There are LOTS of ways to do it.

For me, I decide on an amount of weight and a length of time - whichever comes first, that's when I stop bulking. So, last fall I dedided to bulk until EITHER Jan 1 OR I gained 10 pounds. I had gained just over 8 pounds by January 1, so I started cutting then. I continued to try for several months, dropped a few pounds, then decided my body was building well, so I went on another mini-bulk. Basically, for me, I don't like my weight to oscillate too much because I like my clothes to fit. If everything in my wardrobe was made of spandex, I'd set size goals - like, stop bulking when my biceps hit 13" or something.

Right now, I'm doing one week on and one week off. You can even vary the programme day by day - carbs on lifting days, low carb lower calorie on cardio days. It just depends on how your body responds and on your particular goals.

Gotcha

Because I was thinking of doing 3 weeks cutting, 1 week bulking for the next 2-3 months and then see. Because I'm still working on getting to my goal, I don't want my weight to oscillate too much, but I thought if I include a week of bulking every month, then I'll buld more muscle mass and even the cutting phase will be more effective as far as fat loss goes, right?

I would recomment 2 weeks 'bulking' to allow time for muscle growth/metabolic upregulation.
If this results in too much fat gain you could do 2 weeks at mantenance or 1 week slightly above and 1 week mantenance.
I just think 2 weeks off the diet is a better idea.... you just have to be very careful not to gain too much fat and negate the whole diet.

$.02

I am wondering if someone could just give me a little help here? I'm 25, 5'8" and as of today, weighed 141 in the morning (though I'm now 144 again). I started Atkins 2 days ago, and I already feel like I'm seeing/going to see results. I have 2 months left before a big event in which I'll be in a swimsuit on stage in front of a thousand people. I have never been lean in my life, although I've been thin when I wanted to just by going low-fat/low-cal. My goal is to be really, really lean and into a size 3/4, which is not an unrealistic size for me since I'm medium/small framed. I'm a 7/8 right now. Okay, getting to the point here...Do you think I would benefit more from doing this type of plan or would Atkins be more effective at such a dramatic goal (20 pounds in 2 months, though it doesn't seem so crazy when I come on these boards)? I'm doing cardio 2-3 days a week and lifting light weights 2-3 days/week because I want a thin and lean body with not much bulk. I'm actually surprised that I haven't had a major freak-out since cutting carbs. I've always been really bad about sugar and bread. I mean REALLY bad! But I eat a lot of Jell-o now. I realize I've only done this for 2 days now, so it's really too early to know anything about how I'll respond, but let's just say that I respond as the average person does. Which plan would be better for losing 20 pounds and 3 sizes in 2 months' time? I apologize again for the dumb question, but I've been reading all these posts and still am unclear on a lot of things.

lynda22,

You're right to ask lots of questions before trying something that will affect YOUR BODY.

Now, what we don't know here is what you look like, or how you currently train.

At your weight and height, you are unlikely to lose very much weight on straight Atkins - you simply aren't fat enough. I would argue you aren't fat at all, but I don't know what your body composition is.

My measurements are: chest-36, waist-28, hips-38, thigh-22.5, calf-14, wrist-6 (if that helps gauge my build). I'm fairly soft everywhere, especially my stomach and arms. I've been up to 175 before and been as low as 117 (I admit that I was semi-anorexic then), so my weight has been an issue with me for years. My body seems to maintain 140-145 easily, when I'm eating normally and not excercising at all. It stays about like that when I excercise too, but I look better when I workout, even though my weight doesn't really change. What I've started doing is cardio on Mondays, Wednesdays and one day on the weekends. I'll do 30 min on the elliptical, alternating from low to moderate/high resistance as well as the alternating the grade and going backward for 10 minutes or so sometimes. I usually do the treadmill next for 30 minutes, mostly uphill walking alternating at different grades from 5-10. I rarely run, but I keep my heart rate over 150 for most of the hour, because my pace is brisk and I use moderate resistance. Sometimes I do the bike for 30 min instead of the treadmill, doing it the same way as I do the other machines. I usually burn (if you can go by what the machines say) 450-550 calories per workout. I do weights on Tuesday, Thursday and one weekend day, and I only use 5 pound weights, because I am just starting back on them and my main goal is to tone the muscles and to feel better (I have shoulder and back pain when I'm out of shape). I would say my weight lifting would be considered pretty light, but my muscles are fairly firm underneath the "padding" and I can start seeing a difference early on after I start lifting again. I don't know if I'm giving you the info you need to be able to help me out, but what I want is to get my measurements down by a significant percentage, like chest-34, waist-25, hips-35, thighs-19. I'd like to actually build my calves a little more because I have big knees and I want a more proportioned look. Anyway, sorry for the length of this post. I would really really appreciate any advice you guys can give me! I have two months to look awesome in a swimsuit.

Hi there

Okay, start a gym log and start a gallery.

I need to know what type of lifting you do.

I don't do as much cardio as you, and I don't lift light. The reason I don't do these things is that they don't work very well on my body.

I don't see how you're going to have very much fat loss focussing on cardio and only lifting light weights, regardless of the diet you follow.

So you're saying that I should lift more often? I definitely don't want a lot of muscle. I know the concept of having a faster metabolism from lifting, but I really don't want to build more muscle. I want to tighten my body. When I see runners, they have no fat at all. The last two years, before this event I would do less cardio and more weights, but I didn't see the results I wanted. I figure a lot of that is probably from my poor dieting habits too, but what would you recommend just for the average person with my goals? Did I give you enough info on my body type? Also, as far as the gym log, it's pretty much just what I listed. Do you need to know what weight lifting excercises I do? I'm sorry for the trouble. I know you're probably busy, but I would just appreciate any suggestions. Last year I was in a size 3 but I looked a little "rounder" than I wanted. I know a size 3 is small, but if you're not that lean it doesn't look that small. I want to get rid of the fat on my body in the most effective way possible.

Okay, well, look at the pix in my gym log. I lift for size, and still, I'm not all that big. My muscles show when I'm flexed, but not so much when I'm at ease - I mostly just look athletic. And I wear a size 4.

I'm smaller than I've ever been since I started lifting for size. You can have a look at the first page of my gym log to see the kinds of weights I lift and a few of the programs I've been following lately.

There is no such thing as toning - there is only building. But women suck at it because we lack sufficient testosterone, so instead, we get leaner from it.

You have to lift heavy (FOR YOU) to get any kind of results. Light weights with lots of reps are just a waste of time - they don't do anything except bore you and perhaps lead to repetitive strain injury.

The part of lifting that brings on fat loss is the damage caused to the muscles. The intensity of the damage stimulates your body to try to repair the damage and rebuild the tissue. For men, they also get a lot of size out of it. For women, we don't get much size, but the repair work is HUGELY inefficient, so it burns off a lot of calories doing it, and your metabolism stays higher for DAYS following the lifting if you do it right.

I gained 30 pounds in two years running 10k 3X a week. My body gets flabby and soft when I do excessive cardio. And I know several marathon runners in my office that are overweight - some folks get thin from it, others get skinny legs and a gut. I just got flabby and hungry, so I ate more and more. Low carbing and heavy lifting are what changed my body.

Nothing will drop your body fat like heavy weightlifting and controlled low carbing. Cardio doesn't build muscle - it catabolizes it. This will produce what you don't want - a skinny-fat person. Continue to do lots of cardio with light lifting, and your body will likely continue to respond in this way.

Sorry. I don't make the rules.

Good luck!

Eesh. Confusing! (hides face and runs away).........

I think you look great! However, I would prefer to have a lot less muscle than you do. Or rather, smaller muscles. I know you're only a size 4, but even though you're lean & have no fat, your muscles are more developed than I want for myself. If I lift heavy weights (for me) so that I can only do like, 8-12 reps per set, will that be what I need? And if I continue doing an hour of moderate/intense cardio 2-3 times per week in addition to the more intense weights, do you think I'll get where I want to be? The thing is, I want to look what you would probably call skinny (but NOT unhealthy! My goals aren't unrealistic or extreme...I compete in beauty pageants though). I want to be tight and very lean, but also retain some curves (or maybe reshape my muscles is what I'm trying to say). If I do that, and continue on low-carb, what would you say my results will be? I know you can't say anything for certain because you don't know at all what I look like or how my body reacts, but like I said earlier, assuming my body reacts as an average person's body. I have lost 4 pounds since I started Atkins two days ago. Would you recommend Atkins or carb cycling for what my workout regimen will be? Thanks SOOOO much for your help and I promise I won't bug you anymore! THANKS AGAIN!!

The 4 pounds you lost are mostly water that was bound up with glycogen.

As muscular as I am, my thighs are only about an inch bigger than yours, so I'm really not all that big - my waist and chest are both smaller than yours, and my hip is only an inch and a half or so larger than yours. I'm your height, and I weigh about what you do, but I'm mostly smaller than you.

Your suggested rep range is a little high, but should work better than the looooong light sets I often see women fruitlessly using to try to "tone" their bodies.

You're not bugging me, but I don't know what you look like, so I can't offer anything else but my heartfelt best wishes.

can someone tell me where they read that glucose from carbs goes into muscle while glucose from sugars goes into the liver? I always thought it was the other way around, that you should eat the simplest, fastest digestible sugars possible so they help you right away in your weight-lifting workout

also i am a bit confused about how to find the forum i previously posted on and the replies to it so pls HELP thanx all

Glucose is taken up preferentially by the muscles. Fructose is taken up preferentially by the liver. Sucrose is half and half. And yes, if you're doing TKD, you want something fast and high in dextrose/glucose so it goes right to your muscles for the workout.