Barbell Girl's Bulking Journal
Barbellgirl
Posts: 544 Member
I'm a 46 year old mother of three children ages 22, 20, and 13. I decided to 'bulk' in August after lifting since mid-June and having great success in reducing my body fat percentage. I had my body fat measured on June 17th by my personal trainer at the time using the seven point caliper method- it was 23%. On July 15th four weeks later it was tested again by the same person and method and yielded 20%. I continued to lift heavy and further reduce my fat down until August 30th when I believe it was in the 18-19% range.
On September 1st (weighing 112.5 pounds), I increased my calories to 1700-1800 a day which I thought was my TDEE. I started taking creatine two times a day, and casein at night before bed. On September 30th I still weighed 112.5 pounds. I discovered my maintenance calorie amount, which is a good thing.
On September 30th, I increased my calories to 2000 calories a day, 40% carbs, 35% protein, 25% fat. I go over my calories most days by around 100. To date, I have gained 1/2 pound in the month of October. I may have to further increase my calories, woohoo for more food!
10/4/13 Measurements
Bust: 35.25"
Chest/strapline: 31 "
Waist: 26"
Belly Button: 28"
Right Arm: 9.5"
Right Thigh: 20"
Shoulders: 38"
Neck: 13"
Hips: 35"
Photos:
9/1/13- Before increasing to TDEE at my lowest BF%
10/1/13- Official beginning of Bulking (eating above TDEE)
10/10/13 Leg Photo- Making progress
On September 1st (weighing 112.5 pounds), I increased my calories to 1700-1800 a day which I thought was my TDEE. I started taking creatine two times a day, and casein at night before bed. On September 30th I still weighed 112.5 pounds. I discovered my maintenance calorie amount, which is a good thing.
On September 30th, I increased my calories to 2000 calories a day, 40% carbs, 35% protein, 25% fat. I go over my calories most days by around 100. To date, I have gained 1/2 pound in the month of October. I may have to further increase my calories, woohoo for more food!
10/4/13 Measurements
Bust: 35.25"
Chest/strapline: 31 "
Waist: 26"
Belly Button: 28"
Right Arm: 9.5"
Right Thigh: 20"
Shoulders: 38"
Neck: 13"
Hips: 35"
Photos:
9/1/13- Before increasing to TDEE at my lowest BF%
10/1/13- Official beginning of Bulking (eating above TDEE)
10/10/13 Leg Photo- Making progress
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Replies
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This week I switched from a three day full body routine to a four day split routine (complex, chest and back, legs, shoulders and arms). Today was my first official leg day, I decided to commemorate it with a photo. 0
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Sounds like a great plan! Our measurements are almost exactly the same...except the bust LOL. How tall are you?0
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Sounds like a great plan! Our measurements are almost exactly the same...except the bust LOL. How tall are you?
I'm 5'6".0 -
Sounds like a great plan! Our measurements are almost exactly the same...except the bust LOL. How tall are you?
I'm 5'6".
Me too!
ETA: But you look a lot better than I do LOL. I am so excited to gain some muscle!!!0 -
Thank you. I'm hoping to add 3-5 pounds of muscle over the next six months. That may be all I really need, it's just too early to know. 0
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Your legs and obliques look fantastic 5 more lbs of muscle on you and you're going to be ripped 0
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Thank you very much, and I sure hope so. :flowerforyou:0
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In to follow!0
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Bumping0
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Yikes, I got on the scale this morning like I do every morning and it is another pound higher than yesterday morning 114 5 lbs. Which was a 1/2 pound more than the day before (113.5). That's a 1.5 pound increase this week opposed to my goal of gaining 1/2 pound a week.
I'm not going to freak out.....not yet anyway. My new split routine resulted in some serious DOMS this week which I haven't experienced much of lately. This extra pound is nothing more than some water retention and just a good bowel movement....that's what I'm telling myself!!! :sad: :laugh:
I'll be fighting the urge to do extra cardio due to the scale. Omron handheld body-fat reading today first thing in the morning (dehydrated state) was 18.9%. Yesterday's reading was 19%.0 -
When you get down to fine-tuning weight gain or loss I think it can be crazy-making. :sad: I'm having the opposite problem; I've been steadily going down from 132 to 130.5 in the past few days. :grumble: Am I doing it wrong? Need to eat more? Dehydrated? Too much cardio? WTF, I don't know lol. I'm going to let myself eat a little more the next few days and hopefully things balance out. But I could just as easily be up 2 lbs tomorrow too even if I keep my intake at exactly the same. I'm going to try very hard to only focus on my WEEKLY average and adjust based on that. Even then, things can fluctuate week to week. I'm going to keep plugging weekly values into a graph and aim to keep the overall trend in the right direction. The hard thing is to not overcompensate and throw things out of whack in the OTHER direction. :grumble:0
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When you get down to fine-tuning weight gain or loss I think it can be crazy-making. :sad: I'm having the opposite problem; I've been steadily going down from 132 to 130.5 in the past few days. :grumble: Am I doing it wrong? Need to eat more? Dehydrated? Too much cardio? WTF, I don't know lol. I'm going to let myself eat a little more the next few days and hopefully things balance out. But I could just as easily be up 2 lbs tomorrow too even if I keep my intake at exactly the same. I'm going to try very hard to only focus on my WEEKLY average and adjust based on that. Even then, things can fluctuate week to week. I'm going to keep plugging weekly values into a graph and aim to keep the overall trend in the right direction. The hard thing is to not overcompensate and throw things out of whack in the OTHER direction. :grumble:
I agree. I would cut back on your cardio though if you are losing. That could be working against you. I need to read up more on anabolic vs. catabolic states myself. But yes, the desire to over react and over compensate is definitely a real struggle! :frown:0 -
I don't THINK the cardio can be contributing too much - I really only do a couple of half-assed jogs 2-3 times a week - barely enough to get my heart rate up (though I'll occasionally do a fast 5km - but only occasionally). I wonder if maybe this is another case where my initial gains after an intake increase start to settle down again? I dunno, we'll see what the rest of the week brings before I tweak too much :P0
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I'm up another 1/2 pound this morning to 115 lbs. I sure hope this weight is water or just temporary weight gain. Trying to stay positive. :sad:0
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Breathe...
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Don't fret... if it's not water, I'm sure it'll even out soon... but it probably is water. How often are you weighing on?0
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I weigh every day. It's not typical for me to have such wide swings in my weight. I have been eating about 100-200 calories more each day than I'm supposed to. I may just need to add some cardio back in......because I'd rather do that than eat less. :laugh:0
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In to follow- hear you with that water weight! Keep your head up! 0
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I'm totally with you on adding more cardio vs. eating less. When I started on this site I was doing 1390/day plus exercise calories. How the hell did I survive???0
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I'm totally with you on adding more cardio vs. eating less. When I started on this site I was doing 1390/day plus exercise calories. How the hell did I survive???
I don't know. You were running a lot at that time too weren't you?
I started at around 1300 calories myself luckily it wasn't long until I bumped it up to 1500. Now I'm eating 2200 (yep I keep going over my goal lol) and wanting more. :laugh:0 -
I'm totally with you on adding more cardio vs. eating less. When I started on this site I was doing 1390/day plus exercise calories. How the hell did I survive???
I don't know. You were running a lot at that time too weren't you?
I started at around 1300 calories myself luckily it wasn't long until I bumped it up to 1500. Now I'm eating 2200 (yep I keep going over my goal lol) and wanting more. :laugh:
In the beginning (I started in 2010 after my son was born) I didn't do ANY workouts, just dieting. I wish I could go back and slap that version of me!0 -
I wouldn't panic just yet. It's very common to put on a few lbs in the first few weeks while our bodies adjust. In fact....that weight is most likely a combo of water/glycogen stores. It will level out.0
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In to follow, gosh your legs are amazing.0
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I wouldn't panic just yet. It's very common to put on a few lbs in the first few weeks while our bodies adjust. In fact....that weight is most likely a combo of water/glycogen stores. It will level out.
I agree with this. I remember when I started my bulk last year I had 4 pounds find me over night then things settled down. The mind**** is the hardest part of a bulk cycle.0 -
Thank you ladies. I'm doing much better. Today I was at 114 lbs and my Omron said 18.7% bodyfat first thing this morning which I think is low despite being in a dehydrated state. It's hard not to get concerned but I've made more of an effort to stay within my calorie goal these last few days. I think it was a double whammy of not doing cardio and exceeding my calorie goal that my body was trying to figure out. 0
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ive put on 6 pounds since I started getting serious three weeks ago, I'm sure a few of the pounds is the creatine. I'm crossing my fingers that it's just a stabilization thing while I adjust to the new weight program and my increase in calories. I do notice that after hard and sore workout I put on a pound or two probably water retention to help heal my muscles.0
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Is the mental adjustment getting any easier?0
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Yes, I'm actually doing much better. I'm excited for next Monday. That will be the four week point and I'll be taking new pictures and measurements, etc. 0
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Yes, I'm actually doing much better. I'm excited for next Monday. That will be the four week point and I'll be taking new pictures and measurements, etc.
That's great!!!
I can't wait for my 4 week mark to do my measurements and pics as well 0 -
Bulking accountability post
I've been eating at a 200-300 calorie a day surplus for four weeks today. I managed to gain 1.5 lbs. My goal was 1/2 lb a week so I didn't quite hit my 2 lb goal. I was at 114.5 or up two pounds a few days ago when I decided to stop taking creatine. I think that is the reason for the 1/2 pound drop, and my trainer agrees that stopping creatine can result in a quick water weight drop.
My body fat measurement with my handheld Omron has varied from 18.2 to 19.7% when taken first thing in the morning. Three point caliper testing puts me at 16.83 % so I feel confident that my body fat is staying around the 18-19% range.
The only measurements that changed are the following in inches; bicep +1/4, calf +1/4, ribcage +1/8, shoulder +1, thigh +1/4, waist and belly button -1/4. All other measurements stayed the same.
I'm proud of my delts which are growing and my lats are starting to as well. ????????????
I'll add the pictures I took today very soon.0
