-
Leveling Off
Right up front, I know the answer is "Increase your intake by another 100 calories and see if that does it. If not, do it again." Cool, okay, that's out of the way. So why is it that when you're bulking, the body seems to reach out and absorb a higher portion of extra calories than you'd expect. I'm definitely leveling off…
-
Liquid Bulk
Getting two crowns on Wednesday. That means I need 3,000 calories of stuff I can't chew tomorrow. Milkshakes? Of course. And then nagging hunger in the five hour windows between milkshakes. And *kitten* up macros. And then of course, *kitten* dental work.
-
When a Bulk Become a Recomp
So I'm weighing, checking numbers, all that, and something occurs to me. Suppose you miss your goal for the day, or you've got the wrong surplus dialed in for a week. The scale stalls. Does that mean your "bulk" has turned into either the leanest cleanest slowest bulk ever or you've basically downgraded briefly to a…
-
Bulking, by the numbers
So, my FitBit gives me a handy average daily intake/expenditure graph. It's overestimating the calories burned by a little bit, but my 30 day average is finally at a surplus: It's a minor, of course, but the bulk only comprises 20something of those days. Anyway, I expect that number to creep upwards as the 30 day sample…
-
Direct Ab Work
I hear, "Just do compound lifts" and not to bother with direct ab work. That's fine, I guess, but I'm not talking about crunches -- what about the really hard stuff? Wall planks, standing ab wheel rollouts, L-Sits. Certainly those are of benefit?
-
Split leg/Pistol/Shrimp Squats
Of my three workout days, one happens at home. It's a scheduling thing - there really isn't any way around it at the moment. I'm pretty happy with the different upper body exercises that rely on bodyweight, but other than regular squats I haven't really found any good ones for the legs. Are wall sits viable? Should I be…
-
Micro-Cuts while Bulking?
I know cutting isn't gaining weight, but I'm asking the question in the context of gaining weight. Do you guys advocate it? If so, what's a good target rate for how long? Is it appropriate to knock three pounds off in the middle of a longer bulking cycle?
-
Using MFP settings?
is it unreasonable to set the MFP goal to "+.5 lbs." and just roll with that?
-
Eggs vs. Egg Whites
Is it ever worth discarding the yolk? It's got half the protein. Even on a cut I'd think whole eggs are preferred…
-
Hardgainers
I'm barely qualified to speak on this subject so let me just say that based on my very few days at attempting a moderate bulk, I think I know what's happening with hardgainers. And this is backed up by the stickied thread in this section so I'm hardly covering new ground either. It's so much food to eat! If I had been thin…
-
Fractional Plates
I picked up a set of 8 1/2lb. plates from Amazon. They're great! There's just enough there to get you to the next 2.5lb. plate if you can't quite make it there. They're useful on the bench press and overhead press, especially. It's also nice to set a personal record every week even after things start getting heavy. I…
-
Cutting Gets Easier?
I ran numbers, based on some conservative estimates of what I could gain in terms of fat and muscle. To get back down to pre-bulk BF%, I would have to lose less weight. So is that the key to the nonchalant attitude regarding "meh just cut down afterwards"? The fact that with more lean mass, you can cut on more calories and…
-
Calories WTF I don't even...
Crossed over to here from Livestrong after I got my FitBit. Tried losing weight at 1900. Tried losing weight at 1890. Tried losing weight at 1700. All were met with moderate success but somewhere in the neighborhood of nine pounds over four months. Nothing earth-shattering. My energy levels were shot, I said "Screw it…
-
Doin' it
I'm bumping up my daily goal by 200 calories. That, with post training curds and whey and the inevitable weekend indiscretions, should tip me towards a very slight surplus. I'm pretty excited. And then if I've totally wrecked things in two months then... I know how to fix it.
-
Time for a break?
I'm trying the whole leangains average weekly calories thing and I'm really struggling. Eating slightly under maintenance on training days and eating well below maintenance on rest days is arduous. My energy is sapped. I was having a hard time at 1800/day (more on workout days). I've lost weight before -- and I usually…
-
Can't cut any more -- time to bulk?
I'm at about 12% BF; I wanted to get down to 10 but I don't think I can swing it. Time to bulk for a little bit and try again? My lifts are all kind of stalling too, or at least just grinding along very slowly.
-
How Much Whey?
I get it, whole foods. That's great! But I still have a hard time getting enough protein, especially when I'm looking at a low calorie day. Two scoops is probably fine, right? I'm also hitting up chicken and tuna and cottage cheese and greek yogurt and all those other good, non-powdered forms of lean protein.
-
FitBit Margin of Error
I posted this in the FitBit usergroup but I thought it would be of general interest to people using activity trackers and questioning their sanity. Okay, I've given the Charge HR a chance for about three months now. That's generated a decent amount of data. I've known pretty much since day one that it's over-estimating…
-
FitBit Margin of Error Calculated
Okay, I've given the Charge HR a chance for about three months now. That's generated a decent amount of data. I've known pretty much since day one that it's over-estimating calorie burn but I hadn't known by how much. The Method I've been doing bodyfat measurements regularly and eating at what I think is a deficit. That's…
-
Severe Anxiety
I'm 6'0" 192#. I'm losing at about 1890/day, which all calculators tell me is too little. I'm totally paralyzed at the notion of changing something and failing, somehow. The notion of switching to a bulk also blows my mind. Help
-
When did you switch?
So I'm finding that losing the last ten pounds or so has been a bit of a grind, especially since I' more interested in fat loss. I'm not going to look any different two pounds from now. My question is, when do you decide that you've reached your maintenance weight? How many consecutive weigh-ins over what period of time…
-
Mental Fatigue
I was cooking a week's worth of chicken breasts and boiling eggs and prepping today's breakfast smoothie and programming today's meals to hit my macros and I was suddenly hit with the reality that I'm going to have to keep doing this. And that's a heavy burden. I'd like to return to a life, even briefly, where I don't have…
-
6' 0" Male Deficit; Maintenance Calories
Okay, I've seen all the calculators online. I'm 31 -- I'm definitely not losing at 2100 a day or 2200 a day or whatever ends up getting recommended for moderate weight loss for a desk job guy who is active 3x a week. In hindsight, it seems kind of foolish to assume the computer could account for every person's unique…