This is big for me...
This is big for me.
No, not putting up progress pictures, I've done this loads. So let me tell you why. I have bulked TWICE in my life: both times I ended up fat after only a matter of weeks, and I ran straight back to dieting to cut again. I have Pocrescophobia.... fear of gaining weight.
Both times I've bulked have been directly from being holiday where I had already flicked the "fuck it" switch and eaten ALL the food. Being honest here I used the time as an excuse to continue eating through Christmas until the new year. So gaining weight was something I just accepted. But I was far from happy. Yes, I was happy with the extra food, but I felt so uncomfortable in my clothes.
And where did it get me? Nowhere. I got fat too quick, made little to no #gainz and then spent the next 9 months both times dieting. In reality it should've been the other way around: 3 months dieting, 9 months bulking. But to do that it had to be in a far more sustainable and controlled manner.
That's why this is big for me. I am starting lean this time. Being lean means you're more sensitive to insulin, and your body is more primed to build muscle than partition as fat. That's the theory anyway.
Doesn't mean any excess calories go straight to muscle, but it does mean it should be more in your favour. You still have to accept you will still put on some body fat, but when that becomes uncomfortable to you, then you can do a rapid fat loss phase to cut down, then start a bulk again.
I've never done this. In the 3 years I've been lifting. So I'm really keen to get started. I self conscious that I give out advice on training and nutrition, but people may look at me and say "Do you even lift, bro?"... my biggest enemy has been myself. My phobia of getting fat has stopped me putting on any size.
So these are my starting progress pictures. Probably best I've ever looked, but obviously lacking in muscle overall. I'm going to enjoy the excess calories, but they will still be pretty moderate. I've been on 1,800 per day now for 3 months, give or take a few refeeds and a two week diet break. And I am only increasing calories up to my estimated maintenance of 2,200 calories (tentative guess maybe, but your maintenance calorie level decreases as you diet and people forget, put calories up to their original maintenance, and are actually now in a surplus) per day.
I will let my weight settle and see where it's at over the next 2-3 weeks. I have a holiday in 5 weeks time which might give me something to manage, but for now this is cool. I'll worry about that at the time.
So bring on the gainz. With a z. Obvs. Or should it be obvz?
Thanks
Brett
Adapt. Evolve. Become.
