A bit lost for my diet

Hello everyone,

I read a bit this forum before posting, because I'm a bit concerned about my progress.

6 month ago, I was almost an anorexic 19yo man, weighting 98lbs (44kg) for 5"6.

I started to train and modified my diet. I was told I had to eat more ("bulking") in order to build muscle, as I was severely underweight, I did it and gained a total of 25lbs (12kg) in those months.

I did not watch my protein intake, I just ate a lot on workout days, focusing on healthy food and a balanced diet.

I'm training 4 times a week for 45min/1h every time.

I gained a lot of strength, of LBM (I do believe) and of course, of fat too. I think I'm about 14% bf but still somewhat light.

If you don't mind shirtless picture of me, here is a picture that shows my body state during the progress until now :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14678806/wqllll.jpg

Now that I'm at a normal BMI, after reading a bunch of posts, I wonder :

should I keep 'bulking' like I do ? Or is it irrelevant and I should I eat at maintenance or even cut off the gained fat, so my body takes energy from the fat ... ? What should be my goal weight ?

My goal is to get bigger, stronger, leaner.

Thanks in advance.

Well, you look MUCH healthier at 123lbs than 96 or 110. Ya look like a boobless chic otherwise without curvy hips. Even my young male gymnasts don't look this skinny, even the girls. Well, they may be that slender but with muscle tone.

While you are probably between 10-15% bodyfat, you look a HELLUVA lot better unless you go for girls who like the skinny, vegan or starved runway model look.

Congrats on the good work.

What are your goals? General fitness enthusiast, healthy Joe Blow, or BW strength or Muscle-bound?

Size would be decent now for a wrestler. You'd probably end up leaning out by 5-10lbs but you look like you actually have muscle on your bones now.

Thanks for your post.

My goal is obviously to get more heavy (I still look thin) with more strength and hopefully more cut later. Don't wanna get too heavy neither if that makes me really weaker for the bodyweight work, but I'm far from this point.

So, what should I do, keep bulking like I did, is it the right way ? Should I watch my protein intake ?

In fact I'm worried to get too fat, also. My body image may still be deformed from my past, but I can't say I don't have some fat on my belly.

Thanks in advance.

I lifter friend told me I should gain 10 more lbs, then cut 5.

I'm not sure if bulk/cut methods are relevant for Gymnastic Strength Training™

No elite level gymnast that I have ever met follows the bulking & cutting protocol; at least not intentionally!

Your progress to date has been excellent; especially compared to where you started. My recommendation is to simply continue to eat a healthy balanced diet. It has been working for you so far. 8)

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks for your recommendation, your program definitively works 8) .

I'll maybe report back when it has been one year. Meanwhile I'll keep the same diet, slowly gaining weight like before.