Off season diet advice

[Eddie.]

Would like some opinions for the "issue" i'm dealing right now. I'm in fifth week of bulk, my maintenance is around 3200 now i work more than before (requires some physical stuff and enough steps).

I started the bulk with 3500kcal on training days (4 per week), 2500 on 2 of my rest days and 4500 the other rest day which is Saturday with a cheat meal for dinner. I gave it 2 weeks and my weight didn't increased, i was 213lb like first day of bulk.

I then raised calories to 3900 on training days, 2700 on 2 rest days and 4500 for Saturday. Gave it 10 days and still nothing, i was confident enough that after 4 weeks the higher Test and EQ would start holding some water but nah.

I'm currently at 4300-4500kcal on training days, 3300 on 2 rest days and almost 5500 on Saturday with the cheat meal. Almost a week after and throughout that period i'm 1lb up which is pretty weird for me since i was always the opposite, always had to be careful to not end up like a pile of $hit.

Current macros on training days is 650C 65F 290P and in rest days 400C 60F 270P. My carb sources are cream of rice, white rice, rice cakes, oats, potatoes, dates and Karbolyn for intra. Protein is whey, fat free Greek yoghurt, chicken breast, eggs and beef on my cheat meal. Fats are mostly from my 2 eggs, 10gr olive oil and 30gr peanut butter, the rest is trace from other sources.

My main concern is, should i keep it there for couple weeks to see if scale come up or it would be better to keep increasing calories until i start gaining weight? This is literally happening to me for the first time, i always was that guy who gained weight by just smelling the food. I'm sure if i start eating crap i'll add 10 pounds in a week but that's not what i seek for, i just want to add muscle mass as clean as i possibly can.

 

[Oakley6575]

Would like some opinions for the "issue" i'm dealing right now. I'm in fifth week of bulk, my maintenance is around 3200 now i work more than before (requires some physical stuff and enough steps).

I started the bulk with 3500kcal on training days (4 per week), 2500 on 2 of my rest days and 4500 the other rest day which is Saturday with a cheat meal for dinner. I gave it 2 weeks and my weight didn't increased, i was 213lb like first day of bulk.

I then raised calories to 3900 on training days, 2700 on 2 rest days and 4500 for Saturday. Gave it 10 days and still nothing, i was confident enough that after 4 weeks the higher Test and EQ would start holding some water but nah.

I'm currently at 4300-4500kcal on training days, 3300 on 2 rest days and almost 5500 on Saturday with the cheat meal. Almost a week after and throughout that period i'm 1lb up which is pretty weird for me since i was always the opposite, always had to be careful to not end up like a pile of $hit.

Current macros on training days is 650C 65F 290P and in rest days 400C 60F 270P. My carb sources are cream of rice, white rice, rice cakes, oats, potatoes, dates and Karbolyn for intra. Protein is whey, fat free Greek yoghurt, chicken breast, eggs and beef on my cheat meal. Fats are mostly from my 2 eggs, 10gr olive oil and 30gr peanut butter, the rest is trace from other sources.

My main concern is, should i keep it there for couple weeks to see if scale come up or it would be better to keep increasing calories until i start gaining weight? This is literally happening to me for the first time, i always was that guy who gained weight by just smelling the food. I'm sure if i start eating crap i'll add 10 pounds in a week but that's not what i seek for, i just want to add muscle mass as clean as i possibly can.

Are you taking progress pictures each week? If so, I would use that as your metric to gauge what you need to do with the diet. The scale is a terrible way to gauge progress.

 

[Eddie.]

Are you taking progress pictures each week? If so, I would use that as your metric to gauge what you need to do with the diet. The scale is a terrible way to gauge progress.

TBH no man. I'm taking some random pics here n there but nowhere near like check ins and you're right, this is actually the most reasonable question i'd do too, but honestly didn't thought it will end up this way. I'm definitely getting harder and more vascular but sizewise i think i'm the same. Only when i'm pumped from all the carbs and higher test i'm somewhat bigger, but not actual muscle tissue.

Do you think it's still a good idea to start taking pics now?

 

[Oakley6575]

TBH no man. I'm taking some random pics here n there but nowhere near like check ins and you're right, this is actually the most reasonable question i'd do too, but honestly didn't thought it will end up this way. I'm definitely getting harder and more vascular but sizewise i think i'm the same. Only when i'm pumped from all the carbs and higher test i'm somewhat bigger, but not actual muscle tissue.

Do you think it's still a good idea to start taking pics now?

Of course. Take some "starting" pics ASAP. That will give you a baseline you can make adjustments off of.

 

[Eddie.]

Of course. Take some "starting" pics ASAP. That will give you a baseline you can make adjustments off of.

Ok, thanks for replying!

 

[BuildABro]

Would like some opinions for the "issue" i'm dealing right now. I'm in fifth week of bulk, my maintenance is around 3200 now i work more than before (requires some physical stuff and enough steps).

I started the bulk with 3500kcal on training days (4 per week), 2500 on 2 of my rest days and 4500 the other rest day which is Saturday with a cheat meal for dinner. I gave it 2 weeks and my weight didn't increased, i was 213lb like first day of bulk.

I then raised calories to 3900 on training days, 2700 on 2 rest days and 4500 for Saturday. Gave it 10 days and still nothing, i was confident enough that after 4 weeks the higher Test and EQ would start holding some water but nah.

I'm currently at 4300-4500kcal on training days, 3300 on 2 rest days and almost 5500 on Saturday with the cheat meal. Almost a week after and throughout that period i'm 1lb up which is pretty weird for me since i was always the opposite, always had to be careful to not end up like a pile of $hit.

Current macros on training days is 650C 65F 290P and in rest days 400C 60F 270P. My carb sources are cream of rice, white rice, rice cakes, oats, potatoes, dates and Karbolyn for intra. Protein is whey, fat free Greek yoghurt, chicken breast, eggs and beef on my cheat meal. Fats are mostly from my 2 eggs, 10gr olive oil and 30gr peanut butter, the rest is trace from other sources.

My main concern is, should i keep it there for couple weeks to see if scale come up or it would be better to keep increasing calories until i start gaining weight? This is literally happening to me for the first time, i always was that guy who gained weight by just smelling the food. I'm sure if i start eating crap i'll add 10 pounds in a week but that's not what i seek for, i just want to add muscle mass as clean as i possibly can.

You sound like me man. I can't gain weight for shit, and I also have a bulk coming up. Do you have a target weight you are trying to hit on your bulk?

In any event, I would not do anything immediately. Patience is not my virtue either, but I would maintain the status quo for at least a couple more weeks to see what materializes keeping your routine and diet as close to 1:1 as possible.

If after the passage of time your body is still fighting you, then it's time to throw more calories at it. It will have to respond eventually. I use weight gainer shakes myself to supplement in this situation. They are not the greatest taste wise. Packing 1000 calories into a 16 oz shake makes them thick like sludge, but they are a relatively easy way to top off daily calories.

 

[Eddie.]

You sound like me man. I can't gain weight for shit, and I also have a bulk coming up. Do you have a target weight you are trying to hit on your bulk?

In any event, I would not do anything immediately. Patience is not my virtue either, but I would maintain the status quo for at least a couple more weeks to see what materializes keeping your routine and diet as close to 1:1 as possible.

I usually had an easy time on packing weight but i was also natty since last year and also my diet was always with higher fats, like 100+ per day.

I was 247lb in february before going to cut and now i'm 213, i don't think 247 will look good, probably this would require enough fat gain too and i don't think i'll go there in the current bulk.

My initial plan was hitting something between 235-240 after 20 weeks on bulk but this is why i'm kinda unsure how to proceed because 5 weeks already flew and i haven't gain any weight. I'm not going to push more than 2 pounds a week, so at this point i'm in the verge of getting there IF weight starts to increase like next week.

If after the passage of time your body is still fighting you, then it's time to throw more calories at it. It will have to respond eventually. I use weight gainer shakes myself to supplement in this situation. They are not the greatest taste wise. Packing 1000 calories into a 16 oz shake makes them thick like sludge, but they are a relatively easy way to top off daily calories.

I don't want to eat processed foods and dense calorie foods just for the sake of total input. I planned this off season to be as clean as possible, actually it's the first time i intentionally want to add weight because the previous times i was just getting loose and eat whatever i wanted. Now it's all planed and it amazes me how difficult is to gain weight with clean foods haha