How Do You Trust the Process?

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  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    mustgetmuscles1 wrote: »
    PwrLftr82 wrote: »
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    PwrLftr82 wrote: »
    LolBroScience wrote: »
    That sounds good. I would also encourage you to perhaps discuss this with USMCMP or other females that have run some bulk/cut cycles as they may have different input and feedback.

    I've talked to her.

    I feel like I'm coming from a different place than a lot of women here. I was never big, so I didn't start off with a lot of LBM. I'm really building it up from scratch. I started out at 98 lbs LBM and am now up to 105 lbs after two years of seriously lifting. Some I gained through my bulk last time and the rest through recomp.

    I've found that a lot of the women I really look up to here started off at a higher weight and just had to shed some fat to reveal the awesomeness beneath. I feel slightly at a disadvantage in that way, or maybe that's just a cop-out. IDK

    That is an interesting point. Does that make a difference?

    I have absolutely no idea. I'm of the mindset of @ForecasterJason that if I was heavier to start and had a higher LBM to start, that shedding the fat would reveal the muscle I already have. I'm great at losing and maintaining weight. I've been "out of shape," but I've never been fat.

    Truth is it is difficult for most people. Its just that grass always looks greener on the other side. The term for those of us that were overweight and cut down is Former Fat Boy Syndrome. :smile: Believe me it has its own challenges on top of not making significant gains.

    We also hear and see tons of stuff about how so-and-so added 20lbs in the first year and wonder what are we doing wrong that we are only seeing a fraction of that.

    Was it my calories were too low? My protein too low? Was I on the wrong program? Do my genetics just suck that bad? :smiley: And if you are a guy you start to wonder about your test levels.

    The truth is that putting on any muscle is really hard and very slow for most people. At least that is what I tell myself. :p


    Thank you, that's exactly how I feel! I just keep second-guessing everything I'm doing...
  • burtnyks
    burtnyks Posts: 124 Member
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    I am feeling the same way lately. I've been bulking for almost a year now and have put on 20 lbs. I will say its gotten scary and nerve wracking to see the weight go up. I just have to keep telling myself that it takes a long time to add a lb of muscle, but you can lose 1 lb of fat in a week (or less) which is what is keeping me going. I've had to retire my smallest pants and close to retiring the next size up and have lost any hint of definition in my midsection. :-/ 99 more days to go before I cut! I keep questioning starting my cut early since I hate dieting but am really trying to hold out.
  • alereck
    alereck Posts: 343 Member
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    ^Almost a year? You're my idol lol
    I'm 30 days in and chickening out after a 3 lb gain. Someone just helped me snap out of it and I'm gonna keep going but I'm shooting for 3 months and I'll be happy if I get there.
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    burtnyks wrote: »
    I am feeling the same way lately. I've been bulking for almost a year now and have put on 20 lbs. I will say its gotten scary and nerve wracking to see the weight go up. I just have to keep telling myself that it takes a long time to add a lb of muscle, but you can lose 1 lb of fat in a week (or less) which is what is keeping me going. I've had to retire my smallest pants and close to retiring the next size up and have lost any hint of definition in my midsection. :-/ 99 more days to go before I cut! I keep questioning starting my cut early since I hate dieting but am really trying to hold out.

    A year?! Damn. I will most likely bulk until 8 weeks before I go on vacation (not sure when that is yet as I'm not the one planning it, but sometime in late winter/early spring). Probably will start bulking again immediately upon return.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    So here's the thing.

    You know what you NEED to do. You know you have to eat a surplus. You know the scale has to go up. it's a matter of accepting it and watching it happen.

    My big "secret" which has been my saving grace for any dietary changes- setting a minimum and maximum window. and doing that you said you were going to do during that time frame.

    It's that determination to do the thing you set to do- and it sucks because you're going have those down days where you doubt yourself- you feel the fat creeping in everywhere- you lose site of muscles- of veins- those little hollows/pockets you enjoyed having touched- touching (my hip bone indent- first to go- and I love it so dearly so that one is hard for me)

    it's little things that throw you.

    Investing in good stretching pants- or flexible clothing options so you can reach for them the second you're pants don't start to fit- that's another thing that really kicked my *kitten*- watching me grow out of my pants- so having things I could regularly reach for and not stress about what I felt I looked like made a huge difference.

    You know what you need to do. you know you have to do the thing. there isn't anything anyone can tell you don't already know- it's just a matter of getting over and out of your own way and doing the thing.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Haha I did the opposite - gained too fast first time round. I'm going to try to keep the gains slow and steady this time (like you did on your first).

    I'm actually jealous of the girls starting from low bf% - guess the grass is always greener =D
    Remember you're starting from optimum bf% so your p ratio should be spot on.

    I think all we can really do is trial and error and see what works for us. You know slow and steady works because you've done it before - the only way to really know if an aggressive bulk is going to work for you is to give it a try, especially if you're okay with cutting (I suck at it).
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Yeah I wonder if people that have been lean all their life have a relatively harder time gaining muscle and if people that have been holding more BF all their life have a relatively harder time cutting down to a let's say single digit BF%


    That's a big yes to the second.

    And I wouldn't even consider myself to have ever been 'fat' just never that lean (not planning single digits (female) but sub 20% would be nice).
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Yeah I wonder if people that have been lean all their life have a relatively harder time gaining muscle and if people that have been holding more BF all their life have a relatively harder time cutting down to a let's say single digit BF%

    Depends on the person and their overall adherence.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    In thinking this over some more, I'm skeptical about how much more muscle you could have gained in the first bulk. 4 lbs of LBM in 20 weeks works out to roughly .8 lbs a month. If you kept that up for a year, you would gain 9-10 pounds of LBM, which is close to the 10-12 lb estimate from Lyle McDonald.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    I have been at this 100lb weight loss thing for over two years. The entire thing has been trail and error. Unfortunately, there is no straight answer, with accurate numbers.

    I think it more about trusting that if you need to fix a mistake, that you can. Not trusting that mistakes won't happen or be avoided.

    I could try something completely different and gain 5lbs. I know now that 5lbs is not the end of the world, and I can easily change things up again to fix it.
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    In thinking this over some more, I'm skeptical about how much more muscle you could have gained in the first bulk. 4 lbs of LBM in 20 weeks works out to roughly .8 lbs a month. If you kept that up for a year, you would gain 9-10 pounds of LBM, which is close to the 10-12 lb estimate from Lyle McDonald.

    I know in my head that you're right. I gained really slow, but kept a great ratio.

    I'm going faster this time and I feel like I'm just getting fat.

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