Coming of Illness

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hello everyone from the glorious T-Nation. I have been a longtime fan and a year or so member of T-Nation. I started my journey here at 130 and at my peak got to 172 in a matter of a year. last winter I felt with some skin disease which was Hereditary and had completely stopped lifting and eating.

I dropped down to 145 and Now am back to about 159 or so But have the skinny fat look. It’s hard to calm myself an ectomorph based on my metabolism because I’m not lean or ever got lean easily. My frame would classify me as Maybe ecto in terms of shoulder width But I’m not very lanky.

Anyways my will and motivation to train lacked with the illness and my first year of college now over also stressed me. My drive to eat and train are gone but I’m trying to force feed and drag my ass in and really find myself again. My diet is looking like the following:

1 lb of 85-15 Ground beef with 8oz of pasta split in 2 meals

8oz tuna and 4 oz of rice 2 meals

and 1 pre shake 1 post shake and 1 casein shake

2 cup oatmeal fixed with a scoop of whey and a Banana

This usually put me over my 160g of protein

Advice for maybe leaning out or clean bulking? My cardio is non existent now and I really will also try to work on that As i train.

My strength isn’t spectacular either anymore but then again I’m more focused on my contractions and growth than powerlifting.

Thank you T-Nation members for the support.

P.S.= Before my illness I was going on cycle and this hit me right before I went on it so I will not be going on anything until I feel confident and put on a good size and weight naturally. Doctor (Also a good friend) said the cycle won’t hinder my health in relation to my disease that shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Anyways thank you

2

[quote]Mavil161718 wrote:
My diet is looking like the following:

1 lb of 85-15 Ground beef with 8oz of pasta split in 2 meals

8oz tuna and 4 oz of rice 2 meals

and 1 pre shake 1 post shake and 1 casein shake

2 cup oatmeal fixed with a scoop of whey and a Banana

This usually put me over my 160g of protein

[/quote]

Are you not eating any vegetables, or did you forget to include them?

3

Based on your weight, stated lack of strength and calling yourself ‘skinny fat’, I would venture to assume you just don’t have enough muscle to look the way you want. Certainly, cutting down isn’t going to give you that look either. At 160lbs you can’t have a ton of fat, unless you are super short. I’m assuming you are fairly lean now, just don’t have enough muscle mass to fill out and look like you work out.

I have a friend who is self proclaimed skinny fat and thinks there is nothing he can do to change it. Every May, when the sun comes out, he gets gung-ho about losing weight and drops 10lbs by starving himself, then gets depressed and gains it back. His problem isn’t he is fat, he just doesn’t have muscle; don’t be this guy. It takes time.

Diet: I’m not a huge fan of counting everything, but rather making good decisions with food ie. choosing a good source of protein and carbs, and eating veggies with every meal, and adjusting intelligently. If I am trying to add size/strength I just add to my portions (cup of rice vs. half cup); whereas, if I am cutting down, I’ll do the opposite and maybe not have a carb source with dinner on non training days.

Examples are:
Meat - ground turkey, chicken, tuna, tilapia, salmon, beef
Carbs - oats, rice, quinoa
Veggies - self explanatory, although, I like brussel sprouts, bell peppers, asparagus and green beans.

Also eat good fats: nuts, oils, avocado, etc

Training: get on a good program that progresses and hits every muscle. Don’t skip leg day.
Cardio: I hate doing cardio, probably because I had asthma growing up and sucking wind makes me wanna die. I prefer loaded carries, overhead carries, tabata, etc.

By cycle are you talking the steroids? And this doctor is friend you met at junior college who is ‘pre-med’, right?

4

[quote]dchris wrote:
Based on your weight, stated lack of strength and calling yourself ‘skinny fat’, I would venture to assume you just don’t have enough muscle to look the way you want. Certainly, cutting down isn’t going to give you that look either. At 160lbs you can’t have a ton of fat, unless you are super short. I’m assuming you are fairly lean now, just don’t have enough muscle mass to fill out and look like you work out.

I have a friend who is self proclaimed skinny fat and thinks there is nothing he can do to change it. Every May, when the sun comes out, he gets gung-ho about losing weight and drops 10lbs by starving himself, then gets depressed and gains it back. His problem isn’t he is fat, he just doesn’t have muscle; don’t be this guy. It takes time.

Diet: I’m not a huge fan of counting everything, but rather making good decisions with food ie. choosing a good source of protein and carbs, and eating veggies with every meal, and adjusting intelligently. If I am trying to add size/strength I just add to my portions (cup of rice vs. half cup); whereas, if I am cutting down, I’ll do the opposite and maybe not have a carb source with dinner on non training days.

Examples are:
Meat - ground turkey, chicken, tuna, tilapia, salmon, beef
Carbs - oats, rice, quinoa
Veggies - self explanatory, although, I like brussel sprouts, bell peppers, asparagus and green beans.

Also eat good fats: nuts, oils, avocado, etc

Training: get on a good program that progresses and hits every muscle. Don’t skip leg day.
Cardio: I hate doing cardio, probably because I had asthma growing up and sucking wind makes me wanna die. I prefer loaded carries, overhead carries, tabata, etc.

By cycle are you talking the steroids? And this doctor is friend you met at junior college who is ‘pre-med’, right?
[/quote]

Sorry maybe I came off Unknowledgeable. I understand the skinny fat thing. Yeah I lack the muscle to fill out because of course more muscle requires more calories and everything. Yeah I’m 5’10 163 today. I just lack muscle thickness and overmass to overwhelm my frame to my fat ratio. This doctor friend I met him during my chemical therapy. He is like 40 but we have like family friends in common and stuff. He is a practicing Oncologist. Made it sound like he was my age I’m sorry. I just need to put the actual muscle on so I can attack this fat. I just wondered if my food would suffice. Yeah sorry my vegetables vary I wasn’t sure what to include. I love every type of vegi so I’ll eat whatever I can get my hands on.

5

[quote]dchris wrote:
Based on your weight, stated lack of strength and calling yourself ‘skinny fat’, I would venture to assume you just don’t have enough muscle to look the way you want. Certainly, cutting down isn’t going to give you that look either. At 160lbs you can’t have a ton of fat, unless you are super short. I’m assuming you are fairly lean now, just don’t have enough muscle mass to fill out and look like you work out.

I have a friend who is self proclaimed skinny fat and thinks there is nothing he can do to change it. Every May, when the sun comes out, he gets gung-ho about losing weight and drops 10lbs by starving himself, then gets depressed and gains it back. His problem isn’t he is fat, he just doesn’t have muscle; don’t be this guy. It takes time.

Diet: I’m not a huge fan of counting everything, but rather making good decisions with food ie. choosing a good source of protein and carbs, and eating veggies with every meal, and adjusting intelligently. If I am trying to add size/strength I just add to my portions (cup of rice vs. half cup); whereas, if I am cutting down, I’ll do the opposite and maybe not have a carb source with dinner on non training days.

Examples are:
Meat - ground turkey, chicken, tuna, tilapia, salmon, beef
Carbs - oats, rice, quinoa
Veggies - self explanatory, although, I like brussel sprouts, bell peppers, asparagus and green beans.

Also eat good fats: nuts, oils, avocado, etc

Training: get on a good program that progresses and hits every muscle. Don’t skip leg day.
Cardio: I hate doing cardio, probably because I had asthma growing up and sucking wind makes me wanna die. I prefer loaded carries, overhead carries, tabata, etc.

By cycle are you talking the steroids? And this doctor is friend you met at junior college who is ‘pre-med’, right?
[/quote]

And yes That is what I meant by cycle. But that is the farthest thing from my mind after everything. I know that AAS aren’t a game and have severely studied it and weighed the risk to benefit and currently it isn’t an option.

6

Hey. Just saw this and wanted to comment quick. I def understand how hard it is coming off a serious illness. I have an autoimmune disease that causes bad fatigue, joint pain, and bleeding under the skin. I was on cortosteroids to ease the effects (caused serious weight gain), and i was out of the gym for 3 years!

Doc cleared me and I’m back but besides the weight gain (which I’m not too worried about cuz i lose fast) the muscle and strength loss was discouraging to say the least. Just keep hitting the gym and you will eventually hit your stride and motivation will come back. Good luck!