One year check-in. Some serious setbacks, but progress was still made, right?

[pilby]

I dreamer bulked for 7 months and went from 149 lbs to 183 lbs. I had a few setbacks in that time, including my little brother killing himself, which caused my eating, sleeping and lifting to go to sh*t for over a month.

After those first seven months I had jaw surgery, which meant no lifting for six weeks and a slow start getting back into it. It also meant a pure liquid diet for several weeks, with which it was really hard to get enough calories in. I dropped eight pounds in the first week after surgery, some of which was surely some of the muscle I had worked so hard for, and kept dropping weight more slowly beyond that.

Slowly got back to lifting and just kept cutting up until a few days ago. Now I'm ready to start bulking again. I've been eating at maintenance for the last few days and have been really enjoying the energy boost compared to all that time cutting.

One thing I've decided for sure is that this time around I'm going to bulk more slowly. It's just not worth it having to waste all that time cutting. I was just so excited at first to see that scale ticking upward every day after being so scrawny my whole life, and was eager to pack the weight on fast.

Thoughts? Current body fat estimates? I'm thinking 13% or so?

[Hjunbaek]

Sorry to hear about your brother man. You can see some definite improvement in your abs and more definition in your chest! Keep up the hard work

[pilby]

Sorry to hear about your brother man. You can see some definite improvement in your abs and more definition in your chest! Keep up the hard work

Thanks a lot. Repped.

[isaac133]

im really sorry to hear about your brother mate! but you have definitely packed on some size over that period, especially in the chest from what i can see. keep it up

[Jozef95]

Sorry to hear about your brother Keep on hitting the gym brah

[nubgainz]

Hey man sorry to hear about your bro. Make sure you have someone to talk to. As for bbing, just try to be consistent with your training, if you hit the gym it will force you to think about eating right, keep it up and have a good bulk

[pilby]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Measly reps to all.

[kenethleclair]

life sucks at times but you do look better after all

[blindspot13]

Damn OP, sorry about your brother. I think you made great progress dude. Keep pushing and learning, the results are coming!

Lookin thick, tight, and joocy bro keep it up.

[deadliftdang]

So sorry to hear about your brother man. You look great though - glad it hasn't taken you out of the gym permanently. A lean bulk would be a great idea. As for your current BF I'd say 13 percent sounds accurate.