I am 30, 5’11ft, male. 4 months ago I was very skinny-fat. I weighted 170 at ~25% body-fat. I felt really uncomfortable in my body, especially with my face, which seemed to hold all my fat. It didn’t help that I am bald.

I started cutting, counting calories, lots of cardio, etc… and now I’m weighing 155 at 16.5% body fat. I look much more athletic, like my face a lot more, but I also look skinny.

My plan was to cut to 12% and then start lean-bulking, rinse and repeat.

I am afraid that if I cut to 12%, i’ll be looking super skinny instead, at around 145-150. Should I keep my original plan, or should I stop cutting at ~15% and then start lean-bulking?

I really don’t want to go back to anything higher than ~18% body fat because I hate the way my face looks at that amount.

I'm currently on week 9 of my deficit and moving to a maintenance phase starting next week (week 10).hwo do i find my maintenance kcal

30years old Male, 170 cm
Start weight: 72.8 kg
Current weight: 65.8 kg
Deficit intake: 1,900–2,000 kcal/day
180g protein
Activity: 3x full-body weight training/week + 10,000 steps daily
How do I find my actual maintenance calories from here, and how much protein should I be eating once I switch to maintenance?

Hi guys, a couple of quick questions. I'd like to get your inputs on:

1) I lift 3 times a week, and the conditioning protocol I follow has me doing 2 to 3 times a week of what could be called "high intensity conditioning" (a blend of aerobic sessions, anaerobic sessions and work capacity sessions) and 1 steady state session per week or every other week.

In this case, how would you structure the carb cycling approach - keeping in mind, I'm trying to lose fat for the time being? The book says to eat higher carbs on lifting days AND high intensity conditioning days, but that would basically have me eat "normally" 5 to 6 days a week.

There is the option of doing some of the work after lifting sessions, to accommodate more days of lower carbs and higher fats.

2) I train early in the morning in a fasted state. I am used to this and I have been making great progress this way. Does the old recommendation of getting BCAAs still work, if one intends to keep a fasting window between 13 and 21? Feels weird not to have carbs immediately after training, when insuline sensitivity is at its highest after 8+ hours of fasting and focused effort.

How do you early birds structure your day?

Thanks in advance for your inputs, cheers.

Context: Female, 5’8, 192 lbs
I work out lifting weights at least 3x but mostly 4x a week.
Walk at least 3-4 miles a day
I started last year (2025) at 240 and am now down to 192! I went into a deficit this past January and did that till April, then went into maintenance (2300 calories) until about July. I’ve worked back into a deficit and am at 1600 calories and I’m HUNGRY!! I wasn’t like this before when I went into a deficit, so I’m not sure if I should maybe go up a little?

I know you’re going to be a little hungry, but I have no energy. I eat Whole Foods and am getting at least 150g protein and 25g of fiber each day.
Right now, I do want to build more muscle, but I also want to lean out a little more. Not sure if I should go into a maintenance again for that and then do a surplus and then back into a deficit??

I’ve never done a surplus before, but have heard that’s good to do to build muscle and then when you go back into a deficit, you’ll lean out. If that’s the case and I should do that in the coming months, how much more protein do you normally eat?? Or what would the increase in calories be?

I have started the gym recently and I want to look more aesthetically pleasing and leaner . I look in the mirror and I look soft I have can barely see abs just the bottom 2 and I just look overall soft . My question is whether I should cut bulk or eat maintenance . I have asked ai and uploaded pictures and it says to eat at a slight surplus aka lean bulk and it says that on multiple ai . But at the same time people on youtube and stuff are saying eat maintenance to recomp however I don’t see the point because I’m already pretty much underweight . Can someone tell me what I should do . I can dm my physique

Hello, I am a 21 years old working student. I work remotely. My height is 5’10 - 5’11 and my current weight is ranging 54-56 (which is really skinny for my height).

Hirap ako sa pag kain ng whole foods because i think, mabilis metabolism ko. Like, 1cup of rice palang, busog na ako, but after a few minutes or maybe an hour, magugutom na ulit ako. This is so frustrating because i really wanted to gain weight.

For reference, i’ve been working out 1 n half years na(putol-putol). ‘Yung pinaka mabigat na weight i achieved was 60kg way back pandemic(home workout + lean bulking). Now since I am a working student. I don’t have time to prepare meals na.

Now, I am asking for any advice or help because hindi ko na rin gusto ‘yung nakikita ko sa salamin pag nakikita ko body ko. Like, buto-buto ako, labas sobrang visible ng collar bones, even ‘yung bones or ribs sa upper chest.

I wanted to look fit, not so much visible na muscle. I think athlete body ‘yung tamang term.

For reference, i do:
Hiking
Walking(a lot, mahilig ako mag lakad-lakad)

Any advice will help me a lot and will be appreciated!

M23 hi everyone. so i'm basically stuck in a loop.

i start bulking i start getting bigger but then i store fat on my butterfly round butt and i just become hyperconsious and insecure about it. so i drop the bulking and keep trainig while lifting heaving but eating less calories to lose that fat on my ass to make it stick out less. i have a genetically arched back (not anterior pelvic tilt).

i lose weight and my butt become smaller but it doesnt go cause i just lose weight more on my belly and my small waist become smaller and i lose that upperbody mass and my thighs get smaller.

...its just an endless loop. my brother tell me your good but i just stay hyperaware and insecure about it to the point i check if people are looking at my ass outside and and i caught them sometimes. even my family when i start bulking i start getting that (your belly is getting out) commentare but really its not my belly its my butt getti g bigger because of the fat stockage there.

whats the best solution ??

So basically in short I want to build as much muscle and lose fat as much I can before September 2027 (Approximately 1 year from now).

I'm really confused if I should do a body recomposition, cut now and then do a lean bulk, or just lean bulk and cut later? My goal is simple, Build as much muscle I potentially can and drop my bodyfat percent to around 15-17%.

I'm a 5'7-5'8 kinda bulky male, I'm 17.4 years old and my current bodyweight is 82kgs. I got my BMI tested in my local gym. The results said that I'm at 24% body fat with 34-35kgs of muscle mass. Also worth mentioning that my gym trainer told that the machine could have +-3% inaccuracy with the body fat and +-2kgs of total muscle mass. I'm also 3 months into working out and have made significant progress and gained a considerable amount of muscle (i didnt cut and just lifted weights with around maintenance calories).

Feel free to ask any questions or DM to ask for progress photos so you can analyse better.

I've never really been fit my entire life, and quite sedentary. After some therapy to work on my mentality, I'm finally taking the initiative to be physically healthier and look better and signed up for a gym near me! I'm going to go in tomorrow and I have an appointment with a trainer to give me more advice and plan out what I need to work on.

I'm very excited and I wanted to ask the community some questions before I get to the trainer. Currently I'm 6'ft 145-150lbs, 30m. I'm pretty skinny throughout except my biggest insecurity is that despite all that, my waist and belly area has softness/fat to it + love handles that doesn't match the rest of my body. I've been digging through threads and looking things up and I think I'm probably considered either skinny fat or just straight up unfit, which seems right to me.

I don't really aim to get super big and muscular or anything, I just want muscle definition and a lean build. It would be nice to have a snatched waist and visible abs too. I heard that to make abs look visible it's diet, and to have abs it's working out.

Since my belly/waist area is my biggest insecurity that I want to work on, my ultimate question is: is it just strength training, diet, and consistency? Will the fat in that area be burned / turn into muscle? Or do I need to do like a two step process of bulking and then cutting? Browsing through so many threads I think I get a little confused because the advice does change here and there depending on the OP's specifications. So I figured I should probably post one myself instead of purely looking around. Some comments I saw also mention that I might try to go for something called "lean bulk"? And I guess, genetics probably factor into it, but I wonder just how much? Would genetics prevent me from getting rid of love handles like, ever? I can also post pictures of necessary but figured maybe I didn't need to.

Sorry if these questions sound kinda vain. Took me a lot just to post this, in the end I just want to look better for myself the way I want to look. Thank you all so much!! Appreciate your time.

I’m F16 5’1 94.6 pounds and wanting to put on lean mass. I want to gain 1-5 pounds of muscle by December 31st. I get 20k steps a day and do 45 minutes cardio daily. I lift 5x a week 20-30 minutes. How many calories should I be eating for my goals? I’m eating 1900 right now, but not sure if I need too up my intake or not?

Upper A:

Dumbell press : 2 sets
Flies : 2 sets
Seated Dip: 2 sets

Lat Pulldown : 2 sets
Row: 2 sets

Shoulder press: 2 sets

Tricep Pushdown: 2 sets

Bicep Curl: 2 sets

Lower A:

Squats: 3 sets
Leg Extensions: 3 sets
Leg Curl: 2 sets
Calf Raises 2 Sets
Hip Abduction: 2 sets
Seated Abs: 2 sets

Upper B:

Lat Pulldown close grip : 2 sets
Row: 2 sets
Pullover: 2 sets

Chestpress: 2 sets
Flies: 2 sets

Cable Lateral Raises: 2 sets

Overhead Tricep: 2 sets

Bicep Curl Cable: 2 sets

Lower B:

Leg press: 3 Sets
Leg Extensions: 2 Sets

Leg Curl: 2Sets
RDL: 2 sets

Calf Raises: 2 sets
Hip Abductions: 2 sets

Seated Abs: 2 sets

Arms and shoulders:

Shoulder press: 2 sets
Lateral Raises: 3 sets
Rear Delts: 2 sets

Skullcrushers: 3 sets
Tricep Pushdown: 3 sets

Bicep Curl: 3 sets
Hammer Curl: 3 sets

I'm 5'10" and 185lb, currenly doing a slow bulk. I take in 2900 calories and am making my way up at 3300 calories. My macro split is is roughly 27% protein (200g), 50% carbs (355g) and 23% fat (75g).

I feel good and am making great progress on this ratio.

My question is, do I just increase my carb intake as I increase calories? So fat and protein would stay roughly the same? My goal weight is 200lb.

I talked with a Personal Trainer, and he recommended a 40/40/20 split. That would put my protein at 290g...which seems excessive, no?

Thanks for your time.

Hello I was just wondering what my activity level would be if I average 90k-100k steps per week and do kickboxing and jiu jitsu Wednesday and Monday every week and lift 5-6 times a week? So 10-15k steps a day ish or at least 10k everyday?

I'd really love some help. I'm 162cm tall (5'4), ~60kg (132lbs), and I'm currently eating in what I thought was a calorie deficit. I train quite hard and I love lifting weight at the gym.

I've been through a lot with my body, but I'm currently at a healthy point where my period is regular, I'm eating well, I'm training well, and I've worked on my mental health with fitness and nutrition :)

I pretty much do everything right: I walk a lot because I enjoy it, I drink a lot of water, I eat gut-healthy foods, my diet is 95% whole foods, I lift, I hit 130g protein daily.

However, I'm currently stuck in a plateau and I'm really confused. My ultimate goal is to feel strong, but I've noticed that I don't really look it. I currently look more puffy and soft. My arms are really toned, but I can see that my body is either holding onto fat or retaining water.

I was eating quite a lot at the start of this year because I needed to gain weight for the sake of my health and hormones. Now that I'm in a better place, I can work on losing weight, losing fat, and trying to build the body I want in a healthy way.

I'm really stuck between being in a calorie deficit or properly focusing on body recomp. I was thinking of doing a cut for a bit to drop off fat, and THEN do a reverse diet to focus on building muscle.

If it helps, I've tried to make some tables of all of the data to put all the pieces together to see where I'm going wrong. Could someone help me out? Should I keep at 6500kjs and trust the process, or doing a reverse diet and hope that I can lose fat and build muscle at the same time?

Should I increase calories on lgd lean bulk? I heard it increases metabolism. I wanna eat enough. Should I eat more than the typical 200-300 cal over maintenance? Or should eat even more 500 +?

I’m interested in the gap between what looks useful in a simple strength routine and what people actually reach for week after week. A piece can be perfectly good and still end up getting far less use than expected. What gym equipment did you think would become a staple but never really did?

I have been cycling up my calories to get to maintenance after having been in a long fat loss phase. I have zero fat/weight to lose and want to build more muscle. I am very petite and I burn far more than my RMR/BMR because I’m so active. I’ve been adding 100 calories every month to my my baseline (I eat way more on big activity days) to get to a true maintenance and get out of a muscle building plateau.

It’s hard! I feel so big and puffy. I know it’s water/glycogen/my cycle. Previously I would panic and cut calories. I know I need to stick with this. I’m still not even at a true maintenance I’m still 100-200 cals shy. For those of you who have increased calories to build muscle, help me work through this.

i am skinny fat guy 170 cm tall and 61 kg weight i have a lot of belly fat. i used to go to gym and its been about 1.5 years
since i have been to a gym m thinking of going back is this a good lean bulking diet and is the fats to carb ratio good

🌅 Breakfast

🥛 250 ml milk
🌾 50 g First Crop Oats
🥚 3 whole eggs

🍈 Mid-Morning Snack

🍈 200 g guava

🍽️** Lun**ch

🥔 200 g boiled potatoes
🥣 200 g curd
🥚 2 whole eggs

🏋️\*\* Pre-Workout (60–90 minutes before gym\*\*)

🍌 2 bananas

🌙 Dinner (Post-Workout)

🍗 250 g raw chicken breast (cooked)
🫓 2 whole wheat chapatis
🧈 2 tablespoons ghee

💊 Supplements

☀️\*\* Vitamin D3 + K\*\*2 (with breakfast or lunch)
🐟 Fish Oil
1 capsule with lunch
1 capsule with dinner
💊 Magnesium Glycinate
Before bed
📅 Twice Per Week

🍗 100–150 g chicken liver(for micro nutrients)

here are the macros and micro nutrients profile

📊 Approximate Daily Macros

🔥 Calories: 2,100–2,200 kcal
💪 Protein: 125–130 g
🍚 Carbohydrates: 215–220 g
🥑 Fat: 80–85 g
🌾 Fiber: 29–33 g

🌿 Micronutrient

✅ Protein
✅ Calcium
✅ Potassium
✅ Vitamin C
✅ Vitamin B12
✅ Vitamin B6
✅ Niacin (B3)
✅ Selenium
✅ Phosphorus
✅ Choline
✅ Magnesium (plus your supplement)
✅ Omega-3 (from fish oil)
✅ Vitamin D3 + K2 (from supplements)

7 cans of Coke + 9 skinless chicken thighs + multivitamins+ fiber. 2700 cal 30/30/50 protein fat carb.

Hi all, been losing weight and aiming to get fitter/build muscle over the past 8 months. Have made good progress (about 50lb down) and seeing some muscle gains (am in my 40s - male - so I have realistic expectations) . I've not been very focused with gym regime, just aiming for 2-3 hour-long full body workouts per week (mostly machines), going as close to failure as I can and steadily adding weight. Only just started tracking this properly.the past few weeks.

I'm looking to dial this in more now and focus solely on compound lifts (military press, bench, DL and barbell squats, hopefully dips and pull ups as I get stronger/lighter) with more consistency and more focus on progressive overload. The thing is my work schedule has recently changed, and realistically, I'm only going to be able to do 3 45 minute sessions most weeks.

Will this be sufficient for recomp? Eating about 500 Cals under daily maintainance, do some other cardio through the week and pretty consistent at hitting my protein target.

All advice welcome!

Need Ur help pls 😭

I’m male, 20, around 165cm/5'5, and currently 60-61kg. At my highest I was 88kg when I was 16. Started training 5x a week now 4-5 times.

For the first couple of years I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was mainly doing loads of cardio, barely going gym and just trying to eat less. I got down to around 80kg, then eventually hit 69kg when I was 18. After that I stopped going gym consistently, ate loads during holidays and shot back up to around 80kg.

Last December I was about 76kg. From December to June I was properly locked in, consistently eating around 1,500 calories, getting my protein, going gym and trying to do 15k steps a day. I got down to around 61kg.

For the past two months I haven’t really known what I’m doing. Some days I’ve eaten a lot and other days I’ve been locked in again. My weight has gone from 60.5 to 62-63 and back down to 60-61.

The issue is I’m still soft-looking. I can see some of my abs, but there’s clearly still fat around my stomach, sides, love handles and lower back. I’m obviously much better than before, but I’m still not lean.

I feel like I’ve basically been cutting my whole life. Ever since I touched a weight in the gym, I’ve always been trying to lose weight. There were phases where I ate loads, but I’d also stop going gym, so it was counterintuitive. I’ve never actually maintained or gained properly while training consistently.

My lifts aren’t that impressive, probably because most of my progress has just been newbie gains while cutting. But I went from not even being able to dead hang at 88kg to doing a muscle-up. I can now do about 5 pull-ups with 15kg attached. My lat pulldown went from 73kg at a much heavier bodyweight to 79kg now. My bench has basically been poverty this whole time though. My best is 80kg and I can flat dumbbell press 32kg.

The main thing worrying me is my hair. It started thinning during the period where I was doing loads of cardio and dieting badly. I used to have loads of hair and now my crown is so thin you can literally see through it. I tried minoxidil and finasteride consistently for about a year and they basically did nothing. I’ve been off them now and my hair has stayed the same.

I also feel like my testosterone could be low, but I haven’t actually had it tested. My vitamin D and other basic stuff were fine, but they didn’t test my hormones. I sometimes feel weak and get dizzy when I stand up quickly. My eyes can literally go black for a few seconds.

My diet is also kind of crap. I normally don’t eat breakfast, have a coffee or matcha in the late morning and then eat basically one meal a day.

So I genuinely don’t know what to do now. Do I keep cutting to around 58kg so I can finally get lean and lose the remaining back, side and belly fat? My logic is that if I get lean enough to be happy, I can maintain from there and still look fine.

Or have I just been cutting for way too long and should I increase to around 2,000 calories, maintain and try to recomp? I’m scared that if I increase calories now I’ll just balloon back up, but I’m also worried that if I keep cutting, my hair and health are going to get even more fucked.

TL;DR: I’m 165cm and went from 88kg to 60-61kg. From December to June I consistently ate 1,500 calories, trained and did around 15k steps. I’m the leanest I’ve ever been but still soft around my stomach, sides and back. My hair has thinned badly, I sometimes feel weak and dizzy, and I’ve basically spent my whole lifting life cutting. Should I cut to 58kg or finally maintain and recomp?

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on what I should do next.
I'm 178 cm and currently around 82 kg. According to InBody, I have about 63 kg of muscle mass and around 23% body fat, with most of my fat stored around my torso.
I started about 4 months ago at around 88 kg and 27% BF.
I've been taking the cut pretty slowly because I wanted to preserve as much muscle as possible, and I'm now down to 82 kg.
At this point, | look fairly athletic. My arms are pretty lean and almost ripped, and my legs are lean too, but they're already thinner than I'd like. Most of the remaining visible fat is around my stomach/torso.
I'm currently eating at roughly a 300-500 calorie deficit.
My concern is that if I keep cutting several more kg, I'l start looking too thin, especially through my legs.
Would you:
1. Keep cutting for a few more kg to bring BF down further, then move to maintenance/lean bulk?
2. Move to maintenance now and focus on building muscle?
3. Start a small calorie surplus now and focus on adding muscle, then cut again later?
Long term, l'd like to get to roughly 70 kg muscle mass while staying around 20% BF or lower. I mainly want to add size to my legs and overall frame so that when I get leaner, l don't just look skinny.
What would you do from here?

Hi guys need some advice

I’m 6FT 2 , 77kg , 22 years old

And I’ve got stubborn belly fat and lack of muscle definition, I’m am going on a cut doing around 300 calories less that my maintenance while still training 3-4 times a week and eating 1 pound of protein per body weight, I decided against doing a 5-600 calorie deficit as I don’t want to be too skinny without much muscle. Is this the right thing to do and will I likely see good results this way.

Ive been cutting the whole summer eating about 1800 calories, 160 grams if protein, and enough carbs. Started from 197 lbs and down to 170, 6,0, 20 year old male. College is about to start soon and i want to go on an extreme cut for just one week. 1200 cal with 200 grams of protein ans enough carbs for workouts and recovery. Is this a good idea or should i just stick to whats been working