It’s one of those things best done sooner than later. Once you get into the rhythm of it, it takes almost no thought because you just plod along.
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Caveat for what I’m about to say: I am speaking of my experiences from a few years ago when I was 19-22 and my metabolism/endocrine system were blissfully youthful. They still are, I just wasn’t training/dieting after that until recently.
Anyway, TBH once I learned how to lean out easily by studying up on everything available to me and actually trying out various diets and doing a range of cuts, I took the actual process of leaning out for granted. Staying lean year round was great, but once I hit a strength plateau, I was impatient and just did a mini bulk so that I could put more weight on the bar. While I knew it was just faux progress, results were what kept me coming to the gym, and if I was already lean but not making progress in strength, it discouraged me. That’s why I’ve just been recomping while eating in a slight surplus, but I also haven’t eaten this clean or trained this consistently in years, so I’m re-experiencing my old newbie gains. I’ll definitely have to switch it up by August.
Now idk what you can really gain from what I just said haha. At the end of the day, I do think for anyone who has already spent dedicated time in the gym should lean out and progress in strength gradually from there. Mini bulks are okay if that’s what it takes to get you to stay in the gym, but beyond that I’ve never liked putting on too much weight. Except of course when I stopped working out and drank my body to shit. That was lovely.
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Okay that makes sense. Am I’m actually 5 foot .5 inches. Almost 5’1"
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That puts you at 3.47lbs/inch which is even more impressive
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I’m no stranger to losing weight, but I am new to losing weight the correct and healthy way. The losing part is my weakness. Always has been. It’s extremely easy for me to bypass that initial hunger signal and go too far. I get trigger happy or something like that and revert allllllll the way back to those days where I could go on a starvation binge (ha! Paradox!) for a long time, and still manage to work and go to school. Surpringly I haven’t attempted to lose weight since I started recovery, so this will be a giant test of my willpower and to show how far I’ve come along.
But as you’ve said it gets easier. The key for me is to slowly do it.
I don’t think I’ll have a problem with leaning out and staying there. The things that test my grit and willpower are the things that I dive into head first most times. If I’m half assing it I’ll eventually stop doing it. If I’m serious about it, I try, mess up, try again, probably mess up again, try again, etc. I ask questions, try a few new things, and stay optimistic even if I’m sucking ass at the moment, but do my best to get it down pat.
I too have never liked putting on a ton of weight, (I may get personal, but I don’t mind being honest), for one main reason: I’m a recovered person from an eating disorder so you can pretty much connect the dots with that reasoning and what not. Most people have other reasons, and generally it’s just to look super good and feel super good too. But either way we all have a common goal of maintaining a good/healthy weight strength and aesthetic wise. However once I realized how nice guys and girls look with muscle on their frames, and after being sick and tired of being frail and sickly all the time, and realizing it’s either 6 feet under or recover, I found a deep solace in this realm of nutrition and training. Of course I’m not the best, probably won’t be, but that gives me some sort of peace because I’m not the only one. I am stubborn sometimes, which gets in the way of things but I’m also receptive to new things.
And all of the help and support I’ve received from Mark, Botslayer, Dante, You, TheMyth, Psychounicorn (who iced pretty much just met), and all the others does not get taken for granted on my behalf. And I agree with you on the leaning out and going up in strength from there because most times in the back of my head, I’m leaning towards doing that already, you guys just solidify the truth that that probably needs to happen sooner or later. Coming from someone who has never had friends, I take everyone’s opinion I’ve met on here with serious consideration because in real life people just don’t give a damn.
So what you say definitely isn’t falling on deaf ears.
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Ooooooo that’s even better lol.
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It sounds like you might find a really rigid structure beneficial then, at least to get the ball rolling and past any unhelpful tendencies.
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That’s usually what works for me anyways. Too much leniency and I take advantage of it. More strict stuff I end up making it a habit and then using it as a tool for other things. Takes a few messups but then I get it lol.
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LOG # 108
Barbell complex
BB rows x6
Push Jerk x6
C&J x6
Front squat x6
Deadlift x6
Back squat x6
Repeat but it’s x5, down until everything is x1
These are awesome but exhausting
Used 100lbs across the board.
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Used. Craigslist or garage sales etc. Adjustable dumbells and you only need one barbell.
That can’t be safe taking a selfie video while squatting. 
And nice PR btw!!
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I wasn’t holding it while squatting lol. I usually set up myself, then position my phone somewhere, press record, and then set up to perform a lift. When I re-racked it wobbled the squat rack and made my phone fall. Lol And thank youuu!!!
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LOG # 108
Kettle bell complex:
25lb kellbells each hand
OH squat
Squat (over shoulder)
Swings
Bent over rows
SLDL
All x6, x5, x4, etc until x1
3 mile walk
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Calculated my daily calories since I figured they’d gone up considering I’ve gained weight. I forget the name of the formula but I plugged it in and got ~3,000 which i suspected. Sometimes its maintenance sometimes it’s for muscle gains. Depends on monthly fluctuations. Sometimes it’s more than that.
Knocked off 500 calories to start for weight loss. So 2500.
Yesterday’s macros are as follows:
Protein: 250g
Fats: 60g
Carbs: ~200 or so I can’t remember
Today’s macros were exactly the same because I ate the exact same thing.
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So, that’s about 2200 calories.
Well I probably should’ve put between that and the higher number. I put approx. 200, because I can’t remember those last macros on a couple of meals exactly.
Got ya, no worries. I wasn’t reading closely, which is ironic since I are a English teach.
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I see what you did there
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Haha! I bet your jokes are infinitely more funny and complex than the average persons.
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Nah, still just a dude, which means scatology is funny AF.
Oh, and fart jokes!
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