Do you have more trouble losing weight or building muscle?

I can gain and lose weight fast. I just can't seem to bulk up without the fat. It's probably cause my stomach can't stand protein and whey drinks. I'm happy being lean though. I went from 206 to 180 in a little over 2 months (adjusting diet and exercising everyday) I still need to loose a bit more but I'm also a little worried about excess skin around my stomach and waist. I would never consider surgery for it though.

I'm in my 220s the heaviest I've ever been was 330. I still got more fat to lose, even though I want to keep bulking up. I don't want to put on more fat, and end up screwing myself over. So this time I want to make sure I'm at a comfortable weight before bulking.

What if I can do both at will?

I've only ever gained weight when I was on medication, I'm usually a pretty constant 62 Kg (137 lbs). I went up to 75 Kg (165 lbs) on the meds and because of the effect it had on my mentality, I simply did not give a shit that I had gained so much weight. I still have stretch marks from losing that weight so quickly after coming off them. Now I'm at my normal weight and I don't really gain muscle even if I work out. I don't eat enough to gain and I don't want to eat enough for it either.

It wouldn't be possible.

@hilbert: TMW army coming through LOL! I love watching the hodgetwins vids..

Cardio is easy. I never tried really building muscle, though. I did some weight lifting to just gain a bit more strength on my legs and arms, but not to looked "ripped", so I can't say which kind of excersie is harder. I guess it really depends on your own body and how well it reacts to different types of training...

Losing weight. I eat shitloads of junkfood in gluttonous proportions.

I cannot lose weight. I have multiple pre-existing conditions that either make me gain weight or the medication I take makes me gain weight. It's difficult regulating everything.

I exercise 5 days a week; 30-60 minutes of cardio. I'm not obese, but under normal circumstances, I shouldn't be as overweight as I am.

Losing weight is easy, you just stop eating. Gaining muscle requires hard work and hard work sucks.

For me I got to get a physical soon. Lately I've been having problems where I feel sleepy and weak, even though I've slept for hours. The last time I had a physical it wasn't good, and that was 2 years ago when I was obese.

This pretty much. I can't really get enthusiastic about working out when no friends seem to want to do so either.

Gaining lean muscle mass without fat is very difficult and takes absolutely ages, unless you're on steroids. Fat can be stripped from the body very quickly if you STICK to your diet.

A natural bodybuilder who is 5'11 at his genetic PEAK, after years of training and good genes can not exceed 14 stone lean mass, studies have shown.

Therefore, unless you want to take steroids lean AND big is extremely difficult to achieve. Better to be lean Imo and just go for a nice Spartan warrior body composition. Calorie controlled diet with punch bag, compound lifts/strength or martial arts training (anything functional)

Friends shouldn't determine whether you should workout. I go to the gym all the time by myself. Trying to get into the ultimate shape is my motivation.

I have no problem gaining muscle but burning fat, fuck it.

What's the point of having all that muscle if you've got a bunch of fat covering it? Unless you're a professional weightlifter (or whatever those guys are called) then the ideal body you want requires you to do both. One is extremely easy and can be done by almost anyone, the other requires hard work, good genetics and very specific nutrition.

I have a rediculous metabolism, so burning fat, or not gaining it in the first place is easy for me. As a kid I could practically eat an buffet every day an not gain weight. Its nots not quite so freakish nowadays, but its still pretty easy to atleast maintain weight while eating what I want. I am pretty damn weak, so getting building muscle is harder for me.

For me I want to have a nice muscular body. I was skinny when I was kid, got fat when I became a teenage, now I lost all that weight and gained some muscle as an adult. I don't want to look like a freak show with muscle on top of muscle. I just want to look fit with a nice muscular physique.

I have severe Hashimoto's disease, so I'm prone to weight gain.

However, I maintain a constant 62kg. Find it incredibly difficult to gain muscle, but hey we can't be good at everything right.

For those wanting to gain mass and strength, look up Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength and do that programme.

I remember hearing about that program before from the hodgetwins, but I don't know if your post is spam or not.

It used to be building muscle, worked out all the time and saw little to no mass improvement, now that I'm older it is weightloss...

I workout all the time, only times where I don't workout is the weekends. Reason why is because my gym at my apartment is closed on those days. My family and friends thinks I've became obsessed with working out. Though its funny how different they acted when I was big, compared to when I lost all the weight.

When I was big it was "Hey you need to lose some damn weight your to big", and now its like "Hey you lost to much weight put some on". I can't win with these people. In the end fuck all of them their opinion don't matter at this point. My goal is to get into the best shape in my life, and nobody's going to stop me.

Kind of both? Not sure if I've been doing this long enough to tell, but I've been at a steady 130 pounds for as long as I can remember. I've gained a bit of muscle since starting, and I'm going to keep going, but I've still stuck at around 130 pounds. Although I am eighteen and my brother says he was skinny like me until he hit 23, then he just put on a lot of weight. and is generally just imposing now.

If you don't mind me asking how long you've been lifting weights? At your weight its probably best to focus on building muscle. The smaller someone is the harder it will be to lose fat.

I can build muscle pretty easily, but getting rid of the extra five I'm carrying around is proving to be a chore.

Many people tackle these from all the wrong angles.

Losing weight: calorie deficit plus high intensity interval training is GUARANTEED to do the trick. Many people think spending an hour on a treadmill will do the work but you're simply training your body to run, not focusing on speeding up your metabolism.

Building muscle: push, push, push yourself plus a protein-rich diet of at least 1 g per lb.

In the end, both are actually pretty reliant on how you eat.

Eating does play a major role. To make gains eat alot and train hard, and to burn fat train hard and eat less. Though I know for some people its going to be tough, but as long as they have determination. They can reach their fitness goal.

honestly I just want to gain weight but I do not want to work out for it^^

I am skinny and I can eat whatever and how much I want and I never gain weight, I also did several medical tests but there is nothign wrong with my body I just can not gain weight which really sucks....

I am in a weird position where I need to lose both fat AND muscle. fml

I played football in high school at a really small school, but I lifted pretty hard for 2 or 3 years and never really built that much muscle. Nothing would take, I'd eat right and everything and nothing worked.

I've actually seen people who has that same problem.

@falserelic: Calorie deficit and interval training have worked really well for me, went from 245 pounds to 175 in about six months. I can only lose about another 14 to 15 then I've been told to focus on putting on some muscle that seem accurate? Also It doesn't sound like you're obsessed, personally I'm on the treadmill and doing some light weights daily because I enjoy it now. Nothing wrong with that.

I used to row crew and so did about 14 hours of cardio a week so always had to eat loads. Fortunately I've always been naturally fairly strong so weigth training has never really been an issue for me. The problem has come when I stopped rowing but continued to eat like a rower. I can lose and gain fat very quickly but its just taking time to realise my limits now that have stopped me losing fat.

Exactly, I don't see nothing wrong with it either. I always like to push myself and train hard.

No to losing weight. In the past I have had the opposite issue; keeping weight on. Under stress I tend to stop eating, enough, or at all in some cases. Four years ago during a mental breakdown of sorts, my weight dropped to 150 lbs. I am six feet tall. In order to maintain my appetite and keep a reasonably healthy body mass I have to keep a regular routine of meals and exercise, and, of course, not suddenly stop taking my meds.

As for muscle, I've never tried to build muscle. I don't know how that would go. At peak shape in my early twenties, from cycling a few hours per day, i was more marathon runner body type than muscular type. Right now I am a reasonably in shape 30 year old with some minor chubby padding in key areas. :p

(When it comes to lifting weights)

I prefer doing Total Body workouts 3 times a week. Some people like to workout different muscle groups on each days. I usually make sure I do 12 reps and 4 sets. Sometimes I might train to failure, and end up going to snap city.

Starting strength is good. I also like "The New Rules of LIfting" which is a great program. Personally, I can lose weight easily, but gaining muscle is harder (built like a beanpole here.) I go 4x a week to life, and I really limit the amount of cardio I do - I'm a lady, and lots of women overdo cardio. I do 15 minutes max and then lift, and I have much better results than endless cardio (which I find boring anyway!)

(When It comes to Cardio)

I usually listen to music to help the time go by. Sometimes it can be boring depending on my mood. Though I usually make sure to get a good hour workout. When my heart rate is up and I'm building up a sweat ( whole shirt ends up wet most time). Then that's a clear indicator that I got an intense cardio workout.

When I go to the gym my mind is set on training hard. Though I've had days where I got depress, or I just couldn't build up the willpower to workout. Days like that happens from time to time, but I don't stay down I get back up and keep going.

Yup, what these guys said. These are probably the two best and most informative posts in this thread.

People tend to way overthink these things. It's not rocket science. Lose fat: eat less (and clean, I would personally say, although some would disagree) while continuing to exercise, that's about it. Gain muscle: lift right, lift smart, and eat well with enough protein and calories in general, just not too much.

Elliott Hulse is my hero,

Every person with psychological problems should go on a no fat "Cognitive self-therapy/Eckhart Tolle/Elliott Hulse" diet. With the Hodge Twins as cheat meal.

Getting some mind gains.

@hilbert: Yeah, Elliott gives out all kinds of good knowledge, all kinds. Watching fitness channels helped me stay motivated. Channels such as P.O.G, Big J, CT flecher, Kali Muscle, Elliot hulse, hodge twins, and others all have been helpful to me. I learned alot of different workout routines, and other stuff from those guys. Its always fun watching vids that get me motivated.

Good friend of mine is a personal trainer and power lifter. Being a chubby dude, I'm looking to lose some weight and maybe put on some muscle as an added bonus. Years ago (like 2003) in high school I played Lacrosse and was fit and got female attention for the first time in my life. It was AWESOME, but during college I got fat again. 4 months ago I enlisted his help (paying him, of course. Well, the gym he works for really) and now train 3 times a week at his gym. A terrifying realization has crossed me, as 4 months in I look nearly the same: I need to eat better. He told me to eat better (and gave me some tips and stuff), and I'm wishy washy about it. I have friends who are a GOD AWFUL influence on me. As in "HEY MAN LETS SPLIT A PIZZA AND SODA AND THEN GO GET ICE CREAM AND THEN DO IT AGAIN."

A problem with me is that, not only do I have an attachment to bad food (I associate it with feeling happy and fulfilled, just like an alcoholic can't imagine having a good time without booze, I can't imagine feeling at my peak happiness without a belly of sloppy Thai Coconut Noodles) but I also have no true endgame here. In high school I had a real reason, and that was that I was lonely and depressed, and my goal was women. I have a girlfriend (going on 4 years, now) who loves me this way and, while she doesn't want me to die at 40 (and I'm sure wouldn't mind me being more in-shape), she's not overly concerned with my health at age 26. So right now my only reason to get fit is "..uh...because it's like...you're supposed to I think" and it's just proving to not be enough.

Of course I'm just a fat nerd and need to shut the hell up and eat what I need to.

Definitely building muscle. I'm a naturally skinny guy.

I wasn't nobody special in High School. I was chubby, anti-social, and didn't get alot of female attention either. Though alot of the females were ignorant and was into thuggish guys, guys that basically treat them like shit and fucked other chicks, but I wasn't like that at all.

In someways I know how you feel. There's times where I fall off the wagon and end up gaining weight. Sometimes the craving for certain foods can takeover, and I get to a point where I don't care about the calories I eat. When that happens I'm usually in a depression, and I start thinking about the foolish mistakes I've done in the past, but after sulking I start thinking that I need to focus on the future, and how to improve my life as it is now.

Afterwards I get myself back on track and keep going with the plan. Sense I've lost alot of weight I decided to keep a positive mindset. On top of that I got alot of benefits from losing weight. I got alot more female attention, I'm healthier, more wiser, and more confident then ever before. I also like to encourage other people to get in shape too. For some people it might seem impossible, but its not.

Anyway man good luck on your fitness goals. As long as you have determination you'll reach it.

I gain muscle easily it seems, but I also like eating a fuck ton. So lower my bodyfat% is a constant struggle of mine.

I grew up a fat kid. I've long since shed the weight and kept pretty slim. The problem for me is that it is very hard for me to eat a bunch more food to build muscle because I can't get over the mental barrier of OH NO FATTY FAT FAT.

I been having that same issue aswell. I would hate to gain alot of weight back. The last thing I need is to mess up the body that I developed this far.