I’m transitioning from about 6 months of cutting where I came down from 200lbs plus a 37.5" waist to 170lbs plus 33.25" waist to trying to add some muscle cross sectional area! So I’m trying to be on a much slower and controlled bulk than I’ve done previously done after listening to all the BBM content on the subject (including the recent interview with Vanessa). I’ve been tracking my weight on a daily basis for the last 4 months during the cut some I’m used to the fact that there will be plenty of variability in my daily weigh ins (woo for high Beta!) but wondering how to handle it right now as I attempt to hone in on my new daily caloric intake. I know you had said in the studies that people had gained around 2lbs or so of lean body mass but I’m hedging my bets and shooting for closer to .7lbs a week and therefore 2.8lbs a month because I know I won’t be gaining 100% lean body mass so I want to not inhibit my chances at maximal muscle growth.
Now with the background of the situation aside, I weighed 170.4lbs last Sunday and had a bit weight jump during my weigh in yesterday (Saturday) to be at 171.4lbs so I’m thinking I may be overshooting and need to modulate my calorie intake down a little. Fast forward to this morning’s weigh in and I’m 170.7lbs so my data point exactly a week later is actually only .3 lbs up which would indicate needing to instead move calories up slightly. Due to life stuff this week, Friday was not one of my GPP days and Saturday was a lifting day so I know there could be some variability in my glycogen levels and therefore my water levels as well.
Is there anything I can do to get an idea of where my calorie intake is relative to where I need/want it to be other than being patient and waiting for more data to clarify the situation? Do you think it is reasonable for me to have the slightly higher target in there to account for partitioning of the weight that is gained? Could I temporarily have the higher target and, if I have notice my waist climbing too fast, modulate down to a lower weight gain rate?
So, I would recommend comparing average weights from each week rather than a single weigh-in. Additionally, I’m not sure if you’re tracking calories, macros, both, or neither- but I would definitely recommend having a fairly set intake week to week and then adjusting it up or down based on the change in average weight and what your waist is doing.
I’m not sure that you should have a higher target for rate of weight gain, no.
I am tracking protein intake pretty closely to ensure I hit 170g (1g per lb) and calories to within 100 or so because I’m not devoted enough presently to weigh and measure everything. I’ll try to look more towards the recommended .5lbs of gain and be patient so I can use the averages. I probably reintroduced more fats back into my diet than carbs to move my calories up because I had cut them down pretty low during my cutting phase.
Is there any value towards moving calories up and down slightly based on differing calorie needs of different days such as my two days off compared to my GPP days to have the weight gain more evenly distributed? Or is the more macro view of weekly weight change all that really matters for results?
I have a history of majoring in minors so I sometimes need to check myself…
My concern with your approach is that I’m not sure it’s possible to accurately track calories without weighing and measuring things. You can use outcomes (weight gain) to guide management, sure.
I do not think it’s useful to vary calories based on day to day activity outside of adherence.
Keep up the good work and let us know how it’s going!
Though I am currently enrolled in a cooking class at on of the local CCs, I don’t have a lot of cooking skills so much of what I do involves enough labeling that I can get semi accurate ideas of what I’m eating. I make a decent amount of sandwiches so I can reference the packaging to see how many calories per slice of bread, cheese and meat which is why I think I know within 100 calories or so. As I do get better at these cooking shenanigans I will probably get more into the weighing of things (in fact, the professor recommended weighing over measuring at our first class yesterday).
On a somewhat related question, how macro of a time table is the calorie surplus for the bulking to happen effectively? Put another way, are there different results if you have the same 200ish calorie surplus every day versus if you were to eat maintenance on for six days and had a cheat day that you ate enough to equal the same surplus? I don’t intend to do the latter strategy but am curious to understand some of the inner workings a litter better.
“I do not think it’s useful to vary calories based on day to day activity outside of adherence.” Would you agree one caveat to this is those that do significant (700-3000Kcal) aerobic endurance activities on some days should add on those days?
Nope. I would not add fuel to correct for this. The body is adept at doing so.
