Hello,

I'm a skinny fat person. Trying to get rid of the belly fat. I'm 157 lbs, 5' 8". I have fat on belly, love handles with a little bit on the chest. 

My goal is to become lean without putting up tons of muscles. Tom Holland in Spiderman Homecoming would be where I want to see myself at. 

I took appointment with a trainer at 24 Hour Fitness. He suggested me the only way to do that is to gain muscles. Agreed. 

I worked under his supervision for three months, three times a week and saw some real good improvements in strength.

But, my problem remained the same, i still had the fat that I needed to get rid of.

He said I'll have to keep increasing my strength (and thus my muscles and also weight) for six more months. Only then I can think about cutting.

I got off my trainer because it was getting expensive. From all the articles on internet, there seems to be an uninamous opinion that I need to keep working out while maintaining a calorie deficit. 

What should I do? I feel like I'm stuck. 

Thaks a ton

The trainer's advice to increase muscle mass was sound. More muscle means more calories burned - both at rest and in motion. However, to lose body fat the body must be in a caloric deficit. Period. What you can try doing is carb cycling with your macros. Here is how it would work:

Determine your TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure which is your BMR + calories for working out. There are tons of calculators online if you Google "TDEE Calculator"

Once you have this number, subtract anywhere from 250 to 500 calories from this total. This is your daily calorie intake goal for all days - workout days and rest days. Now what you do is cycle your carbs. Keep you carbs highest and your fats lowest on workout days. Keep your carbs the lowest and fats the highest on rest days. Protein stays the same all days. What this does is supply enough carbs for workout days even though you are in a deficit and lets your body know carbs are available. On your rest days when you don't need as many carbs, fat becomes the primary fuel source - including visceral and body fat. Protein must stay the same to provide the building blocks for muscle.

In doing this, your body does not go into panic mode and slow down you metabolism on low carb days because it still sees high carb days during the week. You will not gain maximum muscle with this strategy but you will gain some new lean mass AND burn body fat as well. Being natural, this process will be slow and the changes in weight will be small. However with persistence and clean eating, you will see yourself get more muscular while leaning out. The leaner you are, the bigger you will look even if your weight is down or remains the same. As long as you are not losing strength (you won't gain a lot of strength with this method), you will know your protein levels are sufficient and you are gaining/maintaining muscle while losing fat. I must emphasize that this will take TIME - 6 to 12 months - and you MUST eat nutritious, wholesome foods - no shit food or lots of cheat meals.

John

If you want to lose fat.. then yes you should be in a caloric deficit, UNLESS you are a newbie to lifting. How long have you been training? Just 3 months? Also, what are your current macros? Have you been to the @mealplan page to do some calculations of where you need to be? Also remember that you can't spot reduce fat.. so you'll have to lose fat in general and eventually it will come from those areas you want to lose it from. Check out this article. http://muscularstrength.com/article/Spot-Reducing-Fat-Miracle-or-Myth

Let us know how long you have been training, and what your bodyfat % is (roughly), and we can let you know whether to be in a slight surplus or deficit, or surplus for your goal. Then it will come down to diet manipulation and proper training 😊 

Thanks for replying Scott.

When I started three months ago, I was just a beginner.

Now I can do deadlifts with 145 lbs four set of six reps.
I can do backsquats with 135 lbs four set of six reps.

Body fat percentage as calculated on the electrode based machine in 24 Hour Fitness gym was 14%.

@average_joe_007 I replied to your other @forum post about what training you might want to try.

Can you please list your exact macros that you follow to hit 1700-2000 calories? Sounds like you aren't getting enough protein or fat. Also, if you are relatively new to training, you might be eating to few calories as well. If you're skinny fat, you should be in a small surplus rather than a small deficit.

If you are only 14% body fat as well.. then you should definitely be in a surplus if you're skinny fat. List your daily macros please, and we can go from there 😊