Lose fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time!

This is the goal of damn near every 175lb guy in the gym. I should know I was one of them for a long time. All you have to do is flip through a fitness magazine and you will see these promises of "gain 20lbs of muscle while losing fat." This claim is ridiculous sans Trenbolone.

Reality
Once I came to the realization that 200lbs on a 6 foot 2 guy is just not big I decided to just suck it up and put on weight. This taught me an important lesson, Have 1 Goal! Before I always wanted to see at least an ab or 2 when I was "Bulking." What would happen is that I would gain no weight and stare at the mirror making up places where I thought extra muscle had grown. So this time I ditched the mirror and told myself I was going to get fat! 65 pounds and a year and a half later I actually fill out a T-shirt and only have a bit of a gut. Why strategy #1 failed is pretty basic. In order to gain you need a calorie surplus. Just like to lose you need a calorie deficit. So what made me think I could do both at once?

Over-thinking
Every beginner has a theory about how to work out through what they think will make sense. In my case I thought just eating more of good foods would help me gain a lot while being lean. Reality is you cant do both well. I gained a little and didn't put on much fat. But nothing noticeable. Bottom line is I wanted 2 opposite goals and that never turns out good.

What to do
If you are a skinny bastard (160-190 depending on height) it is in your best interest to gain some weight first. Put on a good 40-50lbs...yes I said 40-50. Do it in the winter where you will not be walking around shirtless (God made winter for us to bulk). Then come spring time drop the excess body fat. Out of 40lbs if you put on a solid 15-20lbs of muscle you will be noticeably bigger when you cut down. This will trump the 5-10lbs you may put on while trying to stay lean. And if you are a fat bastard work on getting lean first. Keep your protein high to keep muscle that you have. Then hit a bulk after you have leaned down to the point where nothing hangs over your belt.

And if your a guy and don't wanna look "jacked" I cant help you. All I can say is enjoy your skinny jeans and Hipster music and stay out of the gym.