Conflicting advice... Clean bulking vs Body For Life? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

BeaBaby · 10-09-2009, 10:04 AM

Body fat% - 25-27
Weight - 140 lbs
BMR - 1500, 1950 on non-workout days, 2250 on workout days.

Lost 60ish lbs through cardio alone. I feel like I have a lot of flab around my waist, butt and thighs - fine when I'm standing up, but hangs when I'm lying down. I want to build significant muscle to fill up the flab and stop it hanging and being all jelly-like. Is a clean bulk/cut best for this, or BFL?

I have read that a bulk will help the muscle to grow and will best fill me out and then a cut will trim the fat. I've also read that a straight go at BFL will gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Confused - can any one with some experience offer some words of wisdom?

Depalma · 10-09-2009, 10:33 AM

Most of the literature that deals with bulking is written by and aimed at two groups of people. Ectomorphic "hard-gainers" who have been underweight and undermuscled all of their lives and need to put on some muscle and athletic types who already have some training experience and are probably already in decent shape. Those looking for a "competition" type body.

Not a lot of these programs are written or aimed at the obese or former obese that store fat more easily. I could give you Mark Rippetoe's gallon of milk a day advice along with starting strength and as a beginner to weight training, you will gain a lot of muscle and get a lot stronger. However, as someone who once carried a lot of excess fat, you will also gain a great deal of fat along the journey. A lot more fat than the skinny high school kid doing the same exact program. GOMAD is great for that skinny kid. For someone like me.....not so much. For me, something like starting strength with a maintenance diet will get me to my destination quicker.

As a FFB (former fat boy), I vote for body recomposition programs rather than cutting and bulking cycles. Whether we gained our weight in the first place due to the way our bodies prefer to store energy or our bodies adapted to our lousy habits, it is the type of body we have and the type of bodies we have tend to utilize the excess calories for fat storage rather than muscle building at a much more unfavorable balance than other body types for which bulk and cutting cycles are preferrable. This is not a knock against bulking and cutting cycles, just that they are not for everyone (no matter what the Muscle mags want you to believe).

Body for Life is a time-proven body recomposition program. Of the choices you have given, I vote for that. Also, if you do Body for Life as written complete with the cheat days on the weekend, you actually have a series of mini-cuts and mini-bulks (your cheat days). Although, again as an FFB, I would be very careful with the cheat days on BFL for the same reason.

For former obese people who are at or around maintenance levels, I am a big advocate of body recomposition programs or what Alan Aragon refers to as "culking."

Just my two cents.

BeaBaby · 10-09-2009, 10:52 AM

Thanks Depalma - you're fast becoming my source for all info! I think I'll go BFL then, as I want to bulk up but not gain much in terms of weight. Thanks for all your info!! x

Butterfly09 · 10-09-2009, 08:47 PM

I think you have the definition of BMR confused-it doesn't change from day to day. BMR is the calories you burn just to stay alive each day-ie if you were flat on your back in bed and did nothing.

BeaBaby · 10-10-2009, 04:28 AM

I know 1500 is my BMR but I read that, as you say, that's just lying in bed and being alive. I read that for light activity multiply your bmr by 1.3 and andfor moderate - strong activity multpily it by 1.5. I guess I'm not sure about eating the right amount, considering I'm going to be training. But I'm doing BFL now so no need to really worry about the calories.