__freckles__ Member

I was in the same boat. Met goal weight and wasn't happy. I also have stubborn fat areas, but if I lost anymore weight with how my body composition was at the time, it wasn't going to look good. So I decided to bulk for a couple of months and build muscle. Then I did a cutting period. My body composition was a million…

OP, you make me sad.

Yeah I live in LA. No need for either. Glad you enjoyed your tacos though. ;)

Great idea! Your chart looks great and really does show that your bulk is working. Good job! Did you just plug all your numbers into MFP and use the reports tab? I'd be interested in transferring my weights and seeing it on a chart as well. As it is now, I just record it every morning old school style on my calendar. But I…

Well you know my position on fats. It's like going over on protein. I don't worry about it. I hit my minimum goal for each and anything over is gravy. Interested to see what others say. I see so many people on MFP trying to hit their macro percentages exactly and i'd love to hear their reasoning behind it. Unless you…

Meh, she actually went into more detail and asked more questions. I wouldn't consider this a double post.

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/building-muscle.php http://strengthunbound.com/bulking-complete-guide-for-beginners/ Good info for you to consider.

Sigh...I love cutting clothes. I am slowly transitioning into bulking ones. Bye bye to all the cute fricken tight skirts I bought over the summer! See you on the flip side!

Patience my friend. You need to eat at your target goal first for a few weeks before getting upset. Also weight gain, like weight loss, is not linear. It's gonna go up and down every day. The overall trend is what's important. Might I suggest only weighing yourself once a week if the little changes bother you?

Hooooooooooooooootz. I love high waisted anything. ;)

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…

I gained 2 pounds this week. Stupid water weight. OP - if you gained 2.86 pounds (had to use a calc) in a week, only about 0.5 could be muscle. So yeah, it's water weight.

There are no "bad" foods. Just keep repeating that to yourself and enjoy your creamer.

I agree.

Can you adopt me? I'd love for you to make all my meals and log them too. Because I work full time with a 2 hour commute every day, have 2 kids under the age of 4, a house to clean, laundry, workout 3 times a week, etc, etc, etc. So that would be awesome. Thanks. As it is, I still find the time to log my food even when my…

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

I'm not into beards. Side burns though, that's good stuff.

You have to consider you had a 1200 calorie day last week. So remember to view everything in averages. What was your average calorie intake for last week and compare that to your maintenance.

Reps and sets really depend on the program you are following. If you are doing Stronglifts, stick with the 5x5 plan. You can still increase strength without building muscle (sounds weird, but it's true) due to neural adaptations. Once you get down to your ideal body weight then you can focus on building muscle and start…

You said you never had luck building muscle while decreasing weight - that's because it's pretty much impossible to build muscle while eating a calorie deficit. Only exceptions are beginners, obese peeps and those using steroids. Only way to build muscle is to eat a calorie surplus and gain weight. If you're looking to…

If you're looking to build your glutes up, I highly recommend hip thrusts and glute bridges. Strong Curves uses some great lower body only lifts. Check it out. In fact there's a lower only program starting on page 26, but you can look at the other programs for ideas as well.…

Yup, it's normal, but you have to try really hard not to counter your fat feelings with low calorie days. That won't get you anywhere. You can't build muscle eating a deficit of calories, so you need to put those feelings on the back burner and eat!

Oh wow, then you just have a high TDEE! I've seen upwards of 3K for bulking but usually in women that have been at this a while. You are lucky, but I can see how it would get old to eat that much every day. I might have said it somewhere else, but liquid calories are your friend. Drink a glass of milk/juice/whatever with…

Random thought: this second bulk, for me, is like having my second baby. LOL. I'm so much more relaxed and at ease with the whole process. With my first bulk I was freaking out about weight gain, bloat, omg how many calories should I eat, what program should I use, are my macros correct, etc. But with this bulk I'm just…

Whoa, I just realized you said your maintenance is 2900-3100! Are you sure that's correct? I'm just asking because you mentioned you were sick of eating all that time and man, you weren't kidding if you're eating 3200 every day! It just sounds high for someone that is your height/weight. You are breastfeeding, so that…

You can still bulk doing lower body. Heck, my entire bulk is focused on my lower half. As I said in my wall post - if I were you, I'd keep your calories the same. You are just freaking out, which happens to most of us when we start bulking. Stay the course - get strong - and keep bulking!

How do I say this so it sounds PC? Ah, screw it. If I hadn't discovered weight lifting, I would be forever stuck in skinny fat hell. I've been lifting for a little over a year. 3-4 times per week using Strong Curves. My body looks better than it did before going through 3 pregnancies, and I owe it all to heavy lifting.

Only read the TLDR. I don't comment on anyone's weight. If they ask, I'll help. Other than that, it's none of my business.

I get that eating 2100 feels like a lot. But you still need to eat more. Liquid calories are your friend. Drink an extra glass of whole milk with a scoop of protein powder and that's easily 250 calories right there. I have bulked eating 2600 calories and know women that have eaten upwards of 3,000. You can find a way if…

Hey welcome back!! Glad you're giving it a second go. I think everyone's first bulk is just trial and error, and by the time we get around to our second bulk we know enough to fine tune things. I hear you on the busy schedule and trying to fit it all in. I feel overwhelmed sometimes and figure all I can do is give it my…