'Bulk' progress and random questions

[Phrisko]

Been 'bulking' for two months. Feel like I've made little progress. The scale agrees. Progress photo attached and a current back photo for those who like back photos.

Questions:
Is it just me or does the second picture look better than the current one? Would anyone say I've actually gained any muscle? Am I just being impatient? Any guesses on current bf?

Is it ok to just have high calorie weekends (4k-6k cal surplus over two days) and slight deficit weekdays. I'm worried if I get used to 3000 calories / day I won't be able to cut again when I need to. Always getting 1g of protein / lb of body weight.

Hip fat, wtf? I really don't want to have to lose 15-20lbs to get rid of it when I already need to put on muscle. If I decided to go that route would the hip fat likely come back as I bulked again?

Gaining muscle seems so much more difficult than losing fat was.

[Phrisko]

Bump back to page one

[Sike0]

Nice looking back and shoulders, you're getting gains for sure. I would try upping the amount of protein you intake though, 1g per pound seems a little low. I've had lots of luck with 1.5-2g per pound. Maybe try that for a little while and see how it works. Other than that, I think its fine. You're right though, losing fat is the easy part. Putting physical mass onto a smaller frame and making it grow is the hardest part. That's the long grind that everyone talks about, just hit the weights really hard and get into it mentally. Push yourself to see yourself grow. Hope to see more in the future, good luck.

[Phrisko]

I've had lots of luck with 1.5-2g per pound.

2g per pound is a lot o protein. I'd have to eat pretty much only chicken, protein powder and yogurt to make that work without getting carried away on calories. I'll start shooting for 200g / day instead of 150 and see how I do for a couple months. Thanks for the advice.