im 16% BF but people think im skinny and on heroin

[LiamD]

hey guys,
So 2 years ago i got sick of being a skinny dude and went about building some muscle. I was clean from crack and brown now about 6 months and was already gaining some fat. I am what u would call a ectomorph that can gain fat but not muscle so easy. I became hooked to the iron game, and have never looked back. i am sober now from everything since i took up weights (that includes beer).
so i went from 130 lbs at 5"10 to 205 lbs in about 15 months. Im 26 years old. i was gaining 4 lbs a week and was happy to see the scale go up. Problem is and i now know u cant gain muscle that quick and i was quite ignorant at the time. and i now know my stuff. So i ended up at 205 well over 25% bf. and i have a thin bone structure so i looked like i was pregnent. it hit my mid section the most. when i founf out my BF was so high i went and leaned down to about 16% as i am now.
Problem is my face looks so skinny and everyone in my family and friends think im back on drugs which hurts. im actually in the gym 6 days a week with lifting and cardio. Even guys in the gym are saying iv lost so much weight and maybe it time to gain again. cause i cant do both at once. my body wont let me. My goal was to get to 11%. what should i do??? look like im on drugs with such a thin face and bone structure ( i now weigh 155lbs). in the gym i get different views. some say lose another 10lbs and get to ur goal and most say BULK. im so confussed

 

[shirlene29]

what do YOU want to do? if someone didn't comment your face was very lean what would you think of your appearance?
what about a clean bulk?

 

[LiamD]

tbh i dont like my face now. reminds me of when i was on drugs. but i like how my body is looking. in a well lit mirror i am starting to see my six pack and i can see vains popping up on my body and see all my other muscles more. if i lose another 15lbs i will be at 10- 11% bf. which i would be so happy about as i have some muscle now. and i could do that in next 10 weeks or more. but i just hate my face, looks so gaunt. the obv goal is to bulk slowly next time when i do, more like a half pound of week ill try gain. but i just wonder should i reach my goal in bodyfat first. what to do !!

 

[shirlene29]

I would go a tad lower with BF...then begin a cleaner bulk because you said you know more now about the correct way to go about this

if you want my honest opinion I think youre letting a former problem cloud how you think about your face...its possible you just have very prominent facial bones...I would try to admire your cheekbones rather than think about them being hollow...a nice ten percent-ish bf is easy to maintain and you should get at least an outline of abs..
Im betting your face doesn't get any thinner either at this point
I think ..and this is only my opinion..you simple have to change your perception of how your face looks and do the best you can to either allay everyones fears that youve returned to an old habit or ignore them.
I would concentrate on positive aspects of your face and physique..and when you put on decent muscle no one will question if youre doing drugs ..
you simply can not put on muscle while doing drugs ya know?

 

[LiamD]

thanx so much shirlene, yea i think ur right. its just with cloths on i dont look much diff with my face bein like this even though iv gained 10-14 lbs of muscle.everyone is trying to fatten me up in my family. they thought i looked better with a bf of 25%. pisses me off when they say u didnt have a belly etc. i looked like a was having twins. was doing some searching online there and it seems lots of people love being lean but dont like that gaunt look. but they think its better than being fat. thanx so much.
some pics might help better. sorry they are bad. cant find better ones.
the first is me now in a well lit mirror. can actually see my six pack a little in it. taken last week.
second pic is me on my way. was about 20% bf i think. and starting to get lean.
3rd pic is me at over 26% bf. i had a massive gut which the pic dosnt do justice.

 

[shirlene29]

I can see the gut a little in the last pic if it makes you feel better..lol

I see what youre focusing on in the first pic...you have high wide cheekbones and a strong high forehead...theyre attractive features, don't stress about them.
I wouldn't say you have a whole ton of bf to lose either...you could probably stay where you were at and focus on building muscle.You don't need to eat Dirty calories to do that.
What does your diet look like now? Maybe everyone here can get you on a good path to putting on some quality muscle and get you to a point where youre in a good spot mentally.
I would work on building delts and traps and no one is going to confuse you for a heroin addict. You have to meet YOUR goals..not other peoples opinions of your goals. Tell them you're trying to eat the best you can for your HEALTH and if youre inclined let them know youre trying to undo damage from earlier bad habits and focus on your health..and eating crap/bad cals won't help you get there and you wished they'd be supportive.

 

[LiamD]

my diet rite now is basically on non lifting day. meal 1- oats and protein shake, meal 2- turkey breast, 1 sweet potato, 3 servings of veg, Meal 3 -either steak & onion and cabbage, brussel sprouts, green beans, or egg omelette with tonnes of veg, little scoop of beans, MEAL 4- sardine salad lots of veg. meal 5- cottage cheese. i drink lots of water and about 3 cups of green tea a day. first 2 meals have carbs and i taper them out as the day goes on. lifting day i eat about 2 servings of veg and alot more carbs. thats just genetics with my traps, and the pic im not really flexing them. i can shrug 117.5 kg 12 times. i see guys way bigger than me lifting lighter shrugs than me. yea i shouldnt care what other people think i suppose, maybe ill just grow a giant beard or somethin to puff up my face lol, i think ill lose few more pounds and go on a clean slower bulk in about 2 months or so.

 

[shirlene29]

read the diet stickies thoroughly at the top

Im giving this a bump so that maybe someone will interject and help you out with your diet/training more

genetics are a bitch arent they? I wasnt implying you had crappy delts/trap but if they were big you'd give that larger v-shape impression that no one associates with unhealthy kwim?