Lost a tiny bit this past week (little less than 1/2 a lb), but I still think I'm hovering around the low end of maintenance. Raising cals up to 1900. That should be in the middle-high end of maintenance. During and after bulk #1, I determined my maintenance range to be 1850-2000, so I'm expecting to definitely see gains at 2000, because I'm sure my metabolism is depressed a tiny bit after cutting (but hopefully not too much).

I think I'm going to try something a little different with my macros for bulk #2. For bulk #1, my protein was at 1.2 g/lb and for cut #1 it was at 1.5 g/lb. I think that was good in that it allowed me to retain most of my muscle mass, but now I'm thinking about backing down to the standard 1 g/lb so that I can eat more carbs and maybe have a little more energy for my workouts. Not sure if it will really make that much of a difference 1 g/lb vs. 1.2 g/lb. And only eating 110 g of protein seems so low! Especially when I've become accustomed over the past year to eating between 120-160 grams of protein. And doing the 1 g/lb means my macros are 55% C, 25% F, 20% P. So that's a lot of carbs. Not sure if it's too much...I guess time will tell.

If anyone has any thoughts on protein at 1 vs 1.2 g/lb during a bulk feel free to chime in

Woohoo booty progress! This change was quick- happened over a month, but since I had been kind of neglecting my glutes until now, I guess you can call these newbie booty gains? Amazing what some dedicated glute work can do. Still have a ways to go, but the fun is in the journey- it truly is, especially if there's a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks! I've been doing Mike Matthews's Thinner, Leaner, Stronger program for the past year and a half but I recently added in glute specific stuff. Mainly stuff I picked up from Bret Contreras. So for glutes I'm doing:

Sunday: glute kickbacks- 3x20, hip thrusts- 3x5, band seated abduction- 3x30, x band walk- 3x10ish (basically walk across the room both ways)
Monday: glute kickbacks- 2x20, hip thrusts- 2x15, band seated abduction- 2x30, x band walk- 2x10ish
Wednesday: glute kickbacks- 3x20, hip thrusts- 3x8, band seated abduction- 3x30, x band walk- 3x10ish

I use different weights for each day. I do the heaviest I can go for the given reps and increase weight progressively over time. So for example, my heaviest day is the 3x5 day. I increase the weight once I can do all 3 sets at 5-6 reps.

It's happening- things are really starting to explode now. So much strength and my lifts are greatly increasing! My plan is to keep doing this slow bulk (about 1 lb per month) for the next year. We'll see what happens. My cals aren't crazy high (1900), but I think that's enough for now. Things are going really well- increasing strength, better posture, no pain, clothes are fitting better, etc. All good reasons to keep bulking and getting stronger! I don't ever want to go back to being frail and weak again.

3laine75 wrote: »

Dem Guns!!

Just popped in to say your arms and shoulders look amazing in that pic - nice work!

Thanks!

Bulking is continuing to go well...gained about 1.4 lbs this month so pretty much right on track. Cals are still at 1900. Of course I would like to increase and eat more, but 1900 isn't bad for only weighing 108 lbs. For bulk #1, cals were a bit higher but I was also on a medication that had the side effect of raising my metabolism (and suppressing hunger). So I guess not that bad of side effects depending on how you look at it, but there were other side effects too, so all in all I'm glad to be done with it. Was tapering off of it in the fall and was off for good in November.

Not on any prescription meds right now which I'm really happy about. I feel like I'm at a point where my body can rely upon exercising (weightlifting) and nutrition. Or at least I'm at a point where I can figure out exactly what is going on and thus maybe get to the core of the issues instead of using medications to alleviate symptoms. My symptoms were always chalked up to be due to depression, anxiety, other mental health issues. And I may still have (had) those things, but a couple months ago I was diagnosed with what looks to be lupus. Additional testing is still being done to pinpoint exactly what is going on. Lupus or a similar autoimmune disease definitely explains a lot of my symptoms. Luckily my symptoms aren't completely debilitating or anything like that, and I am soooo grateful I started weightlifting when I did, because I feel like I'm on a path that will allow me to take care of my body in the best way possible and hopefully prevent debilitation or at least help me in case it happens. And I'm actually kind of grateful for the diagnosis, because it gives me yet another reason to keep pushing myself. But not push myself too hard- it is a fine line. One day at a time.

Also next month (starting tomorrow) I'm going to do a gluten free trial. My rheumatologist agrees that it would be a good idea, so that at the very least it can be ruled out as a contributing factor to my fatigue & brain fog. I haven't done a gluten free trial until now because I've always thought of it as another 'trend' diet or marketing scheme. But after doing some reading, I do think that gluten can be problematic for some people. Or more likely FODMAPs I guess. But for now, I'm just going to eliminate gluten and see what happens.

Gluten free is going ok. So far some of my congestion has been alleviated and I feel less bloated. Still have brain fog and fatigue though. Time will tell more. It will be interesting to see what happens when I eliminate all (or almost all) FODMAPs