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Originally Posted by Now_Rudi
Thank you gents! I really don't want to get huge by any means, but I went about this the hard way. I'd rather be smallish and cut than to be big. In the beginning, I should have tried to turn my fat into muscle and then cut; I did it backwards. My thinking was that I see all the big guys at the gym that have no definition. Yes, they are big, but they have no muscle tone, they just look fat. For 8 months I focused more on shedding body fat and now I realize that I got way too small. It's odd that watching what you eat, keeping track of calories and my deficiency, then doing an hour (and more) of cardio 5 days a week helped me drop weight crazy fast, but I still had the same physique as I did before, just way smaller. Now that I realize I need to eat more and lift heavier to allow the muscle to help burn what fat I have left, it's a completely different experience.
As of now, starting 2 weeks ago, I've gone from eating 1600-1800 calories/day to around 2600-2800 calories/day. I've cut the cardio back to every other day and only do 30 minutes. I have also started lifting heavier and only every other day in order to allow the groups I'm focusing on to rest. I've also started staying away from the smith machine and rely more on dumbells, for now. I'm already seeing results in my chest shoulders and arms after only two weeks. I've also noticed my belly fat is decreasing somewhat, but also feel the additional weight I'm putting on the process.
When I started, I honestly thought it would be eating less junk (eating less in general), lifting some weights and doing some cardio to get where I wanted to be. Man was I ever wrong! It seems that everything is a catch 22 with this. To lose fat, you have to build muscle, which requires you to eat more and more often that I did when I was fat. I'm way more conscious of what I eat and when I eat now, but it seems I like eat all the damn time (I'm shoving steel cut oats and flak seed in my mouth as I'm typing this). My biggest issue is that I sit behind a desk for about 10 hours a day.
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Hm thats a pretty large jump in calorie intake, that would explain why you put on a little bit of "chub" in the process. If you were to increase those calories incrementally you most likely wouldn't be putting on too much excess fat. For instance increase daily calories by 300/day/week rather then an abrupt 1000cal/day jump. If you give you're body more time to adapt to the calorie intake it will get accustomed to taking in those excess calories and burn them more efficiently. Also cutting the cardio to every other day most likely has an effect too. You can bulk and still do cardio (I do atleast a half hour a day and I can still put weight on).
Free weights should be your go to, but smith machines and other machines have their place to. They allow for more isolated movements to hit certain muscle groups. You don't have to completely cut those out either, just supplement them into certain aspects of your workouts. I would just suggest focusing on a "mind to muscle" connection. If you're doing an DB press on a flat bench you want to feel it in you're chest. If you're feeling too much tension in your shoulders then your form is most likely lacking (just an example).
They key is like you mentioned. Although you're eating more often and larger quantities the type of food you're eating has a purpose and isn't as bad for you. You've already taken a step in the right direction being conscious of what you're eating. I'm in a similar position with a desk job. That said you can make the best of it, I have a standing desk that I utilize often. I probably stand for half of my day if I were to guess. After lunch I'll usually step out of the office for a 15min walk as well, I feel that it helps my digestion process as well as keeps me active to an extent.