Sport To eat or not to eat, that is the question!

[pgmetoo]

I currently weigh 195 and I am 53. I don't mind my weight, I just want it to be more muscle and much less fat. Should I be eating to gain muscle mass or dieting to lose fat?

The background to my situation is as follows. I lost 70 pounds in 2012, going from 260 down to 190. I did so by eating less, eating better and running on my treadmill. It took me 5 and a half months. Good for me! But after nine prior years of inactivity, my muscle mass is lousy and I still have probably 20 pounds of fat on me. I have been lifting weights for the last 4 months and cut way back on the running. I am eating more than I did during my weight loss phase but have continued to watch what I eat and how much. I have gained back 5 pounds and all of it is in my waistline.

I am concerned that eating more to gain muscle mass will just wind up on my waistline again. But dieting as I did last year seems counterproductive to gaining muscle mass and I will just remain flabby.

Not sure which direction to take. Any advice?

 

[Goldfish2.0]

You have a few options ahead of you.

You can probably afford to eat at maintenance for the time being, while sorting out your macro-nutrients (getting plenty of protein, a reasonable amount of fat, and the rest of your calories from carbs) and making sure your diet has plenty of good stuff in it (I hear those vegetables are good for the body). You may be able to go through recomposition by eating this way and lifting with progressive overload.

In favour of continuing to lose weight, if you're able to get down to a low bodyfat%, it'll make it easy to tell where the weight is going when you start adding weight to gain muscle. You won't gain much (if any) muscle mass continuing to lose weight, though.

If you choose to gain weight, I'd do it slowly. A couple pounds a month on the scale while increasing strength is all you need.