[SigEp05]

I have finally come to the point where I KNOW exactly what my goals are (physique-wise).

I am currently 5'11 205lbs with about 16-18%BF (never had it checked). My ultimate goal is to hit the 215lbs mark at about 10-11%BF. In high school I weighed well over 240lbs with about 20-22%BF (had to stay big for sports). After high school, I dropped a lot of weight and became much more fitness oriented.

My problems stem from cutting weight (I hate to cut, and find that I must drop well below 1700 daily cals to lose any weight)--thats extreme torture for me.

Taking my goals into consideration, I wasn't sure if I would be better off Clean Bulking to about 230lbs and then cutting down to 215lbs...with the extra LBM, cutting shouldn't be as hard since my body will be consuming more calories in a resting state. (I cutting weight is tough period, just thought it may be a slight easier).

I am not sure if this is a viable plan. I was hoping someone could share some advice...would it make more sense to cut down first and then bulk up (considering my high BF) or bulk up and then really cut down?

[exnihilo]

I would eat very healthy food and become as active as possible to work on general fitness and conditioning in addition to lifting weights. I wouldn't focus so much on how much you eat, just eat when hungry and eat until no longer hungry. Being super active is really the key.

If you do that for 6 months you should have no problems getting down to 10-11% without punishing yourself unless you have really crappy genes. If you do have said crappy genes, you will probably have to get pretty anal about your food intake, and eat an unpleasurable diet... Of course, if you have to do that to get down to 10-11%, you will probably have to do that to stay that way (of course the likelyhood that your genes are this bad is really low unless you are a pima indian).

[BIGPHILL1984]

Sounds like the area I am in. I have been a o/d linemen my whole life and now I don't play after injuries. I just make sure to get 3,000 calories a day of pretty healthy food and do cardio now for a hour a day. Then I add weights on the weekends. You should do a joint thread with me because we are about the same bf% except I am 240 pounds at 6'4.

[DmitryWI]

If you so high in body fat (both of you) you should be able to drop some bf and pick up few pounds of muscle at the same time, but you'll need to get pretty anal with your diet and know exactly what you doing. Or you can do what Ex said, but it'll take longer to reach your goals.

[BIGPHILL1984]

Heck all I am doing now is light cardio 1 hour a day. I will probably do that until I get to about 12% I would say and then hit the weights since I gain muscle very quickly. My problem hasn't been so much what I ate, but how much. I was always a athlete and I ate like a pig in order to compensate for the calorie burning of lonf football workouts. Now that I am not a athlete per se, I am just looking to be "in shape" without being anal about everything because I have a good social life and don't want to lose that. I will never be a bodybuilder, and my girl likes me already, so I am not too concerned about any of this actually. I just do it for health reasons, since I want to be a strength coach and look professional.

[SigEp05]

ive been doing about 20minutes of low intensity in the morning on an empty stomach 3 days a week, along with 20minutes low intensity everyday after weights. I've also been on about a 2500calories diet, and I haven't been able to lose any extra weight (stuck at 205).

I am thinking about implementing TwinPeaks Carb Cycling diet soon...it seems easy enough to follow and I heard it was very effective.

I also know i am never going to be a bodybuilder...i am doing this for professional reasons along with its wide-range of health benefits.