How long do you cut/bulk before making dietary changes?

[pphil09]

How long do you go into a cycle before you make caloric adjustments based on your weight gain/weight loss?

Thanks.

[determined4000]

How long do you go into a cycle before you make caloric adjustments based on your weight gain/weight loss?

Thanks.

Have you met your goal? Stalling? Too much fat gain/muscle loss?

[pphil09]

Have you met your goal? Stalling? Too much fat gain/muscle loss?

I feel like I may be gaining weight a bit too fast, but so far it has only been about a week, so I wasnt sure if I should make an immediate change to my calorie intake, or if I should give it another week or two before acting.

[brendbro]

i just started my bulk (came off a cut), I gave myself a few days to readjust and my first weekly weigh in is tomorrow, I've been at 2500 calories a little over a week now to see how that goes so I can adjust if necessary, I don't feel I've gained much but I reckon I'll keep it at 2500 for another week just to make sure, however this does all depend on what tomorrow's weigh in brings, anyway if I could tag in on getting some insight that'd be awesome cheers (soz not trying to thread steal - just in pretty much same boat)

[pphil09]

Ok guys, I weighed in today and gained .5 lbs over the last week while taking in 2700 calories. While I am not against gaining primarily lean muscle, I would also like to maximize my results, and therefor am not against going on a little cut post bulk as well. Should I bump the calories up to 2800 or 2900? Or would you recommend that I keep it at 2700 until my gains are less than .5lb/week?

Thanks.

[fitlover]

If you look (in the mirror) like you're gaining too much, do a small cut.

If you're not gaining too fast, keep going. You can't tell your progress by one week. .5 lbs. per week is not a big jump at all...if you're looking for slow gains, keep it between .5-1 lb. per week. There's no big need for any less than that. Judge progress by measurements and by how you look in the mirror/progress pictures, NOT the scale.

You'll never be able to do a 100% lean bulk. You WILL gain fat on a bulk, not just muscle. So you'll have to deal with it. Just make sure you're lifting heavy and putting the extra calories to good use...gotta give your body an excuse to grow

[pphil09]

If you look (in the mirror) like you're gaining too much, do a small cut.

If you're not gaining too fast, keep going. You can't tell your progress by one week. .5 lbs. per week is not a big jump at all...if you're looking for slow gains, keep it between .5-1 lb. per week. There's no big need for any less than that. Judge progress by measurements and by how you look in the mirror/progress pictures, NOT the scale.

You'll never be able to do a 100% lean bulk. You WILL gain fat on a bulk, not just muscle. So you'll have to deal with it. Just make sure you're lifting heavy and putting the extra calories to good use...gotta give your body an excuse to grow

So would you recommend that I bump up the calories just a bit? Thanks for helping me out. And sorry for calling you a bro when I gave you rep. I was on my cellphone haha.

[csb5731]

Cutting, I'll give myself 3 weeks before making adjustments. The first week I'll invariably lose a lot of weight, and a disproportionate amount at that due to water loss, so I kind of look at the subsequent two weeks for determining whether I need to sdjust calories up or down. Generally, though, because I'm tracking pretty tight and have a good idea as to what my maintenance really is, and factor in a moderate deficit, I have a good idea that I'm on the right track for the time being.

Clean bulking is a little trickier for me cause I initially shoot for a small (10-15%) surplus. I expect to see only a small gain in weight which is hard to ascertain on the scale. So I like to give that three weeks just to rule out normal weight variation before making adjustments. Right now, though, I'm really concerning myself more with the tape measure (waist), a few skinfolds, and progression as whether I am eating enough or too much.

Bloating from overeating seems to be more of a confounding factor on a bulk vs. cutting. If I have a huge refeed when cutting, I might gain three to five pounds on the scale, no discernable negative physical change (usually actually look better), but the weight is gone in 3-4 days of cutting. If I have a weekend of excess when bulking, the "bloat" tends to become visually apparent (as I wasn't depleted beforehand/spillover), and the weight gain is more tenacious unless I'm willing to back off 3-4 days - which I hate to do when trying to make progression. So I find myself having to be overall MORE careful bulking vs. cutting if I don't want to feel fat.

[pphil09]

My main question is that since I only gained half a pound, would it be more efficient for me to eat a bit more so im gaining closer to one pound per week?

Im at 2700 right now, so should I bump it up to 2800-3000?

[pphil09]

I think im going to take in about 2900 calories/day for the next week and see if I can get a little bit more weight gain. Dont want to rush it, but I want to be sure that im using my time in the gym efficiently.

[Cestero72]

Hi, Im Eric and this is my first message I write.
I've been bulking for almost two month, next week is my 2 month, I was 170 and today I weight myself and I am 180. Now Ive been eating 3400 calories everyday very religiously, lifting heavy and doing cardio twice a week for 30 minutes. Now, my question is when can I stop bulking and start cutting?. this is my first time doing this and a can see a lot of changes. Also, should I cut my calories to 2200 while cutting. I eat 7 meals every two hours.