Bulking without being at "goal" weight??

josiereside1
josiereside1 Posts: 199 Member
edited November 29 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I put "goal" in quotes because I really don't know what my goal weight should be. I have a number in my head but I don't know if my body is meant to be that number. I do not consider myself overweight but in my mind's eye I think I could lose at least another 5 or so. I want to build a booty and gain overall muscle strength. Also, limited time to bulk here in Florida as it is bikini season nearly year round but with the holidays I know the calories are going to go up anyway at times... Thoughts please! :)

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited October 2018
    My goal weight has changed so many times! Just start. You'll know when you get there. It won't be about the number, it'll be about the mirror.

    ETA: Wow. I scanned that question way too quickly. I'll go with what @sardelsa said below.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    Not really anything to add with three MFP first-ballot HOFers commenting first, all three are highly knowledgeable and pointed you in the right direction. Given where you are geographically and level of leanness from your post, I think recomp or a very lean bulk would be the way to go to best balance your goals and your lifestyle requirements.
  • josiereside1
    josiereside1 Posts: 199 Member
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited October 2018
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??

    I don't really view re-comp so much as a deliberate act as I do a bi-product of eating well (proper nutrition and calories) and regular training. I'm kind of old fashioned and have always referred to this as "getting in shape."

    I haven't calorie counted in years, but my overall body composition has changed considerable over the last 5 years just focusing on eating well and training. I'm sure there are days that I'm over and days that I'm under calories, but I was maintaining and my body composition was changing.

    I'm a bit fluffy at the moment and trying to get to where I was last year...this year has been rough on me with injuries and other life craziness, so I'm not really where I want to be at the moment.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??

    If you do that I would imagine you would still be in a slight deficit and you would be losing weight slowly over time.

    You don't have to overcomplicate it. Many people calorie cycle when maintaining (eat different amounts depending on the day or exercise), but overall they are in maintenance. If you get hungrier on lifting days, you can add a bit more on those days if you want if it helps your workout performance, how you feel and your adherence. But you don't have to do that to make progress.
  • latestarter75
    latestarter75 Posts: 50 Member
    As others have said I would recomp then see where your at as you could look very different after a few months recomp but if you do go the bulk route I would start very slowly and give it time before you assume your not gaining and up calories further,each time your weight gain stalls for a couple of weeks re adjust calories again
  • josiereside1
    josiereside1 Posts: 199 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??

    I don't really view re-comp so much as a deliberate act as I do a bi-product of eating well (proper nutrition and calories) and regular training. I'm kind of old fashioned and have always referred to this as "getting in shape."

    I haven't calorie counted in years, but my overall body composition has changed considerable over the last 5 years just focusing on eating well and training. I'm sure there are days that I'm over and days that I'm under calories, but I was maintaining and my body composition was changing.

    I'm a bit fluffy at the moment and trying to get to where I was last year...this year has been rough on me with injuries and other life craziness, so I'm not really where I want to be at the moment.

    I need to track because I could range from being drastically under calories to drastically over especially under in regards to protein which I know is important. I follow flexible dieting but make sure I meet my protein goals most of the time.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??

    I don't really view re-comp so much as a deliberate act as I do a bi-product of eating well (proper nutrition and calories) and regular training. I'm kind of old fashioned and have always referred to this as "getting in shape."

    I haven't calorie counted in years, but my overall body composition has changed considerable over the last 5 years just focusing on eating well and training. I'm sure there are days that I'm over and days that I'm under calories, but I was maintaining and my body composition was changing.

    I'm a bit fluffy at the moment and trying to get to where I was last year...this year has been rough on me with injuries and other life craziness, so I'm not really where I want to be at the moment.

    I need to track because I could range from being drastically under calories to drastically over especially under in regards to protein which I know is important. I follow flexible dieting but make sure I meet my protein goals most of the time.

    But that's OK. Same as with calories. Just track your average. I don't log, but I keep a running tally of my protein in my head. Some days I eat very little protein. Other days I snack on beef jerky all day in between meals and have way high protein amounts. It averages out.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    josiereside1 wrote: »
    Thank you all for the very helpful answers... I don't know if I would call myself lean (as I have a menopausal belly going on) but I feel the rest of me is verging on lean. Perhaps I will post a pic in a day or so when it is time for my progress pics, but I think I will do recomp and go from there. Now can someone answer the question about recomp... I was told on a FB group that for recomp on your lifting days you eat at maintenance but cardio or other days eat at a slight deficit. Thoughts??

    I don't really view re-comp so much as a deliberate act as I do a bi-product of eating well (proper nutrition and calories) and regular training. I'm kind of old fashioned and have always referred to this as "getting in shape."

    I haven't calorie counted in years, but my overall body composition has changed considerable over the last 5 years just focusing on eating well and training. I'm sure there are days that I'm over and days that I'm under calories, but I was maintaining and my body composition was changing.

    I'm a bit fluffy at the moment and trying to get to where I was last year...this year has been rough on me with injuries and other life craziness, so I'm not really where I want to be at the moment.

    I need to track because I could range from being drastically under calories to drastically over especially under in regards to protein which I know is important. I follow flexible dieting but make sure I meet my protein goals most of the time.

    But that's OK. Same as with calories. Just track your average. I don't log, but I keep a running tally of my protein in my head. Some days I eat very little protein. Other days I snack on beef jerky all day in between meals and have way high protein amounts. It averages out.

    I would agree calorie intake averages out.

    Protien intake and MPS doesn't work that way. If you are eating "very little protien" one day, I would certainly chalk it up as a off day but pay more attention especially if I was eating in a deficit.

    Eating more protien one day doesn't undo what eating "too little protien" on another day could do.

    Stress out about it? No. Try to be more mindful? Yes.

    You are right @Chieflrg, I should have worded that better. What I was trying to articulate is that consistency over time is what matters and hitting the same protein goal each day isn’t crucial. For ex. I’m 110lbs. Some days I may eat 80g and others 120g. Once in a blue moon I’ll have a day I lay in bed and eat nothing but carbs. Every once in a while I’ll have a 150g day. But because I usually hit between 80-120g those “off days” as you call them it’s fine (at least for me).

    Hitting protein goals isn’t hard to achieve without logging as the OP was concerned about. As long as you are mindful to your point.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Whether or not you should bulk has nothing to do with your weight on the scale and everything to do with your level of leanness. You want to be pretty lean before you bulk because, yes...you will put on muscle, but you're also going to get fat on a bulk so you want to start from being very lean.

    I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF.

    Alternatively, you could just re-comp...which is to say just eat maintenance and train and your body composition will change over time. I'm personally not a big fan of bulking and cutting unless one really has some advanced body composition goals and/or they're looking to get on stage...otherwise, the vast majority of people would do well just to eat well and train regularly. I think bulking and cutting is a bit of a fad at the moment and a lot of people don't actually know what they're doing.

    While I am a huge bulk/cut fan, I am actually going to agree with you here. Most people do not need to go that route with the goals they have. It can be unnecessarily uncomfortable especially if you go about it too aggressively (as many people do because they don't really know what to do), and I know many people who have run bulks and years later still cannot lean back down.

    Also, there are not all that many people out in the gyms of the world that are at or near this criteria:

    "I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF."

    Pretty much self limiting for most.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Whether or not you should bulk has nothing to do with your weight on the scale and everything to do with your level of leanness. You want to be pretty lean before you bulk because, yes...you will put on muscle, but you're also going to get fat on a bulk so you want to start from being very lean.

    I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF.

    Alternatively, you could just re-comp...which is to say just eat maintenance and train and your body composition will change over time. I'm personally not a big fan of bulking and cutting unless one really has some advanced body composition goals and/or they're looking to get on stage...otherwise, the vast majority of people would do well just to eat well and train regularly. I think bulking and cutting is a bit of a fad at the moment and a lot of people don't actually know what they're doing.

    While I am a huge bulk/cut fan, I am actually going to agree with you here. Most people do not need to go that route with the goals they have. It can be unnecessarily uncomfortable especially if you go about it too aggressively (as many people do because they don't really know what to do), and I know many people who have run bulks and years later still cannot lean back down.

    Also, there are not all that many people out in the gyms of the world that are at or near this criteria:

    "I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF."

    Pretty much self limiting for most.

    There are also many people that come in close to or underweight, so regardless of their bodyfat levels, they need to gain. That was me when I started out so I kind of got pushed into the bulk because I had nowhere else to go. Now before I bulk, while I don't measure my bodyfat%, I just know when I am lean enough. A lot of it comes down to imagining "If I gained 15lbs, half or more of that being fat, all in my problem areas, how would I feel about that" and go from there.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Whether or not you should bulk has nothing to do with your weight on the scale and everything to do with your level of leanness. You want to be pretty lean before you bulk because, yes...you will put on muscle, but you're also going to get fat on a bulk so you want to start from being very lean.

    I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF.

    Alternatively, you could just re-comp...which is to say just eat maintenance and train and your body composition will change over time. I'm personally not a big fan of bulking and cutting unless one really has some advanced body composition goals and/or they're looking to get on stage...otherwise, the vast majority of people would do well just to eat well and train regularly. I think bulking and cutting is a bit of a fad at the moment and a lot of people don't actually know what they're doing.

    While I am a huge bulk/cut fan, I am actually going to agree with you here. Most people do not need to go that route with the goals they have. It can be unnecessarily uncomfortable especially if you go about it too aggressively (as many people do because they don't really know what to do), and I know many people who have run bulks and years later still cannot lean back down.

    Also, there are not all that many people out in the gyms of the world that are at or near this criteria:

    "I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF."

    Pretty much self limiting for most.

    There are also many people that come in close to or underweight, so regardless of their bodyfat levels, they need to gain. That was me when I started out so I kind of got pushed into the bulk because I had nowhere else to go. Now before I bulk, while I don't measure my bodyfat%, I just know when I am lean enough. A lot of it comes down to imagining "If I gained 15lbs, half or more of that being fat, all in my problem areas, how would I feel about that" and go from there.

    I would agree in the case of underweight on a BMI type measure.

    But with the number of people underweight combined we with the number of normal+ weight people that have bodyfat percents in the right range for bulking we are talking probably less that 10-15% of the US population where it is really viable.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Whether or not you should bulk has nothing to do with your weight on the scale and everything to do with your level of leanness. You want to be pretty lean before you bulk because, yes...you will put on muscle, but you're also going to get fat on a bulk so you want to start from being very lean.

    I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF.

    Alternatively, you could just re-comp...which is to say just eat maintenance and train and your body composition will change over time. I'm personally not a big fan of bulking and cutting unless one really has some advanced body composition goals and/or they're looking to get on stage...otherwise, the vast majority of people would do well just to eat well and train regularly. I think bulking and cutting is a bit of a fad at the moment and a lot of people don't actually know what they're doing.

    While I am a huge bulk/cut fan, I am actually going to agree with you here. Most people do not need to go that route with the goals they have. It can be unnecessarily uncomfortable especially if you go about it too aggressively (as many people do because they don't really know what to do), and I know many people who have run bulks and years later still cannot lean back down.

    Also, there are not all that many people out in the gyms of the world that are at or near this criteria:

    "I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF."

    Pretty much self limiting for most.

    There are also many people that come in close to or underweight, so regardless of their bodyfat levels, they need to gain. That was me when I started out so I kind of got pushed into the bulk because I had nowhere else to go. Now before I bulk, while I don't measure my bodyfat%, I just know when I am lean enough. A lot of it comes down to imagining "If I gained 15lbs, half or more of that being fat, all in my problem areas, how would I feel about that" and go from there.

    I would agree in the case of underweight on a BMI type measure.

    But with the number of people underweight combined we with the number of normal+ weight people that have bodyfat percents in the right range for bulking we are talking probably less that 10-15% of the US population where it is really viable.

    Definitely the general population would be very few. I was more referring to people on here and other fitness forums more likely to do so. Even then, if their goal is to look relatively fit then they wouldn't necessarily require bulking to get there.

  • josiereside1
    josiereside1 Posts: 199 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Whether or not you should bulk has nothing to do with your weight on the scale and everything to do with your level of leanness. You want to be pretty lean before you bulk because, yes...you will put on muscle, but you're also going to get fat on a bulk so you want to start from being very lean.

    I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF.

    Alternatively, you could just re-comp...which is to say just eat maintenance and train and your body composition will change over time. I'm personally not a big fan of bulking and cutting unless one really has some advanced body composition goals and/or they're looking to get on stage...otherwise, the vast majority of people would do well just to eat well and train regularly. I think bulking and cutting is a bit of a fad at the moment and a lot of people don't actually know what they're doing.

    While I am a huge bulk/cut fan, I am actually going to agree with you here. Most people do not need to go that route with the goals they have. It can be unnecessarily uncomfortable especially if you go about it too aggressively (as many people do because they don't really know what to do), and I know many people who have run bulks and years later still cannot lean back down.

    Also, there are not all that many people out in the gyms of the world that are at or near this criteria:

    "I don't know what that number is for females, but I'd guess 18% or lower. My male bodybuilding friends typically don't start bulking unless they are sub 10% and cut when they're around 15% BF."

    Pretty much self limiting for most.

    18% body fat... probably not even when I was born LOL!
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