Body Recomposition for the Obese Novice

[JCDenton86]

Hi guys,

I've been on the program on-and-off for the past 9 months. By on-and-off I mean lots of deloads that I needed to take because I had weeks off during moving apartments, being sick, my wedding, and so on. I ate mostly around 2400kcal but binge-ate on weekends.

I'm 28yrs old, 6'6 265lbs (197cm/120kg) probably around 30%bf if not more.
Picture:

My (really weak stats are), 3x5:

SQ: 242lbs (110kg) -- currenly stalling hard, 5-5-3 reps, mostly because I feel that my abs are really fatigued at the last reps, I'm not wearing a belt if that matters
BP: 180lbs (82.5kg) -- stalling at 4-3-3
OHP: 115lbs (52.5kg) -- stalling
DL: 315lbs (142.5kg) -- stalling

My goals are to really boost up my numbers, especially squat and deadlift.

But I really need to reduce my bodyfat, at least to 20% - you can see my pic, I have huge gut/lovehandles/moobs.

I never trained any sports, and before I lifted on SS I did a "bro-split" for about 8 months, lost 110lbs+ and was skinnyfat, but still had lots of bodyfat.

As for my nutrition -- I'm currently eating 2900kcal, which I think is -100kcal below my TDEE according to iifym calculator. I'm not really sure if this is my TDEE however. I've seen "To Be a Beast" article, and according to it, my TDEE is 3500kcal.

My question is:

Should I up my calorie intake in order to progress on my lifts? However I'm really worried to add more bodyfat because as you can see I'm really obese.

Lately as my numbers began to stall I'm becoming really depressed as I remember that I shouldn't have binged when I lost 110lbs and that I should've ate properly when I was around 230lbs. Seems to me I've been going in circles basically adding really small amount of muscle but fluctating between morbidly obese to extremely skinnyfat (my lowest weight was 85kg), while staying at the same bodyfat.

Thanks so much in advance and greetings from a small country in Europe

P.S. Sorry for the rant.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Hey JC,

Thanks for sharing. My answers to your questions are as follows:

Should I up my calorie intake in order to progress on my lifts? However I'm really worried to add more bodyfat because as you can see I'm really obese.

No. You should eat enough that you're slowly losing weight weekly (0.5lb or so), which should be enough to fuel recover for awhile.

Lately as my numbers began to stall I'm becoming really depressed as I remember that I shouldn't have binged when I lost 110lbs and that I should've ate properly when I was around 230lbs. Seems to me I've been going in circles basically adding really small amount of muscle but fluctating between morbidly obese to extremely skinnyfat (my lowest weight was 85kg), while staying at the same bodyfat.

This is most people's experience when it comes to losing weight/gaining weight. Get out of this cycle NOW. You're no longer bulking and cutting on extreme diets. You're training, eating towards your goals, and sticking with it as best as possible. Binging and restricting is not sustainable long term so cheat meals and the like are not for you, IMO.

Single ingredient foods, 225g of protein a day, high fiber intake, peri workout starchy carbs, and hard training are what you need for the next year :-)

[JCDenton86]

Thanks so much Jordan, I really appreciate your response.

During past few days I upped my kcals for a bit and broke through my squat and bench plateau.
I used your 13kcal/lbs formula so I'm eating 3200 at the moment, which is around -300 in deficit from my TDEE.

In the upcoming week I'll be monitoring my weight to find out what my TDEE is (if 3500 is too much) and adjust the deficit accordingly to it, so I'll go around -500kcal in deficit which I guess is the 0.5lb/week formula for weight loss.

Also thanks for the P/F recommendations - I'm eating around 220g of P at the moment, but I haven't tracked my fiber intake which I'll be sure to do.
Thanks again.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Sounds good. Good luck!