Hungry in a Calorie Surplus: Is My Bulking Plan Really Working?

xMidox

Hello everyone,

I recently switched from a cutting phase to a bulking phase after five months of cutting. I’m now consuming around 2500 calories per day, with approximately 175g of protein, 240g of carbs, and the rest from healthy fats. I've been in a calorie surplus for about three months.

Despite this, my weight has remained nearly the same over the past 20 days. While I’m seeing progress in the gym—lifting heavier weights and noticing increased arm size—my waist size has increased from 82 cm to 85 cm since I started this phase. I also experience hunger pangs, particularly around 9 PM and when I wake up in the morning.

My main question is: Is it normal to feel hungry while you’re in a calorie surplus? Could this hunger indicate that I’m not actually in a calorie surplus and might be closer to maintenance or even in a calorie deficit?

Here are some additional details about me:
- Age: 41
- Height: 172 cm
- Weight: 71 kg
- Body Fat: 16%-17%

I would appreciate any insights or advice on this!

Thanks!

cupcakesandproteinshakes

Simple answer is that if your weight isn’t trending up then you aren’t in a surplus. I say this because you mentioned your weight has remained the same for 20 days. You are likely eating at maintenance so I would increase your calories by about 100 a day and see if that leads to an increase in weight after a week or so. If weight isn’t trending up then increase again by 100. Repeat as necessary. Our bodies are sometimes good at dealing with excess calories by an uptick in NEAT. But eventually you will start gaining weight if you keep increasing intake steadily.

I last bulked a couple of years ago. Took me a year to gain 10 pounds. I remember feeling hungry at the start, but then not hungry at all during the last 3 months. Not sure if this is typical or not. I’m a 50 yr old female. So I got some hormonal stuff going on that may affect hunger signalling in my brain.

nossmf

To clarify, you started the bulk 3 months ago, and you gained weight for the first 2+ months before it seemed to stall over the last 3 weeks, am I reading that right?

You posted how many calories you're eating, but not what your maintenance calories are. Different literature/websites will give radically different numbers, so only you can tell us what actually works for you. Why is this important? So we know how many calories you're eating over maintenance. Advice may be different if you are 100 over compared to 500 over.

From a pure personal experience perspective, I recently completed a bulk phase where I ate 250 calories per day over maintenance. This lasted about a year and a half, during which I gained 27lb, which is just under the half pound-per-week that I would expect with the 250 per day. There were multiple months where my weight stayed constant, and other months it jumped. Same as when people try to lose weight, they can remain the same for weeks and then one day BAM the scale leaped ahead.

For your other question about feeling hungry during a bulk, sure, that's completely normal if you are doing a slow bulk. A massive bulk like Dwayne Johnson does for preparing for movie roles where he's eating thousands of calories above maintenance each day, during those periods he had to force himself to eat. But since I was just a little over maintenance, I had a normal level of hunger each day, looking forward to meals as normal, etc.

lsnowdon4203

I have a question, I used to be heavy into lifting, had to quit for a few years d/t arthritis. Back at it now but way way lighter and only 3 days a week. I’m only taking in 1200- 1400 cal a day. Sticking to my macros and can’t get below 150 lbs. I’m 5’5. What could be going on? I’m only able to do 20-30 mins of weights or cardio. And I’m 71.

Lietchi

lsnowdon4203 wrote: »

I have a question, I used to be heavy into lifting, had to quit for a few years d/t arthritis. Back at it now but way way lighter and only 3 days a week. I’m only taking in 1200- 1400 cal a day. Sticking to my macros and can’t get below 150 lbs. I’m 5’5. What could be going on? I’m only able to do 20-30 mins of weights or cardio. And I’m 71.

I would suggest creating your own thread: it's better to not 'hijack' someone else's thread, and furthermore this topic is in the gaining weight/ body building section, which doesn't seem appropriate for your question.

AnnPT77

lsnowdon4203 wrote: »

I have a question, I used to be heavy into lifting, had to quit for a few years d/t arthritis. Back at it now but way way lighter and only 3 days a week. I’m only taking in 1200- 1400 cal a day. Sticking to my macros and can’t get below 150 lbs. I’m 5’5. What could be going on? I’m only able to do 20-30 mins of weights or cardio. And I’m 71.

@lsnowdon4203, I'm with lietchi, you'll get better answers if you post your own thread (with a clear, appropriate title) in an area like Health and Weight Loss or Fitness and Exercise. I'd post on that future thread, but will only be super brief here out of fairness to OP - this is off topic to their post.

I'm 5'5", too, and F68, and I also have arthritis (among other stuff), but got below 150 pounds. There are a variety of things that can contribute to being stuck. Some are temporary, but even others are potentially remediable. I'd want to ask you a bunch of questions. (Like stuck how long, how stuck, etc.) A certain wily patience will be part of the solution, probably, in all likelihood.

Post a thread of your own, in a more related topic area. You'll get help. I want to help. I can't help the OP here, because we're on different tracks, so I'll stop this post here.

Best wishes!

Retroguy2000

@lsnowdon4203 Welcome to the forums. I see you have posted somewhere else now, in a place I've never heard of despite being active here for years. Something called Groups?

If you don't get much traction there, this is typically the most active and catch-all forum:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/general-diet-and-weight-loss-help

The Food and Fitness ones are also quite active.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/food-and-nutrition

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/fitness-and-exercise