Scott, between 2014-2015, I lost about 70 pounds. As of now my body fat percentage is 13%. I still have not a lot, but some excess skin lingering around. My friends and family all tell me that it is definitely excess skin and not fat because of my body fat percentage, but nevertheless, I hate it. My BMR is about 2,300, and I want to build muscle and make LEAN gains, and on the diet plan video you made, you suggested eating about 250 calories over the BMR to make lean gains, but I'm afraid if I eat too many calories my extra skin or fat will not go away. What is your advice? Should I eat over or under my BMR? By the way I have lifted 6 days a week for 3 months and am going to start the 12 week program within the next couple of days. Thanks, any help is appereciated. 

Hey hey @c_brock9!

My suggestion is that you start out with a small surplus of only 100-200 calories in the beginning. This way you can guage how much weight you are/aren't gaining, and what changes you notice in your body. If you do have loose skin, gaining muscle will help tighten it up a little bit, and fill it out. However, it won't totally get rid of it depending on how much you have. That may be something that only surgery can fix.

If you're up to it, would you mind posting a photo or two so we can give our opinion as to whether or not it is loose skin? Also, have you calculated some macros to follow?

Here's a picture from today. Just started the 12 week program. And I had a macro plan but it was for 100 calories less than my BMR, but I'll restructure it to 100-200 calories over from your advice.

Hello, i´m here to see if you guys can help me with a macro´s plan, i used the calculator in the "meal plan" section and this are the results: 154 pounds 73 inches 24 years hard exercise BMR AT REST: 11987.42 BMR IN MOTION: 22776.10 (i think there is a glitch that adds a number, so it would be BMR AT REST: 1987.42 - BMR IN MOTION: 2776.10, i don´t know if someone had the same problem)

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Goal: Gain Muscle

Neck: 37 cm

Chest: 88 cm

Gender: Male

Forearm: 26 cm

Hip: 98 cm

Age: 24

Calve: 36 cm

Shoulder: 111 cm

Height: 1.83 m

Arm: 30 cm

Waist: 80 cm

Weight: 70 kg

Thigh: 56 cm

(i don´t know how to calculate my body fat %)

If you guys know pls send me a link, i will find out on my own anyway but if you know, i would apreciate it.

Looking forward to seeing your progress @c_brock9!!!

Alright @sunyday, let's get you going!

For your body fat %, try judging yourself against the chart below. If you're not sure yourself, post a picture and we can make a guesstimate of what percentage you are at.

With a BMR in motion of 2776, you probably want to start with about 3000 calories per day for lean gains - that puts you in a surplus of about 250 calories. So your macros could be made up like this...

Protein: 225g (900 Calories)

Carbs: 300g (1200 Calories)

Fat: 100g (900 Calories)

Total Calories = 3000

What do you think of these numbers? Maybe try this as a starting point and we'll see how you react after 2-4 weeks?

Body fat: 15%

My BMR is:1,237

2,135 calories per day

,.,.,.me today

wow, that sounds like a lot, i´m not eating nearly enough protein, i was eating around 80 g per day, then i used a calculator that gave me that i had to eat around 160g per day. well, anyway here is my picture, is somewhere in between 15 and 20 % rigth?

80g of protein is definitely not enough! You should be eating AT LEAST 1g per pound of bodyweight. Definitely need to bump that up man!!

And I would say you are right around 13-16% for your bodyfat.

Looking great @dreas81!! Those abs are really starting to come through, keep it up!!

Okey, so, how about this, 231g of carbs, 154g of protein, and 84g of fat? (i´m using a calculator that gave me those numbers and 2300 calories) my weigth is around 154 pounds. If i can reach that with my diet i will try to get more protein in. Does that sound good? i will check your videos to see what meals can i have to help me reach that goal, is really hard for me to get what i need of everything, haha.

Again thanks for all your help so far, i will continue to listen to your advice, i´m really trying to gain muscle and i need all the help i can get.

I think that 2300 calories is too low if you want to gain weight and muscle my friend. Your total calories burned on average is 2700, so if you are only eating 2300 per day you may struggle to gain weight.

If you are struggling getting everything you need from real food, then you should look into investing in a mass gainer. That will be easy and convenient calories.

All rigth, i´m back from vacation, i will start to add protein, carbs and fat to my diet and see what i can do. I will let you know my progress, thanks for all your help man.

in regards to your loose skin, the amount i can see here is really small, and you are young you still have a lot liposome in your tissue and it will tighten up and fit to your "new you" :)
Unfortunately the adaption of skin takes longer than loosing weight. (can be up to 2 years, depending on the amount you have, your age, and your genetics ) So don't worry too much about it. It will be just fine.

Don't be afraid to eat in a surplus. Stick with what Scotty said, and start with a small percentage and keep track of how it changes you.

If you want to put on some of them muscles, you will need a little bit of surplus. But whilst you eat more, you now also stimulate the growth of your muscles so a good percentage of that food goes into their growth. Your physique will change and so does your body composition (meaning the balance between how much muscle mass and how much fat your body is carrying)

Make sure to train right, make siure to set enough stimulus for your muscles to grow when you are training, sleep right, eat right, and everything will be fine.

Cheers !