that would be great to have an article for FFb bulking since I am scared shitless of becoming fat again, can’t wait to see it.
-Scott
Here is another vote!
I’ve never been obese, but in my Flex magazine neophyte days I got pretty large and strong following their deplorable advice (6’1", about 270, 20+% bf). Not exactly the look I was going for. When I finally got sick of being fat I started running and eating correctly. I’m very similar to true FFBs in that I gain fat VERY easily. My problem is that I can stay lean on low carbs, but the “duhs” quickly interfere with my job and make me feel like crap. My solution is to stay low carb (<150g mostly in the form of meal 1 oats, fruits and veggies, and pwo shakes) most of the time and do a 3-5 day recarb (250-350g in the form of oats and bread early in the day) when I feel the duhs coming on. Even though I’m pretty large (225, 10%), I can’t get away with going above 3500 cals for more than a few days at a time. Massive eating would turn me into a CFB (current fat boy).
I’ve found that I can’t stay lean without at least three days of cardio per week; usually in the form of 20 min runs, HIIT, playing basketball, or skipping rope. When I’m not going to be able to control things for a few days, I’ve found that little damage is done if I do a.m. cardio, keep a jug or protein some healthy fats and tuna packets around, and watch portions. That may not be optimal for retaining muscle, but like most guys on this thread staying lean trumps being big. My goals have changed from being purely appearance oriented. I’m now concerned with 1) strength (mainly in the olympic lifts, deads, squats, and OH pressing) 2) performance (as in sports, mainly basketball) and 3) staying lean.
The rules are definately different for us. The above rules have worked well for me, but as I close in on 30 (so close it’s scary) I’ve found that I have to diet more strictly and do more cardio just to maintain. It sucks, but that’s life. I see other guys my age and older with man boobs, beer guts, and red faces and I know that if I don’t stay on top of things I’ll be just the same very quickly. That takes care of motivation.
I’m looking forward to hearing how other people deal with this stuff and would definately welcome a full article.
Oh…not to shil for the company, but I’ve found Power Drive to be great in combating the duhs.