Female Bulking Advice Needed

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  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    Here's an update after the first month. I increased my calories to 1700-1800 a day, took creatine twice a day, and casein at night. At the end of the month, I weigh exactly the same. This was a little frustrating to me but then I remembered I basically increased my calories to what I THOUGHT was my TDEE and it turns out I was correct. That's one positive thing, I know what amount of calories to eat for maintenance now.

    The second positive thing is that my lifts all increased by quite a bit. I'm definitely stronger. On Monday of this week I increased my calories up to 2000 a day, and I'm keeping everything else the same. Hopefully, I'll see some small weight gain in October. Here are my progress pictures taken on 10/1/13.

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  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    A great thing about preparing for bulks is that it's one way to discover what your actual TDEE is by periodically increasing calories towards a different goal. I love bulks because I can eat more gelato and granola =P
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    A great thing about preparing for bulks is that it's one way to discover what your actual TDEE is by periodically increasing calories towards a different goal. I love bulks because I can eat more gelato and granola =P

    I definitely enjoy eating more. :)

    I forgot to mention that I changed my macros a little as well. I'm now at 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fat.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    bumping to follow - just started a bulk myself :)

    And I agree w/ geekyjock - it was nice to figure out my real TDEE. Most estimators had me around 2000/day, but the actual amount appears to be more like 2400-2500. Which makes me very happy. Omnom. I've been at/slightly over maintenance for about a month now and have noticed significant strength improvements, and think I see a bit of increased size in upper body already, esp. biceps (taking pictures next week to confirm).
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    Everything I would have suggested you've done.... considering you should only be gaining .5-1# a month it was wise to find your tdee before proceeding... the second the scale told you that you had gained you'd probably be going too fast... you've gotta base it off science and what you see in the mirror. if you watch the scale itll be all over the place due to water/salt/carbs and theres no way youll be able to monitor week to week changes of one eighth of a pound... just trust in a 10% increase over tdee and go with it. you'll know your making progress as weights increase.

    taking measurements couldn't hurt (unless you go crazy and convince yourself that your gains are fat)

    and heres some food for thought regarding keeping fat gain to a minimum

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/calorie-partitioning-part-1.html
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    bumping to follow - just started a bulk myself :)

    And I agree w/ geekyjock - it was nice to figure out my real TDEE. Most estimators had me around 2000/day, but the actual amount appears to be more like 2400-2500. Which makes me very happy. Omnom. I've been at/slightly over maintenance for about a month now and have noticed significant strength improvements, and think I see a bit of increased size in upper body already, esp. biceps (taking pictures next week to confirm).

    Keep me posted on your bulking progress and those biceps. :)
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    Everything I would have suggested you've done.... considering you should only be gaining .5-1# a month it was wise to find your tdee before proceeding... the second the scale told you that you had gained you'd probably be going too fast... you've gotta base it off science and what you see in the mirror. if you watch the scale itll be all over the place due to water/salt/carbs and theres no way youll be able to monitor week to week changes of one eighth of a pound... just trust in a 10% increase over tdee and go with it. you'll know your making progress as weights increase.

    taking measurements couldn't hurt (unless you go crazy and convince yourself that your gains are fat)

    and heres some food for thought regarding keeping fat gain to a minimum

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/calorie-partitioning-part-1.html

    Thank you, I've read that article. It's excellent information for sure.

    I have been taking measurements since mid July, I need to take them again though to compare to the beginning of last month. The only one that's changing significantly seems to be my thighs.....they are growing. I'm not one of those gals that stresses about the scale and little fluctuations. I'm actually okay with adding a little fat, at least that's what I keep telling myself. :)
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    In to follow your progress :smile:
  • cad39too
    cad39too Posts: 874 Member
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    Bump

    Good luck, some sound advice posted above. It will be interesting to see how you progress.
  • mag131
    mag131 Posts: 542 Member
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    In to follow your progress. You look amazing so far!
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Hi! I am starting to bulk myself using stronglifts (similar to SS). I actually started several weeks ago, but ended up losing some weight instead which I will explain below. I am sure you got lots of great info from Sara and sidesteel and from other people responding, but I will throw out a couple things that I have learned.

    Basically all of the advice/research for men applies to us except you have to cut the numbers in half. A man can gain around .5lb of muscle a week, we can do about .25lbs. A clean bulk for a man is to aim for a 1lb gain/week. We should aim for half that. The 1g/lb of LBM of protein minimum is the same for us.

    Any change in exercise changes how your body reacts. I added 500 cals/day to get from losing .5lb/wk to gaining that, but at the same time I added a martial arts class (Krav Maga for self defense). Despite eating back the calories, I ended up losing a pound over a 3 week period instead of gaining ~1.5.

    Creatine will cause most people (me for one) to gain some water weight. It will go away if/when you quit. Same thing for weight lifting. I took some time off due to being sick and dropped weight. Caliper readings and measurements will really help you to sort out muscle gain from water gain.

    Random people will tell you to stop. Both my grandmother and my hairdresser said I looked great! But when I talked about weight training and then flexed my muscles, they both said I should stop. Emphatically.

    Random people will tell you that you are a bad *kitten*. :)

    It's actually hard to eat so much unless you eat a lot of junk. I aim for 2200 net right now (though this may have to go up) which is an average of 25-2600 gross calories a day. Whew! This is going to be even harder for you if you stick to IF. Macros may also need to shift a bit. 30% protein is great/necessary on a cut, but gets harder and harder to hit as you go up. I have also not seen any research showing a benefit over 1g/lb of LBM though I eat a bit more than that.
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    Thank you Mag, and thank you to the ladies that have decided to follow my progress.

    Lila, thanks for sharing your experience as well. I'm aiming for a weight gain of about 2 lbs a month. Half of that will likely be fat, and I'm okay with that. I've cut back on my cardio quite a bit and really I'm just focused on lifting heavy. I already have male friends asking me why I want to change anything about the way I look right now. Then I also have people that tease me about blowing away in a strong wind because I only weight 112 lbs. :)

    I'm doing this for me, and I'm determined, some might call me stubborn. Thanks for sharing those tips, and please keep me posted on your progress as well.
  • pandorakick
    pandorakick Posts: 901 Member
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    Tagging! I'm starting my first bulk in 2 weeks :happy:
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    Bump
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
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    Just wanted to admire OP's pictures like a creeper...

    Great job, OP. Good luck with your bulk. You really do look amazing :heart:
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I also want to follow to read the thread.

    OP, you look incredible!!! :love:
  • bubaluboo
    bubaluboo Posts: 2,098 Member
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    OP, you are such an inspiration. I'm 45yrs and about where you were back in June. I'd love to think that I could get down to 18% body fat by next spring (and look as fantastic as you do)! I'll be watching your progress.
  • Viva_Karina
    Viva_Karina Posts: 398 Member
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    bump
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
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    Just wanted to admire OP's pictures like a creeper...

    Great job, OP. Good luck with your bulk. You really do look amazing :heart:

    Thank you so much, it's been a wonderful process do far. :)
    I also want to follow to read the thread.

    OP, you look incredible!!! :love:

    Thank you! :smile:
    OP, you are such an inspiration. I'm 45yrs and about where you were back in June. I'd love to think that I could get down to 18% body fat by next spring (and look as fantastic as you do)! I'll be watching your progress.

    When I got to my lowest body-fat, I was doing cardio 4-6 days a week for 30-40 minutes each session. I hate cardio, but it does seem to be a necessary evil when trying to reduce body-fat. I was also eating at a small deficit of 200-300 below my TDEE at the time.

    It seems weird not to worry about body fat now after I worked so hard to get it off. I think once you are successful at getting it off, you know it's possible so it's not something you have to stress about so much.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    It seems weird not to worry about body fat now after I worked so hard to get it off. I think once you are successful at getting it off, you know it's possible so it's not something you have to stress about so much.

    I'm finding this to be a little mind-bending. After struggling to get my weight DOWN pretty much since my pre-teen years, and finally managing to do it properly, it feels awfully strange to deliberately be putting weight ON. :tongue: My new love of muscles is, happily, overriding my anxiety about it so far, though. Hopefully that keeps up over the winter :)

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