Mom in mid 20s cutting&bulking

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rachelmazour
rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
in Introduce Yourself
hi! Looking for some friends with similar goals and maybe some with some weight training/muscle building experience or knowledge! I'm currently 6lb lighter than pre Prego weight.. Down 17lb so far and first bulk ever is coming up soon!:)

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  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I just finished my first bulk. November-Mid March. I gained about 10-14lbs (hard to tell with all my water weight shifting around tower the end). I'm currently back down about 5+ lbs and counting.
  • rachelmazour
    rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
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    Oh awesome girl!! I've been so nervous about this bulk.. It took so long to finally drop the babyweight.. So glad to hear that it's been working for ya!
  • anthony150paolucci
    anthony150paolucci Posts: 85 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I started my first cut on Monday. I want to get my body fat percentage low before I start thinking about bulking.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I understand. I spent so much time LOSING weight, it was mentally difficult to put on weight. But I wanted da muscles! I didn't start too too lean either because I just have really thick thighs and butt. I stripped down as much as I could really stand it though.

    How are you determining when you're ready for the bulk?
  • rachelmazour
    rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
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    That's the same her! I'm smaller upper body, thicker legs and butt! And I'm not sure yet. I'm not being coached as I live in a small village lol so all of my progress so far has been self educated. I've lost a lot of muscle due to lower calories (I'm impatient) so I'm ready to bulk but worried I'll do it wrong :) I want to figure out my body percentage and maybe go off that?. How did u do it?
  • rachelmazour
    rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
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    Here*
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    rachelmazour wrote: »
    That's the same her! I'm smaller upper body, thicker legs and butt! And I'm not sure yet. I'm not being coached as I live in a small village lol so all of my progress so far has been self educated. I've lost a lot of muscle due to lower calories (I'm impatient) so I'm ready to bulk but worried I'll do it wrong :) I want to figure out my body percentage and maybe go off that?. How did u do it?

    I just guessed on body fat%. I was trying to recomp at 133lbs, 5'4"-but was bored yet knew I needed to be a bit leaner to start a bulk so I made a goal of 125. I couldn't hit it. I was lifting so heavy and was relatively lean already, and burnt out just as I touched on 127/128lbs. I made a thread here and had some wise people guess my body fat% and give me the go ahead.

    If I may give some advice...If you KNOW you're losing muscle because you're cutting too aggressively, or if you're already lean enough, just start the bulk. If you set an arbitrary goal to lose 10 more lbs, and know there's going to be muscle loss to go along with it, you'll have to work just to put that muscle lost back on. Judging from your profile picture you look quite lean.
  • rachelmazour
    rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
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    Thank you thank you!! That helps a lot and thanks for the input. I'm 5'3" and am down from 143 to 126lb right now. Not happy with my softness and some extra fat in legs and butt. I told myself at first once I get to 126 I'm bulking.. Now im saying 124. Smh. Lol. I just need to educate on bulking the way I did on fat loss.. Thing is it seems like fat loss for women is easy to find but most info out there on bulking is for men. I just want to do it right.:) do you time your bulks and cuts? (Like 12 week, 1 year, etc).. My question in this whole thing (and maybe it's subjective) is when to bulk when to cut when to maintain. Thanks for all the help:)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Also there is a "Gaining Weight" section that is helpful with a few bulking threads
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    rachelmazour wrote: »
    Thank you thank you!! That helps a lot and thanks for the input. I'm 5'3" and am down from 143 to 126lb right now. Not happy with my softness and some extra fat in legs and butt. I told myself at first once I get to 126 I'm bulking.. Now im saying 124. Smh. Lol. I just need to educate on bulking the way I did on fat loss.. Thing is it seems like fat loss for women is easy to find but most info out there on bulking is for men. I just want to do it right.:) do you time your bulks and cuts? (Like 12 week, 1 year, etc).. My question in this whole thing (and maybe it's subjective) is when to bulk when to cut when to maintain. Thanks for all the help:)

    Ah I see. We are kind of close in stats. That's how I felt at 133. Anyway, a couple pounds makes a big difference when you're relatively lean so see how you feel at 124.

    It's not that different for men and women. You want to probably only gain .5lbs per week, so add 250 calories to your maintenance calories. I reversed a little into maintenance just to get my program in line and so that I wouldn't see a huge spike all at once. I did .8-1g protein per pound of body mass, but that's the high end because I like protein. You could do it per pound of lean mass. I think I did .35-.40g fat per pound of mass, and the rest in carbs. I was bulking on 2000 calories. Pathetic.

    I started mine in November so my time line was basically to give myself enough time to lean out by July. At first I said February, then I said March. By mid March I was just too uncomfortable and chubby so felt ready to start cutting and didn't feel like I failed myself :)
  • rachelmazour
    rachelmazour Posts: 31 Member
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    Wow that's awesome!! Thanks so so much! And yea that what's I thought.. Pretty similar bodies compared to the crazy wide variety mfp has so that helps I found one similar to mine:) I screen 'shotted' that last message thanks a bunch:) I'll look into all of that for sure! And congrats on working the way you do.. It is inspiring and so worth it I'm sure you know:) keep grindin away and keep bein a strong beauty! Thanks for all the help:)

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