bulking without tracking food

klrenn

Hi!

I'm about to start my first bulk...the first time in my life I've intentionally wanted to gain weight outside of pregnancy.

I had been tracking my food/calories for the past 4-5 months and it was instrumental in getting my body fat percentage down. Now I am really burned out with that and don't want to track.
Going into a bulk without tracking (and a pretty low maintenance intake of about 1800 unless I ramp up my running) am I going to run into trouble?

I'm looking to gain about 8lbs by the end of Feb, maintain through April, then cut through the summer.

I'm 5'4", 122lbs, and about 17%BF (I think, by caliper measurements)

I've been doing Stronglifts since June. I have been trying to hit 100g of protein and it's been hard to do without blowing my calories....so not tracking makes me nervous...

any thoughts, advice? am I on a reasonable path? Should I tweak anything?

JoRocka

I have found tracking while bulking more important than tracking while cutting- i know when I'm doing a bad job eating to much in a deficit- if I'm not always hungry and cranky- then I'm not in a deficit- it's very clear to me when I am- or not.

But bulking- it's very easy for me (and others I have noticed as well) to sell yourself short in terms of how much you are actually eating. It's just way to easy- so I find tracking WAY more important for bulking.

But 8 pounds through Feb is an easy goal- you'll put on 5-7 in the first week in water weight alone- I'd honestly go bigger- I'd aim for 12-15 pounds. You have time to go for a slow bulk.

klrenn

JoRocka wrote: »

But 8 pounds through Feb is an easy goal- you'll put on 5-7 in the first week in water weight alone- I'd honestly go bigger- I'd aim for 12-15 pounds. You have time to go for a slow bulk.

Thanks! this is the kind of advice I need - but that number is so scary....I trust you, though! should I continue with SL5x5 or go into more of a hypertrophy program at this point (I'm only stalling on squats at the moment)

pinggolfer96

I'd start by tracking just to get an idea of how much it takes for you to gain those 1-2lbs a month, and if you want, once you have an idea of the macros and amount of food you need to eat, then maybe you can stop tracking and when you find your weekly weigh in average, then adjust the amount of food based on that. This is only if you don't wanna track though, then I would do it like this(:

auddii

No experience here, but have you been eating at 1800 for a while and have a good idea what that intake looks like? Adding 250 calories could be pretty easy; just add an extra spoonful of peanut butter or a bowl of ice cream. Then maybe every few weeks if you're really concerned (or if you're eating a whole bunch of stuff you don't normally eat), log one day and see if you need to make any mental adjustments.

The bigger problem I foresee is not overreacting to what's going to happen on the scale. As Jo mentioned, you'll see a big gain at first, and making adjustments based just on the scale can be difficult. So when you do make changes, take a few weeks each time to see what is *actually* happening before freaking out and making another change.

And also, give the articles in this post a read: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069962/the-former-fat-boy-girl-syndrome

giantrobot_powerlifting

I #permabulked all through the 90s. No internet or smart phones so I had to structure my feeds to get what I thought was enough calories throughout the day and I wasn't a "clean" eater either without tracking (that is, adding them up on paper) calories.

The structure always had a few basic meals (or foods) for each feed that could deliver about at least 500 calories per meal, five meals day. I fed for high protein so I would eat lots of salmon, almonds, peanut butters, and french fries. Luckily I was in college, because I got plenty of beer. This was also the time I was introduced to protein shakes that were not mass gainers. In high school, I had no desire to buy that crap.

Sans beer, I still feed this way. Once I adjust to eating at/around surplus or deficit, I spot track for a few days in row to make sure I'm doing okay and then, of course, scales and calipers to confirm it.

klrenn

Ok. New plan. So I'm going to keep going through October without tracking. (I truly need a break) Then I'm going to track my calories and macros and shoot for a goal of 15lb by March 30th. Tweaking my workout as needed as I stall. You guys are awesome!

My worry is that I'll overshoot my calorie goal I have quite an appetite for calorie dense foods. Don't want a dirty bulk. Tracking does make sense as much as I would prefer not to.

psuLemon

Tracking tends to be a bit more important during a bulk so you can sustain a standard surplus. This way you can maximize muscle growth. The one issue with bulking is, unlike cutting, you cant make up for a few bad days.


Regarding exercise, if you are plateauing then you should looke for a more volume type program.

ndj1979

curious how you will know that you are in a surplus if you are not tracking????

ndj1979

JoRocka wrote: »

I have found tracking while bulking more important than tracking while cutting- i know when I'm doing a bad job eating to much in a deficit- if I'm not always hungry and cranky- then I'm not in a deficit- it's very clear to me when I am- or not.

But bulking- it's very easy for me (and others I have noticed as well) to sell yourself short in terms of how much you are actually eating. It's just way to easy- so I find tracking WAY more important for bulking.

But 8 pounds through Feb is an easy goal- you'll put on 5-7 in the first week in water weight alone- I'd honestly go bigger- I'd aim for 12-15 pounds. You have time to go for a slow bulk.

cosign

klrenn

ndj1979 wrote: »

curious how you will know that you are in a surplus if you are not tracking????

I think this shows I'm in a surplus...

Gaining is a sure sign of that...I'm more concerned about eating too much, so I'm going to start tracking next week.

William4MVP

How I know I'm on a surplus- I experience better pumps (due to all the carbs) My energy in the gym is amazing (I push myself so much because of it) I recover much better. My mood is surprisingly better but I also know when I'm over doing it and that's through the mirror The scale is another, weigh yourself every day.

Assuming you've tracked at maintenance for a while you grasp the idea of how much your eating this is assuming you aren't eating too different. Mentally count in your head and are aware of your own body under different kinds of intakes, you'll know. When you see fat gains and less muscle/strength gains, that's when you should cut back. It's trial and error.

psuLemon

klrenn wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

curious how you will know that you are in a surplus if you are not tracking????

I think this shows I'm in a surplus...

Gaining is a sure sign of that...I'm more concerned about eating too much, so I'm going to start tracking next week.

Nice job.

ndj1979

LiftingTillDeath wrote: »

How I know I'm on a surplus- I experience better pumps (due to all the carbs) My energy in the gym is amazing (I push myself so much because of it) I recover much better. My mood is surprisingly better but I also know when I'm over doing it and that's through the mirror The scale is another, weigh yourself every day.

Assuming you've tracked at maintenance for a while you grasp the idea of how much your eating this is assuming you aren't eating too different. Mentally count in your head and are aware of your own body under different kinds of intakes, you'll know. When you see fat gains and less muscle/strength gains, that's when you should cut back. It's trial and error.

or just use a food scale and accurate log everything and then you will really know how much you are consuming instead of guessing.

JoRocka

LiftingTillDeath wrote: »

How I know I'm on a surplus- I experience better pumps (due to all the carbs) My energy in the gym is amazing (I push myself so much because of it) I recover much better. My mood is surprisingly better but I also know when I'm over doing it and that's through the mirror The scale is another, weigh yourself every day.

Assuming you've tracked at maintenance for a while you grasp the idea of how much your eating this is assuming you aren't eating too different. Mentally count in your head and are aware of your own body under different kinds of intakes, you'll know. When you see fat gains and less muscle/strength gains, that's when you should cut back. It's trial and error.

I have found the difference for surplus or not surplus for me is much more subtle- perhaps it's because I'm a woman and my hormones *can* play such a huge part of this game- OR- perhaps b/c I'm a chronic type A personality who over works- and under sleeps- but I have never gotten that "I feel amazing while I'm lifting" experience when in surplus.
Cutting- yes- I definitely can tell- the weakness is extrapolated and I'm even MORE tired and my hair trigger temper is pretty much explosive.

When I'm bulking- I just feel less sh**Ty. But I never get that amazing "I'm in surplus lets go lift all the things feeling" which is why I just bulk- it's safer to know for sure.