alright, 2 years ago i weighed 210lbs ~ probably 25% body fat and took off 60lbs using calorie restriction 6mos, veggie diet 6mos, now finally i've been dabbling in low carb. i lost a ton of muscle during that whole process and now trying to put it back on.

i do not want to gain a bunch of fat in the process of gaining muscle... especially cause my problem area is BUTT FAT! i know this is not easy... as weight lifters say bulking means you eat everyhing in sight and gain the fat too... then cutting, bulking, cutting, bulking... give me a break.

i track every calorie, protein, carb, fat at fitday. i've learned a ton about nutrition and weight lifting. i'm 70 inches and float around 155lbs ~ 13% b/f. i want to be 165lbs ~ 10% b/f or less. i cannot gain muscle and it's gonna take a serious 10lbs of muscle to do it.

A typical day is below... i'm slowly upping to 2500 calories but really just can't eat any more food ~ 5-6 times per day already?! i like not eating all the bread and stuff and get all my carbs from veggies and soy milk... but i do feel tired and lethargic after eating all the protein.

i think i've got low carb (for maintenance) down to a science but am afraid to up the carbs over 50g/day... sometimes i do and i find i slide up to 15% b/f and maybe climb to 157lbs. i've read up on ketosis (in this forum too) and measure infrequently but only have ever seen trace.

also, during the summer i rollerblade hard an hour a day. i find that when i lift weights just 3x per week (rather than every day) and as heavy as i can stand (rather than high reps) i do gain muscle. i want to stick with low carb and heavy lifting but cannot gain muscle without BUTT FAT.

Calories Eaten Today
source grams cals %total
Total: 2277
Fat: 97 873 40%
Sat: 30 267 12%
Poly: 15 132 6%
Mono: 31 275 13%
Carbs: 24 82 4%
Fiber: 3 0 0%
Protein: 306 1223 56%

any ideas?

thanks, will.

Sheesh. I have no idea. We're all trying to get down, not up. There's a poster by the user name of Built that you might try asking. Or maybe try the exercise room.

I don't mean to steer you away, but I'm just thinking they might be able to deal more effectively with what you're asking.

Another place to try (unfortunately, it's another site) is the website for Protein Power at eatprotein.com. They're set up something like this. Just look for the exercise forum. There are some really knowledgeable people there, and you're sure to get good information.

I always hate to post when I don't have an answer, but I noticed that 10 people viewed your post, but no one responded. I hate when that happens to me.

Good luck. And feel free to keep posting here. The last thing I want to do is scare anyone off! We love the PP lifestyle, and love hearing about others who do too!

Edited to add: Looking at your nutrition counts again, I do think 306 grams of protein in a day is more than a little high for your height and weight, even though you are male. I would lower the protein to maybe around 200, and up the fat to around 150. But then again, what do I know?

Try doing a search on the username built. She's a she, not a he, but she's very knowledgeable in low-carbing and weight lifting. You maybe could send her a PM and ask her to look at your post here.

Just trying to help!

thanks - i am trying to lose - just not muscle - i still have that last 10lbs to go which is why i'll be sticking with l/c