Feeling discouraged! Help me :(

sarahsmith0325

I am really sad and confused what is happening here, because this everything was going good at first and now it isn’t. Here are my numbers..

October 1st: 103.7 lbs
October 8th: 107.7 lbs
October 15th: 111.0 lbs
October 22nd: 112.0 lbs

livingleanlivingclean

You're in the gaining weight /bodybuilding forum... And your weight is increasing. What is the problem? Why are you discouraged?

sardelsa

Looks good to me. The first few weeks can see a high increase due to water, more food, etc . When you cut, that same water weight usually is the first to go. Were you expecting to keep gaining at that rate?

sarahsmith0325

sardelsa wrote: »

Looks good to me. The first few weeks can see a high increase due to water, more food, etc . When you cut, that same water weight usually is the first to go. Were you expecting to keep gaining at that rate?

Yes I was, I don’t really know much about how the weight gaining works but I guess I thought since I was going the same rate for a couple weeks it would continue.

sardelsa

sarahsmith0325 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Looks good to me. The first few weeks can see a high increase due to water, more food, etc . When you cut, that same water weight usually is the first to go. Were you expecting to keep gaining at that rate?

Yes I was, I don’t really know much about how the weight gaining works but I guess I thought since I was going the same rate for a couple weeks it would continue.

If you continue to (actually) gain 3-4lbs per week, it will be mostly fat and very little muscle. Again, that huge jump was likely mostly water weight.. but are you tracking your intake? Are you using MFP or another calorie calculator? I would set to gain no more than 0.5lbs per week (if you want to keep fat gains at bay)

mmapags

I agree with what has been said already. Matter of fact, it sounds to me like both your attitude and approach may be too aggressive and may be born of impatience. Women, under ideal conditions, gain .5 to 1 lb per month of muscle. If you are gaining 1 lb per week that means you are gaining about 3/4 of a pound per week of fat. Bulking without gaining too much fat requires a smaller surplus and patience as sardelsa refers to in her post.

sardelsa

mmapags wrote: »

I agree with what has been said already. Matter of fact, it sounds to me like both your attitude and approach may be too aggressive and may be born of impatience. Women, under ideal conditions, gain .5 to 1 lb per month of muscle. If you are gaining 1 lb per week that means you are gaining about 3/4 of a pound per week of fat. Bulking without gaining too much fat requires a smaller surplus and patience as sardelsa refers to in her post.

Oh yea it takes a lot of patience and trusting the process. It's like watching grass grow sometimes! Arg...

RoxieDawn

I would think your monthly cycle is some where in this 4 weeks as well (ovulation and menses?) Some of that gain can be from that and things are evening back out to what should be equating to your actual surplus.

That said without knowing your exact calorie intake to maintain and the surplus you added to that, its possible that you will gain a lot more fat to proportion of muscle than what you should be doing making calorie partitioning down the road being an issue.

I would double check everything, assure that you not gaining any more than .5 pounds a week.

@sardelsa has it correct, it is like watching grass grow, I'm in the same boat and trusting the process is so important.

mtabor80

Do you go to a local gym who does a body fat test or know how to do it yourself? Every so often(not every week, maybe not even every month) have your body fat percentage calculated and lean body mass. Keep track of body weight, then you will see how much weight is muscle and is fat. Also a quick pic on new high weight day is helpful. As you chart up, you can see if your body is reacting the way you want. Adjust accordingly. Building muscle is a slow process