Need some suggestions

jennjenn760

hello all! I'm currently trying to build some more muscle. I was eating 1400-1500 cals a day for a long time with quite a bit of cardio. I upped my cals to 1650 about Christmas time... I was about 118lbs and am now at 121.5 I decided last week to up my cals again to 1750. I'll be weighing in on Friday. I now only do three days of cardio 20-30 minutes long. I realize 1750 is not a lot for most people. I'm 5"3-5"4 31 years old. I gain weight fairly easy and many days I'm bloated just from this amount of calories. Is it possible for smaller petite women to be able to do a bulk on 1800-1900 calories? I hear most women who bulk eat 2300-2500 calories maybe they just have faster metabolisms?

jennjenn760

BTW I'm eating 50% carbs the rest is a 25 and 25 split. Maybe adjusting the macros would make me feel better? Maybe a 40 30 30 split?

dmadrid9

Not knowing all your numbers it's hard to give you a definitive answer. try not to eat less than the 1400-1500 you were at. 1750 is a good start but you should probably still be eating more. I've used iifym.com to guesstimate my calories. you are doing the best thing that anyone can do since we are all so different and unique. there is no one size fits all. So adjust as you go and then you will find your ideal calorie intake

jennjenn760

Thanks. I entered my info on the iifym calculators awhile back... Maybe I should go back to that see what suggestions it gives me. Just thinking that anything over 150 grams of carbs is too much for me. I'm currently at about 115-120 grams of protein 50 grams of fat and 215 grams of carbs.

tillerstouch

You could slowly increase calories likes you're doing now. Also your macro split looks good! Seems like you're on track to me

jennjenn760

Thank you Tillerstouch, I know bloating and some fat gains are inevitable. I'm coming from a lower carb type diet. I'll just stick to what I'm doing and weigh in every week to assess how I'm doing. I find it hard some days to consume my calories with the amount of bloat and fullness I feel, so that's an issue in facing as well.

juggernaut1974

Are you also lifting? Upping calories is good and all, but if you don't also lift, the weight you put on will be almost exclusively fat, not muscle.

jennjenn760

Oh of course I lift! 4-5 days a week.. I've switched from higher reps during my deficit to upping the weight and lower rep ranges.

juggernaut1974

jennjenn760 wrote: »

Oh of course I lift! 4-5 days a week.. I've switched from higher reps during my deficit to upping the weight and lower rep ranges.

Oh ok cool...you didn't mention it in your post so just wanted to make sure :-)

ndj1979

jennjenn760 wrote: »

Oh of course I lift! 4-5 days a week.. I've switched from higher reps during my deficit to upping the weight and lower rep ranges.

are you following a structured lifting program?

Also, sixty minutes of cardio sounds like overkill for someone running a bulk; you really should only be getting about 20 minutes of cardio a week when bulking, 30 minutes max.

Are you shooting for .5 pound gain per week or one pound gain?

jennjenn760

Looking for 0.5 lbs a week want to make sure I gain minimal fat. The thing with the cardio is it helps me to get hungry. So I pushed it up from two 20 minute session to three 30 minute sessions. I'll go down to three 20 minute sessions. It also helps with the bloating too it seems.

ndj1979

jennjenn760 wrote: »

Looking for 0.5 lbs a week want to make sure I gain minimal fat. The thing with the cardio is it helps me to get hungry. So I pushed it up from two 20 minute session to three 30 minute sessions. I'll go down to three 20 minute sessions. It also helps with the bloating too it seems.

Ok - well if you gained three pounds from christmas to now that sounds like just about a .5 pound per week gain, so I am not sure why you would increase calories any more….? Or, am I missing something..?

Are you on a structured program or one that you designed on your own?

auddii

If you know you are bloating, the 3lb gain may be water weight. Honestly, you are relatively small, so it may be possible, but I think you're just going to have to give it longer to see what happens. Log accurately, and give it 4-6 weeks and then adjust if necessary.

jennjenn760

I'm on my own designed program... I do have some input from a trainer I had last year who I had hired to help me with a cut. I'm more confident in doing a self bulking program so I didnt hire him for this. I'll stick with what I'm doing and monitor weight gain each week and adjust. I'm also going to try splitting my carbs up mostly for just pre and post workout and do the majority of fats at night and see if that helps with the bloating too. I appreciate everyone's input which has given me confidence that I'm headed in the right direction

psuLemon

jennjenn760 wrote: »

I'm on my own designed program... I do have some input from a trainer I had last year who I had hired to help me with a cut. I'm more confident in doing a self bulking program so I didnt hire him for this. I'll stick with what I'm doing and monitor weight gain each week and adjust. I'm also going to try splitting my carbs up mostly for just pre and post workout and do the majority of fats at night and see if that helps with the bloating too. I appreciate everyone's input which has given me confidence that I'm headed in the right direction

Unless you are very experienced, i would suggest a proven structured lifting routine like strong curves. The average person will noy maximize compound lifts and not have enough volume to achieve desired results.