I've been lifting since January and I haven't seen 1 bit of progress

[s1mba]

Sure my lifts have gone up but appearance wise, nothing.
I think it's because I was eating a VERY low calorie diet until about a week ago. For the first month I was living on 1500 calories, that wasn't working, so about the middle of February i started eating a 1300 calorie (or less) diet
April 2nd I started my easter holidays, at that time I was 115 lbs and for the whole 2 weeks i was binge eating, I'd eat until i couldn't eat anymore wait an hour and eat again. Last Monday I started a clean 2300 calorie bulk (although I think I'm going to need to lower my calories to about 2100 because I think my maintenance is 1900 and I only want to be gaining around 2 lbs a month) and I was doing FANTASTIC until Thursday came around, I started celebrating 420 with my friends (I know how bad that sounds, don't judge me lol) and I was back to binge eating because of my munchies. I weighed myself this morning and I don't know if my scales off because I don't see 20 lbs of fat gain on me, but it said 135 lbs... should i cut back to 115 and then restart my bulk? or should I just continue? I want to put on 15 lbs of muscle, and I really don't want to look fat...
Now I'm back on my game, doing a full body work out (all pro's) 3x a week, do you think i can do it 4? so instead of mon, wed, fri it can be mon, wed, fri, sun ? I'm not doing any cardio... but I kind of want to start, i miss it lol I might start a kickboxing class, or do you think that will mess up my gains?

but if i stick to a clean 2100 calorie diet, the full body 3-4x a week, cardio (a spin class or something) once a week how long do you think I'll see gains? What kind of gains do you think i'll be seeing in a year ?

thanks for all your help. I just found this website and I've been lurking around, it's great!

[FMMgirl]

You poor thing, not one reply....

ok well first off, stop counting calories! Eat, when you hungry. Just be cautious about "what" your eating!!!
Lift medium sized weights 12-15 reps....and HITT cardio is a MUST!!!!

Sure my lifts have gone up but appearance wise, nothing.
I think it's because I was eating a VERY low calorie diet until about a week ago. For the first month I was living on 1500 calories, that wasn't working, so about the middle of February i started eating a 1300 calorie (or less) diet
April 2nd I started my easter holidays, at that time I was 115 lbs and for the whole 2 weeks i was binge eating, I'd eat until i couldn't eat anymore wait an hour and eat again. Last Monday I started a clean 2300 calorie bulk (although I think I'm going to need to lower my calories to about 2100 because I think my maintenance is 1900 and I only want to be gaining around 2 lbs a month) and I was doing FANTASTIC until Thursday came around, I started celebrating 420 with my friends (I know how bad that sounds, don't judge me lol) and I was back to binge eating because of my munchies. I weighed myself this morning and I don't know if my scales off because I don't see 20 lbs of fat gain on me, but it said 135 lbs... should i cut back to 115 and then restart my bulk? or should I just continue? I want to put on 15 lbs of muscle, and I really don't want to look fat...
Now I'm back on my game, doing a full body work out (all pro's) 3x a week, do you think i can do it 4? so instead of mon, wed, fri it can be mon, wed, fri, sun ? I'm not doing any cardio... but I kind of want to start, i miss it lol I might start a kickboxing class, or do you think that will mess up my gains?

but if i stick to a clean 2100 calorie diet, the full body 3-4x a week, cardio (a spin class or something) once a week how long do you think I'll see gains? What kind of gains do you think i'll be seeing in a year ?

thanks for all your help. I just found this website and I've been lurking around, it's great!

[s1mba]

You poor thing, not one reply....

ok well first off, stop counting calories! Eat, when you hungry. Just be cautious about "what" your eating!!!
Lift medium sized weights 12-15 reps....and HITT cardio is a MUST!!!!

But then how do I know if i'm overeating or under eating ?
I can do cardio on a bulk ? A lot of people told me not to :/
right now i'm doing allpros which says do 4x 8 first week , and increase by 1 rep each week so now i'm on 4x9
should i work my way up to 4x12 or should i just do it ?

[amazon22]

Sure my lifts have gone up but appearance wise, nothing.
I think it's because I was eating a VERY low calorie diet until about a week ago. For the first month I was living on 1500 calories, that wasn't working, so about the middle of February i started eating a 1300 calorie (or less) diet
April 2nd I started my easter holidays, at that time I was 115 lbs and for the whole 2 weeks i was binge eating, I'd eat until i couldn't eat anymore wait an hour and eat again. Last Monday I started a clean 2300 calorie bulk (although I think I'm going to need to lower my calories to about 2100 because I think my maintenance is 1900
and I only want to be gaining around 2 lbs a month) and I was doing FANTASTIC until Thursday came around, I

started celebrating 420 with my friends (I know how bad that sounds, don't judge me lol) and I was back to binge eating because of my munchies. I weighed myself this morning and I don't know if my scales off because I don't see 20 lbs of fat gain on me, but it said 135 lbs... should i cut back to 115 and then restart my bulk? or should I just continue? I want to put on 15 lbs of muscle, and I really don't want to look fat...

Now I'm back on my game, doing a full body work out (all pro's) 3x a week, do you think i can do it 4? so instead of mon, wed, fri it can be mon, wed, fri, sun ? I'm not doing any cardio... but I kind of want to start, i miss it lol I might start a kickboxing class, or do you think that will mess up my gains?

but if i stick to a clean 2100 calorie diet, the full body 3-4x a week, cardio (a spin class or something) once a week how long do you think I'll see gains? What kind of gains do you think i'll be seeing in a year ?

thanks for all your help. I just found this website and I've been lurking around, it's great!

What are your main goals? To build muscle or lose fat? I am guessing you want to build muscle mass since you have spoken of a bulk. Definitely make sure you are taking in enough protein (for bulking, really you don't need more than 1 g per lb of body weight or even possibly less), fat and definitely fill in some carbs. If you really want to shape your body, make sure you are doing compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, dips, etc. These definitely will give you that foundation you need. Also, forget sticking to 12-15 reps, rep ranges are focused on too much. Just lift with intensity and try to improve the amount of weight you lift each week. Honestly, I would do heavier rep ranges at times, especially on compounds. Cardio should be kept to a minimum, you want all the calories you can use to recover quicker, as your main goal is to build muscle in a bulk.

[freebirdmac]

Sure my lifts have gone up but appearance wise, nothing.
I think it's because I was eating a VERY low calorie diet until about a week ago. For the first month I was living on 1500 calories, that wasn't working, so about the middle of February i started eating a 1300 calorie (or less) diet
April 2nd I started my easter holidays, at that time I was 115 lbs and for the whole 2 weeks i was binge eating, I'd eat until i couldn't eat anymore wait an hour and eat again. Last Monday I started a clean 2300 calorie bulk (although I think I'm going to need to lower my calories to about 2100 because I think my maintenance is 1900 and I only want to be gaining around 2 lbs a month) and I was doing FANTASTIC until Thursday came around, I started celebrating 420 with my friends (I know how bad that sounds, don't judge me lol) and I was back to binge eating because of my munchies. I weighed myself this morning and I don't know if my scales off because I don't see 20 lbs of fat gain on me, but it said 135 lbs... should i cut back to 115 and then restart my bulk? or should I just continue? I want to put on 15 lbs of muscle, and I really don't want to look fat...
Now I'm back on my game, doing a full body work out (all pro's) 3x a week, do you think i can do it 4? so instead of mon, wed, fri it can be mon, wed, fri, sun ? I'm not doing any cardio... but I kind of want to start, i miss it lol I might start a kickboxing class, or do you think that will mess up my gains?

but if i stick to a clean 2100 calorie diet, the full body 3-4x a week, cardio (a spin class or something) once a week how long do you think I'll see gains? What kind of gains do you think i'll be seeing in a year ?

thanks for all your help. I just found this website and I've been lurking around, it's great!

You can't gain fat that quickly. Or muscle. Not with those numbers. Either your calories were way off or you gained a bunch of water weight from upping the calories. That isn't unusual.

In order to gain lean mass like I think you want, you do need to eat, but not crazy bingeing stuff. Are you getting enough protein and good fats?

Join the bulking thread in the female>general section. It's a long thread, but worth a read. You'll learn lots.

[s1mba]

What are your main goals? To build muscle or lose fat? I am guessing you want to build muscle mass since you have spoken of a bulk. Definitely make sure you are taking in enough protein (for bulking, really you don't need more than 1 g per lb of body weight or even possibly less), fat and definitely fill in some carbs. If you really want to shape your body, make sure you are doing compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, dips, etc. These definitely will give you that foundation you need. Also, forget sticking to 12-15 reps, rep ranges are focused on too much. Just lift with intensity and try to improve the amount of weight you lift each week. Honestly, I would do heavier rep ranges at times, especially on compounds. Cardio should be kept to a minimum, you want all the calories you can use to recover quicker, as your main goal is to build muscle in a bulk.

so do you think i should stick to the 2300 ? being 5'3 , 115 lbs that's what my tdee said. But i seriously feel like my maintenance is 1900 because i can cut on 1400 perfectly, but i won't lose a pound on 1500

You can't gain fat that quickly. Or muscle. Not with those numbers. Either your calories were way off or you gained a bunch of water weight from upping the calories. That isn't unusual.

In order to gain lean mass like I think you want, you do need to eat, but not crazy bingeing stuff. Are you getting enough protein and good fats?

Join the bulking thread in the female>general section. It's a long thread, but worth a read. You'll learn lots.

yea I'm getting over 120 g protein from real foods, i barley ever drink protein shakes, only directly after my workouts. I get it all from lean meats, yogurt, milk, nuts...
and i get at least 58 g of fats a day and just fill the rest in with carbs

I've also been doing all pro's but someone told me that they think a split would be better for me
what do you think ?

[oregonchick76]

You poor thing, not one reply....

ok well first off, stop counting calories! Eat, when you hungry. Just be cautious about "what" your eating!!!
Lift medium sized weights 12-15 reps....and HITT cardio is a MUST!!!!

LOL. With advice like that, she's better with NO response.

OP, you need to eat to support muscle growth. That means eating OVER maintenance, adequate protein, fat, etc. This also means counting calories/macros to make sure you're getting what you need. And I have no idea what "medium sized weights" are, but you should be lifting weight as heavy as you can in the 6-8 rep range. Focus on squats, deadlift, bench, overhead press, lat pulldowns, chinups.

Also, cardio is NOT essential. It helps create a bigger deficit, but you're already low weight. You need less cardio, more food and more lifting.

[freebirdmac]

so do you think i should stick to the 2300 ? being 5'3 , 115 lbs that's what my tdee said. But i seriously feel like my maintenance is 1900 because i can cut on 1400 perfectly, but i won't lose a pound on 1500


yea I'm getting over 120 g protein from real foods, i barley ever drink protein shakes, only directly after my workouts. I get it all from lean meats, yogurt, milk, nuts...
and i get at least 58 g of fats a day and just fill the rest in with carbs

I've also been doing all pro's but someone told me that they think a split would be better for me
what do you think ?

I would think allpro is a good start. There is no magic in any routine as a newbie. Just lift heavy, with intensity, and eat. After a few months you can switch to another routine.

[penny0527]

You poor thing, not one reply....

ok well first off, stop counting calories! Eat, when you hungry. Just be cautious about "what" your eating!!!
Lift medium sized weights 12-15 reps....and HITT cardio is a MUST!!!!

this is the stupidest advice. you defintiely need to count calories. you are in no position to be guessing how much you are eating. lifting 12-15 reps with "medium" weight is ridiculous. Cardio of any kind is NOT a must. gee I cant imagine why she was banned :-/

[Holly2710]

I have been through similar things. I would cut my cals extremely low and feel deprived. Then I would want to put some muscle on and bump my cals up much too high. You have to be careful, yo yoing with you diet is very unhealthy and can negatively effect your body later on. Take things nice and slow. It takes years and years to obtain a physique you desire. Dont give up girl!