Help me decide on my macros

[chuckz28]

OK guys here is where I'm at right now, question is, what would you do for macros if you were in my shoes?

Details: 169-173lb 6ft. Eased into training 4 months ago from a near 10 year hiatus. Consistent intense daily training for 2 1/2 months (rest days when needed). 1 month of clean food with meals 5-6 per day to make sure I could get back into the swing of a good diet. More details in my reintroduction thread.

Muscle memory gains have leveled out for a month and composotion change has been the main thing going and now it is time to dial in my macros. I obviously need to put on more mass and obviously need to burn more fat.

If you were in my shoes at this moment would you bulk now, cut fat after?

Cut the rest of the fat down first then bulk?

Or continue maintenance calories for comp change prior to bulking up?

I realize it is mostly preference and with any bulking I want as lean of a bulk as possible. I'm just curious as to what others would do in my situation. I need to decide which path before I choose these macros and go to town. Also would your choice of bulk, cut, comp change be the same if gear is used vs. natty?

Just trying to weigh all my options before proceeding from this point.

Here is where I'm at now.

[Bouncer]

First, props for the honest pic.

I'm not going to answer this in a way that you are asking. I'll give you what you need to hear instead.

You mentioned that you have "leveled out"... rubbish. Your body is still very much in the changing process. Keep doing what your doing and things will slowly change. You were out of the game for 10 years, rome wasn't built in a day bro.

To give you an idea of what you could do to move things along, I need some idea of what you've been doing. How many grams of protein, carbs, and fat have you been getting consistently each day?

[chuckz28]

Sorry, I'll try to clarify things up a bit. The quick gains I made were not with good diet. The only thing I made sure was I was getting at least a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. No attention was paid to quality of food or amount. I got to 172 from 155. When I hit 172 changed diet to clean foods while still keeping the same protein intake. Here is where i stalled in a sort of intentional way. I wanted to make sure I could handle eating clean foods and at the frequency needed and also determine where my maintenance level is before bulking blind.

My determined actual maintenance level is 2800-2900 which is close what the calculators suggest. During the last week I've been trying to decide my protein, carb, fat ratios and calories consumed going foward.

So now I have my base and need to chose my path because right now I'm intentionally staying at maintenance while i decide and doing body composition change. I was just trying to see what others would do if they looked like me as far as bulk continue comp change or cut.

Right now I'm eating around 3k calories 20-30% protein 60-50% carb 20% fats. Daily weight changes are adjusted with either an little cardio or more/less calories consumed to keep at around 170lbs. So my ratios are set more toward building but calories are low.

Also when i said leveling out i wasnt referring to max potential I was referring to muscle 'memory' gains the most I've ever weighed was 175 so I got pretty much up to that point. When I stopped lifting I wasted away instead of getting big and fat lol. Most gains going forward I think would be new gains not attributed to muscle memory.
I'm leaning towards wanting to start with a trying a lean bulk 200-300 calories over maintenance and 30 protien/50 carb /20 fat.

[chuckz28]

I think I'm going to just lean bulk through the winter with 200-400 calories over maintenance. If the fat doesn't cut itself during this then I'll take care of it in spring.

[Bouncer]

Its all about experimentation and trial and error. Try something for a month and use the mirror as your guide. Don't get lost in the details bro. At your level which is basically beginner at this point you just need to focus on the basics. Leave the whole "200-400 cals above maintenance" for when you are a bit further along.

Train hard, eat clean, incorporate low intensity cardio and adjust month to month. Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it consistent.

[Scrumhalf]

I would undershoot by 500, not overshoot and see how that goes. You can always add a bit if needed later.

I would shoot for 2400-2500 calories. 40% C, 40% P, 20% F (keep it good fats). Low impact cardio along with lifting. Give it 2 months minimum and see how it goes.

[BEAST]

My determined actual maintenance level is 2800-2900 which is close what the calculators suggest. During the last week I've been trying to decide my protein, carb, fat ratios and calories consumed going foward.

So now I have my base and need to chose my path because right now I'm intentionally staying at maintenance while i decide and doing body composition change. I was just trying to see what others would do if they looked like me as far as bulk continue comp change or cut.

Right now I'm eating around 3k calories 20-30% protein 60-50% carb 20% fats. Daily weight changes are adjusted with either an little cardio or more/less calories consumed to keep at around 170lbs. So my ratios are set more toward building but calories are low.

Also when i said leveling out i wasnt referring to max potential I was referring to muscle 'memory' gains the most I've ever weighed was 175 so I got pretty much up to that point. When I stopped lifting I wasted away instead of getting big and fat lol. Most gains going forward I think would be new gains not attributed to muscle memory.
I'm leaning towards wanting to start with a trying a lean bulk 200-300 calories over maintenance and 30 protien/50 carb /20 fat.

Agreed with the guys above. And I think there is a mistake in your calorie calculation. 3000 calorie a day diet is not a maintenance diet. I don't know that many people who can eat 3k calories a day and stay at the same body weight or body fat level. So why don't write down your general daily food intake and let us see what you are eating.

And please write down exactly what you are eating not what you think we should be seeing in your diet.

According the your numbers you are taking 225 grams of protein. 375 grams of carbs and 66 grams of fat a day.

I know getting in 225 grams of protein and 66 grams of fat is pretty easy to do, but getting in almost 400 grams of clean carbs a day on top of your protein and fat intake is not an easy task.

[Scrumhalf]

He may be right with the calculations. Assuming he is 35 years old (not sure if he mentioned his age), at 170lbs and 6 feet, his BMR is 1800. If you assume moderately active, then the multiplying factor is about 1.5. So, you get 2700 for his daily caloric intake.

But I agree with Beast.. use Fitday or some such calculator site to keep track of what you eat and see how much you really are eating. Two things people typically do are to underestimate what they eat and overestimate how much they burn during exercise. So, it is very easy to get excess calories. I generally like to therefore assume an activity factor of only 1.2 instead of 1.5 to start with.

[chuckz28]

Age is 31 with approx 1.5 hours of weight training per day and I've been using the myfitness calculator app for all food tracking. Giant mutant sized sweet potatoes have been helping with the carbs. I'll go with the suggestions and keep the calories a little lower and incorporate more cardio and update in a month or two with how it is going. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Scrumhalf]

Measure your weight once a week, same time, same day. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy.

[chuckz28]

Measure your weight once a week, same time, same day. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy.

Yeah, I'm not as concerned with the weight as I thought I'd be. I've been doing morning weigh ins once every 2 days just to figure out where that maintenance level was. I could lose the scale now and I wouldn't sweat it. Now I've just got to put everything to work. Thanks for the help.

[Bouncer]

build the foundation bro. worry about these details later. trust me.