Gained too fast. Now what?

jamaicanlady

Hey, I need some expert advice.

I'm currently on the 3rd week of my bulk. My goal is to gain 1/4 lb per week (about a lb a month) by eating roughly 150 calories above TDEE daily. Last week I ended up eating 500+ above TDEE daily because of bad planning, work events and no self control. So at my weekly weigh-in I showed a 1 lb gain.

My question is, what do I do now since I've gained in 1 week what I was hoping to gain in 1 month? Do I eat at maintenance for the rest of the month, eat at a deficit, or pretend like nothing happened and eat to gain the 1/4 lb I'm aiming for?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

jimmmer

Lots of things could have contributed: snack type food at events is often salty and can lead to extra fluid retention. People often change their routine when they start a bulk and water weight can play into this too.

One week out of a whole bulk won't ruin things either way even if all the weight gain is muscle+fat in whatever proportion. Just like on a cut - best practices sustained over a meaningful period are what counts rather than an individual day (or week).

Just get back on your plan, keep disciplined and use ongoing data to make adjustments as necessary.

Wheelhouse15

Don't worry about it and just keep on your plan. You have gained a bit extra but you are bulking and that's just going to happen from time to time unless you have super human discipline.

3laine75

Disclaimer: not an expert.

I would forget it and move on. The 1lb gain is not a real,gain, I'm on my second bulk and fluctuating all over the place.

I DID gain to fast on my first bulk (12lb in 8 weeks with a 8 month cut ) by ignoring fluctuations - seeing drops in the scale as a reason to up calories and being greedy.

This time round I am monitoring the average over a month before making any changes to calorie intake and being strict with myself so I average a 0.5 lb a week gain.

I'd stick with your original goal and see how the fluctuations average out. As a side note, I don't think you'll be making optimum muscle gains on a 0.25 a week surplus but that's up to you. I am quite unusual in gaining too fast (from what I've seen from friends on here). I've heard a lot of people say they were too cautious first time round - I know it's a personal thing, just something else to bear in mind.

Best of luck with it

JoRocka

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

Don't worry about it and just keep on your plan. You have gained a bit extra but you are bulking and that's just going to happen from time to time unless you have super human discipline.

this.

it happens- again averages trump anything else.

ndj1979

I am curious, why are you trying to only gain .25 pounds per week? As a woman it is going to be more difficult for you to add muscle, so .25 pound per week gain is spinning your wheels...IMO

jamaicanlady

Hey thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. Per your advice, I'm going to continue eating a little above maintenance and see how it averages out at the end of the month.

3laine and ndj, I know 1/4 lb is low, but that's the recommendation I read on Lyle McDonald's website. He suggests 1/2 lb a week for men, and half that for women. The reason I'm super cautious with this bulk is because it's my 2nd attempt. The first one I totally botched. Ate any and everything in sight and even though I did increase my muscle mass, my fat increased even more. (Albeit, after evaluating I realize that I was not on a specific hypertrophy lifting program. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I was doing NROL at the time and was in a Fat Loss phase ).

I am open to suggestions on how much you think I should aim for.

JoRocka

You aren't in "fat loss" phase if you're over eating.

If you were lifting- and eating in surplus- and you gained- you were doing it right.

So what you gained a little extra fat- most women botch it by completely under estimating and making hardly any gains. You probably did EXACTLY what you needed to do and now you're backing away from it.

In bulking- slightly more aggressive tends to be a better choice than slightly cautious.

AKDonF

jamaicanlady wrote: »

Hey thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. Per your advice, I'm going to continue eating a little above maintenance and see how it averages out at the end of the month.

3laine and ndj, I know 1/4 lb is low, but that's the recommendation I read on Lyle McDonald's website. He suggests 1/2 lb a week for men, and half that for women. The reason I'm super cautious with this bulk is because it's my 2nd attempt. The first one I totally botched. Ate any and everything in sight and even though I did increase my muscle mass, my fat increased even more. (Albeit, after evaluating I realize that I was not on a specific hypertrophy lifting program. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I was doing NROL at the time and was in a Fat Loss phase ).

I am open to suggestions on how much you think I should aim for.

Lyles recommendation is based upon muscle gain rather than total weight gain. That said, most people have a partioning ratio (fat: muscle) of 1:1. I would suggest you aim for 1/2 lb. gain if you wish to gain 1/4 lb. of muscle. That should be about 200-300 calories over maintenance.

ndj1979

JoRocka wrote: »

You aren't in "fat loss" phase if you're over eating.

If you were lifting- and eating in surplus- and you gained- you were doing it right.

So what you gained a little extra fat- most women botch it by completely under estimating and making hardly any gains. You probably did EXACTLY what you needed to do and now you're backing away from it.

In bulking- slightly more aggressive tends to be a better choice than slightly cautious.

^ listen to this OP ...

ndj1979

AKDonF wrote: »

jamaicanlady wrote: »

Hey thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. Per your advice, I'm going to continue eating a little above maintenance and see how it averages out at the end of the month.

3laine and ndj, I know 1/4 lb is low, but that's the recommendation I read on Lyle McDonald's website. He suggests 1/2 lb a week for men, and half that for women. The reason I'm super cautious with this bulk is because it's my 2nd attempt. The first one I totally botched. Ate any and everything in sight and even though I did increase my muscle mass, my fat increased even more. (Albeit, after evaluating I realize that I was not on a specific hypertrophy lifting program. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I was doing NROL at the time and was in a Fat Loss phase ).

I am open to suggestions on how much you think I should aim for.

Lyles recommendation is based upon muscle gain rather than total weight gain. That said, most people have a partioning ratio (fat: muscle) of 1:1. I would suggest you aim for 1/2 lb. gain if you wish to gain 1/4 lb. of muscle. That should be about 200-300 calories over maintenance.

and this...

Wheelhouse15

Since you are mentioning Lyle's site, have you checked into the P-ratio yet? Essentially, the lower your body fat the more agressive you can bulk and the higher the more agressively you can cut. If you are at low BF% you can up your bulking aggressiveness since you will put on more muscle and less fat and as you add BF then you can lower your surplus.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html/

jamaicanlady

JoRocka wrote: »

You aren't in "fat loss" phase if you're over eating.

If you were lifting- and eating in surplus- and you gained- you were doing it right.

So what you gained a little extra fat- most women botch it by completely under estimating and making hardly any gains. You probably did EXACTLY what you needed to do and now you're backing away from it.

In bulking- slightly more aggressive tends to be a better choice than slightly cautious.

Oh yes I know that it's the diet that determines fat loss or muscle gain. But I would venture to say that certain rep ranges are more efficient for gaining muscle. For example, doing 15-20 reps (the # of reps in NROL "fat loss" phase) is usually more optimal for endurance than building muscle mass.

But I agree with you. I think though that I'd like to be a bit more efficient with it this time. Meaning, more protein (never paid attention to it), and a plan that's tailored specifically for bulking. So I'm doing a version of Lyle's Generic Bulking routine.

jamaicanlady

AKDonF wrote: »

Lyles recommendation is based upon muscle gain rather than total weight gain. That said, most people have a partioning ratio (fat: muscle) of 1:1. I would suggest you aim for 1/2 lb. gain if you wish to gain 1/4 lb. of muscle. That should be about 200-300 calories over maintenance.

Ah ha, got it, thanks. I will aim for 1/2 lb gain instead.

jamaicanlady

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

Since you are mentioning Lyle's site, have you checked into the P-ratio yet? Essentially, the lower your body fat the more agressive you can bulk and the higher the more agressively you can cut. If you are at low BF% you can up your bulking aggressiveness since you will put on more muscle and less fat and as you add BF then you can lower your surplus.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html/

Yes I had read this some time ago. But thanks.