Ramp up to 2500 calories a day? I had 1500 calories for breakfast. You need food to train. You need energy to move weight. When did you bench press 315X8 were you 250lbs a decade ago? The current guy in the back double bicep pose at 185lbs I can confidently say can't press 315 for 1 today
Valid questions.
I want to stay within reach of the optimal BMI for my height, which is around 167- to 169-lb at 174cm / 5.8.5" nighttime height. I'm 5'9 and change in the morning and I try to wear a shoe with a quality heal [not height-enhancing...just of some length compared to other shoes], and comb my hair up to look closer to 5'10" when I'm out an about [back when that was legal].
I always considered 5'10" to be a good height.
I know BMI isn't the best scale, but I fear for everyone's health, especially my own, so I don't want to get too heavy.
Also, I just get a fat stomach starting around what I weigh now, and anything heavier. That could be prevented by running some gear, but I seldom run gear, and so wimpy doses when I do [for perspective, for my last cycle in 2016, I ran half of an Anadrol 50 tablet every SECOND day for 20 days, and looked much better than I ever look drug-free.
I look decent on some good supplements too, like formally SizeOn by Gaspari Nutrition, which I found comparable to a low-dose oral only cycle [maybe 15mg of Dianabol daily for 2-4 weeks].
I benched 315 for eight weighing about what I do now. Give or take. None of my lifts were much outside the manlet weight range.
Personally, I'm a big time health pussy [a complete hypochondriac - but a rational one who knows I'm one], so I don't push my body with heavy calories or big rises in body weight. The heaviest I have ever been has been 212.6-lb, and I was thicker then, found it easier to be strong, even if the excess weight was mostly fat, which it was.
In general, I fear for my health, so don't push my body weight up. I'd just like to have a lean and crisp 175-lb fitness look.
As for my low calories, I used to think I have a fast metabolism, but I don't. What I have is a small appetite. I stay thin because of it.
Truth be told, without running gear, I'm just fat at my current weight or fatter. I used to be thrilled to have a waist just under 30"...yeah...at 170-lb...
As soon as I reach around my current weight, if not a bit lighter, my midsection starts expanding. Unless I add some light gear, as I said, which I rarely do.
I've come to accept that my best look is probably 175-lb at what people call "10%" body fat, but is actually probably closer to 15%.
Just a light, functional, easy to maintain weight without any gear, and without needing to eat and shit all day.
Discuss this please.