what I was doing before I got sick?

All else held equal (same number of lifting and HIIT sessions, consistent caloric deficit), would adding a 20 minute walk in every morning help in my quest to get leaner? Or would the affects be minimal?

Any other things you’ve noticed has really helped in your journey to lean-ness?

Simple question really. I'm 5'5 110, so pretty small. I also have a desk job, so while I'm not over weight, I'm very out of shape. I want to do simple stuff while working like curling iron, squats, etc. but really my question is, can I get stronger without getting bigger? It's not that I don't want to get bigger. It's moreso that I have a very hard time eating more than my minimum calories in a day due to gerd; overeating causes a lot of trouble so bulking isn't really an option.

I eat animal products mostly eggs-yoghurt and want to use pea protein powder to reach my goal on top of it. Since I partly get my protein from animal source do I have to worry about ''complete protein''

I am 15 and looking at creatine I bought this one and I’m wondering if it’s safe it has

• Creatine Monohydrate
• UVA and URSI
• Cranberry Extract
• Dandelion

I don’t know any of these ingredients and I’m wondering it it’s a good creatine to take

Hi all, I'm 5'9", 146 lbs and have a skinny-fat physique.

Here are some pictures: https://imgur.com/a/skinny-fat-physique-146-lbs-59-O8jFGDD.

I was working out consistently for the equivalent of about ~8 mos, while maintaining/slightly bulking from ~153-158. However, I recently took a break from working out for about 6 weeks and happened to drop 12 lbs (diet dropped and I have a really fast metabolism). Naturally a good amount of this ended up being muscle loss, and I've started working out again to rebuild it.

Question 1: Now that I'm down to 146, should I just keep dropping until my belly fat is gone so I'm no longer categorically skinnyfat, and then lean bulk from there? What I'm worried about is that I will just keep losing too much muscle and look way too skinny. I'm also worried that once I lose the belly fat, I'll gain it back once I start lean bulking again.

Question 1.5: If I do choose to keep dropping until I lose the belly fat, when should I stop dropping? What weight or body fat % should I stop at?

Question 2: What body fat percentage do I currently look like?

Thanks!

Should I use creatine I’m starting to work out at 15 and I don’t know if it’s safe to use and if it actually helps. please help

For context I have dipped in and out of RPT over the years. I use the rept app but don't like how the sets progress independently.

In Martin's blog The Reverse Pyramid Training Guide (https://leangains.com/reverse-pyramid-training-guide/)

He actually says progress dependent on the first set AND that whilst reps should go up as you drop weight - set 2 & 3 should have the same goal reps as set 1

This "set 2 & 3 should have the same goal reps as set 1" - how did I miss this all these years?

Is this how it should work, because this goes specifically against the diagram for RPT he shares.

Hey, I'm male 22, and 175cm, I currently weigh 61kg as of this morning.

I have been training in the gym for about a month now progressively overloading and have seen noticeable growth albeit small but it is there and I am going up in weights every other session. I am mostly contributing this to newbie gains. However I'm unsure with to do with my diet, I'm 61 kilos and somewhat lean I do not have any of the skinny fat characteristics (I will insert an image. I would like to get leaner whilst still putting in an okay amount of muscle I'm not interested in putting on as much as possible as fast as possible. I'm unsure if I should cut or maintain it. Or bulk? If I maingain and steadily put muscle on at this weight will I appear to get leaner or is only possible to get leaner through cutting? Any advice and suggestions on what direction I should take I'm quite unsure, I did read that I should get down to my ideal body fat percentage and then leanbulk from there. Not sure if that answers my question tbh lol however I would like could have some reassurance on what to do thanks!! Current physique

So as I have readed martins latest answers on bulk on how he ate 4500 cal for 84 days and gained 7kg in 3 months span his idea of cutting after bulk is to over feed on training days and eat 1300-1400 calories on rest days which I understand ‘ buy what do you guys think I should do to cut without loosing too much muscle and strength I have gained during the cut and how should I cut ?

I think all the extra energy from food has me not needing much sleep to crush it every day

So, the short version is I take a medication that is rendered ineffective when ingesting (even small) amounts of citric acid, which unfortunately is in quite a lot of things including every preworkout drink I have ever purchased. So far I've had no luck in finding anything new, so I'm hoping someone here may know of one.

Hey everyone,

First time I'm making a concerted effort to bulk, before I continue I'll say my main form of fitness is CrossFit but I'm very much cherry picking the workouts atm to focus on the more heavy lifting and barbell type stuff, as well as doing accessory lifting throughout the week hottong all muscle groups with typical bodybuilding work.

I've been weighing myself everyday to make sure things are moving in the right direction and overall it is but should my weight vary this much day to day?

BW

21/10/24: 76.5kg

22/10/24: 76.6kg

23/10/24: 78kg

24/10/24: 78kg

25/10/24 : 76.4kg

26/10/24: 77kg

27/10/24: 78.2kg (post breakfast)

28/10/2024: 79.3kg

29/10/2024: 78.6kg

30/10/2024: 78.4kg

31/10/2024: 77.5kg

As you can see it moving in the right direction but a few days ago I was close to 80kg and now back down to 77.5kg.

I weigh myself same time of day etc, calories are around 3100-3200 everyday, sometimes more but I always make sure I'm over 3k.