maruby95 Member

Yeah...I hear you on the time. I think I'm going to make my 4th day Saturday and keep my M-W-F weekday gym time steady. Really don't know how else to fit it in. Wendler says you can do his program 3 days a week, but that means you do each workout every 9-10 days instead of every week, which seems like not such a great idea…

Feeling squishy and soft today..yuck :(. I've decided to switch from SL 5x5 to 5/3/1. I've been doing 5x5 or 3x5 since Jan and I'm getting tired of such tiny progress (one rep or one kilo . Time to move on :). I've really only ever done full body workouts so the 4 day split it will probably take some getting used to. But…

You're looking fantastic! Keep up the good work!

Thanks Karen- great reminder!!! Needed it :0.

Week 3: Oct 21-27 Average burn: 1754 Calorie Goal: 1800 Ave calorie intake: 1823 Average wt: 106.7 (up .1 from last week and .8 from start) Lifted 3 times, walked 5 days. Lifts went up by either reps or weight each session, with several PRs :). Yeah! I think my average weight was brought up from my weekend which included…

^^ I totally hear you on the scale obsession. I'm so terrified of over-doing it, I am keeping daily track, which tempts me to make constant changes. So I'm trying not to make any changes or decisions until at least my officially weekly weigh-in. Even that is probably too frequent. Before I started this bulk, I had read…

Do you mean you manually add 250 calories for 45 minutes of lifting? Just clarifying...

Hi Sonya. Thanks for this. Couple of questions: when you were maintaining on 1600-1700 were you lifting then? And how did you come up with 250-300 extra cals from lifting? I honestly don't even take lifting into account in my TDEE because when I log it FitBit (or MFP) gives me like 5 additional calories burned, or…

Hi Sarah. Thanks for the reply. I think a flat number will definetly be best for my mental health in this process :0. I have always trusted my FitBit because so far if I eat at about my TDEE according to it, I maintain, so it must not be too far off. I'm 5'3", 105 lbs, and about 19% BF, and 41 years old- which doesn't give…

I agree. I do plot my weight daily and it appears that over the last 3 weeks it has stayed fairly stable, with the normal fluctuations of course. But when I'm aiming for a 2 lb gain in a month, I would really expect to see a big upward trend anyway. Just a slow and steady small increase. In theory anyway. Or maybe it tends…

Don't have 'em (seriously, I'm a 32 A on a good day), never did, don't really want 'em. At this point, it just feels like who I am. Doesn't bother me so I wouldn't ever get implants. And I agree about the muscle-y chest look...I like it. On the other hand, it has occurred to me that having bigger boobs would probably help…

Oh, sweet Jess!! What a brave young woman you are! Thanks for sharing your heart. Blessings on your recovery!

Hi all. This is my first bulk, and I'm a nervous wreck about it :0. Hoping I can stick it out, as I REALLY want to gain some LBM. As of 10/18/13 1. Starting weight. 106 2. Bulk goal weight. Not sure. Maybe 110-115 3. Maintenance calories. 1700 4. Bulk calories. 1700-2000? Upping slowly until I reach .5lb/ week gain 5. Bulk…

Thanks SS! I would love to have some suggestions about how to balance my routnie better.

Yes, I do have access to a gym. As for specific areas- it all needs work :0. But I will say it seems I have below average leg strength for a woman. To this point, I have really just been trying to use compound lifts thinking this would give me the most balance and 'bang for my buck.' But I am totally open to suggestions!

I said those workouts take me 15 minutes- that was a typo- they take 45 minutes. Sorry.

Just thinking of your chips reading this thread :). Glad you piped up. And I agree...praying them makes them better!!!

In to follow. I've been wanting to bulk for a while, but am not confident in my ability to do so well. I just don't know how much lifting volume is ideal for gains without overtraining. Eager to watch someone bulk well :).

THIS! In recovery myself (and not for the first time). Absolutely- eat whatever sounds good to you. Don't worry about the macros etc *for right now*. Not forever, but for now, the most important thing is to get adequate calories, in whatever form you can manage. Fine tuning comes later. Blessings on your recovery!!

Yes, ok. That makes sense. Thanks!

I totally understand that's it's a grey area. Thanks for the feedback. I'm pretty much eating at maintenance or a bit higher (with vacation plus my decreased activity), so a large deficit isn't an issue. I will try to focus on getting 2-3 full body sessions in per week, even if at a lower intensity that I was doing before.…

Interested!!!

Thanks, SS! I do hear what you are saying about it being a moving target. As for the food and fluid weight, I would have thought those sorts of variables would get washed out in looking at the trend. For example, if I saw a drastic gain one day (for me that might be 2 lbs), I knew it was most likely food/ fluid. That's why…

Love, love, love this post!! Congratulations on your success so far. And for what it's worth, I wasn't at all 'scared' by your pictures. You have a beautiful smile and a positive, grateful attitude which is very attractive in my opinion. I can see why your husbadn thinks the world of you :). And on that note, can I tell…

^^ I agree with everything that has been said above. You need professional help immediately. As someone who has been in your exact same situation, I understand how hard that will be for you. Although maybe you are starting to see the need for change? Even once you are ready to change, it will be hard work, and I agree with…

I find the bigger problem with wine (and any other alcohol) is not necessarily the calories in the wine, but the lack of self-control that comes with the glass of wine. A glass or 2 of wine is followed by a few cookies, chocolate, a few handfuls of nuts or some cheese. The alcohol totally "loosens my grip" in terms of food…

Thanks! I hope so. Grip strength has definetly been a limiting factor. And my gym has these awful fat diameter bars that just make it worst. Ugh.

Yes- that's what I have been doing. Granted, the 3x10 are at a lower weight and are SL vs normal. But by the time I'm done, I'm pretty trashed. Too much?

Yes- good suggestion. I have averaged 1850 before without any significant gain, which is why it's my goal. Just don't always get there. But I have considered going even higher to see what I can get away with. I guess if it's too much, it would just count as a 'bulk' ;).

My average intake over the last 30 days has been 1760 (with the goal being my average TDEE of 1850- per FitBit). My weight has stayed steady at 103-105 depending on training and diet of course. Protein goal is 106 and I almost always get at least 100, sometimes up to 120. So at the moment I'm eating those calories at 1600…