Increasing Intake

LiftingLizJ

Hey guys,

I've been starting to bulk for the past few weeks and had a quick question about how I should go about increasing my calorie intake. I'm 5'4/112lbs and based on experience I'm pretty sure my TDEE is in the 1900-1950 range. For the past few months, I've been around maintenance and I plan to bulk until April with a bulking intake of 2150 calories. I was wondering, since I've been at maintenance for a while is there any advantage to slowly walking my calories up to bulking levels or should I just jump up to 2150 immediately?

I've tried to bulk in the past and have hurt my gains by struggling with the psychological aspects of it (total former fat girl syndrome!). I don't want to waste anymore time but I'm wondering if a slow increase might help prevent me from freaking out and dropping calories again?

Coolino1

Hey there!
I would propably increase that intake by 50-100 kcal a week.
Thats the most common way i guess. Woked fine for me

jbgolf52

No, don't increase by 50-100/week, it's a waste of time and inefficient. Just jump straight into a surplus. It's better to do a surplus of 250-350 for women as you do not build muscle as quickly as men. So try 2,200-2,300 and monitor your weight change.

sardelsa

It is usually a personal decision to slowly increase or just jump into it. For me, I did a slow increase and that helped my body get used to the increased amount of food I had to eat. I also didn't know the high end of my maintenance until I increased 100-150 per week and found it eventually. I know there is some research on the benefits on slowly increasing and positive effects on leptin levels, but I don't have articles to back that up so not sure how accurate it is. But I think this applies more to coming from a larger deficit. If you are coming from maintenance, I would probably just go for the surplus and monitor. Good luck!

funfang

It took me about a month or so to figure out the right amount for my gain. I personally think it might be better to increase slowly for psychological aspects and also for your body to get used to. I too have the former fat girl syndrome. A big increase might cause water weight gain and you might freak out on the number (I know I would). I think you need to find a way that you are comfortable with to do this. It took me a while to accept that I was bulking and not being freaked out seeing number going up on the scale.

Good luck

LiftingLizJ

Thanks for the responses!

Well, after a couple huge holiday cheat meals I ended up averaging about 2150 calories for the week anyway so I decided I'll aim for 2050 for this week and then hit 2150. The water fluctuations haven't been too bad so far and I'm trying to push through any mindfucks from the scale. I think the toughest part will be to keep going even when I've had a crappy lifting session and on rest days. I have to get out of the dieting mindset of "earning"my calories!

3laine75

LiftingLizJ wrote: »

Thanks for the responses!

Well, after a couple huge holiday cheat meals I ended up averaging about 2150 calories for the week anyway so I decided I'll aim for 2050 for this week and then hit 2150. The water fluctuations haven't been too bad so far and I'm trying to push through any mindfucks from the scale. I think the toughest part will be to keep going even when I've had a crappy lifting session and on rest days. I have to get out of the dieting mindset of "earning"my calories!

Say goodbye to crappy lifting sessions if you're going to eat at surplus - best bonus