Bulk and Cut Journey

1/31/25

What’s up everyone. I wanted to announce that I will be attempting my first bulk and cut. I have never gotten fat on purpose so once basketball is over I’m gonna give it a shot. I don’t know how long it will take but I feel that I will learn a lot so hopefully it will be a good experience. I’ve been at my HS weight for nearly a decade so maintenance for me isn’t an issue. I have not had to restrict my cals or change much in terms of how I eat for quite a while. I will be updating everyone in the group once I start but wanted to post what I will be doing in broad terms below.

Once we get a bit closer to kick off and the cut phase I can fill people in on supplementation and what foods I’m eating and why. Before I forget I need to change my order from the farm for next month….Have a great weekend everyone!

Bulking Protocol:

My goal is to push my weight up to higher than it has been in a decade.

My goal weight will be over 160lbs to 162 lbs. (maybe higher, gotta see how long it takes, I have a history of being a hard gainer).

I will do this by eating 4 meals a day shooting for 4k cals+ daily.

I do not plan on counting cals.

I will be working out during this period of time.

I will be hitting a minimum of two strength sessions a week with some low intensity cardio.

Cardio will be either regular walking of over 10k steps or some uphill walking on the tread.

I do not know how long this will take but I am allocating 6-8 weeks for this.

I plan on eating carbs in nearly all of my meals.

Cut Protocol:

I will be eating approx. 2k cals utilizing a 3 meal protocol.

I do not plan on eating snacks regularly.

I will also not be drinking alcohol at all during the week.

I will be minimizing my carbs, first meal low carb.

My workouts will consist of 3 workouts with 2 being strength based with 1 session consisting of higher intensity cardio.

I will be using primarily KBs, Clubs and Cardio equipment during a majority of my workouts.

I will be looking to eat predominantly protein sources that have a 2:1 protein to fat ratio.

2/6/25

Last week I weighed in at 153lbs (top end of my range) so I decided to start the mini-bulk. Here is the before pics and vital statistics. Everything is pretty close to where I was roughly 7 years ago when I started tracking everything. Sub 10% BF, between 149-154lbs, around 80lbs of my weight is lean mass. So far I’m up a couple lbs. It has not always been easy to hit my goal of 4 meals a day but so far I’m doing it. I feel like I have a pretty good plan, just need to give it time to let it come to fruition. If you have any questions about either the bulk protocol or the future cut, just let me know. Have a great week!

What’s up everyone, I wanted to give everyone an update of how the mini bulk is going during Fat Feb.

I am up between 2-3 lbs thus far depending on the day.

I am trying to keep the bulk as clean as possible. The parameters are pretty straight fwd., try to eat 4 meals a day while eating carbs with every meal.

I try to get as close as I can to 4k cals a day.

Here is an example of what I had to eat today to come close to my desired intake:

Meal 1: 2 eggs

2 handfuls of organic peas

Slow cooker meat (approx 1/2lb)

Shredded cheese on double almond flour tortilla. The remainder I ate w/o additional carbs.

Meal 2: 1/2 lb of grass fed ground sirloin

Two handfuls of green beans

Cooked in butter

Put some it in a giant toasted roll (240 cal roll) with butter.

I ate the rest w/o any more carbs. Added a little bit of shredded cheese.

Meal 3: chicken rice and broccoli. Pre-made from Costco, I simply added the organic broccoli. Indian butter chicken is what it is called for our Costco members.

I’m on the way to a game now but when I get home this is the next meal…

Meal 4: Will be garlic chicken (1/2lb) cooked in olive oil with cheese ravioli. Throw in a couple of drinks hopefully after a big road win and that should do it for today.

If I were to add this all up from a caloric standpoint I would most likely be just under 4k cals.

I have also tried to keep a good journal noting the framework of my meals along with how I feel. I’ll continue to update everyone but if you have any questions hit me in the comments.

2/14/25

What’s up everyone, I wanted to give everyone an update of how the mini bulk is going during Fat Feb.

I am up between 2-3 lbs thus far depending on the day.

I am trying to keep the bulk as clean as possible. The parameters are pretty straight fwd., try to eat 4 meals a day while eating carbs with every meal.

I try to get as close as I can to 4k cals a day.

Here is an example of what I had to eat today to come close to my desired intake:

Meal 1: 2 eggs

2 handfuls of organic peas

Slow cooker meat (approx 1/2lb)

Shredded cheese on double almond flour tortilla. The remainder I ate w/o additional carbs.

Meal 2: 1/2 lb of grass fed ground sirloin

Two handfuls of green beans

Cooked in butter

Put some it in a giant toasted roll (240 cal roll) with butter.

I ate the rest w/o any more carbs. Added a little bit of shredded cheese.

Meal 3: chicken rice and broccoli. Pre-made from Costco, I simply added the organic broccoli. Indian butter chicken is what it is called for our Costco members.

I’m on the way to a game now but when I get home this is the next meal…

Meal 4: Will be garlic chicken (1/2lb) cooked in olive oil with cheese ravioli. Throw in a couple of drinks hopefully after a big road win and that should do it for today.

If I were to add this all up from a caloric standpoint I would most likely be just under 4k cals.

I have also tried to keep a good journal noting the framework of my meals along with how I feel. I’ll continue to update everyone but if you have any questions hit me in the comments.

3/8/25

Mini-Bulk update:

I wanted to share where I am at how I got there. The goal was to gain a few lbs and push me out of the 4lb window that I have been sitting in for 9 years or so. It wasn't easy but I have gotten myself there. I am going to let it ride one more week and hopefully I can gain another lb or two.

Nutrition:

This is obviously where I needed to make a few changes. I did not want to excessively count cals on this journey. I decided that if I set some systems into place and that my habits would get me the results that I was looking for. Essentially I would be using the same protocols that I would teach to a client that had the same goals.

My framework was to eat more than 3X a day as I typically would eat 2-3 meals a day. I found that eating breakfast at a breakfast time was the hardest thing for me. I found that 3 meals and high cal snack tended to work best for me. I find that many people do not establish a framework for how they are going to eat. Plan your system out ahead of time. My schedule made it hard to eat an earlier breakfast and if I did not do this it would be hard to catch up later in the day. If I did not do this I would have had no chance of reaching my goal. This simple protocol gave me the accountability that I needed.

The next obvious question was what were the types of foods that I would eat and how would my macros be adjusted. Once again, I did not want to be constantly tracking every last thing that I ate, so I decided to make an effort to eat carbs and protein in every meal. I knew that I had to be willing to eat some foods that I would not normally eat but I didn't want to stray too far off of my health path. What I meant by this was that I would eat foods like pizza perhaps a bit more but I would not be breaking my no fast food rule. I didn't want to get to my goal by doing something regularly that I would never do in terms of sacrificing the quality of food that I was eating. An example would be that I would eat pasta and bread regularly now as I would eat those things when I was at maintenance. I would eat those things sparingly however while at maintenance, now I was eating them much more regularly.

Another small thing that I did was opt for fattier cuts of meat on occasion as well. I ate lamb which has a higher fat content at a higher rate than I normally would. This fell within my rule of something that I would normally eat, I am simply eating it more often when trying to add lbs to my frame. Remember fat doesn't make you fat, fat is energy. However when you combine higher fat content with higher carb intake that is all energy coming in. I was essentially trying to out eat my energy expenditure in this case.

Energy expenditure (working out)

My workouts were modified but I still did a lot of what I would normally do. I still got my lifts in a minimum of 2X a week. One part that I cut out was the higher intensity cardio. I was making an effort to keep my heart rate under 160 during my workouts. I was still training power movements which can elevate HR, but I made sure to keep it brief. I really was not looking for a bunch of workouts where my energy expenditure was above 700 cals. I also tried to limit my steps when I could. Of course if I had a busy day I was going to have the 13K+ steps a day. If I could have a 7k day though I would take it. Normally I would make an effort later in the day to keep moving and push over 10k. I wasn't doing that during this period. Walking a bit less was a small thing that I figured I could do to limit energy expenditure.

Changes I noticed:

Some changes I knew to expect but other things were interesting to find out. Where did the extra weight go? For me it was fairly typical. The body fat went right on the mid-section, typical for males. The inner tube on the belt line was where the extra fat went straight away. Love handles and lower gut is where it wanted to go. This is where I get squishy it seems...Muscular size was gained around my shoulders and arms and in my thighs. Certain shirts were super snug which encouraged me to measure my arms which I normally don't do. With a bit of a pump post workout I was at roughly 15 inches on right bicep. This leads in to my next point, the increased levels of glycogen while continuing to work out is what has given me the added size. The carbs go to your liver but they also rest on your muscles waiting to be used. I noticed this occurring on the medial side of my thighs along with the delts and arms. Certain pants I would notice were tighter not only in waist but in my legs as well. This is most assuredly due to the increased weight but also the glycogen. The extra saturated fat does not make you fat, but the carbs kind of do in a sense is what I found out.

I will be posting pics soon of what the extra weight looks like and then begin the cut phase. Nutrition will obviously change and the workouts will also be altered for that phase. I will be updating everyone here and as always am available to answer any questions.

3/15/25

So it looks like the mini bulk has come an end. The goal was to simply gain a few lbs and push me out of the normal range I have been sitting in for almost a decade.

It essentially took me 6 weeks to gain around 5 lbs. I now will begin a cut to just under my normal range of weight, this will be roughly 9 lbs that I am looking to drop. Higher intensity cardio will re-enter the chat and I will continue lifting 2-3X a week as usual. Carbs will be reduced (low carb first meal) while I’ll also opt for leaner cuts of protein more frequently. I’ll also be doing some fasting regularly. These are all strategies that I discuss in the e-book. We will see if what I recommend works or not (I know it does ).

4/4/25

I weighed in after a tough 36 hr fast under my start weight by a couple lbs. today. I feel like after the mini bulk I have a bit more muscle and therefore my resting weight is a lb or two higher. This was an interesting experience for me that allowed me to experience many of my own protocols. The good news is that they definitely seem to work. It essentially took me 6 weeks to gain 4.5 lbs and 3 weeks to lose over 6lbs. I’ll

Have a more detailed breakdown posted soon. If anyone has questions about what certain fundamentals may be for themselves or others dm me or hit me in the comments. #nutrition

Here is where I was before the fast, back to the starting weight with a little more muscle on 3/28/25

152.8 lbs weight

82.5 lbs lean mass

6.3 % Body Fat

.366 hydration

Compared to 3/14/25 at the end of the bulk

157.8 lbs weight

82lbs of lean mass

9.1% Body Fat

.370 hydration

After a tough 36 hr fast 4/4/25

151.6 lbs weight

81.1 lean mass

7.4 % Body Fat

.362 hydration levels

Summary of the Journey

Hey what's up everybody? I wanted to run through a bit more of an in depth breakdown of what I did on the bulk and cut. When approaching anything along these lines I think that it is important to have a framework in place with a bit of detail that goes with it. Simply telling myself to eat more during the bulk and eat less during the cut is not a good plan. How are you going to set this up to help ensure compliance but also be easy enough to know if you are executing correctly? Another point that I wanted to be sure that I adhered to was to not eat too far out from what I would normally eat. I simply wanted to eat more of the stuff that I would eat during maintenance. For example, I wasn't going to drink a gallon of milk a day or eat a ton of sweets regularly as that is not how I normally eat.

Basic framework for the BULK:

I wanted to eat 4X a day. I was aiming to eat between 3k-4k cals a day. I noticed that what worked best for me was 3 regular meals with a high calorie snack mixed in throughout the day.

I used a trail mix of nuts and chocolate covered fruit regularly for my snack or 4th meal. Despite what you may think, it is quite simple to get to 600-700 cals when using nuts as the base of your mix as they are calorically dense. If one were on a cut, I would recommend that you do not snack at all; if you need to snack for whatever reason I would not use nuts despite their high nutritional value. They are quite easy to over eat and calorically dense making them perfect for a bulk.

Details of the BULK:

Carbs were to be present in every meal.

Fat content would be a bit higher as the animal proteins that I was choosing were going to be fattier cuts of meat.

Protein may be slightly higher as I was eating a bit more but this was not a focus.

I was not going to count cals. I already know about what everything is in terms of cal content. The goal was to use my habits to get me to my goal and plan things out ahead of time. This is the same concept that I would want a majority of my clients to utilize. When we are out in the wild we are not going to be able to count everything. Also, fun fact, the labels are often not accurate. They can be off by up to 20%. I am not against cal counting for the correct type of client. For someone that has never dieted at all, cal counting may be beneficial as they have no concept of how much they are actually eating. For a level 1 client such as this it may be beneficial for them to see how much everything actually is. The goal however would be to learn a bit about our food while we track so that we transition away from relying on the calculator and more on our habits and how we feel.

Exercise: I was still working out the same way that I normally would with the exception of high intensity cardio. I did my lifts but wanted to keep my heart rate under 160 beats as much as possible. On occasion it would creep into that range but generally it was under that for the 6 weeks of the bulk.

Things that I noticed on the bulk:

The weight actually went where I thought it would for the most part. The bodyfat went into the abdomen which is common for men. The extra glycogen went into my arms, shoulders, and hamstrings. I did feel less space in between my thighs so I now have a greater appreciation of the ladies thigh gap. I also noticed more size in my arms due most likely to the extra glycogen being taken in regularly. I did measure over 15 inches after a pump in my arms which is the biggest I can ever remember them being. I don’t typically train for hypertrophy, I am not really trying to get bigger. I want to get stronger which means that the muscle may grow a bit, but I am training to stay lean and strong while not losing any movement capabilities. Get stronger and move better has been my workout mantra for over a decade at this point.

My weight went up to 158 lbs and bodyfat went up to 9%

My visceral fat went up slightly from a level 1 to a level 2

I felt OK at this weight but prefer my maintenance weight. I also found that eating four full meals of carbs, veg, and meat was not doable for me regularly. I had to implement a snack, I also found that eating early in the am every day was also a bit of an adjustment for myself as well.

The CUT

Basic Framework:

Eat 3 meals a day without any snacking

IF most days 14-16 hr fasts

Low carb first meal of the day

Leaner cuts of protein-I utilized bison and fish regularly

Exercise: High intensity cardio re-enters the chat. I also used KBs and Clubs a good amount here as well

I noticed that my body took a little while to re-program itself. I started getting hungrier earlier in the day as I transitioned back to my normal way of eating. After about a week in however I had no problem eating later in the am and then on certain days, not until the afternoon. I would say that overall the cut was a bit easier for me as that is closer to how I eat regularly. One interesting point that I wanted to mention was that once I got down to my normal weight it became very difficult for me to get any lower as I had gained a little bit of muscle. I knew looking at my breakdown from the inbody that it would be tough for me to drop much more weight. I was only carrying booty 9 lbs of fat total on my body. For me to lose 3 of those lbs would be very difficult as your body is supposed to have some fat on it. For this dilemma I decided to hit a bit longer of a prolonged fast and at that point I was just going to see where I was at and call it. I knew that if I pushed it I would begin eating into muscle and and water weight which I really wanted to avoid as much as I could.

I weighed in and saw that I was essentially at the weight I started and knew that if I did a 36 hr fast that I would lose weight. This was the hardest prolonged fast that I did. I will never forget how difficult it was to make the kids tacos and guacamole that night and not eat any of it. I did implement some trace minerals in my water which I felt definitely helped but I did feel hungrier than usual and had a bit of a headache when I woke up the next day. The only thing that I could think of was that I did knock out a stimulation type workout earlier that day and also did some lower intensity exercise at the range later that day. Despite all of this, I was able to knock off a couple more lbs the next day when I jumped on the scale so I did accomplish what I set out to do. Interesting fact here after looking at everything closely, what I lost was some muscle and water it seemed according to the inbody. As I predicted, my lean mass was down just a bit so those last couple lbs did peel off a little bit of muscle. Overall, I felt that this was a good experience for me as I was able to learn a bit about my body. Most of which I felt I knew already but it was good to see the proof of it on paper from the printouts from the inbody scale.

The main reason that I decided to move on this endeavor was to test the protocols that I recommend to my clients on myself. I wanted to confirm that they work and also feel what it was like to have to restrict oneself with food in order to lose weight. This is not something that I have had to do in over a decade so I wanted to live the experience in a sense. I was happy to find out that the protocols seem to work great. I didn’t weigh anything or have to open my fitness pal at all and was able to get my body where I wanted to get it. It wasn’t especially easy but it was certainly manageable and I am glad that I took on the challenge. Most of the pics have been posted already but I will work on getting any additional data posted in the near future. As always thanks for reading and do not hesitate to hit me in the comments with any questions!