Going on beach vacation in 4 weeks - help!

[coreJack]

5'7", 150, 17% bf - measured using calipers, but it was my first time, so could be off. Most of the excess fat is stored in the midsection with virtually none in the butt, legs, chest or arms. No visible abs. I don't want to get shredded, but would like some visible abs and a big reduction of the muffintop/love handles. After the vacation, I'm back to bulking, so getting super lean is a waste of time.

EDIT: OK, I've read some of Lyle's stuff. RFL sounds a bit too extreme, and I don't think I can eat such a protein rich but low fat diet. Plus, it seems like a lot of guys need stimulants to get by on that diet. And I don't need to lose a lot of fat - just 5-7lbs. Using some of the concepts Lyle advocates, here's what I'm thinking:

Meals: Protein+fat source (eggs, steak, chicken, fish, pork) and veggies (no carbs)
Milk: Only with breakfast and during workouts (8oz with breakfast every day, 8oz with 3x/week workouts)
Supplements: Daily multivitamin, fish oil capsules
Workouts: 3x/week (so no reduction in frequency)
Sets/reps: instead of 3x5, drop to 3x3 (or 2x3 if I find myself dragging)
Intensity: maintain same weight on bar for lifts I find heavy. Continue progression for lifts I find relatively easy.

In summary, reduced carb diet, with slightly reduced workout volume with no reduction in intensity, with the goal of shedding about 5-7lbs of fat (3-5% of total bodyweight) over 4 weeks, while maintaining strength. Thoughts?

[Nauticus]

5'7", 150, 17% bf - measured using calipers, but it was my first time, so could be off. Most of the excess fat is stored in the midsection with virtually none in the butt, legs, chest or arms. No visible abs. I don't want to get shredded, but would like some visible abs and a big reduction of the muffintop/love handles. After the vacation, I'm back to bulking, so getting super lean is a waste of time.

For the next several weeks, I'm ok with lifting the same amounts for those lifts at which I'm near my 3x5 max (and for which increases are going to require lots of food), and I'd like to continue to make progress on the lifts where I'm far from my max.

I'm thinking cutting out most of the carbs, including my morning oats (keeping the eggs, etc.). The thing I'm most worried about cutting back on is the milk. I'm drinking 1/4 - 1/3 gallon of whole milk a day. Will cutting back on the milk force me to decrease the weights?

Check this out: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss

The general advice given here, which is influenced by Lyle's own writings: Lower caloric intake, keep protein intake very high, eliminate carbs. Your workouts should include less volume while keeping up the intensity.

[Mr.City]

Actually, I take that back. How bad could you be at 160 lbs?

[coreJack]

Actually, I take that back. How bad could you be at 160 lbs?

150lbs. Shockingly bad for that height/weight - but that's because my body stores most of the excess fat in the gut. I envy the guys who store some of their excess fat in their butt and thighs.

[PVC]

150lbs. Shockingly bad for that height/weight - but that's because my body stores most of the excess fat in the gut. I envy the guys who store some of their excess fat in their butt and thighs.

I store some of my excess fat in my tits. How do you think I feel?

And 17% bodyfat at 150 lbs sounds a bit sketchy to me. How old and how tall are you?

[coreJack]

I store some of my excess fat in my tits. How do you think I feel?

And 17% bodyfat at 150 lbs sounds a bit sketchy to me. How old and how tall are you?

LOL, you just need a bro, and you're set.

36, 5'7". The 17% could be wrong since it's my first time using calipers, but whatever the bf% is, it is not a pretty sight.

[Dastardly]

I say fuck cutting. Fuck it to hell.

Continue bulking till you are such a great hulk that small children will cry and women will collapse at your feet.

All the 90's skinny anoerexic guys with "teh 8 pack abs" will scuttle away and hide like hermit crabs.

Me and you have similar height to weight ratios, and I also carry all my fat on my belly. But it has always been clear to me that the only option is to grow. You and I could lose so much weight till we are at deaths door, like walking skeletons but we would still probably not have visible abs. When the belly fat dissapears, we die. It is our last/most important reserve of bodyfat.

If you want a manlier stronger look. You need to grow so much that your gut starts to look small. I have not lost any bodyfat since training but my belly looks smaller and smaller due to the fact eveything else is slowly growing.

My belly now even has a rectangular shape which suggests a set of very well developed abdominal muscles deep inside the blubber.

Oh, and you may want to do the PP novice programme which involves pull ups.

[coreJack]

Me and you have similar height to weight ratios, and I also carry all my fat on my belly. But it has always been clear to me that the only option is to grow. You and I could lose so much weight till we are at deaths door, like walking skeletons but we would still probably not have visible abs. When the belly fat dissapears, we die. It is our last/most important reserve of bodyfat.

I've gotten down to the skeleton look before (35lbs ago), and the abs were pretty defined - a 6 pack, but not an 8 pack. I'm not trying to go there again, but I do want to be temporarily leaner around the belly. We can rant about 90s small, but the reality is that women, especially young women, like teh abz on guys. Rightly or wrongly, they have been conditioned to find pecs, arms, and abzors more attractive than thighs and a functionally strong core.

[Koalala]

Who cares what women think really...
I am not training for them I am training to get my 200kg deadlift.

[EJLouis]

I say fuck cutting. Fuck it to hell.

Continue bulking till you are such a great hulk that small children will cry and women will collapse at your feet.

All the 90's skinny anoerexic guys with "teh 8 pack abs" will scuttle away and hide like hermit crabs.

If you want a manlier stronger look. You need to grow so much that your gut starts to look small. I have not lost any bodyfat since training but my belly looks smaller and smaller due to the fact eveything else is slowly growing.

+1

We can rant about 90s small, but the reality is that women, especially young women, like teh abz on guys.

You're 36. Fuck what the young girls want. It's most likely not you anyways.
Enjoy the sights and don't loose weight. Eat everything in sight. Hopefully you're going to an all you can eat resort. (BTW I'm 35, was 5'11" skinny fat with no abz always around 160 to 175 -- now I'm 205 with a bigger gut, but with arms and shoulders coming in <-- this is much better!). In a word, there will be other beach vacations that you will be physically better prepared for to come.