am i skinny fat or just plain skinny? + training/diet help!

[kaos_nw]

Hi everyone basically ive recently come back to training (about 17 weeks ago) after a while off due to illness, i lost a hell of alot of weight (including muscle!) and came back to training looking and feeling sick & weak

now since being back ive been on stronglifts 5x5 to try and build some strength before moving onto HST or similar

I really want to pack on muscle but avoid putting on fat so i decided to lean bulk

my stats are
age -20
weight 69kg
height 6'3

so i started training and progressing well, cleaned up my diet and started eating more, (before i started training again i was averaging on 1300-1450 cals a day!)
i bumped it up to 2000/2300 on non-wo/wo days

i didnt gain any weight so 6 weeks ago i bumped my intake upto 2500 everyday,
at least 170g protein
roughly 300g carbs
and ive gained rougly 0.6lb a week so i think this calorie level is good for me at the moment as im not back at uni yet so not that active during the days apart from gym!

ive added some pics here to see if anyone can tell me if im skinny fat or just skinny and also possibly guess bf%



also i know my diets far far far from perfect! but its not as bad as it could be for e.g. heres todays diet (im not having the usual 6 meals a day atm as im not back at uni yet so i prefer to graze on little bits throughout the whole day )

breakfast
30g whey water
50g oats (porridge with water water) frozen berries
apple
EPA fish oil

kcal- 318
fat-5
carb-35
pro-30

snack
chicken salad pitta

kcal- 198
fat-8
carb-29
pro-13

lunch
beans reduced salt sugar
burgen bread x 1

kcal- 325
fat-4
carb-45
pro-25

snack
cyclone protein bar

kcal- 215
fat-6
carb-13
pro-23

dinner
chicken pepper onion
pitta bread
epa fish oil

kcal- 321
fat-9
carb-35
pro-33

snack
musli 50g
milk 170g

kcal- 270
fat-14
carb-34
pro-7

2 x boiled eggs
kcal- 173
fat-12
carb-1
pro-14


totals = cals - 1967 fat-59 carbs-199 pro-149

(ill try and eat another 500 kcal before bed!)

so any advice or input on my routine/diet/pics/life?

also im still on prednisolone for my illness, which is a corticosteroid which i belive is catabolic just a shot in the dark but has anyone been on these and gained muscle?

[kaos_nw]

damn can somone make those pics smaller?

[musefan]

i think you are looking lean with some muscle. you do have some space to bulk out a little i guess but this will hopefully come in time with better diet and consistent training. i estimate your bf at 9-11%. i do think 2500cals might be too low if you want to pack on more muscle but iam not really too good with diets so hopefully the others can help.

EDIT: How are your lifts? Still making good progress yeah?

[kaos_nw]

thanks for your reply mate, yea im still making progress on my lifts (i went on a tempary routine this week due to my knee hurting!)

but im squatting just over 90kg, deading about the same for 5x5.

Ive been gaining rougly 0.6lb a week, but im unsure if this is just newbie gains, so im thinking to leave my diet as it is at about 2500 cals, and hopefully keep growing at this rate, if/when my gains slow/stop im thinking to bump them upto 2750 and see if i start gaining around 0.5lb a week again

and i plan to keep doing this everytime my gains slow, until i think ive put on a bit of excess fat and then go on a gentle cut (-500 a day) until im at a level im happy with and then continue

does this sound ok? other people have told me to bump them upto 3000 now and ill gain better?

[musefan]

no probs mate.

i am no pro on the diet side as I have said but 'cheef', 'greg' are both on over 3000 calories and they are getting decent gains and staying lean. so 2500 sounds like its most likely not enough. hopefully the others can help you more on your diet when they wake up lol it might be worth checking their logs for some diet inspiration.

[kaos_nw]

cheers mate! ill check em out, and hopefully ill get some more replies tomorrow at a more sociable hour! lol

[musefan]

Quote

cheers mate! ill check em out, and hopefully ill get some more replies tomorrow at a more sociable hour! lol

being up so late-no wonder we aren't making gains as quick as we should be! lol

it might help if you start a training log. its pretty useful for getting advice off people and for you to use to look back to see what you were lifting etc!! good night lol

[kaos_nw]

yea i think ill set one up tomorrow! right now its time for bed and hopefully grow some more! lol

[stronglikewood]

Quote

Ive been gaining rougly 0.6lb a week, but im unsure if this is just newbie gains, so im thinking to leave my diet as it is at about 2500 cals, and hopefully keep growing at this rate, if/when my gains slow/stop im thinking to bump them upto 2750 and see if i start gaining around 0.5lb a week again

and i plan to keep doing this everytime my gains slow, until i think ive put on a bit of excess fat and then go on a gentle cut (-500 a day) until im at a level im happy with and then continue

does this sound ok? other people have told me to bump them upto 3000 now and ill gain better?

If you're really gaining 0.6lbs a week then keep going with that. 2-3lbs a month is spot on. Go with the bulking plan you have and don't consider any cutting until you are ateast 2-3 stone heavier, maybe even more that that as you are very tall but too light.

I wouldn't worry about any medication you are on and muscle gain. Just worry about making gym progress.

[comanight2]

jesus i was 69 @ 5'8" when i did the triathlon...im a wee fatty haha,

Your bodyfat must be low, id say your just skinny atm! keep lifting tho its working!