Bulking paranoia-how do you know if you did it right?

[oregonchick76]

A little history-

I started a diet last spring at 130 lbs and probably close to 28% bodyfat. I dieted down the way so many of us think we're supposed to. I ate between 1000-1200 calories with one refeed per week. Not surprisingly, I lost a lot of weight! And a LOT of muscle! I started out this year at 118.

I came to this board and started reading and realized the reason i STILL didn't look good at 118 was because I was skinny-fat. I started to lift heavy and eat at a slight caloric surplus. Since January I've gained 8 lbs- around 1/2 lb per week. I will bulk until the end of June and then start working on cutting.

My question is, how does a person know if they did a good job on their bulk? I mean, I'm stronger. My gain was relatively slow. But how do I know I gained a good ratio of muscle to fat?

My biggest fear is to find out that 10lbs heavier I gained 2lbs muscle and 8 lbs fat or something.

[Freak4Fitness]

A little history-

I started a diet last spring at 130 lbs and probably close to 28% bodyfat. I dieted down the way so many of us think we're supposed to. I ate between 1000-1200 calories with one refeed per week. Not surprisingly, I lost a lot of weight! And a LOT of muscle! I started out this year at 118.

I came to this board and started reading and realized the reason i STILL didn't look good at 118 was because I was skinny-fat. I started to lift heavy and eat at a slight caloric surplus. Since January I've gained 8 lbs- around 1/2 lb per week. I will bulk until the end of June and then start working on cutting.

My question is, how does a person know if they did a good job on their bulk? I mean, I'm stronger. My gain was relatively slow. But how do I know I gained a good ratio of muscle to fat?

My biggest fear is to find out that 10lbs heavier I gained 2lbs muscle and 8 lbs fat or something.

Woman! smarten the hell up! 8 lbs fat my ass! I seen your pics & you look FABULOUS darling

See that's what I am contemplating doing :( just diet the fuq all this fat & weight off stop exercising & lifting (ya, ya, I know I will lose all my hard worked musles) eat 1200 cals get rid of the fat & then go back to lifting

:( fawk

[oregonchick76]

Woman! smarten the hell up! 8 lbs fat my ass! I seen your pics & you look FABULOUS darling

See that's what I am contemplating doing :( just diet the fuq all this fat & weight off stop exercising & lifting (ya, ya, I know I will lose all my hard worked musles) eat 1200 cals get rid of the fat & then go back to lifting

:( fawk

Thanks :-)
I'll never go back to eating 1200 calories! I spent a whole year sabotaging my body... When I start cutting, I don't want to lose any more muscle than I absolutely have to - so if it comes off 1 lb per month, I don't care. I also never want to starve again...

[dreahere]

Out of curiousity, can I ask you how many calories you've been eating to put on 8 pounds since January?

I've been slowly pushing my calories up for months: averaged 1791 in December, 1860 in January, 1935 in February, 2054 in March, and 2173 in April. I'd consider mid-February the start of my actual bulk, because that's when I pushed my cals over 2000. (The stickies tell me my maintainance should be somewhere around 1700-1800, but I think it's actually higher than that.)

Anyway, since mid-February, I've put on a pound. Maybe two. Just wondering what level you've been eating at to get that nice steady gain. Thanks!

[oregonchick76]

Out of curiousity, can I ask you how many calories you've been eating to put on 8 pounds since January?

I've been slowly pushing my calories up for months: averaged 1791 in December, 1860 in January, 1935 in February, 2054 in March, and 2173 in April. I'd consider mid-February the start of my actual bulk, because that's when I pushed my cals over 2000. (The stickies tell me my maintainance should be somewhere around 1700-1800, but I think it's actually higher than that.)

Anyway, since mid-February, I've put on a pound. Maybe two. Just wondering what level you've been eating at to get that nice steady gain. Thanks!

Around 1800-1900. I know the stickies tell me my maintenance should be around 1800, but I have been gaining on that. I believe that my last year of severe dieting caused me to lose a bunch of muscle and slowed down my metabolism.

[freebirdmac]

The only way to really know is see where you end up after leaning out. It's almost a foregone conclusion that you didn't gain as much mass as you thought. We never do!! :p

You're doing fine, keep up the good work! Hopefully on the next bulk you will be able to eat even more.

[oregonchick76]

The only way to really know is see where you end up after leaning out. It's almost a foregone conclusion that you didn't gain as much mass as you thought. We never do!! :p

You're doing fine, keep up the good work! Hopefully on the next bulk you will be able to eat even more.

Thanks for the input. Do you think a reasonable muscle gain is 1 lb per month for newbies who train right and eat well? And I just figured I'd gain as much fat as muscle...

[SJBC]

Can you lift more weight than when you started? That is a pretty good indicator of if you have gained muscle. Have you changed much in size? Some increase in size will happen when you bulk but if you have jumped up several sizes you may have more fat that what is desireable in a bulk. But really if you are gaining 50% fat and 50% muscle you will be doing good. Fat happens with a bulk but the strength gains will be worth it.

[freebirdmac]

Thanks for the input. Do you think a reasonable muscle gain is 1 lb per month for newbies who train right and eat well? And I just figured I'd gain as much fat as muscle...

Yep. A pound a month for hard hitting female newbies is very doable.

[5more]

It's probably 2 lbs muscle 4 lbs water 4 lbs fat.