This page is to detail the week to week weights, and self reflections of my current lean bulk diet. I am going on a shorter bulk then I would like this time because I wanted to end my cut later due to a vacation I was taking in December. I normally would use the winter months to add lean (hopefully) mass to my frame and then take off any fat I may have gained for the summer months using a cutting diet. If done carefully and diligently, this “bulking” and “cutting” process adds a few pounds of lean muscle to your body each year, while keeping your beach body for the summer months.

I’m not starting in a very good place for my bulk for various reasons. I am not coming off my cut “clean” because I was on vacation just prior to starting my bulk. See my vacation workout post for more details. The holidays also fell right after vacation for me so I decided to take a week off the gym and the diet and literally eat whatever I wanted. The diet break ended up lasting 2 weeks since I was thoroughly enjoying myself (shocker), but I still only took a week off the gym. When I got home from vacation I noted that I had gained almost 10 pounds. Hopefully it was mostly water and glycogen weight, but if I’m being honest I think I put on a little fat over that week. However, I also didn’t have a lot of water on the few days prior to leaving on vacation so I may have lost a little water weight prior to leaving as well.

Shortly after all that I started my “Santa Diet”, as I have dubbed it, due to the abundance of fresh cookies in my house after my family had their annual cookie cooking day. My wife brought home about 9,000 cookies (slight exaggeration) and I couldn’t resist. I still stuck to my diet for the most part, but it had a lot of extra cookies in it as well. This week I have been 90% compliant with my diet and had to miss one day at the gym due to Christmas (apparently gyms aren’t open on Christmas…go figure). This week is not going to be a good reflection of how dialed in I have my calories because it wasn’t as controlled as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I have been logging my weight most of the days and I will use this as a starting point for my “lean bulk” regardless. See my Lean Bulk Diet Plan for more information about what I am eating and my goals during this period of my training.

Week 1

  • 12/16 – 186.0
  • 12/17 – 184.4
  • 12/18 – 183.4
  • 12/19 – 184.4
  • 12/20 – 184.8
  • 12/21 – didn’t check weight
  • 12/22 – didn’t check weight

As you can see, I am up from my low of 176 lbs after vacation, diet breaks and the holidays. My weight has been pretty consistent despite my variations in diet over the last week or more (sneaking a handful a cookies a day, grabbing a snack at night more than I should, the candy jar at work, etc.). Now that all of these goodies are finally out of the house I will most likely be able to stay on track a little better (excluding a weekend trip to Frankenmuth coming up). As far as how I feel/look. I have a little bit more visible fat around my midsection then I did just prior to leaving for vacation, but I can still see my abs. I have managed to maintain my muscle mass because I didn’t skip out on the gym (except my de-training week) and I feel stronger at the gym with that extra glycogen in my muscles. I also notice increasing vascularity when I get a pump at the gym, despite a slightly higher body fat percentage then my “before vacation” body.

Week 2

  • 12/23 – did not check weight
  • 12/24 – 187.0
  • 12/25 – 185.4
  • 12/26 – 185.4
  • 12/27 – 185.4
  • 12/28 – 185.4
  • 12/29 – 185.4

I started out pretty bad, but settled around the 185.4 mark for most of the week. I was mostly compliant with my diet after the weekend because I celebrated Christmas on the weekend prior due to having to work the whole week of Christmas this year. I tend to be more strict with my diet when I work because I have a busy schedule and not a lot of temptations. I ate what I wanted at our multiple Christmas celebrations and you can see the jump up to 187.0 as a direct result.

Week 3

  • 12/30 – 185.4
  • 12/31 – did not check weight
  • 1/1/20 – 185.4
  • 1/2 – did not check weight
  • 1/3 – 188.2
  • 1/4 – did not check weight
  • 1/5 – did not check weight

We celebrated New Years Eve with friends and also went out to eat a few times so I wasn’t finding myself overly excited to step on the scale this week haha. One of these meals was a LOT of Chinese takeout (which is what sent me up to the 188.2 mark the next day). I also started lifting heavy this week. Once you are a more seasoned lifter it is important to periodize your workouts (I will explain what this means in a future post). I did not check my weight the last few days because we were out of town in Frankenmuth with family (beautiful town by the way – I recommend going if you have never been). I also ate out a lot on this mini vacation. I stuck to my workouts prior to leaving however.

Week 4

  • 1/6 – did not check weight (out of town)
  • 1/7 – 186.8
  • 1/8 – 186.0
  • 1/9 – 186.0
  • 1/10 – 186.0
  • 1/11 – 186.0
  • 1/12 – 186.00

I seem to have settled near the 186 mark this week. I still can’t really tell if I am eating an appropriate amount of calories on my “bulk” because my diet has been so inconsistent between holidays and travel. As of 1/7 I have been almost entirely compliant with my diet and over the next two weeks I will be able to see if I am consuming the appropriate amount of calories. I have no travel plans in the near future, so these next few weeks it will be important to stick to my diet and really see if my macros and calories are calculated correctly for my current goal. On a positive note, I have really enjoyed lifting heavy these last few weeks. I have noticed quite a bit of strength gained in just a short time on this current regimen. Strength = muscle = progress. We have talked about how important it is to progress in either weight or total work (progressive overload). My muscles appear larger, I am moving a lot of weight in the gym and my vascularity (pump) has been better. I noticed that my muscles are equally (if not more) sore after my gym days. I still have a little extra fat around the mid-section from the holidays and cheat days, but that is likely not going away since I am on my bulk. I expect future gains to be less fat and more muscle however (keep in mind there is ALWAYS SOME fat gain when eating more calories than you expend – the goal is to minimize fat gain and maximize lean muscle gain).

Week 5

  • 1/13 – 187.2
  • 1/14 – 185.4
  • 1/15 – 186.8
  • 1/16 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/17 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/18 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/19 – Didn’t check weight

I wasn’t very good about checking my weights this last week, but it was a very busy week and visually I appear about the same. I tend to be mostly compliant with my diet during the week and have a little of whatever I want on the weekends while MOSTLY sticking to my diet. This is why I love bulking, because I don’t have to guilt myself for cutting myself a little slack on my diet when the goal is controlled weight gain.

Week 6

  • 1/20 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/21 – 187.6
  • 1/22 – 187.0
  • 1/23 – 187.0
  • 1/24 – 187.0
  • 1/25 – 187.6
  • 1/26 – 187.6

I seem to be in the 187 range this month which is basically what my goal has been (about 1 to 2 pounds a month). I am noticing SLIGHTLY more fat accumulation around my midsection, but at the same time I am positive I have experienced a large jump in muscle gain and vascularity (despite the fat gain).

Week 7

  • 1/27 – 186.0
  • 1/28 – 188.0
  • 1/29 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/30 – Didn’t check weight
  • 1/31 – 187.2
  • 2/1 – Didn’t check weight
  • 2/2 – 188.8

Jumped up to the 188 mark a few times this week because I have had multiple cheat meals so I don’t expect this to be permanent weight gain (water and glycogen weight). I continue to note strength and muscle gains from week to week. This is a slow process, but when compared to myself 7 weeks ago you can really notice the added muscle (and a little bit of fat, but not a lot).

Week 8

  • 2/3 – 191.8
  • 2/4 – 189.0
  • 2/5 – 187.6
  • 2/6 – 187.6
  • 2/7 – 187.6
  • 2/8 – 189.4
  • 2/9 – 189.4

This week I settled back into a more steady diet plan with a few small cheat “snacks” from time to time. I started out the week at my highest weight in a long time, but you will note that this was the day after the Super Bowl haha. I decided to have a family/relaxing weekend and bypass the diet for Saturday and Sunday. As you can see, it was temporary weight gain. Jumped up a couple pounds on Saturday 2/8, but I think this can be explained by lack of bowel movements for a couple days (yeah yeah I know, TMI). I will see if my weight Sunday (2/9) looks any better after remedying the issue.

Week 9

  • 2/10 – 190.4
  • 2/11 – 191.4
  • 2/12 – Did not check weight
  • 2/13 – Did not check weight
  • 2/14 – Did not check weight
  • 2/15 – Did not check weight
  • 2/16 – 190.0

So I seem to be hanging around the 190 mark this last week but I have limited data to really gauge this accurately. It was a busy week with picking up extra shifts and having to wake up early with the child on the 4 days I had off work (the 4 days I didn’t check my weight). I notice I don’t check my weight as much on my bulk simply because I don’t really care about small fluctuations. The goal is to eat more calories than my body needs and to allow some mental reprieve from the taxing cutting process. Small fluctuations throughout the week are not as concerning as they are when I’m cutting.

Week 10

  • 2/17 – 189.6
  • 2/18 – 189.6
  • 2/19 – 189.6
  • 2/20 – 188.2
  • 2/21 – 188.8
  • 2/22 – 189.8
  • 2/23 – 189.8

My weights looked a little better this week because I was not cheating as much. As noted earlier, I tend to cheat less on my work weeks because my days are so structured and I don’t have access to as many snacks.

Week 11

  • 2/24 – 188.4
  • 2/25 – Did not check weight
  • 2/26 – Did not check weight
  • 2/27 – Did not check weight
  • 2/28 – Did not check weight
  • 2/29 – Did not check weight
  • 3/1 – 190.2

I think this will be the last week of my bulk. I have reassessed my timeline for my cut and I will be cutting it too close to beach season if I don’t start a little earlier than initially anticipated. Based off the numbers above I have gained roughly 4 pounds in almost 3 months, which is right on track for my goal of 1-2 pounds a month. However, this was a bad start because of the vacation that came just prior to the bulk that had me gain about 10 pounds haha. Not all 10 pounds of this gain was fat, I likely have a couple pounds of glycogen built up because my bulk (and vacation) have me eating more carbs to fuel my workouts and thus have more glycogen storage. I tend to go lower carb during my cuts (just personal preference). The transition between my next cut/bulk should be a lot smoother.

As far as how I look/feel. I feel stronger at the gym (likely partially from more carbs in my diet and lifting heavier, but also likely from legitimate strength and muscle gains). I look like I have gained a few more pounds of fat, but honestly its not that bad, and I can still see the outline of my abs. I do feel like I have gained more muscle again as well. My arms and chest both look and feel bigger. I will start a new page for my next bulk, but for 3/2 and beyond I will be back on my cutting plan (there will be a new dedicated page for this cut as well).

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