First time BULKERS apply here ;)

[sglgirl]

Steph....I wish my mid section would look like that on day of contest. I constantly have belly bloat and feel like that I look 2 months preggo everyday, especially by end of day. I am just waiting for my new protein to get here that is plant based instead of whey and I will see if taking out the last bit of "dairy" product left in me that is the problem.....if that is not it, then I am going to give up and quit and just truly let myself go.

[toodlepip]

recent pic:


Decisions decisions. Hell maybe I'll just climb right up to 155lbs just so I can eat whatever I want at Christmas parties... LOL

Jayz...how the hell do you stay stay so lean when you bulk? Damn...I'll go against the flow and say keep going through Christmas.

[sglgirl]

Jayz...how the hell do you stay stay so lean when you bulk? Damn...I'll go against the flow and say keep going through Christmas.

^^^^
This...

[freebirdmac]

You still look really lean and fairly tight...my midsection is just a jiggly blob right now

I'd say hit your 150 and hang out there. That's pretty much what I'm doing...got up to 160, cut down a bit and have been sitting at 150 for quite a while. Realistically, I need to drop 5# before starting my cut in January. That will give me 8-ish weeks to drop 10#. Although the scale isn't moving my clothes do seen to feel looser. I remember this happening during my last cut, like a magical recomp or something.

I'm with megdaig. Your contest prep starts soon and you don't need excess fat to complicate your prep.

[sglgirl]

I'm with megdaig. Your contest prep starts soon and you don't need excess fat to complicate your prep.

FBM - do you use a whey or plant protein powder or do you just nutrition with food only? Do you remember ever feeling like this "constantly have belly bloat and feel like that I look 2 months preggo everyday, especially by end of day."?

[stephanielynn76]

Wouldn't it be smarter to put a limit on your body fat rather than weight? Limiting your weight is limiting your growth potential which totally defeats the point of a bulk. Hitting 150lbs with visible abs is very different to hitting it at 25% fat. Sorry maybe I'm missing something but it just seems really illogical from my perspective? I would have thought you would want to gain as much mass as possible given that you said in another post that you think you have a lot of gaining to do for the stage.

That would be ideal but determining BF accurately is tough and to ensure as much partitioning toward muscle over fat she'd need to gain very slowly, it wouldn't be much more gain over a one month period. And naturally, as we accumulate more fat our partitioning moves away from muscle toward fat although I'm not certain of how significant of a shift this is.

Also, another aspect of it is that the farther we get from stage weight you have to consider how much the skin is being stretched and how it will rebound during the diet down. You want everything to stay nice and tight to achieve that plump muscle, paper thin skin look.

^^For the reasons that Meg stated here. You have to take into account that the gains are both muscle AND FAT. It's only feasible to add a couple of pounds of muscle in a month so the assumption is that the rest of the gains are fluid, glycogen, and FAT. The more fat you gain the more you have to turn around and shed. In theory, yes, using body fat levels instead of weight would be a much better indication of progress. The problem is, like Meg stated, I have yet to find a consistent, reliable, cost-effective way to measure that!

Steph....I wish my mid section would look like that on day of contest. I constantly have belly bloat and feel like that I look 2 months preggo everyday, especially by end of day. I am just waiting for my new protein to get here that is plant based instead of whey and I will see if taking out the last bit of "dairy" product left in me that is the problem.....if that is not it, then I am going to give up and quit and just truly let myself go.

Oy... belly bloat sucks. I have issues with lactose myself. It makes me very gassy, bloated, and uncomfortable. I have given up milk but still do yogurt in the evenings before bed (when I'm not going to be around other people besides my husband). Hopefully the new protein will help you with some of that problem.

Jayz...how the hell do you stay stay so lean when you bulk? Damn...I'll go against the flow and say keep going through Christmas.

Hahaha!! I like that idea!! I'm ever so tempted to allow the gluttony to continue. However...

I'm with megdaig. Your contest prep starts soon and you don't need excess fat to complicate your prep.

As FBM points out... I've got to consider that. ^^ :/ Maybe I'll tighten up more during the next few weeks and just eat whatever I want on Christmas Eve (my husband's birthday) and Christmas day. In January, however, the diet WILL be much tighter.

Side note: Today is my baby girl's birthday... she is 6! I'm sorta sad. She's growing up and I can't stop it.

[stephanielynn76]

I hear you on the inner thighs...I just noticed yesterday how massively fat mine have gotten. I was totally in love with running during my cut because my inner thighs no longer rubbed together.....oh those were the days.

Ugh. I know dat feel. I put on some corduroy pants the other day and they were TIGHT in the thighs. Running around the house I thought I'd start a fire in my crotch! LMAO

[sglgirl]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8225565396_3bc5dbc71c_b.jpg[/img]

She is a beautiful girl, very nice picture. Wish her a happy birthday from the online gang!

[DaniGrrl]

Steph, you look amazing - I sure hope I can stay that lean through this bulk!! I carry all my weight in my lower half as well and my work pants are all starting to not fit. Though I pulled out a pair today that are one size bigger that used to fall off me but I am now filling them out and my azz looks pretty sweet in them if I do say so myself not so sweet without clothes in but no one is seeing that anyway lol

Your daughter is a doll!! Mine will be 6 in April and I know the sad feeling all too well. They grow up too fast

I'm in a water retention nightmare. Had an extremely sodium laden dinner on Saturday of a buffalo chicken sandwich with some sweet potato and some regular crab fries. Kids begged for McD's on Sunday. And now I have my period. Talk about feeling gross!!! I am sure by Friday when I weigh it will be all gone but I hope I don't get tempted before then to go near a scale. It might wig me out. Lol

[freebirdmac]

FBM - do you use a whey or plant protein powder or do you just nutrition with food only? Do you remember ever feeling like this "constantly have belly bloat and feel like that I look 2 months preggo everyday, especially by end of day."?

No whey for me. I get almost all of my protein from chicken.

Yep, I do get that belly bloat. For me soy and too much fiber will do it. If it's truly bloat you have to find the triggers. It's usually something you don't want to give up or cut back on too

Side note: Today is my baby girl's birthday... she is 6! I'm sorta sad. She's growing up and I can't stop it.

She's adorable!! Mine is 20 and when I see picts of her at that age and younger I wish I could go back.

[happyplace]

That would be ideal but determining BF accurately is tough and to ensure as much partitioning toward muscle over fat she'd need to gain very slowly, it wouldn't be much more gain over a one month period. And naturally, as we accumulate more fat our partitioning moves away from muscle toward fat although I'm not certain of how significant of a shift this is.

Also, another aspect of it is that the farther we get from stage weight you have to consider how much the skin is being stretched and how it will rebound during the diet down. You want everything to stay nice and tight to achieve that plump muscle, paper thin skin look.

I understand why women should ideally gain fairly slowly, but this explanation still doesn't explain away why Stephanie has a maximum weight limit. A maximum weight gain per month, yes DEFINITELY, but the whole point is to get as much mass as possible and so if she can slow her gain rate down somewhat, there is no reason to assume that fat gains will happen magically once she hits whatever arbitrary number she picked as her maximum bulk weight.

[sglgirl]

No whey for me. I get almost all of my protein from chicken.

Yep, I do get that belly bloat. For me soy and too much fiber will do it. If it's truly bloat you have to find the triggers. It's usually something you don't want to give up or cut back on too



She's adorable!! Mine is 20 and when I see picts of her at that age and younger I wish I could go back.

Soy is a big no no for persons taking synthroid for hypothyroidism....jussayin'

Unless fiber comes from a grain or veggie in the meals I prepare, there is no way I can add fiber supplements like metamucil/benefibre to my diet, it does not do good things for me intestinally.

[toodlepip]

Steph & Dani - I hear ya both. My youngest is 5.5 and that last bit of baby-ness is starting to go. It sure does break the heart a little (or a lot some days).

[birdiefu]

I don't visit this thread so often anymore, though I do read and like to catch up with oldies and get to "know" some of the newer bulking ladies

But I have a bit of a bulk to show off, lol. As of today, 163 pounds (though still dropping some water weight from the weekend, probably 159 without carb water retention). Just took pics end of the day after eating, but holy crap when I started this journey at a "fat" 142 pounds 2 1/2 years ago, I would never have thought I could wear this scale weight to any degree of decency. I think I'm somewhere around 26-28%BF right now, not sure and doesn't matter all that much. Don't mind my pants marks on my belly either, eek I hate those. Not flexing in any of the pics.

I am very surprised my ass/thigh cheese and saddlebags aren't as bad as I expected. Cause they were worse when I was 142 pre-muscles. In fact, my "hip" circumference is still a tad smaller than when I started. Gotta love how adding muscle makes everything better! I have my last meet of the season this weekend, then will go to maintenance for a few weeks, then cut pretty hard at the start of the new year. Only thing that really affected how much bigger I would be getting is that I don't want to buy new clothes And amazingly I still fit (barely) in (stretchy) jeans that I wore at 126 pounds two bulk/cut cycles ago, lol!

[freebirdmac]

Soy is a big no no for persons taking synthroid for hypothyroidism....jussayin'

Unless fiber comes from a grain or veggie in the meals I prepare, there is no way I can add fiber supplements like metamucil/benefibre to my diet, it does not do good things for me intestinally.

You know that soy/thyroid thing is bullcrap. You'd have to consume massive amounts to see your hormones change. If at all. Worry more about xenoestrogens. That's some nasty stuff. BTW, have you ever heard the same warnings about other phytoestrogens? Nope.

All of my fiber comes from food. When I start creeping above 30g I have trouble. Which is easy to do with my food selections.

I don't visit this thread so often anymore, though I do read and like to catch up with oldies and get to "know" some of the newer bulking ladies

But I have a bit of a bulk to show off, lol. As of today, 163 pounds (though still dropping some water weight from the weekend, probably 159 without carb water retention). Just took pics end of the day after eating, but holy crap when I started this journey at a "fat" 142 pounds 2 1/2 years ago, I would never have thought I could wear this scale weight to any degree of decency. I think I'm somewhere around 26-28%BF right now, not sure and doesn't matter all that much. Don't mind my pants marks on my belly either, eek I hate those. Not flexing in any of the pics.

I am very surprised my ass/thigh cheese and saddlebags aren't as bad as I expected. Cause they were worse when I was 142 pre-muscles. In fact, my "hip" circumference is still a tad smaller than when I started. Gotta love how adding muscle makes everything better! I have my last meet of the season this weekend, then will go to maintenance for a few weeks, then cut pretty hard at the start of the new year. Only thing that really affected how much bigger I would be getting is that I don't want to buy new clothes And amazingly I still fit (barely) in (stretchy) jeans that I wore at 126 pounds two bulk/cut cycles ago, lol!

Nice girl! I see some good muscle there!

[Worcestershire]

Heya! I've posted once or twice before in this thread, but it was a while ago, but I guess I might as well briefly introduce myself. I'm a college student currently three months or so into my first bulk. Right now I'm planning to go through about February, or about another months. I've gained around 10-12lbs so far, and I think I'll eventually post some sort of progress pics, although I don't know if there's a huge visible difference, as I started out pretty under-muscled (I was a distance runner for two years). I've been following this thread for a while...you all are quite inspiring!

[stephanielynn76]

I don't visit this thread so often anymore, though I do read and like to catch up with oldies and get to "know" some of the newer bulking ladies

But I have a bit of a bulk to show off, lol. As of today, 163 pounds (though still dropping some water weight from the weekend, probably 159 without carb water retention). Just took pics end of the day after eating, but holy crap when I started this journey at a "fat" 142 pounds 2 1/2 years ago, I would never have thought I could wear this scale weight to any degree of decency. I think I'm somewhere around 26-28%BF right now, not sure and doesn't matter all that much. Don't mind my pants marks on my belly either, eek I hate those. Not flexing in any of the pics.

I am very surprised my ass/thigh cheese and saddlebags aren't as bad as I expected. Cause they were worse when I was 142 pre-muscles. In fact, my "hip" circumference is still a tad smaller than when I started. Gotta love how adding muscle makes everything better! I have my last meet of the season this weekend, then will go to maintenance for a few weeks, then cut pretty hard at the start of the new year. Only thing that really affected how much bigger I would be getting is that I don't want to buy new clothes And amazingly I still fit (barely) in (stretchy) jeans that I wore at 126 pounds two bulk/cut cycles ago, lol!

Hey there! I've followed your progress and you have ALWAYS been an inspiration to me!! Thanks for posting the update. Damn girl... dat a$$!!!! You certainly do carry that weight well. I hear ya on not wanting to buy new clothes. My "fat" clothes are getting snug right now but in a different way than they did before when I was "fat" and weighed 8lbs less. Yep... gotta love the effects of adding muscle. I look forward to seeing your progress and joining you later in the cut!

[stephanielynn76]

Heya! I've posted once or twice before in this thread, but it was a while ago, but I guess I might as well briefly introduce myself. I'm a college student currently three months or so into my first bulk. Right now I'm planning to go through about February, or about another months. I've gained around 10-12lbs so far, and I think I'll eventually post some sort of progress pics, although I don't know if there's a huge visible difference, as I started out pretty under-muscled (I was a distance runner for two years). I've been following this thread for a while...you all are quite inspiring!

Welcome and congrats on the gains!!!

[tahinilove]

Stephanielynn your daughter is too gorgeous! She looks so much like you too! Plus way for looking lean on your bulk!

Still slowly increasing my cals week by week. I actually lost a few pounds and am at 2700cals for the moment. Think i might have to increase again though which seems a crazy idea. I have carbs coming out of my ears ha!

I am feeling a lot stronger on this bulk and not fat- which is great. Just loving having my muscles filled and getting bigger! Plus increasing lifts as we all know is amazing!Really loving PHAT!

[justanothagirl]

Just finished my first bulk. I definitely got some good LBM gains, but also gained a bit of fat, but I'll look great once I get rid of that, it's not that hard to. Cutting now.

/feelsgoodman

[megdaig]

I understand why women should ideally gain fairly slowly, but this explanation still doesn't explain away why Stephanie has a maximum weight limit. A maximum weight gain per month, yes DEFINITELY, but the whole point is to get as much mass as possible and so if she can slow her gain rate down somewhat, there is no reason to assume that fat gains will happen magically once she hits whatever arbitrary number she picked as her maximum bulk weight.

I think it's a little more subjective at this point. LBM:Fat gains are about 50:50; unless you have awesome genetics..who are those lucky people anyway? You almost have to do a cost/benefit analysis of what another month could provide/take away....for instance...


Benefit:
- Maybe an additional 0.5# LBM...how much of a difference will this actually provide?


Cost:
- More fat to lose therefore a faster rate of loss...potentially more LBM losses during cut....potential to not meet anticipated level of leanness....no one wants to be the fatty on stage. It's always good to give yourself more time than you think you need to get lean. Even the best laid plans can go awry.
- Psychological impact...making the transition from "it's okay to be a little off plan" to "I absolutely cannot have anything off plan" can be a little tough. You can't afford to not be 100% diet compliant 8 to 12 weeks out from show time. I find giving myself a couple of weeks to make a gradual transition to a cutting diet helps ebb the pain. Also, during that time I get to drop some water weight to see a little more definition which really helps to get that motivation snowball effect started.

[toodlepip]

I don't visit this thread so often anymore, though I do read and like to catch up with oldies and get to "know" some of the newer bulking ladies

But I have a bit of a bulk to show off, lol. As of today, 163 pounds (though still dropping some water weight from the weekend, probably 159 without carb water retention). Just took pics end of the day after eating, but holy crap when I started this journey at a "fat" 142 pounds 2 1/2 years ago, I would never have thought I could wear this scale weight to any degree of decency. I think I'm somewhere around 26-28%BF right now, not sure and doesn't matter all that much. Don't mind my pants marks on my belly either, eek I hate those. Not flexing in any of the pics.

I am very surprised my ass/thigh cheese and saddlebags aren't as bad as I expected. Cause they were worse when I was 142 pre-muscles. In fact, my "hip" circumference is still a tad smaller than when I started. Gotta love how adding muscle makes everything better! I have my last meet of the season this weekend, then will go to maintenance for a few weeks, then cut pretty hard at the start of the new year. Only thing that really affected how much bigger I would be getting is that I don't want to buy new clothes And amazingly I still fit (barely) in (stretchy) jeans that I wore at 126 pounds two bulk/cut cycles ago, lol!

Wow! You certainly do wear it well - can definitely see big time muscle gains - arse looks brilliant!

[gobbles23]

Steph- you look amazing as always!!

Birdifu- Holy moly! You're only 2 inches taller and have 40lbs on me! You wear it VERY well, I'm excited to see how you'll look when you lean out this time around!

[chrisateen]

I don't visit this thread so often anymore, though I do read and like to catch up with oldies and get to "know" some of the newer bulking ladies

But I have a bit of a bulk to show off, lol. As of today, 163 pounds (though still dropping some water weight from the weekend, probably 159 without carb water retention). Just took pics end of the day after eating, but holy crap when I started this journey at a "fat" 142 pounds 2 1/2 years ago, I would never have thought I could wear this scale weight to any degree of decency. I think I'm somewhere around 26-28%BF right now, not sure and doesn't matter all that much. Don't mind my pants marks on my belly either, eek I hate those. Not flexing in any of the pics.

I am very surprised my ass/thigh cheese and saddlebags aren't as bad as I expected. Cause they were worse when I was 142 pre-muscles. In fact, my "hip" circumference is still a tad smaller than when I started. Gotta love how adding muscle makes everything better! I have my last meet of the season this weekend, then will go to maintenance for a few weeks, then cut pretty hard at the start of the new year. Only thing that really affected how much bigger I would be getting is that I don't want to buy new clothes And amazingly I still fit (barely) in (stretchy) jeans that I wore at 126 pounds two bulk/cut cycles ago, lol!

I remember you quite well and your an inspiration to us first timers that bulking does work. By the way your butt looks amazing

[cynthia_waz]

For almost two years now, I was always over on all of the fatloss threads. Now, here I am.
I am down to a scale weight that is acceptable by the Army, wearing a size small uniform for the first time ever in my 13 years of service. And even though I did weight training during my whole transformation, my muscle is not what I had hoped. (although part of me does wonder if the lights from the pictures I just had done actually washed out any visible lines I may have had) Anyway, I have decided that I am physically ready for a slooooow bulk. I'm not in any rush because I am not competing or anything like that. And I need to keep it slow due to needing to stay in certain standards for the Army. I guess I'm hoping for the happy medium between a recomp and a bulk.
Lifting heavy heavy heavy (or at least working on getting heavy heavy heavy lifts) 4x a week, and doing 30 min of cardio 3-4x a week simply to keep my run time good for my APFT.
I have a good meal plan.... but I'm having a tough time staying on it. I don't know if it's the season, or because I'm just so effing sick of being on a deficit. I'd say that I'm about 75% compliant. maybe.
This is a bit of a mind f--k though. trying to wrap my brain around eating more. whether its on my meal plan or when I'm misbehaving, I kind of beat myself up over it. Any advice on switching the mindset?

[happyplace]

For almost two years now, I was always over on all of the fatloss threads. Now, here I am.
I am down to a scale weight that is acceptable by the Army, wearing a size small uniform for the first time ever in my 13 years of service. And even though I did weight training during my whole transformation, my muscle is not what I had hoped. (although part of me does wonder if the lights from the pictures I just had done actually washed out any visible lines I may have had) Anyway, I have decided that I am physically ready for a slooooow bulk. I'm not in any rush because I am not competing or anything like that. And I need to keep it slow due to needing to stay in certain standards for the Army. I guess I'm hoping for the happy medium between a recomp and a bulk.
Lifting heavy heavy heavy (or at least working on getting heavy heavy heavy lifts) 4x a week, and doing 30 min of cardio 3-4x a week simply to keep my run time good for my APFT.
I have a good meal plan.... but I'm having a tough time staying on it. I don't know if it's the season, or because I'm just so effing sick of being on a deficit. I'd say that I'm about 75% compliant. maybe.
This is a bit of a mind f--k though. trying to wrap my brain around eating more. whether its on my meal plan or when I'm misbehaving, I kind of beat myself up over it. Any advice on switching the mindset?

Great job on the progress. It is a difficult thing to switch the mindset. Personally I found that eating 'clean' foods high in nutrients helped my mind, because it's somehow easier to conceive that they would be used to fuel muscle growth rather than fat growth. Ease into it slowly, and if your meal plan is really hard to stick to, maybe that is a sign it needs adjusting. Do you tend to crave a certain kind of food when you don't stick to the plan? Does it happen at a particular time in the day? How specific is the plan?

[gobbles23]

For almost two years now, I was always over on all of the fatloss threads. Now, here I am.
I am down to a scale weight that is acceptable by the Army, wearing a size small uniform for the first time ever in my 13 years of service. And even though I did weight training during my whole transformation, my muscle is not what I had hoped. (although part of me does wonder if the lights from the pictures I just had done actually washed out any visible lines I may have had) Anyway, I have decided that I am physically ready for a slooooow bulk. I'm not in any rush because I am not competing or anything like that. And I need to keep it slow due to needing to stay in certain standards for the Army. I guess I'm hoping for the happy medium between a recomp and a bulk.
Lifting heavy heavy heavy (or at least working on getting heavy heavy heavy lifts) 4x a week, and doing 30 min of cardio 3-4x a week simply to keep my run time good for my APFT.
I have a good meal plan.... but I'm having a tough time staying on it. I don't know if it's the season, or because I'm just so effing sick of being on a deficit. I'd say that I'm about 75% compliant. maybe.
This is a bit of a mind f--k though. trying to wrap my brain around eating more. whether its on my meal plan or when I'm misbehaving, I kind of beat myself up over it. Any advice on switching the mindset?

Holy mackerel Cynthia! You look amazing! Awesome job girl!!!! WOW!

[cynthia_waz]

Great job on the progress. It is a difficult thing to switch the mindset. Personally I found that eating 'clean' foods high in nutrients helped my mind, because it's somehow easier to conceive that they would be used to fuel muscle growth rather than fat growth. Ease into it slowly, and if your meal plan is really hard to stick to, maybe that is a sign it needs adjusting. Do you tend to crave a certain kind of food when you don't stick to the plan? Does it happen at a particular time in the day? How specific is the plan?

I crave carbs. Even though the current meal plan is higher in carbs, I still want more. All day long. Some days are easier than others to ignore the cravings. I think cardio days tend to be the worst. I'd love to drop cardio, but I can't.
My meal plan is tight, but not anything ridiculous. It's "similar" to my cut, just more carbs and some larger portions. I wasn't really allowing myself any cheats at the end of my cut, I'm wondering if I actually plan out certain meals during the week to be "cheats" if that will help. Like maybe go nuts on a bowl of pasta one night a week?
I put my scale away, and am just going by the fit of my clothing on this. I never bought new jeans at the end of my cut even though my "current" size is falling off. (Size 8) I will allow myself to fill these jeans back out I just need to be careful because of my new Army uniform. I have to make sure that I can still fit in that too ::

[freebirdmac]

I crave carbs. Even though the current meal plan is higher in carbs, I still want more. All day long. Some days are easier than others to ignore the cravings. I think cardio days tend to be the worst. I'd love to drop cardio, but I can't.
My meal plan is tight, but not anything ridiculous. It's "similar" to my cut, just more carbs and some larger portions. I wasn't really allowing myself any cheats at the end of my cut, I'm wondering if I actually plan out certain meals during the week to be "cheats" if that will help. Like maybe go nuts on a bowl of pasta one night a week?
I put my scale away, and am just going by the fit of my clothing on this. I never bought new jeans at the end of my cut even though my "current" size is falling off. (Size 8) I will allow myself to fill these jeans back out I just need to be careful because of my new Army uniform. I have to make sure that I can still fit in that too ::

Why can't you drop cardio?

What are your current macros and what's your current caloric intake?

[cynthia_waz]

Why can't you drop cardio?

What are your current macros and what's your current caloric intake?

I don't want to drop cardio just because of the Army. I am a lousy, slow runner and really need to work at it to keep my run time in a good passing score.

This is where you all may yell at me, and I should know better. I do know better. But I am following a meal plan from my trainer and haven't actually calculated out my macros for my new size and goals. Yes, feel free to yell at me. I suppose I should do that and figure out if there are any places to change up the current plan. Or just ways to make swaps and have more variety.
Carbs have always been a weakness for me. For some people, they like ranch dressing on everything and that's how they gain weight. Or they mindlessly munch while watching TV. For me it's carbs. Any kind. bread, potatoes, cereal, pasta. If I could survive off of carbs I'd be a happy camper.