Question regarding fat loss/bodybuilding

Hey guys,

I'm currently on my weight loss journey and so far it's working out fairly well. I'm 18 years old (almost 19) and 5'8 I've lost about 11 pounds. (Started at 190 and now I'm at around 179) My goal is to read 145 (or whenever I can feel good about my weight). I'm eating at a 500 calorie deficit every day so it's going well. At this point my only goal is to lose weight.

After that though, I want to start bodybuilding. I don't want to become a massive bodybuilder but I want to become fairly big with cuts. I wanted to know that when I start bodybuilding, will I need to increase my caloric intake, and if so, will it make me gain fat as well, which I worked so hard to lose? How would bodybuilding affect my calorie intake.

Thanks in advance!

Well, first off, I'd start weight lifting now, if I was you.  Using your muscles while you're losing weight can help preserve what muscle mass you already have.  At least, that's been what I tell myself.

Second, when you gain weight, you'll gain both fat and muscle.  What you eat and what you do for exercise while gaining will help determine what percentage of each you gain. 

Same with losing weight.  You'll likely lose both, but you can help make the majority of it fat, rather than muscle.

So what I'm saying is that yeah, you'll need to increase your caloric intake when you gain, and yeah, you will likely put on some fat too.  But you can take steps to minimize it.  You can also stop the weight gain for awhile and lose some fat... You don't need to gain 50 pounds back, and THEN lose fat again. 

Clint

The only way to gain muscle is to eat in a caloric surplus (your maintenance calories plus whatever you feel comfortable and gain with).  I'd definitely start lifting now, it will help burn fat, and like pbear said, preserve your muscle now. 

I like your goals. A few thoughts, though.  I don't know what your frame size is, but the weight target of 145 sounds awfully low if you are trying to pack on more muscle. If you start a good strength-training program now, at your current weight, you'll drop more bodyfat and start seeing faster results.

When you lift heavy weights, your caloric intake will need to increase to (1) cover the metabolic cost of activity and (2) provide fuel for muscles to hypertrophy during recovery. A clean diet is important at that point, especially since you'll want to minimize fat gain. High in lean protein, mainly unrefined carbs (except pre- or post-workout as fuel), and unsaturated vegetable fats should provide the bulk of your diet.

Even with careful training and nutrition, it is inevitable that when you gain weight in muscle you'll also gain some fat. This is why bodybuilders (and other athletes) go through bulking and cutting phases.  But during both phases it is a good idea to continue lifting weights - whether you are actively building muscle or just preserving it.

Testosterone Nation has a lot of good info about workouts and nutrition. Personally I'd skip the stuff about supplements and the accompanying advertising hype....but otherwise the articles contain sound information and advice.  

http://www.tmuscle.com/index.jsp

Hope that helps!

Ah, okay. Thanks for the information guys. I would join a gym right now but I don't have the money at this point to do so, so unfortunately I'm going to wait a year. Until then I want to lose all the fat I can.

You guys mentioned that I will gain both fat and muscle inevitably but how do I make it so that I gain more muscle than fat, and how do I make sure I lose that fat? Could I just eat at maintenance and gain muscle?

Thanks again.

Even without a gym there is a lot you can do right now to increase muscle mass and lose fat. Although I don't know what your current exercise progam is, most people can benefit from the addition of High Intensity Interval Training cardio.  No equipment needed - just someplace to run (or even your own house if you do jump-rope or jumping jack intervals). 

Two of the best strength-training moves are pushups and pullups.  Both can be accomplished without a gym. The article Your body Is A Barbell has more good ideas and info. While I understand money concerns, there isn't any reason why you can't find a few dumbbells that will increase your repitoire of available exercises. Either buy them at Walmart or look online/ in the newspaper.  Or maybe a friend has some unused equipment.  Either way, free weights will allow you to change your physique at home.

Regarding fat loss vs. muscle gain questions: Diet is the biggest variable in body composition.  If you just eat maintainance calories, you'll problably make some short-term gains in muscle ("newbie gains") but progress (i.e mass-building) will stall after a while. To really gain muscle size, you need to eat more calories and be resigned to gaining some weight.  When the time comes to strip the fat, diet will once again be the most important element, along with cardio (H.I.I.T would definitely have a place in this phase as well).

Good luck!