First week and a half of bulking went well. I think I was 137.4 today or something, so definitely some water weight gain. I took measurements when I started, I just need to remember to post them!

Skyepie535 wrote: »

Awesome work glad to hear your bulk is going well! What is your fav snack food to fill calories with (Im getting a bit sick of rice cakes and banana) haha.

Gelato topped with chocolate syrup and a dab of peanut butter. That's my go to at the end of the day when I still have a couple hundred calories left.

Skyepie535 wrote: »

oh yum!!! So if you've reached your protein and fat macros do you worry about going over??:)

Funny you should ask that, because I just got into a discussion about this exact topic. Let me start by saying this is what I personally do. I suggest you look into it and see what you find and form your own opinion.

The body requires fat to perform basic functions. You will find different recommendations out there but it's usually somewhere between 0.35 - 0.45 grams of fat per pound of body weight. The general consensus out there as far as protein is concerned is we need somewhere between 0.8 - 1.0 grams per pound of body weight to grow/retain muscle. So I have a fat and protein minimum goal that I strive to eat every day. As long as I hit those minimums, I can use the rest of my calories any way I want. If one day I want to fill the rest with carbs, then I can. Another day I may want to eat more than my protein goal, so I just compensate by eating a little less carbs. If I go over on fat or protein, I could care less. Doing it this way I do not have a set macro ratio because they change daily. I pay more attention to the grams of each macro I am eating.

For me this just makes sense. I used to try to hit my macro ratios dead on every single day. But it became very tedious and annoyed the crap out of me. I already hate counting calories, so once I learned about minimums I made the switch. I know this is different than the way most people calculate their macros, but I also know others that do it the way I do. So my advice is find the way that works the best for you and go with it.

:flowerforyou:

Good news, bad news. The bad news? I'm only logging my food during the week. The past 2 weekends I've been out and about and I start to log in the morning, but give up by midday because everything would be guesstimates and just finding something similiar in the MFP database anyways. The good news? I'm really enjoying doing it this way. Mental breaks from logging are nice for me. But I understand I could be undoing all my hard work during the week, because when I don't log, I usually don't eat enough to bulk. We'll see. I'm in the mindset of treating this bulk as just the way it's going to be for the next year. So I'm much more relaxed about it this time. Me gusta.

Anyways, more good news. I can feel my strength returning. The annoying thing about cutting is I felt weak. I felt like I was only able to maintain my strength, and a lot of the time I actually had to decrease my lifts. So it's nice to be able to increase lifts each week and feel strong again.

As of today I've gained 4 pounds since I started bulking a month ago. :laugh: Stupid water weight...

Skyepie535 wrote: »

good work do you feel like you're getting stronger too??

Well, I wouldn't say good work. I can't really tell if I'm gaining at the appropriate rate yet because of all this gushy waterness. Somebody told me when you eat high fat you tend to retain water. That explains it right there. I love fat. Hard.

I do feel stronger. No more stalling out like when I was cutting. Numbers are going up every week. Love it.

Things aren't going great. Lately I've been averaging only 2 workouts a week. Finally got pumped up enough to do a session last night. Finshed out my hip thrusts sets and bam. I must have pulled something in my back and had to stop. I know not to *kitten* with my back when it gets like this. So I'm going to eat at maintenance until I'm feeling 100%.

I really need to get back into things though. This is so unlike me. A lot of it is mental. Nothing to do with bulking. Mostly I'm trying to deal with some depression that's been creeping up on me lately.

Not sure what to do...and f*cking frustrated that this is happening. Arrrrrrrrrrrrg.

Should I give bulking a rest until I can get this depression thing under control? I mean, bulking on 2 lifting sessions a week? Doesn't sound very optimal. I want to kick *kitten* and not do a lazy bulk. But my head just isn't in it right now.

I'm just annoyed and pissed at myself.

Thanks sardelsa. My back is not serious. It goes out of wack from time to time. Same thing happens when I carry my toddler too much. Same type of pain. So I just need to rest for a few days.

But yeah, the depression thing. Super annoying. Hope the new supplement I'm starting has a positive affect. I'm not giving up yet.

About 7 weeks ago.

My back felt ok last night and I *almost* worked out, but something told me not to. Good thing because it started hurting again today. So I'm taking the week off whether I want to or not. Better to be safe than sorry. Plus you're right. Maybe I just need to chill out and get my head right. Will give me time to think things over regarding whether I want to continue bulking right now.

Currently I'm trying St. John's Wort to see what kind of effect (if any) it has on me. My Vitamin D levels are a tad low so I will start taking a supplement in a few weeks. Wanna see if St. John's does anything first.