Mainenance year round or off season diet ?

Guys ,
Would like to throw this one out there, as it is a tough dilemma for me.Have stayed around 215lbs and <10% bf for the past 2 years, dipping to around 208 with bf <6% for the summer.

Sounds like no problem. I am happy with my size, I am getting sooo tired of being on a year long diet.The flip side is that if I just "let go", my weight will soar up into the 280's/290's, and it is so darn hard to get it off again.

I do not know guys, is there a happy medium here, or do I just see-saw every six months?

Would appreciate any input.

sounds like a question for bigshug...

Re: Re: Mainenance year round or off season diet ?

Chemical Evolution said:

Well that whould depend on you, and what your preferances are! But in my case i basically eat what i want when i want and then just adjust the WO and cardio accordingly!

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I basically eat like shit all year round and somehow I'm gaining muscle mass and losing bf. lol.

You shouldn't have to be a on a diet all year round. Its good to cycle off and on to give your body a rest. Just make sure you do it gradually so you don't gain a ton of weight once you come off.

let go of the diet in moderation, just don't go ape shit, when you go off diet. but keep it fairly clean. add in additional cardio to help keep the weight down.

it would be hell to diet year round.

You have to let go a bit or you are bound to burn out bro, Just don't let go so that you go up to 280 plus. That would be a huge battle to overcome. Cheat in moderation and pick up the difference with cardio.

I usually don't have any problems actually shedding bodyfat when I keep my diet clean, and that in itself is a problem. To gain weight, I have to add a bunch of crap to my diet lest I spend double the amount at the store on food and get so sick of chicken breast that I can't stand the smell (I'm there now)........

That said, I wouldn't let your bodyweight get that high if you can't stay reasonably lean simply because you have a difficult time dropping the added weight.

Now, by a bunch of crap, I don't mean cakes and cookies and shit like that. What I DO have to add usually is more pasta, cheeses and higher fat meats and milk to really pack on the pounds....even insulin didn't add too much bodyfat to me and I didn't downplay my fat intake one bit. I have a HARD time gaining weight......shit man, if you're 215 and less than 10% I'd stay there and look to add a good 5-10 solid pounds per year - that's certainly more doable without having to worry about cardio and all of the other necessary crap to shed the BF.....

I bet your wardrobe is "diverse" to say the least if your bodyweight fluctuates that much .......lol

I am in bigshugs boat for me to gain wt. in the off season I have to eat tons of stuff and this is junk too....Lets just put it this way my off season cal total is about 6k a day. If I were you, I would come off your diet in moderation for example just come off enough so you put on say a 1/2 lb to a lb a week, you can do this by adding about 500 cals a day to your diet that should give you the desired gain all things considered

Guys, thanks for all the input.Yeah, I am tired of chicken breasts and cannot even open a bag of tuna without getting a queasy feeling in my stomach at 0400 am before my morning workout.

Went away to the lake this past weekend, and just basically "shitloaded" from dawn until dusk ...picked up 12 lbs in two days, but it has been damn good.Cheesecake, cheetos, frenchbread every piece of shit I could lay my hands on - my belly is as distended as a puffer fish.

Will take a break from all gear etc for the next month, and try to eat relatively clean with some cheat days and give the mind and body a break.May have to give those nice tight little A vests a skip and move back into loose t shirts for awhile.Will try to stay under 235 so that it does not get too hard to come back down again ... and also keep that wardrobe within reason! At 290 my waist was a 40/42, at 215 it is 32/33 inches !!! Many different pairs of jeans.

Thanks again.