Add Lean Mass, Not Sure How

I want to add muscle and maintain or lose fat. Is this realistic or one at a time? This is my current diet I’ve been roughly maintaining 165-173# on it for the last two weeks. Pending work and output there.

Based on your other thread, you just dropped almost 60 pounds in 3 months. Bouncing right back to any kind of “bulking”/size-building plan is a terrible idea. This explains why: Change Your Body Fat Set Point. Here's How - Diet and Nutrition - COMMUNITY - T NATION

Aim to spend a month or two hanging around your current weight, while still training hard and eating sufficiently of course, and then look to bump calories a bit to add some muscle.

Thank you! That’s the new plan then sitting at 172.6 for the last 3 days.

How’s the diet look though solid?

It’s completely realistic. Just eat at your baseline, and your body will torch the fat to gain calories, while you’ll also build muscle from training hard.

Your diet looks pretty good, but I’m curious as to if you’re eating at a surplus, deficit, or equilibrium.

Unfortunately it’s a mixture. My job is random at what I do. Some days I bust my ass and do physical labor for 6-10 hours. Some days I drive around for 6-8 hours a day. I was trying to figure out a way to determine how many calories I burn a day and base diet off that or would recording data for a few weeks and doing an average make more sense? Didn’t really want to get a fit bit but maybe just cause I’m a data nerd.

Also maybe that is all just over thinking it and just look st scale and mirror the old fashioned way.

I’m at 174# today but on Friday morning I was down to 170#. I typically eat a cheat meal on Friday night after leg day. Is this dumb? Should I stop doing the cheats and see what happens with physique?

You remind me of myself. I was an Uber driver for a while (before I started my own business) and used to pound down mass gainers while I was on the road, lol.

I’d recommend just eating more protein. This will solve most of your issues, my dude. Even if you eat at a deficit or slight surplus, getting your body in a positive nitrogen retention state will DRASTICALLY improve your gains.

Just get enough protein. Calculate your goal bodyweight and eat one gram of protein each day, per pound of lean bodyweight you want to be.

So, my goal is 180 pounds at 8% bodyfat, which means I eat 180g of protein per day.

this is the macro break down I’m sure it’s not 100% right. But close as far as I know. Anyone have a better app to track calories?

Also some comparison pics for reference. First one is end of cut. Second is last week. 17 days apart