Thread: Time for a cut... I think. Couple of Q's.

i gain weight the same as you, i gain no fat and muscle slowly on my limbs and chest, and gain fat and muscle fast in my midsection,
as for your starvation, try to eat more veggies to fill you up, guzzle down a liter of water before you eat, that will help offset hunger, also for the cardio, i would split it up from your workout, try to space your cardio 6 hours from your workouts, like weights in morning, cardio at night, this way you will get added benefits of kicked up metabolism twice in a day, and you will have enough energy to perform both tasks to your fullest potential

Originally posted by BlueCorsair
Right, since November of last year, I've gone from 126 pounds to 153. That's a 27 pound increase. Personally, I still think I look tiny, but 27 pounds is 27 pounds, and I guess it's just really spread out over the whole body. I've stagnated at 155-ish for the past two months, which gives me the impression that I'd have to eat a TON more than I already do, which isn't realistic right now, in order to get bigger.

At any rate, my waist has gone from a 29 in Novemeber to a 31.5/32. Not good. I've been eating cleanly, and if anything, eating *less* calories than I should have been due to a hectic schedule. Yes, I know, go right ahead and shake your head and laugh at my excuse. Basically I've gone from 12/12.5% BF to 15% - almost all of which seems to be latched to my love-handles

At any rate, I'm relatively "fat-free" everywhere else on my body, but this spare tire is downright ugly. Unless I "suck in my gut", it just does *not* look good, and I can't stand it.

So - questions:

1. I'm already starting to back off calories a bit, but I'm freaking starving. I've never felt full while gaining this weight, and I'm freaked out I'll feel like I'm starving all day when I try to put the calories at a "cut level". I'm not going to carb cycle. Any suggestions here?

2. Cardio. I know it's been covered lots, but as to the "best" time to do it - I take it immediately after a workout is best? First thing in the morning apparently increases cortisol production, and can eat muscle, so post-WO would be best, ja?

Thanks... any guidance appreicated. Trying to tack on a couple of pics - keep in mind these are flexing to my best effort, and not standing in a relaxed fashion...

These are "thumbnails", so click to make 'em big. heh. Got the arms up to 15.25 inches flexed, which for someone with 6 inch wrists is good... right? Tell me I did good people! heh.

Exactly how many calories are you eating? The word starvation seems to show that you need to eat more. Start off slow, and chop off 100-200 cals p/week.

Cardio should ideally be done on a totally seperate day, or at a diff. time of the same day. If you absolutly have to, you can do it after the w/o.

Cardio in a fasted state is a bad idea b/c one, like you said, cortisol release, but more importantly--it should be noted that it is pointless in the first place, it is not true that pre-cardio ingested food will inhibit the oxidation of fat.

no no no, I'm not starving myself at all, I just always feel hungry

I suppose I'm just odd.

Most of the "pro's" around here seem to strongly advocate cardio immediately after lifting - I even saw Gopro say as much, hence my leaning towards doing it then. Given that I only run a three day split, three days of cardio per week (20 minutes tops) hardly seems excessive.