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LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 2:12 pm
I am in the first week of bulking. Last week, I was 178.2 lbs, after dropping from 194 on 09/23. I am eating about 2600 calories, with 300 g of protein and 250 g of carbs. I eat 6 meals a day.

For the last few days, I was hovering about 180/181 lbs. I woke up this morning, and I was 178.6 lbs! What the heck! I realize I'm only in week 1, but is this a normal sign, or should I not be so concerned until next week? I just want to make sure I'm doing this right.

SailinScotty
11-25-09, 2:14 pm
I am in the first week of bulking. Last week, I was 178.2 lbs, after dropping from 194 on 09/23. I am eating about 2600 calories, with 300 g of protein and 250 g of carbs. I eat 6 meals a day.

For the last few days, I was hovering about 180/181 lbs. I woke up this morning, and I was 178.6 lbs! What the heck! I realize I'm only in week 1, but is this a normal sign, or should I not be so concerned until next week? I just want to make sure I'm doing this right.

Try upping your calories by 500. If that doesnt work do another 500.

ghost
11-25-09, 2:15 pm
what you need to remember, is at the start of any CLEAN bulk, you will see a loss, because of a drop in bodyfat. keep at it, the results will show.

C.Coronato
11-25-09, 2:17 pm
Whats the diet looking like brother?

BBWifey
11-25-09, 3:14 pm
If you're on a diet by Rage.. don't worry.. With the increase in meals and clean food, you metabolism is goona shoot up and you'll start dropping body fat.. That's a good thing. Keep up with the workouts and keep adding weight. Make sure to stay away from cardio, that's a no bueno on a bulk....

Good luck to you, sounds like you're gonna put on mass just fine

Oh.. and don't weigh yourself everyday. Best thing to do is get a hydrostatic test to see where you're at.

intoodeep25
11-25-09, 3:44 pm
ya man keep away from the scale and just check with the mirror. i dont weigh myself for months at a time most of the time.

LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 5:51 pm
Whats the diet looking like brother?

330 AM - 1 cup oatmeal (Pre-workout
6 AM 8 ounce top sirloin, 10 ounce yam
9 AM Protein shake, carb shake
12 PM - 8 ounce chicken breast, 1 cup rice
3 PM - Protein shake, carb shake
7 PM - 8 ounce chicken breast, 10 ounce yam, medium salad with (2) tablespoons of fat free Thousand Island dressing

(1) Gallon of water per day

LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 5:54 pm
If you're on a diet by Rage.. don't worry.. With the increase in meals and clean food, you metabolism is goona shoot up and you'll start dropping body fat.. That's a good thing. Keep up with the workouts and keep adding weight. Make sure to stay away from cardio, that's a no bueno on a bulk....

Good luck to you, sounds like you're gonna put on mass just fine

Oh.. and don't weigh yourself everyday. Best thing to do is get a hydrostatic test to see where you're at.

Thanks! It's killing me, but I'm one of the few who love cardio....so not doing it is hard for me. This being the case, I have been good and haven't done any cardio since starting the diet.

The_Legacy
11-25-09, 6:46 pm
Weight always gos up and down if you stayed 178 for 3 or 4 days straight thats when you know somethings wrong.

intoodeep25
11-25-09, 7:07 pm
im not sayin this to be a D but at 178 its time to up the cals big time and try and pack on some serious size. eat like its your job

LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 8:49 pm
im not sayin this to be a D but at 178 its time to up the cals big time and try and pack on some serious size. eat like its your job

Hey Brother.....no worries. I was a 209 fat ass in February. I had shoulder surgery on March 2nd, and had my ass in the gym, physical therapy and ran 4 miles a day (and I'm slow, so it took about 50 minutes!). I figured since I got injured on duty and was off of work for 3 months, I could either sit my ass on the couch and fiddle the dorsal fin, or work out like a mo' fo. I dropped the weight and now I want to get back to 200 lbs., but of solid muscle. I know, I know.....178 is sickening. However, I do like the feeling of not lugging around all that fat!

Pizzalamp
11-25-09, 9:56 pm
try adding in some good fats like nuts, peanut butter, olive oil, advocdoes...theyre an easy way to get xtra cals in your diet
178 is fine-nothing to be ashamed of...just add the pounds on slow...what im doing now is focusing on getting stronger in the gym each workout, and making sure im eating enough to fuel my workouts...but not overdoing it...i stopped caring about the scale...every now and then ill check to make sure im on the right track...get the numbers on the scale out of your mind...so what if u never make it to 200lbs...if you just give it your all every day and do the best you can do, then job well done...keep up the running and the cardio...you dont want to a perma bulker who stuffs his face all the time and thinks his bodyfat is 12% when its really 20% and avoids cardio becasue he thinks he will lose muscle...gotta take care of the heart
congrats on the weight loss too

Hey Brother.....no worries. I was a 209 fat ass in February. I had shoulder surgery on March 2nd, and had my ass in the gym, physical therapy and ran 4 miles a day (and I'm slow, so it took about 50 minutes!). I figured since I got injured on duty and was off of work for 3 months, I could either sit my ass on the couch and fiddle the dorsal fin, or work out like a mo' fo. I dropped the weight and now I want to get back to 200 lbs., but of solid muscle. I know, I know.....178 is sickening. However, I do like the feeling of not lugging around all that fat!

intoodeep25
11-25-09, 10:02 pm
congrats on losin all that fat man. all i was saying that for is i hear way too many people talking about clean bulks and all this nonsense. they eat 5-6 meals, and even those meals arent anything major. get in 7/8/9 meals a day (whole food). eat till you think "i can not possibly take another bite or its all gonna come up", and watch yourself pack on the mass

LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 10:17 pm
try adding in some good fats like nuts, peanut butter, olive oil, advocdoes...theyre an easy way to get xtra cals in your diet
178 is fine-nothing to be ashamed of...just add the pounds on slow...what im doing now is focusing on getting stronger in the gym each workout, and making sure im eating enough to fuel my workouts...but not overdoing it...i stopped caring about the scale...every now and then ill check to make sure im on the right track...get the numbers on the scale out of your mind...so what if u never make it to 200lbs...if you just give it your all every day and do the best you can do, then job well done...keep up the running and the cardio...you dont want to a perma bulker who stuffs his face all the time and thinks his bodyfat is 12% when its really 20% and avoids cardio becasue he thinks he will lose muscle...gotta take care of the heart
congrats on the weight loss too

Thanks for the encouragement and yeah, I should get the numbers out of my head for right now!

LivinTheDream
11-25-09, 10:18 pm
congrats on losin all that fat man. all i was saying that for is i hear way too many people talking about clean bulks and all this nonsense. they eat 5-6 meals, and even those meals arent anything major. get in 7/8/9 meals a day (whole food). eat till you think "i can not possibly take another bite or its all gonna come up", and watch yourself pack on the mass

I have heard whole food will always be better than protein and carb shakes. I have been told the shakes are for convenience only. I am sure there may be some nutrients in the shakes you can't get from food.

intoodeep25
11-25-09, 11:06 pm
ya man whole foods are the way to go for sure. a shake is not a meal. only time i use a shake (real gains) is 30 mins after my torrent post workout, followed by a whole food meal 30 minutes later. i may also use a RG shake now and again in between my meals, just for added calories.

shizz702
11-25-09, 11:35 pm
You need to up the cals bro, I'd up it at least 3k, preferably 3500.

Typically your bodyweight x20 is how many cals you should opt for on a bulk.

Muscleguy93
11-25-09, 11:41 pm
drink more milk. Let me tell you, milk is every bulking bodybuilders friend.

Kryptonite
11-25-09, 11:46 pm
I'm not surprised you're not gaining weight. You're not eating enough. In fact... You're way off. I eat double what you eat on a daily basis and I only weigh 155 (I was 140 less than a month ago eating 2x what you are now) and I still stay extremely lean for being on a bulk/mass diet. If you want to make impressive gains you have to eat clean/healthy foods and a lot of 'em! Eat up, bro. You are what you eat, so eat big!

I suggest starting at 4,000 calories for your first week and if you don't gain at least 2 lbs, up it to 4,500. Don't be scared of fat either! Eat at least 100g or more every day. I eat a monounsaturated fat source every meal and am very confident it is one of the reasons I don't gsin rificulous amounts of body fat while bulking.

Kryptonite
11-25-09, 11:52 pm
drink more milk. Let me tell you, milk is every bulking bodybuilders friend.

I agree 100%! If you can, buy a gallon of 1% milk every day and drink 2 cups every 3 hours with your meals until it's all gone. Then tell us how shocked you are you lost weight on a "bulk" that's practically under your necessary caloric intake. If you can't do that try to aim for at least 4 cups (1/4 gallon) per day. It'll make a difference if you're not drinking any.

Kryptonite
11-26-09, 12:00 am
I have heard whole food will always be better than protein and carb shakes. I have been told the shakes are for convenience only. I am sure there may be some nutrients in the shakes you can't get from food.

The ONLY thing in protein powder that you won't find in whole foods is chemicals. I am sure there ARE 99% of nutrients in whole foods that you will NEVER get from protein powder. If it wasn't the fact it's easy to get down and digests quickly, I would never drink it. I am a defender of whole foods... Haha

LivinTheDream
11-26-09, 7:35 am
You need to up the cals bro, I'd up it at least 3k, preferably 3500.

Typically your bodyweight x20 is how many cals you should opt for on a bulk.


I'm not surprised you're not gaining weight. You're not eating enough. In fact... You're way off. I eat double what you eat on a daily basis and I only weigh 155 (I was 140 less than a month ago eating 2x what you are now) and I still stay extremely lean for being on a bulk/mass diet. If you want to make impressive gains you have to eat clean/healthy foods and a lot of 'em! Eat up, bro. You are what you eat, so eat big!

I suggest starting at 4,000 calories for your first week and if you don't gain at least 2 lbs, up it to 4,500. Don't be scared of fat either! Eat at least 100g or more every day. I eat a monounsaturated fat source every meal and am very confident it is one of the reasons I don't gsin rificulous amounts of body fat while bulking.

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to have to research this more, or maybe I am misinterpreting what you guys are telling me. Respectfully, I believe you are right about raising the calories for bulking, but in my particular situation, I believe this would be a disaster.

I can't see my body making a good adjustment going from a 1400 calorie diet right into a 4000 or 4500 calorie diet. I figured I would take baby steps, such as what I've done....1400, 2500-2600. I was shooting for my next target being 3200 and so forth. I know my end result will be in the range you are talking about, but somethings telling me jumping calories that quick and that high will not put muscle on me, but rather fat. Since I can't possibly workout and rest (thus building muscle during rest) at the same rate as the calories I would be taking in, muscle definately wont be built quickly to support those amount of calories. Or am I missing something here?

I hope you can respect the fact I'm asking questions and actually taking in the information you are giving me......please don't look at it as me arguing with those giving me advice.

Pizzalamp
11-26-09, 7:52 am
just add the calories in nice and slow...pay attention to your energy and the mirror and adjust as u feel is necessary...if u feel like u need more carbs because youre low on energy, add some extra carbs in, etc

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to have to research this more, or maybe I am misinterpreting what you guys are telling me. Respectfully, I believe you are right about raising the calories for bulking, but in my particular situation, I believe this would be a disaster.

I can't see my body making a good adjustment going from a 1400 calorie diet right into a 4000 or 4500 calorie diet. I figured I would take baby steps, such as what I've done....1400, 2500-2600. I was shooting for my next target being 3200 and so forth. I know my end result will be in the range you are talking about, but somethings telling me jumping calories that quick and that high will not put muscle on me, but rather fat. Since I can't possibly workout and rest (thus building muscle during rest) at the same rate as the calories I would be taking in, muscle definately wont be built quickly to support those amount of calories. Or am I missing something here?

I hope you can respect the fact I'm asking questions and actually taking in the information you are giving me......please don't look at it as me arguing with those giving me advice.

Kryptonite
11-26-09, 8:06 am
Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to have to research this more, or maybe I am misinterpreting what you guys are telling me. Respectfully, I believe you are right about raising the calories for bulking, but in my particular situation, I believe this would be a disaster.

I can't see my body making a good adjustment going from a 1400 calorie diet right into a 4000 or 4500 calorie diet. I figured I would take baby steps, such as what I've done....1400, 2500-2600. I was shooting for my next target being 3200 and so forth. I know my end result will be in the range you are talking about, but somethings telling me jumping calories that quick and that high will not put muscle on me, but rather fat. Since I can't possibly workout and rest (thus building muscle during rest) at the same rate as the calories I would be taking in, muscle definately wont be built quickly to support those amount of calories. Or am I missing something here?

I hope you can respect the fact I'm asking questions and actually taking in the information you are giving me......please don't look at it as me arguing with those giving me advice.

I was doing the same thing, bro. Starving myself to lose body fat. When I truely realized I was doing this I upped the calories from 2,600-4,500 in one day's notice. It did not make me fat, in fact I looked bigger in that one day! How could this happen in one day? The excess nutrients were actually being absorbed anabolically, rather then the low amount all being absorbed metabolically, and actually filled my muscles to their potentialthe way they should have been for months.

You shouldn't have been surprised you didn't gain any weight if you were going to bring your calories much higher than 2,600 before you made this thread. And I don't think you'll gain any body fat from a clean bulk diet in a day. But you will you up in weight 3-5 lbs because of the large amounts of water weight you will gain from the carbs. Don't be afraid of a little fat. It's winter anyway, bro. We're all supposed to be fat in the winter!

I, personally, wouldn't ruin myself for any longer than you have now. But if you want to bring up the calories slowly, go for it.

Good luck with everything.

J Wong
11-26-09, 10:47 am
you dont want to a perma bulker who stuffs his face all the time and thinks his bodyfat is 12% when its really 20% and avoids cardio becasue he thinks he will lose muscle...gotta take care of the heart
congrats on the weight loss too


SO TRUE

prowrestler
11-26-09, 11:05 am
bulking on 2600 cals.....

problem found

Kryptonite
11-26-09, 12:07 pm
bulking on 2600 cals.....

problem found

Pro has spoken and once again all questions are answered with a just few words.

LivinTheDream
11-26-09, 4:17 pm
just add the calories in nice and slow...pay attention to your energy and the mirror and adjust as u feel is necessary...if u feel like u need more carbs because youre low on energy, add some extra carbs in, etc


I was doing the same thing, bro. Starving myself to lose body fat. When I truely realized I was doing this I upped the calories from 2,600-4,500 in one day's notice. It did not make me fat, in fact I looked bigger in that one day! How could this happen in one day? The excess nutrients were actually being absorbed anabolically, rather then the low amount all being absorbed metabolically, and actually filled my muscles to their potentialthe way they should have been for months.

You shouldn't have been surprised you didn't gain any weight if you were going to bring your calories much higher than 2,600 before you made this thread. And I don't think you'll gain any body fat from a clean bulk diet in a day. But you will you up in weight 3-5 lbs because of the large amounts of water weight you will gain from the carbs. Don't be afraid of a little fat. It's winter anyway, bro. We're all supposed to be fat in the winter!

I, personally, wouldn't ruin myself for any longer than you have now. But if you want to bring up the calories slowly, go for it.

Good luck with everything.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I can see both sides of the fence....from taking it slow to the absorption anabolically versus metabolically. WOW....I never thought about that one! You gave me something to look into for my own knowledge!

Now.....since it is Thanksgiving.......I will go for about 9000 calories here when dinner is served!!!!!

LayzieBone085
11-26-09, 4:32 pm
just add the calories in nice and slow...pay attention to your energy and the mirror and adjust as u feel is necessary...if u feel like u need more carbs because youre low on energy, add some extra carbs in, etc

Bingo, dont jump to 4000+ right away, let the body adjust, and slowly add in 100-200 calories a week and gradually make your way up there.

You have plenty of time to add in the calories and you are not in a RACE to add them back in. let the metabolism adjust and let the body get used to the amount of calories before you try to force feed yourself.

Slow and Steady wins the race. BODYBUILDING IS A MARATHON not a SPRINT... remember that.

Best wishes in recovery.

prowrestler
11-26-09, 4:49 pm
Pro has spoken and once again all questions are answered with a just few words.

i am the "pro" for a reason
lmao

Kryptonite
11-26-09, 5:12 pm
Thanks everyone for the responses. I can see both sides of the fence....from taking it slow to the absorption anabolically versus metabolically. WOW....I never thought about that one! You gave me something to look into for my own knowledge!

Now.....since it is Thanksgiving.......I will go for about 9000 calories here when dinner is served!!!!!

That's how ya' do it, bro!

Happy Thanksgiving!