Hey everyone so i have posted here before and got great feed back and i am hoping to get some more. I started my fitness journy around march of this year, I was doing scotts push/pull/legs. So as i was doing this i was seeing great gains i did it for about 3 or 4 months and i got really big. I started off at 160 pounds and eventually got to 170 pound at 17% body fat and that was without doing the cardio (maybe i should i have done it!) Now fast foward a lot has happen i got a new job that keeps me super active like i am out all day walking my steps say i do about 8,000 to 12,00 a day then i just restarted the push/pull/legs again except instead of trying to eat in a surplus i am eating in a defcit. 

Right now i am eating at about 1700-1800 cals, fats are about 50, carbs are 120-150 and protien is at 170-190. I thought going through a cut for the first month would help, and then when i get down to idk 18% again (I am at 22.5% again :/) then do a bulk for the remaining two months. My goal is to get to 180 pounds but be lean and big, I am skinny fat people call me stick and i hate it because i weigh 173 pounds right now and it doesnt even show. 

SO my question is again should i bulk or continue my cut? 

Btw i am 5'10 173 pounds very active job that requires me to travel on my feet a lot plus doing the 12 week challenge everyday on my 2 week now. scotts calc says my P=201 F=50 and carbs =644 and eat about 3800 cals a day. That cant be right? it also says my BMR at rest is 1869 and my BMR in motion is 3552. 

If you need to know more please just ask. And sorry about the spelling i cant be bothered to go over this. Thanks!

It's a tricky situation. If you're skinny, then there's no point cutting, because you won't get any bigger or add any muscle doing that. But at the same time, if you're at 22.5% body fat, then you really want to cut that back, because you'll actually have an easier time building muscle (your testosterone levels tend to be a bit higher) when you're leaner (10% - 15% is a good range to be in).

If you're still quite new to lifting, then I think right now eating at maintenance would be good. You could still be in that zone where you'll build muscle no matter what you do, but being at maintenance rather than a surplus right now is probably going to be good until your body fat % gets to at least below 20%.

If you're very active, then you could very well need 3800 calories to be in a surplus. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Which would mean eating 1700-1800 calories is way too low, and you'd be better of cutting on more like 2800-3000 calories. Maintenance would be around that 3200-3500 mark probably. A few questions...

What level of activity are you using on the calculator?

What were your macros/calories for your bulk?

And have you started doing cardio now?

Thanks for the reply!

On the calculator i am using hard daily exercies, I am a merchandiser and i travel through my city quite a bit liffting boxes and putting stock. Thats why i think the hard daily exercies fits me. The BMR at rest it says is 1869.59 and the BMR in motion is 3552.22. The average of the two is 2710.90. SO i guess that would be my maintenance?

Also if i eat at my maintenance i can still loose weight is what you are saying?

My Macros/Calories were-

Protein: 240g (960 Calories)

Carbs: 280g (1120 Calories)

Fat: 100g (900 Calories)

Total Calories = 2980

That was when i was bulking and got to 170-pounds, not gonna lie i did get around to 17% body fat while doing this and i wasnt even doing the cardio.

And yes i have started doing the cardio now, i am doing your push/pull/legs and it has been great again! lol. But the food is what bothers me the most if i am not eating correctly and just not getting to my goals i think what is the point you know? It is very discouraging

Again thanks for the reply! hope i am not wasting to much of your time!

Your BMR in motion, that 3552, is your maintenance (BMR = basic metabolic rate, the amount of calories you burn every day being a living human; BMR in motion is BMR + all the calories you burn performing at your specified activity level). You would need to eat 250-500 calories above that to gain weight, and 250-500 below that to lose. Since it sounds like you have a very active job, plus doing PPL and cardio, 3500 calories doesn't seem too far off the mark for you.

I think this is what Scott was trying to say (correct me if I'm wrong, please): Eating at maintenance might put your body in a recomp state. Like Scott said, if you're still pretty new to lifting, you'll likely see some gains at this point no matter what you do. But eating at maintenance will prevent you from gaining fat - you would gain fat in a bulk. So if you're in a recomp state at maintenance, and you're putting on some muscle but your total fat stays the same, your fat PERCENTAGE will drop.

For example, if you're 22% BF at 170 pounds, that would put you at 37.4 pounds of fat. But if your newbie gains (bless them) takes your total bodyweight up to 175 pounds but your BF stays at 37.4 pounds, that would put you at 21.4% BF.

However, I would imagine that since you're doing cardio and have a very active job, you're likely to drop some fat, too. Definitely use those newbie gains to your advantage - in most cases, it's practically impossible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. I agree that bulking above 20% bodyfat isn't going to be the most efficient way to go about it. The good news is, you're almost there, and once you're fueling your body properly, I think you'll see some great results.

The only thing that made me scratch my head was 644g of carbs and only 50g of fat. Seemed a little high on carbs, even for a bulk, and really low on fat.

@Chrisalta94 Yes that's what I'm saying. @theliftinglibrarian gave you some great information too!

So your info here kind of changes things again though.. if you were previously bulking while eating 3000 calories, then that means there's definitely no need for you to get anywhere near the 3800 calorie range just yet.

If you can bulk on 3000 calories, then yes, 2500-2750 calories is probably your maintenance level. That's the thing with the calculator.. it's only a starting point, and you might be slightly over-estimating calories burned during the day, and/or you simply might not have the metabolism rate to burn through that much energy.

If you're getting 1800 calories now, start adding 200 calories every 3-4 days. After 10-12 days you'll have added 600-800 calories, which should have you closer to your maitenance level (theoretically). Try working up to these macros...

Protein: 230g (920 Calories)

Carbs: 200g (800 Calories)

Fat: 90g (810 Calories)

Total Calories = 2530

See what your weight does with that many calories for a week or so. Ideally you'll want to be noticing very minimal changes in your weight, but noticing positive changes in your body (more definition, feeling stronger etc.). That would mean you're probably, hopefully, gaining muscle while losing fat.

At the moment you need to go through a bit of reverse dieting to slowly work back to maintenance to help make sure you don't pile on fat by drastically changing your calorie intake overnight.

@theliftinglibrarian Thank you for your input, it actually is starting to make sense now.

@Scott_Herman Ok ill get my overal macros to about 2500-2600, so with that i should be close to my maintenance level. How long would i need to be at my maintenance though? I know until i get below 20%, but after that what should i do? raise it so i can bulk? or just keep going on my maintenance to see how far i can go on that? My goal weight is 180-185. Sorry if that is confusing. But thanks to both of you for taking your time out and helping me.

Pics on the way though!!

@Chrisalta94 Stick with the 2500-2600 calories for as long as you can while seeing positive changes. If you start to go down in weight consistently, and your body fat has already dropped below 20%, that would be the time to go back into a surplus.

I know what you mean about having a goal weight. So probably while you're eating at maintenance, you wouldn't need to drop below 170lbs I don't think. You should be able to maintain or only drop a small amount before you get to that point where you are below 20% bf. From there you can focus on adding that extra 10-15lbs!

If you're skinny you need to have more calories than you burn a day

Hey Scott its been awhile now, i have tried my best to stick to the 2500-2600 cals as much as possible. But its hard i have tried to modify to what works best for me food wise becaue i do travel.

I was wondering what you thought of this.

breakfast- i am gonna have a big shake because i dont have time to cook bc of school and work so i am on the go

lunch- i am gonna have shrimp and veggies

dinner- i am gonna have a turkey low cal crunch wrap

and post workout i am gonna have this protien cereal i found online. Anythign i should change about this? Thanks again!

@Chrisalta94 Well, I don't see an issue with your food choices. Obviously the macros are a little different to what we discussed, but if you find that you're seeing positive results with those numbers, then you can definitely stick to them. I still think it would be good to increase fats just a little bit.

What you're planning also sounds fine, it's about finding what works for you man, so if you can hit your macros, hit your calories, and it's the most convenient route for you, stick with it!!

Hey scott, bit of a update. I checked and weighed myself. And i for some rewason weigh 177p now and i am at 25% body fat. Idk what i am doing wrong. Should i change my diet around? Change macros? Again its all around my stomach.

i have seen good results though more muscular, toned, bigger leg muscles i thought i never had. But i am feeling very discouraged. If you need any info from me please just ask. Thank you!

@Chrisalta94 Might pay to change the macros a little bit. Cutting back on the carbs in particular. Try to get down to 175g - 200g and let's see if that can help you drop some fat.

It's great you're gaining muscle though man, if you have seen those changes then what you are doing is still working, at least to an extent! If you think you are more toned though.. it seems strange that you would have increased your bf %. Was there anything different you did before measuring? Do you think you could post a photo?

I can post some pictures later after i get out of work. And i just checked again this morning my weight and body fat%. It said i weigh 175, and i am at 22% body fat. That might be due to just sleeping and the fasted state i am in though right? Thanks for the reply it really helps. Ill get some pics up in a bit. Thank you!

I am not the best flexor, but these are where i am at currently.

@Chrisalta94 OK so you probably are at about 20% body fat, but I don't know if I would say you are skinny fat man, you have some good mass! Obviously you want to be bigger though and that is still great! But as I thought, when you got the 25% bf reading, it might have been under different circumstances, when in reality you probably haven't gained that much body fat.

So just to clarify.. if your first post, you said you started your fitness journey this year. So did you mean this is literally your first year training? Or did you mean this was the year you wanted to take things really seriously?

Just so I know if you are still in the newbie phase or not. Because if you are, I still think a surplus is the way to go, especially if you are gaining muscle with little to no fat.

Thank you that actually means a lot! So i look around 20% bf? Maybe i did it wrong or something.

Sorry about the confusion, i have been on and off with working out, this year i have been taking it way more serious, trying to follow your 12 week plan as much as possible and also meal prepping each week.

Before around march i was in a bulk and i actually did see way better reaults in a surplus. I took my bf% and it was at 17 at the time. So maybe i should go back into one? The only problem i had eas with my belly fat. Thanks for taking the time out to help me!