[quote]Matt McG wrote:
Quartey,
I think you are right…more volume is not the solution. I have (had) the same issue that you do. I have a pretty small frame naturally given the size of my joints, but my metabolism allows me to pack on weight incredibly easily.
I went from 175lbs Freshman year of college to 220lbs, Junior year WITHOUT the strength to go with it. Yes, I got stronger, but not in a way that you’d expect for someone who was 220lb.
Despite all my complications of this issue with my opinions of carb tolerance, the ideal amount of protein to take in, etc, I realized that it comes down to one thing. Calories in versus calories out. Body composition is another thing that takes more playing with to find the optimal levels of leanness and muscularity, but in terms of absolute weight, calories is the main consideration.
Just as a “hardgainer” can’t gain weight without adding calories, “easygainers” like us can’t lose or maintain their weight without watching their calories.
Personally, I find that I cannot let my appetite govern me eating, because I’d rapidly be approaching the superheavyweights 
I’ve had success with weighing myself every morning to keep a close eye on where I am. I also went onto FitDay.com and tracked my calories for a few weeks and was often surprised by what I found.
I am now competing a weight class lower after having dropped 20lbs (a good amount of it being muscle as well) but am about to match or perhaps exceed my previous competition bests in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
As for your training, you need to find out what is most important for you improve upon in general and at certain points. Do you need to be in tip top shape endurance-wise all year long, is your technique your biggest weakpoint, are you too weak, too slow, etc.
If you’re only going to do 1 strength training day a week, why wouldn’t you do it on Monday? Strength is not a quality that is trainable under fatigue, so you’d probably see better results placing it after Sundays (your day off) when you are most fresh during the week.
Post a sample of your diet once you’ve resumed your normal eating habits. Include the macro breakdown and calories as well.
-Matt[/quote]
Will do buddy, thanks for the advice.
I’m actually going to try Waterbury’s twice a week strength training, and keeping a dedicated food log/calorie counter. As soon as I’m back to normal.