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pretend
04-10-2011, 10:08 AM
My most revealing pics yet! I figured I couldn't possibly be the goofiest looking entrant, so here's hoping not everyone makes me look bad :D


Physical Stats

Weight: 195 lbs
Height: 6'1"
BF: 15%
LBW: 166 lbs


Lifting Stats

1 rep maxes (calculated):

Back Squat: 262 lb
Chin Up: 249 lb
Deadlift: 333 lb
Incline Press: 144 lb


Contest Pictures - Initial (2010.04.10)

http://s3.postimage.org/mt9en84i4/nfsc_front_start.jpghttp://s3.postimage.org/fq1o680k6/nfsc_back_start.jpg


Workout Regime

Every other day, start with 20 mins moderate cardio, followed by weights. I'm following the Growth Stimulus Training (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121353501) program, and am a week in to my 3rd month (the weeks/months are 8/32 days for this). I udpate my Workout Journal (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=131565113) after each session.


Nutrition Protocol

I had actually decided to recalculate and bump up my intake 2 days before AA posted his initial thread seeking input. I was eating roughly at maintenance before, maybe a bit below. This is what I did (I'm finding it hard eating this much!):

BMR ~ 2000 kcal
Activity Factor ~ 1.5 (sit around all day at work, and at home, but I do walk places and do cardio plus bust my ass lifting 3.5 days per week)
Maintenance ~ 3000 kcal
Bulking ~ +500 kcal (roughly 17%)

Protein: 1.5 x LBM (166lb) ~ 250g
Fat: 100g
Carbs: 400g
Calories: 3500 kcal

I may bump up the fat and drop the carbs if I'm really having trouble stuffing my belly. I'll also try to keep an eye on weight and mirror chubbiness, and reduce the surplus if I feel it's needed. I guess the 2-month progress pics will be a good check point to solicit feedback as well.

I find it easiest and simplest to eat 4 equal-sized meals a day, which is what I have been doing, but I'm going to try splitting this higher intake up into 5 meals for the sake of my belly. They'll be roughly at:

8:00 - Breakfast
Pretty much always consists of oatmeal with fruit + scrambled eggs, with protein powder to hit macro. Sometimes on weekends I make french toast, and blow 2 meals worth of carbs in the form of maple syrup.

11:00 - Morning Snack
Will likely be protein shake + nuts + ??? carbs. Maybe I'll look into fitting a cinnamon bun in here... love those! This is the meal I'm adding in, but I tended to get hungry around this time anyways, so I'll add this and push back lunch.

14:00 - Lunch
Since I'm hopelessly lazy, and cook enough as it is, I usually eat out. Lots of places to choose from downtown, but often it's double-beef sukiyaki from Edo (I'd guess it's around 800 cal, since I don't eat all the rice -- vs their posted info).

19:00 - Post-Workout Supper
Often consists of steak/chicken/salmon + rice/quinoa/sweet potato/yam + some veggies. Admittedly, more often than not there are no veggies :(.

22:00 - Pre-Bed
Generally, bowl of cereal (multi-grain Cheerios now) and a protein shake with peanut butter and banana. Sometimes oatmeal cooked with milk and eggs, with protein powder added in, and nuts on the side.

Those will each be about 1/5 my daily macros, since I find that easier than keeping track as I go and having to play catch up or have to avoid something at the end of the day. Occasionally when I know I'm over- or under-doing it in some areas, I'll try to remember to compensate later. There's also no longer a PWO protein shake... that's being moved to morning snack, and made into a full meal.

I do not foresee me keeping a regular log of my eating. I don't have much trouble following this diet (we'll see at the higher daily intake), and don't really get cravings for junk food. At worst, if I'm really unmotivated or not hungry, I'll just have a liquid meal, and rarely I'll just skip one.

I don't weigh everything each time... I work out a meal with accurate macros the first time, and subsequent times it's more approximate. I figure it'll all balance out.


Relevant Supplements

Kirkland multivitamin, 1/day ($16 for a year, I'm sure it's great quality)
Cheap Supplements fish oil, 3/day (will be switching to NOW brand in a couple weeks when shipment arrives)
Cheap Supplements creatine monohydrate, 3-5g/day (just (re)started a week ago and done preloading it)
NOW whey isolate, as needed (next shipment is all whey/casein(/egg) blends, so I'll move away from WPI in a couple weeks -- yes it takes 2 weeks to get BB shipments to Canada)
Beer, as needed (hey, it helps hit calorie totals! To keep things simple I count 1 bottle as ~20g carbs)

Also, I will be experimenting with pre-WO supplements: White Flood, Superpump Max, and Animal Rage. I'm currently half way through my stim break (don't think I really needed it), and will start using these at that time.


Sleep

I'd guess an average of 6-7 hours total per night, occasionally less, rarely more. I usually wake up at least once. I don't see this improving until I can resist staying up late, and move to a place with fewer late night drunks, sirens, 2am street plows, and car dealership flood lights pointing in my windows.


Non-Contest Pictures

http://s1.postimage.org/5fie7frva/Side_2011_04_10_2.jpg
http://s3.postimage.org/j9nab9nso/Biceps_2011_04_10.jpg
http://s3.postimage.org/537mr41xe/Flexing_2011_04_10.jpg


So I don't forget:
Morning post-shower, pre-meal. Do your damn hair first next time.
Blinds closed, 2 lights by camera, flash, on dresser, sideways, no zoom.
Shrink 40%, crop.

pretend
04-10-2011, 10:14 AM
Also, if anyone does have any feedback regarding weak areas, I'd be happy to hear it. Until I have reason to believe otherwise, I'm just going with the assumption that I'm equally weak everywhere.

Just keep comments below the neck, and away from the shorts :p

pretend
04-11-2011, 07:12 PM
I'm finding it hard to hit 3500 calories (supper was hardest, still full from lunch). So I brought out my secret weapon: gin.

http://s4.postimage.org/erlcv3qj3/IMG_0280.jpg

200 cal martini (sans olive)

SideSteal
04-11-2011, 07:18 PM
Good luck with your progress!!

zstanton
04-11-2011, 07:35 PM
hmmm bulking on gin, though i hate it martini's in general are win ;D
so subbed
good luck LOL

pretend
04-11-2011, 10:43 PM
Haha thanks. It won't be a regular thing... but that would make for a much more interesting log!

pretend
04-12-2011, 09:27 AM
Gin-free Brunch:

http://s3.postimage.org/cu15j9wom/IMG_0282.jpg

4 slices of bread
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
vanilla
cinnamon
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 banana
50 mL maple syrup
2 scoops NOW whey

P: 97g
C: 163g
F: 43g

1427 cal

pretend
04-22-2011, 08:01 PM
Another lazy day, and I only managed ~2 meals before working out. That means there was 2k to go, and I was determined to not resort to straight liquor this time!

Approximate missing macros:

Protein: 123g
Carbs: 221g
Fat: 49g
Calories: 1817 kcal

Here's what I came up with:

9oz steak: 74g P, 0g C, 23g F
1 cup broccoli: 2g P, 4g C, 0g F
16 perogies: 28g P, 172g C, 16g F
3/4 scoop TruTein: 20g P, 4g C, 1g F
1 Amedei chocolate bar: 4g P, 24g C, 18g F

Total: 128g P, 204g C, 58g F (1850 kcal)

A bit high on fat, which is compensated by lower carbs, to hit total calories pretty close.

http://s2.postimage.org/2zzga04b9/IMG_0391.jpg

Seasoning includes: Montreal Steak Spices, Sriracha hot sauce, salt, pepper.

It's 9pm, and I'm less than half way done... ohnoes!


LOL receipt visible... this was the $12 bar. Easter treat!

pretend
04-22-2011, 09:02 PM
Uhhhh fat belly. I'm going to save the chocolate for another day when I can actually enjoy eating again. I'll have a handful of almonds and a glass of milk to roughly cover the difference.

pretend
06-01-2011, 08:52 AM
I figured I should post an update since my nutritional protocol has changed somewhat...

As of about a month ago, I'm no longer counting protein, fat or carbs. I've spent nearly a year doing that, and have a general idea of what's in the foods I eat. I feel reasonably confident that my food choices are getting me at least close to my target macros. I'm also not strictly following the meal timing I originally wrote out, but I tend to eat around those times anyways.

What I am doing is counting total calories to hit my 3500 kcal/day target. I usually eat whole foods, and don't shy away from meat and fat sources, so at least while bulking, protein and fat minimums should be getting hit most days.

I find this much easier than trying to balance 3 numbers, both from a mathematical perspective, and in simplifying meal choices. I no longer feel obligated to get 1/5 of each macro in each of 5 meals per day.

NordAK
06-01-2011, 10:08 AM
Subbed for the french toast pics.

pretend
06-14-2011, 08:44 PM
Mid-way Progress Pics - 2011.06.14

http://s2.postimage.org/9an49us3/nfsc_front_mid.jpghttp://s2.postimage.org/6qt4z3mv/nfsc_back_mid.jpg

Don't mind the sun burn. I'll be paying for it for a while...

Comments very welcome! Especially regarding caloric surplus, and any weak points I should devote some extra focus to.

pretend
06-15-2011, 03:51 PM
Weight chart over past 2 months (with linear trend line). It seems like I should be gaining faster than this, but I've put on enough fat as it is...

http://s3.postimage.org/n92n84wdr/weight_chart.jpg

pretend
08-15-2011, 07:36 PM
Supper of champions! Good tequila, mediocre frozen pizza. This was from a few weeks ago, forgot it was on my camera (for some reason).

http://s2.postimage.org/cz7ma0udp/pizza_tequila.jpg

Pizza: 2000 kcal
Tequila: Priceless

lovingit
08-15-2011, 08:13 PM
^looks like breakfast for me when I was in my 20s. :p

pretend
08-15-2011, 08:55 PM
Final status...

Physical Stats

Weight: 214 lbs (+19 lbs)
Height: 6'1" (same?!?)
BF: 21% (+6% oh my)
LBW: 169 lbs (+3 lbs)

I'm going to go with the assumption that the calipers aren't as accurate as I'd like to think. I find it hard to believe that I gained 16lbs of fat and only 3lbs of muscle. My belly is definitely bigger, but based on appearance and strength gains, I think the ratio is a lot better than 3:16.

http://s3.postimage.org/x13xv8e42/weight_chart_2.jpg

This translates into roughly 0.73 lbs/week of weight gain, which from what I understand is a reasonable rate to maintain.


Lifting Stats

1 rep maxes (calculated):

Back Squat: 302 lbs (+40 lbs)
Chin Up: 290 lb (+41 lbs)
Deadlift: 385 lb (+52 lbs)
Incline Press: 172 lb (+28 lbs)


Workout Regime

I stuck with the basically the same as I was doing 4 months ago in my Workout Journal (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=131565113).


Nutrition Protocol

I gave up on the fancy stuff... 3500 kcal per day with high protein/fat food choices as much as I can. 1-3 scoops of protein powder per day as needed/wanted.


Relevant Supplements

Multivitamin
Fish oil
Creatine monohydrate, 3-5g/day
Variety of protein blends...
Pre-WO supps that I rarely take anymore since they don't seem to do much.


Sleep

Still around 6-7 total, poor quality sleep hours per night. Sometimes less, rarely more.


Contest Pictures - Final (2010.08.15)

http://s1.postimage.org/9eozbmw5p/nfsc_front_end.jpghttp://s4.postimage.org/dchl0bold/nfsc_back_end.jpg


Non-Contest Pictures

http://s1.postimage.org/nl4v5h8hw/Biceps_2011_08_15_2.jpg
http://s1.postimage.org/5v3bj1wfg/Side_2011_08_15_2.jpg

pretend
08-15-2011, 08:57 PM
^looks like breakfast for me when I was in my 20s. :p

It's definitely fun to do now and then :D

pretend
08-15-2011, 08:59 PM
Maybe this will be easier to compare...

Front

start ----------------------------------------------------------------> end
http://s3.postimage.org/mt9en84i4/nfsc_front_start.jpg http://s1.postimage.org/9eozbmw5p/nfsc_front_end.jpg



Back

start -------------------------------------------------------------> end
http://s3.postimage.org/fq1o680k6/nfsc_back_start.jpg http://s4.postimage.org/dchl0bold/nfsc_back_end.jpg

zhall616
08-15-2011, 09:09 PM
definitely a big size change in your legs!

braggable
08-17-2011, 04:36 PM
I see good size added to your delts, lats and legs for sure. Some BF, but def not a lot. Great work!

pretend
08-18-2011, 07:10 AM
Thanks for the support!