My first attempt at bulking.

[bcenotti]

Hi everyone, Ive been doing lots of research and put in a lot of work on my diet recently and thought i would post it up to see what everyone's thoughts were and get some feedback on it. I kept track of my everything i ate for the past 5 weeks.(First attachment) I used this to get my maintenance levels. I planned out my diet for the next 2 months- this will change as things come up, but ideally this is what i will be eating.(Second attachment) I used another spreadsheet to add recipes and make it easier on me.(Third attachment)
Just a little background- 2 years ago i lost my abs so i decided to get them back. I weighed in around 190 and i guesstimate around 18% body fat. My college got a new recreation facility which is my second home now, and i started doing weight training 3 days a week, which evolved into 4, and recently 5. Last year at the end of October i weighed in a little over 160 and probably around 9% body fat. I over-trained and got shin splints which im still having problems with, so i don't run anymore. At the moment, i weigh 165 and am around 11-12% BF.
My goal is to put on a few extra pounds of muscle in about a month, then come back down to a cut for about another month. This will be my first time bulking so i wanted to make sure i was doing it right. I'm not looking to get huge, which is why im only doing it for a month. Just a little extra muscle.
Any and all comments are appreciated, thanks.

I'm on day 2 right now and after being on a caloric deficit for the past year or more, it feels weird to be eating so much. But it feels oh so good too!

[SugarFree1]

Congrats on the progress you've made so far. Be carefull after such a long cut, Ive done the same and had a big rebound effect going from a long cut right to a bulk.

[zhall616]

My goal is to put on a few extra pounds of muscle in about a month, then come back down to a cut for about another month. This will be my first time bulking so i wanted to make sure i was doing it right. I'm not looking to get huge, which is why im only doing it for a month. Just a little extra muscle.

You do realize that bulking for a month will give you only ~2lbs. of actual muscle?

[bcenotti]

You do realize that bulking for a month will give you only ~2lbs. of actual muscle?

Actually no i was not. Because i have only ever cut, I was just under the assumption that if i had a 1k calorie surplus i would gain 2 pounds per week and it would be the same things as a 1k calorie deficit in that i lose 2 pounds per week. But i suppose building muscle and losing fat are not comparable. Its a good experiment anyway as its my first bulk. So a short one will at least give me an idea of what to expect. Also, im one of those guys people love to hate. I lose weight and gain muscle easily, so im a bit optimistic. Thanks for the info, i really appreciate it.

[zhall616]

no, not at all. I'd read this: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...potential.html

cutting is way easier than bulking.

[bcenotti]

Well its been 2 weeks now so i thought i would give an update. About right where i want to be, gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks. First week i went over my maintenance calories because it was the first week back to school, so i went out drinking a few nights and my net calories were a little over 3000 with 33.5% protein, 45.5% carbs, and 21% fat. My second week work dropped a bomb on me. They sold the business to a new guy so we lost half our staff, which means last week i worked about 32 hours with school, and this week im doin close to 48 hours in addition to school. During the second week i managed to get in all my weight training but neglected most of my cardio figuring the extra hours at work would probly burn those calories anyway. I averaged about 3150 net calories w/ 34.6% protein, 45.2% carbs, and 21.2% fat.(No booze that week, and memorial weekend in college no less) This week im pretty much gonna cut all cardio as i just dont have the time and im on a bulk anyway. My net calories are gonna be about 3650, w/ 33% protein, 46% carbs, and 21% fat.