Feeling fat, not fit - and hating numbers!

Kestrelwings

Hi all,

I would value your perspective.

I have been bulking since September, which has been tough for someone who has spent her entire adult life strictly keeping at around 110lbs (5'6").
My weight fluctuates massively with my periods/what I eat, but at the moment I am 122lbs, which is 2lb/month average. I was aiming for slower, as I think a cut may be too risky for me in case I get carried away, but I keep getting too damn hungry :-(

At present I am feeling very bloated and fat (even though I know I am probably not as fat as I think) and getting comments from people who think I am pregnant!!!

More to the point, the whole aim of the bulk is to increase my lifts.

They have hardly increased at all

I have a PT, and lift on average 4-5x per week. Doing a 5x5 at present. I admit to doing a lot of cardio as well, partly because it is my stress relief, and partly because I eat too much and need to balance out the calories (aiming net 2,100 plus eatback for exercise - as I lose weight on any lower plus I am now so hungry I can't seem to eat less than this).

Here is the thing: my lifts are still crap. Do I continue the bulk, or just try and get some form of maintenance going and aim for a recomp? My PT says to continue the bulk, but he is a powerlifter who is a fan of very dirty bulks.

Any advice or wisdom from you guys would be very much appreciated.

xxx

sardelsa

The bloated feelings are normal especially with the increased cals. For me, less fiber and lower sodium foods helped me reduce it.

As much as cardio is your stress relief, you may want to cut it down slightly if you can. This will help with recovery from lifting, and you won't have to make up the calories as much (that may even help your bloating issues). If you are feeling hungry, even while bulking, you may want to make a few switches for higher fat and protein or adjust your macro ratios. Not sure what your macro ratios are atm, but for me, slightly higher fat (compared to what is typically recommended) helped.

How long are you planning to bulk or how much weight did you want to gain total?

Kestrelwings

I didn't have any set length of time in mind when I started. I told myself to aim for 55kg (a gain of 5kg) as my starting point, and then see if I was able to take it further. It is really a case of wanting to increase my lifts more than a set number on the scales that is the aim.

milileitner

As you already realise, excessive cardio is likely messing with your ability to lift. If you're hungry, you should be eating more, but the only way to ensure you gain decent muscle mass is to get good quality lifting days in. If you felt more satisfied and had more energy (ie food and recovery) for your lifts, that would probably give you the same stress relief you're looking for. Either way, using cardio as a crutch for stress relief isn't ideal, and you probably want to look for non-exercise ways to deal with that.

DancingMoosie

Your body needs recovery when lifting heavy and bulking. Try to swap out some of that cardio for rest (read, listen to music, meditate), walking, even yoga--something less strenuous that will still help with stress relief.

JoRocka

dat cardio's got to go my love!!!