Where do I go from here (continue burning fat or try to build muscle?)?

Question

Hey guys,
Um.... well, for the past 3-4 months I've lost 30 lbs and kept it off. I now have a small layer of fat over some hard tissue over my abdomen (I've felt it... its pretty hard, but I think it would be arrogant to call it muscle, it's hard to see until I turn at an angle and flex). When I was burning fat, I severly cut back on my calories and I think I lived off 500-700 calories a day. Now my reasoning is that I can eat more food (I've partially lifted a ban on junk food like Subway, McDonalds and Coldstone Creamery, stuff I would never touch when I was trying to really lose weight) because I do more muscle development exercise like crunches and weight lifting and all that.
My Question is: Should I revert to burning fat to get rid of that small fat layer while cutting back on calories again, or should I continue eating more calorie/energy laden food in order to promote muscle growth.
If you think I am doing this all wrong, feel free to recommend something else

Oh by the way, I'm a 17 year old male who now weights 150 lbs. In case anyone wanted to know my "specs."

Answer 1

Ok...the point here is if you want to build on muscle, you gotta eat more protein-rich food. Protein-rich food doesn't necessary equal calorie-rich food. For example, steam chicken breast meat without the skin can be a good source of protein minus the calories gotten if eaten in a deep fried way.

Hence, my suggestion would be to eat in a healthy way cutting back on unnecessary calories and exercise regularly. That way, you would be building muscle and cut down on the fatty food.

Answer 2

Hey...what you want to do to see the 6pck is do cardio. you cant see the 6pck if its hiding in the fridge, you know what i mean? 150 sounds about right for your age...how tall are you? You can continue to work out your abs too, but no1 is going to see them until you burn your fat. That is the hardest part to get rid of fat on too because it is always getting refilled. And you NEED to eat at least 2000 calories a day being a guy. Your body will go into starvation mode and you wont lose any weight after a while and when you eat a lot, you will gain it back and then some. Eat right, dirnk water and cardio.

Answer 3

Build Ripped Muscle Fast

Answer 4

I think the flaw in your system is expecting results too quickly. I would eat a healthy number of calories, like maybe 2000, each day, and eat as many grams of protein as your body weight in pounds as part of the 2000 calories. Then I'd do some aerobic exercise 3 days a week for half hour each time (running, power walking, swimming, elliptical, etc.) and keep up your stomach exercises. Crunches are nice, but you need some variety too. Hanging leg and knee lifts are a great complement.

Answer 5

Pretty much all wrong. You didn't eat enough so your body was actually burning your muscle and not your fat. That's really bad. You need to eat about 1,200-1,500 calories a day. And you should always be trying gain muscle. It's the muscle that burns the fat. So get more protein in your diet, veggies, whole grains and not only do cardio, but get out there and put back the muscle you've lost AND more. I don't mean get bulky, I mean add lean muscle.