Should I continue trying to cut or should I bulk up first? [If cut, how should I?]

About a year ago I decided it was time to get back into shape. I didn't necessarily want to gain that much muscle; I just wanted a six pack and to maintain/tone my muscles. I had been working out 5 times a week for 3.5 hours each time from 4th grade until the end of high school (as a gymnast) so I had been in great shape at one point. A year ago I was almost done with college so it had been over 3 years since I'd worked out. I started to work out 5 times a week: warm up with 5-10 minutes of cardio, lift for 45 minutes, end with 10-15 minutes of cardio. I eventually started to eat better as well since I figured working out this hard and then eating pizza and ice cream all the time was a waste. I did not know anything about nutrition though so I will admit that I made a large mistake here. I did get plenty of protein, at least 1 g per pound of my body weight, but I was lacking in both carbs and fat and calories in general. I feel like such an idiot looking back, but I thought if you ate enough to be full all throughout the day and were never hungry, then you were eating enough as long as you got enough protein and vitamins/minerals. I was mainly eating veggies and egg whites and a smaller amount of cereal (since I was trying to get all my vitamins...calcium included). It just made me tired all the time, and I actually went to the doctor to see what was wrong. I can't believe I didn't even consider it was my diet. When I finally discovered how low my calories were and that you actually do need some fat, I changed my diet completely. I have now read tons on nutrition and eating so that isnt' a problem, but it did give me a rough start.

I did lose some weight in that time, but who knows how much of it was muscle and how much was fat. I actually don't even like to think about how much muscle I wasted away in that time. Later after my diet change, I leveled out. I wasn't gaining or losing weight, but at the time I wanted to lose the little flab I had on my stomach so I started doing more cardio: in all about 5 miles a day between my morning cardio and cardio after my evening lifting workout (and my lifting workouts still tended to be between 35 and 45 minutes). It actually didn't really have much of an affect if anything as far as I can tell. I pretty much stayed constant anyway.

My workout is as follows:
Monday - Chest & Abs
Tuesday - Shoulders
Wednesday - Back & Abs
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Biceps/Triceps & Abs
Sat-Sun - Rest

Lately, I've taken off a bit. I've pretty much kept my workout, but I do less cardio since I acquired shin splints and ankle/knee pain. Once again, I have seen little to no change in my physique from it. I am also now torn between if I should try to bulk up slightly to gain more muscle and hold off on the six pack so I can have more muscle or if I should just go right to the six pack.

I am currently 5'10", 145 lbs, about a handful of fat/whatever it is on my abs with very little anywhere else (fat-wise), my muscle tone is good and I have moderate mass, but as my weight and height suggests, nothing extreme. I am just wondering what people have as an opinion on this. If people think I should gain more before cutting to my six-pack or what.

Either way, I would like to know what you think of my diet as well....if it is good for cutting if I so wish to do so [Remember that I have not been losing on this diet so I figure something is wrong with it....I also have commentary below on what I've tried with it to lose more]


My normal diet is as follows:

Breakfast:
-1 cup cereal, 1 cup of milk
-high fiber bread (60 cal) with tablespoon of natural peanut/almond/cashew butter
-99% fat free chicken breast (about 40g of protein)

pre-lunch snack:
-1 apple

Lunch:
-About 8 cups of garden salad (sometimes is other veggies instead, but close to the same quantity....can be string beans or bell peppers or carrots or a little of each, I change this up every so often, but it is always raw/cold with no dressing...I don't like how dressing tastes)
-chicken breast
-15 almonds

pre-supper snack:
-1 apple (sometimes the apple can be a pear, mango, peach, etc, but usually an apple)

supper:
-1 cup cereal, 1 cup of milk
-high fiber bread (60 cal) with tablespoon of natural peanut/almond/cashew butter
-stir fry with the following:
-chicken breast
-about tablespoon of curry (10 to 20 calories depending on how much I use)
-fresh garlic and ginger (sometimes I add basil if I have it)
-The veggies change constantly, but I eat a lot of them at dinner. Some will always be spicy (habenaro peppers, thai peppers, or cayanne peppers) and the rest is for color, texture and taste. I love string beans, bell peppers, mushrooms, and brocolli in particular. The quantity is normally around what half a wok is.....I don't know, not quite 8 cups like lunch (but then again garden salad is not as compacted as the stir fry gets). It is probably like 5 or 6 cups all together (including chicken and spices).

Anyway, I've been doing this for around 3 or 4 months now.

Surprisingly enough I think it's still doing nothing. I'm not quite sure what is wrong. I think I may have lost a little initially, but it was not significant.

I'm running....I'm watching my fat intake (it is about 45g a day, give or take 5 grams. I get it through nuts/peanut butter, both of which I love)

I thought perhaps I should cut back on the cereal/bread/fruit more since they are high in carbs (even though all are healthy since I only eat high fiber breads/cereal). I wouldn't have to worry about my fiber not being good enough since I typically get over 200% of my daily fiber (often closer to 300%).

I wanted this so badly, and it just didn't come for me. I am highly determined, and I'm used to achieving what I set out to do, but this was just not working for me.


I am typically at 1800 calories (give or take 100 calories depending on the fruit and veggies I've eaten that day). I've tracked my general daily intake on a spreadsheet (in great detail....accounting for every last speck of food and analyzing every mineral/vitamin). I am over the recommended intake for all minerals/vitamins except calcium, which I come to about 60-70%. I have started to take a supplement for the rest at this point since more cereal is out of the question...I can't afford the extra calories, but I may consider adding more high calcium vegetables although I typically don't get enough to make a serving of calcium. I was actually thinking of cutting out one of my bowls of cereal altogether. I'd either replace it with another pill or just have a glass of milk instead of a bowl of cereal.

I was thinking about cutting the bread/peanut butter at supper too, but I do try to get some fat at every meal so I was thinking of doing celery and peanut butter. It would only get rid of 60 calories (my bread is only 60 calories a slice...mmm...love Natural Ovens bread), but every little bit can help.

Anyway, main point is that this little bit of fat is what I naturally have at my natural weight. To get rid of it, I have to go against what my body thinks it needs, which is why I've made little to no progress doing it. It also means I may consider taking extreme measures such as restricting food, even if it is healthy food such as high fiber (all my grains (bread/cereal) are 5g or more per serving typically) and fruit. I eat enough grains that I can make these cuts and still get those needed nutrients, and I actually could eliminate the fruit altogether and still get what I need since I eat so many vegetables (particularily from bell peppers, which are almost like fruit in that concern since they have such a high nutrient content).

It's been dificult deciding. A couple months ago I switched from eating 3-4 pieces of fruit a day to the 2 servings of fruit a day, and it's been harsh on me. I love fruit, and giving up some of it is horrible for me. As my other post shows, when I have the urge to binge, it isn't ice cream and fatty fried food. It is fruit and high fiber cereal, both of which I love a great deal, but have been restricting myself on. Gosh, I grew up on cereal....sometimes I had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was a gymnast and had almost no time, and it was an easy and quick way to get a meal in (that and peanut butter sandwhiches). My family did force me to eat meals with them on occasion too, but I will admit that I was always low on almost all nutrients and a lot of it was unhealthy. I didn't know much about nutrition though, and I actually didn't care about the calories since I worked out 20 hours a week for gymnastics, and anything I ate was burned. I always joked when i read something....I'd say stuff like "look, I just ate 600% of my daily fat intake" after eating a box of handisnacks [funny part is that I would have preferred a good bowl of cereal then, but it was there so I ate it...and I'd just burn it off anyway.]

Of course, I am no longer willing to workout 20 hours a week (that was just gymnastics too...add to that school phy ed, a couple weight training classes I took at school...and just going out having fun running around as a kid and...you can guess). Since I won't work that much, I now watch what I eat and do moderate exercise. The sad part is that back then, I did have a better stomach than I do now, which is partly why I want it back....I want to be what I once was. I'll never have as much muscle as I used to (because I am not willing to workout that much anymore), but I thought maybe I could at least get the abs I had once had.

Gosh, I'm so sorry for the long personal story. I just got carried away. I can get too detailed sometimes (perfectionistic tendencies).

Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated....either at analyzing my diet/workout or about if I should let myself gain more mass (and thus muscle) before cutting.

Cut, bulk, cut, bulk....

It's really chicken and egg. For competition, you bulk then cut, shooting for the leanest you can get on the day of the competition.

I get a lot of questions about "what should I do first, bulk up or diet?", well, really it probably doesn't matter, eventually you will be alternating between the two anyway, but I personally say bulk first, on the theory that added muscle mass will make the weight come off more easily later on.

I remeber working with a friend of mine who was trying to get in shape for a May target date. We started in January, and for the first couple of months we worked on heavy lifting and making sure we got pleanty of quality calories. Start of March, he complained that his pants were getting too thight in the waist, so I switched to a high cardio, moderate weight, reduced calorie diet. He dropped belt notches, but he much preferred the bulking program. When we were done, he had gone from an "H" to more of a "V", and he was happy.

It seems to me that after doing one or the other (bulking or cutting) for a while, your body starts fighting you. When that happens, it's a good time to reverse polarity

While bulking, how many pounds (fat-wise) do we typically end up with over our normal weight?

If I was going to bulk, I think I'd want to stay decently slim during it, but still have enough that it would not inhibit my muscle gaining. I will admit that my reason for this is that I go to clubs sometimes, and I like to look decent while I do so. Going with a big belly would make me feel odd. I guess I'd consider not going for a while if it was essential though, but clubbing is one of my favorite activities (it relaxes me and is lots of fun).