HMVOL7409 Member

Eating before bedtime does not convert food to fat. A myth that sadly won't go away.

Did nights for years, stopped and recently went back. I think you'll adjust to eating later and it doesn't matter what you eat and a microwave will do. I still log 12a-12a and just set my meals by time blocks instead. From 7p-12a I will usually have a meal to fill up my remaining macros for the day. A go to bulk meal we…

Your body needs rest. If your meds make you drowsy, please be smart here. I usually play by the rule above the neck I still work through it, below and I rest. You're not going to fall behind by resting up and taking care of your body. Besides, for those that use public gyms, there's nothing hardcore or respectable about…

Your macros are fine, IMO. I upped to 30% fat intake as well and my body responded better. When cutting I take it down to 25%. There's no reason for it to be below 20% as it aides in hormone function. Carbs are debatable. I think you could pull some macros from your protein and put them towards your carbs. But I'm someone…

I'm a fan of no cardio or as little as possible during a bulk. If one has difficulty eating more or increasing calories, adding in more cardio is not going to help as it creates a larger deficit. Just bc you increase your calories doesn't mean increase your activity; you want to gain here.

No ones asked; how's your diary looking? Usually when one says something doesn't work, nutrition is usually a major factor in that. Slight deficit isn't an answer.

I will say there's a big difference between gaining due to lack of motivation, not logging, whatever and PURPOSELY gaining.

Been on both ends and bulking was much harder in the end. The mental mind F of it all, eating past the point of feeling stuffed and having to always adjust calories/macros is exhausting at times. Yes maintaining is hard when you first get there and adjust to having a weight range etc. However once I get back there I will…

I actually love this idea. It's hard to tell BF, so I can't really gauge. I've seen so many different levels on different body types that it's not easy to narrow down as some think. Callipers can be very accurate depending on the tester and their skill. Plus the more points, the better. If you're doing them yourself, not…

Women fluctuate horrible through out the month due to hormonal changes. Where at in this list is your monthly cycle?

This and her previous advice is all you need. PHUL is too advanced for a beginner.

What was your lifting like in that last year and what are you doing now? What kind and how much cardio have you've been doing? Have you just hit your calories in the last year or have you paid attention to macros?

Welcome! I know it's been mentally hard for you but you're doing great! As far as your plan; my honest opinion would be to not cut. You don't have anything to cut and really shouldn't be at a lower weight than you are now. This would be a case where I would suggest a longer bulk but I am pretty sure your mind is made up to…

From my understanding refeeds are beneficial for those in longer cuts. You just started and already have a refeed every 3 days? More frequent refeeds are suggested for those already lean but most including myself only did so once every week or 2. Are your refeeds controlled with specific macro goals or are you just going…

Thanks everyone I greatly appreciate it! I honestly had a freak out today and finally felt uncomfortable with the bulk weight and felt never more ready to get this fat off. Ugh...

I thought so but wanted to be sure. ☺️ Didn't see the new responses, and yes the annoyance with people not understanding where they're posting is shared.

Are you directing this towards me? Because quite frankly I'm one of the few who actually understood what the OP was saying/asking and know very well what section this is posted in.

She's obviously a young athlete. She plays soccer, weight trains and is 20 yo. So many say well it's a nice problem to have seem to not know you do have the ability to change your metabolism. Guess what, I'm 34 to female at 5'2 and during my bulk I had this same issue. Dropping weight until I increased to over 3000. Not…

Awesome job! Great job on sticking it through!

Best of luck!

Keep up the good work girl!

Well it's time to wrap up my bulk results. Pretty darn happy with the outcome; measurements and pics helped me see the growth I sometimes couldn't see for myself. Bulk length was 16 wks, gain of around 12lbs. Final calorie goal was 3150 where I was able to gain a little at the end after being stalled out at 135-136lbs/3000…

Uh huh.....so true. It became more manageable when I stopped treating things as meals and just ate constantly. I know that sounds weird but my belly actually seemed happy about it. Maybe it was a Greek yogurt here, next hr almonds/trail mix; next 1-2 hrs something else. If I put everything in at a meal it was so much more…

I think the moral is, building muscle requires much energy/fuel and thus having more muscle also raisesyour metabolism. We quickly find out that most underestimate their needs. Having similar stats as someone else doesn't mean you'll have similar caloric requirements. It's trial and error, strict logging will help you…

What did you eat beforehand is more the question and did anything change prerace? How did you treat your previous long runs and did you have issues then? When I was training for my first 1/2 and had stomach issues post run, never during, I found it was due to dairy and high fiber. Never had to take Imodium however some…

Many here do. I was stuck at 136lbs for quite some time eating 2800-3000 cals. I'm 34 yo and 5'2. I only started gaining again when I upped recently to 3150. Before bulking I maintained around 2300-2400 and 2500 might be close to my new maintenance maybe slightly more. You will need to increase cals many times throughout…

You've done an amazing job and your attitude and willing to be flexible is contributed to that success!

Macros are very personal. Some like myself do high carb; currently 375-400g. Some get away with less. I will say in the grand scheme of a bulk, fat and carbs are to be higher for energy and meeting calories purposes. With higher protein your appetite might be ceased due to feeling satisfied as for most people, protein does…

Bulking is such a psychotic mind game. One day you are completely miserable, the next strong as hell and estatic and finally you'll have day you feel small, flat and upset the scale fluctuated downward. Keep pushing, focus on you and your goals and lean on others for support. That's what we are all here for!

Being that this is my 4th, I personally won't and never have gone longer than 4 mths. That's about all I can handle! There's no right or wrong here, one must be realistic though in the mental game and that the longer the bulk, the longer the cut. I know who Jo is referring to and while that is what is working for him and…