SilentDrapeRunners Member

Thanks! My cut was fairly short- about 3 months. Gradually decreased cals and got more aggressive the last few weeks- about a 20% deficit. The lowest my cals got to was 1500. Macros were 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. Only did 20-30 min HIIT cardio sessions on recumbent bike. Did cardio a couple times a week and…

Appetite is tricky. I was never hungry while on the Vyvanse and I lost weight (because I wasn't eating enough and metabolism was raised a bit). Now, I'm off the Vyvanse and starving most of the time. But I'm sticking to 1900 cals a day because I want to gain slowly- a lb per month. Although I am going to raise cals again…

Thank you everyone for the kind words!

I'm doing Mike Matthews's Thinner, Leaner, Stronger program but I've altered it a little bit as I've progressed. Basically I lift weights 5 days a week (chest, legs, shoulders, arms, back). I do 3 warm-up sets followed by several heavy sets (in the 3-4 rep range) followed by several moderately heavy sets (in the 8-12 rep…

Yes, don't give up!!

Thanks guys! Yes it is definitely challenging to break away from the ingrained mentality of women needing to be skinny. There really aren't a ton of great role models out there in the movies and media. And there's a lot of lies in fitness mags and such. It wasn't until I came to MFP and specifically the 'women who bulk'…

I actually just posted my story, it's titled 'how weightlifting and gaining weight changed my life.' Part of my story is about how I was on Vyvanse (very similar to Adderall) and how taking it resulted in me dropping down to 97 pounds. I would highly suggest weightlifting- start off slow and work your way up. Also, find…

Thanks everyone for the kind words! :D

Shoulders can be difficult. For all my workouts, I do a few warm-up sets and then a few really heavy sets (only 3-4 reps). Then I follow that with some sets in the 7-10 range depending on what workout it is. So I would suggest lifting heavier and only do 3 or 4 reps for the first few sets after warm-ups.

I think staying at maintenance is a great plan. Can't wait to see your progress/post-bulk pics! Just from pics you've posted on your profile it looks like it was a really successful bulk.

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

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…

Hope you feel better! That's good that you're following up with doing bloodwork, always good to do. Good luck with the am workouts! I haven't been able to do that (except when I do cardio occasionally). I'm too much of a night person. But I have been going to bed earlier (getting 8-9 hrs of sleep) and it's helped me…

Still bulking...and it's going quite well. I've pretty much decided that this year is going to be all about the bulking- slow bulking. So about a pound per month. I really need to just continue building my strength and muscles and get my weight up, so that's what I'm going to do.

Great results and booty! Yeah I know what you mean about the filling out....mine is doing the same thing which is good because it used to be so flat

Thanks! :D

I guess the strength is in comparison to strength (or lack thereof) during cutting or even maintenance. Yes, I'm hoping to bulk for quite some time (6-12 months). Just going to see how it goes and hoping to bulk for as long as possible. 1 lb per month is the best way for me to go at this point. I think 2 lbs per month was…

I think it depends person to person. For me, too much sodium makes me extremely bloated (and feeling crappy in general). When I did my first bulk I was shooting for a 2 lb gain per month and I felt more bloated (especially towards the end). Mainly cause it was just way more food (and I hadn't really figured out the sodium…

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-…

Yeah I like the pants too! Thanks for the video. It helps to see others' form since I'm always questioning if my form is correct. Although I've definitely found that my balance is better if I keep my head down/look down. I guess it's personal preference?

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.

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…

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…

Nice! Yeah I love data too, so exciting to see the numbers reflect your progress :p

Welcome back! I'm also on my 2nd bulk and looking to make some glute progress. There's definitely some 'feeling fat' days here and there, but overall my mindset has changed dramatically- gotta put on some more mass!

So my back pain has spontaneously completely disappeared! No pain whatsoever. The best it's ever felt in my life. No more knife in the back pain while I'm washing dishes. My theory is that I'm finally developing considerable muscle that's helping my posture. More good news- my quads are developing! I noticed my left quad…

That's great for no back pain! I've been kind of worried about injuring my lower back since I've started to really increase the weight on my hip thrusts. It seems kind of tricky to get the glute activation and not have the lower back involved to some degree. I wouldn't worry about PRs (in terms of comparing them to others'…

Yeah it seems like straining the lower back is easy to do with hip thrusts. I've just recently started significantly increasing the weight on hip thrusts, but I'm going to be careful because I don't want to mess my lower back up (usually my upper back is where I have issues). I think a rest week would be a good idea and…

Thanks! Does your husband lift too and if so, does he do anything specific to compensate?

I just listened to this podcast and it's good- http://www.muscleforlife.com/reverse-dieting/ They talk about bulking/reverse dieting (from a nutrition standpoint). She has a book too-http://reversedietingbook.com/ although it's kind of expensive. There's really not much out there about bulking (from a workout or nutrition…