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Going from slim to very slim?

post #1 of 10
8/2/07 at 4:30pm
Thread Starter 
Need some advice.

I am a naturally scrawny-ass cracker. 6'0", and average ~145 lbs. Over last summer, I relaxed and ate like crazy and got up to 157ish, and am currently at 138lbs......just to give you an idea of my build.

I have become extremely conscious of my body's weaknesses and extremely motivated to beef up. I have cut back on my diet considerably the past month or so to get to where I am. My original intent was to cut the little bit of flub I have on my midsection so that my six-pack can show through, while building my core muscle systems. Legs, arms, and back are also being worked, so I'm going for a well-rounded approach.

My problem is this. I am obviously a toothpick. When I was thicker (150's), people talked about how much better I looked with some meat on my bones. The flub on my belly bugged me though. Now that I'm working out, I've lost a lot of weight and look extremely slim, and I still have a few pounds to go. I've finally figured out how to dress slim and look good, but I'm to the point where I'm going to have to get new pants so that they fit.

If you were a very tall and slender person, would you choose to keep your weight up so that you didn't look like a skeleton, or would you build your muscle and strength and be a very slender-yet-muscular and defined skeleton?
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post #2 of 10
8/2/07 at 4:37pm
Your issue is that a low amount of muscle mass will prevent you from getting down to the low teens / single-digits in bodyfat necessary to show abs. You should not keep dieting at this point as you will do more harm than good trying to get rid of that last bit of fat when you have a low amount of muscle overall. Point blank: you need to beef up AND concentrate on your diet. If you gain weight recklessly and without watching what you intake, you will add flab. Here is what you do in a few basic steps... - Calculate how much you eat now to maintain your current weight in calories - Use that calorie amount and slowly increase it from 300-500 per day - RE-DO your diet so it is much cleaner than before... lots of protein, healthy fats, and only complex carbs - Lift like a madman That will put on real bulk and not 1/2 fat, 1/2 muscle that you later have to diet away again.
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post #3 of 10
8/2/07 at 8:08pm
If you aren't eating you aren't going to put muscle on, eat plenty of beans and peas and whole wheat products and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to add muscle, meat is good too, Turkey is amazingly lean, not the sodium laiden lunch meat turkey, but at some turkey burgers. Based on the complex/simple carbs info that they used to talk about all of the time white flour and suger are very different, the truth is that by the time they get through your mouth and to your stomach they are virtually the same thing, get the fiber and minerals along with it, get the really hard hearty wheat break, or make your own, women love a man who can cook, even if its rustic food. Edit: Rabbit is also a great protein with very little fat.
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post #4 of 10
8/2/07 at 8:14pm
How old are you? I'm guessing early 20s. Some of the scrawniness will disappear with age. Eat more protein for sure, mostly chicken/fish/tofu/beans, not too much red meat/pork. The pudge may be a beer belly, so cut back on the booze (in all forms). Go easy on the cardio.
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post #5 of 10
8/3/07 at 10:56pm
Eat eat eat. Lift lift lift. Lift HEAVY. Pullups, squats, benchpress. Go nuts =)
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post #6 of 10
8/4/07 at 11:50am
Thread Starter 
I am 22 with a very high metabolism. The 'pudge', for lack of a better term, is the only place my body really will store any fat if I get it. I have worked out like a madman in the past and ate clean and like a madman.....results? more strength, more tone, but no more mass. Trust me when I say I know what it takes for an ectomorph to gain muscle mass, but it's just not working well for me.

The topic mainly came about because even if I gain a considerable amount of muscle, I will still have a very tall/slender profile. I gotta see if I can get some pics.....

I am going to try an insane workout/eating schedule for yet another shot at gaining muscle mass I guess, since gaining some fat to look 'normal' doesn't appeal to me.
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post #7 of 10
8/5/07 at 12:49am
Yea, I'm in pretty much the exact same situation. 22, high metabolism, though I think I'm considerably taller at 6'6''. I'm 190 now and easily fluctuate down to 180 if I don't eat a ton. When I bulk I usually eat at least 4000 calories daily. You just need to eat, eat, eat. And lifting. Cardio is good, but not if you want to gain much.
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post #8 of 10
8/5/07 at 2:40am
Its so easy to eat 4000 callories, sometimes I find myself eating that in one meal.
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post #9 of 10
8/6/07 at 3:37pm
Beef and eggs are reputed to be great for muscle-building. Turkey can be quite lean, as can chicken, and burger form is not the leanest form of anything, but the meal before a workout shouldn't be extremely low in fat. In the USA, ostrich probably is the most readily available exotic meat. Whey protein is excellent for adding muscle mass, if the whey doesn't cause an allergic reaction.
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post #10 of 10
8/7/07 at 12:57pm
if you are active and already eat a healthy balanceddiet, you could just add a boost or slim fast shake to each meal. that would give you an extra 200 fairly balanced calories with each meal, without eating so many carbs that you feel heavy and gross When I was 14, and was swimming 7000 yards per day my coach suggested this as an easy way to put on some lean mass. it worked pretty well.
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