Trying to Bulk; Still Hungry

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

So, i’ve upped my calories quite a bit. I’m getting 3500 minimum every day, even on light days, 4k maximum unless I eat out. The more I eat, the hungrier I get it seems.

How do you interpret this hunger? Does my body need more food? Should I ignore it and just rigidly count my calories and see how much weight and BF% I gain weekly? I’m trying to gain w/o seeing my BF go too high but I don’t want to stall any gains I could make by not eating enough.

This is the first time I’ve tried intentionally putting on weight. I guess i don’t really know by BMR, but i’m 16% BF and 210-215 right now (if that helps). I’m kind of keeping track of my calories in my head… I have 6 planned feedings consisting of 500 calories (minimum) each with a PWO shake on workout days and I’ve been throwing in a snickers or something when I get pretty hungry between meals, or some peanut butter at home (I snack AT LEAST 2x/day, or make a feeding or two bigger to intentionally to hit 3500).

If I eat out, that takes the place of a feeding, but I stay on track with the rest of the feedings. I never thought I’d be able to eat a tripple whopper w/ cheese and then be hungry again a few hours later but I am. This BBB is no joke.

So bottom line: eat more when I’m hungry, even if I end up topping 4-5k? Or if I let my appetite be the driver, will I end up looking like Oprah? (I do not have a problem overeating. I rather enjoy it.)

2

You never mentioned how your weight has been responding to your caloric intake at the moment.

Have you been gaining at 3500-4k?

3

Well i’m just in the 2nd week of BBB. So I don’t know (accounting for daily flucuations), but I think its going up. Its too early to have a good set of readings to be able to tell if I’m doing it right or not.

At this point I’m just wanting to osmose from the knowledge and experience base here to see how other people have done it.

4

Considering how often I eat, if I still feel hungry I interpret that as my body telling me I need more food to recover from whatever I’m doing and give it more food (more protein never hurts).

That being said, it’s probably not the greatest idea if you’re body type is more endomorph and you gain fat very easily.

5

I would ride it out until the fat gain becomes too much. You may be going through a growth spurt. Fuel it.

6

I noticed that when I’m eating alot and still hungry, my strength skyrockets. I love the feeling and without fail, strength/size gains have always coincided with this hunger during a bulk. Personally, I would feed the hunger with a good protein source (aka bigger servings of meat).

7

[quote]nschneid wrote:
So, i’ve upped my calories quite a bit. I’m getting 3500 minimum every day, even on light days, 4k maximum unless I eat out. The more I eat, the hungrier I get it seems.

How do you interpret this hunger? Does my body need more food? Should I ignore it and just rigidly count my calories and see how much weight and BF% I gain weekly? I’m trying to gain w/o seeing my BF go too high but I don’t want to stall any gains I could make by not eating enough.

This is the first time I’ve tried intentionally putting on weight. I guess i don’t really know by BMR, but i’m 16% BF and 210-215 right now (if that helps). I’m kind of keeping track of my calories in my head… I have 6 planned feedings consisting of 500 calories (minimum) each with a PWO shake on workout days and I’ve been throwing in a snickers or something when I get pretty hungry between meals, or some peanut butter at home (I snack AT LEAST 2x/day, or make a feeding or two bigger to intentionally to hit 3500).

If I eat out, that takes the place of a feeding, but I stay on track with the rest of the feedings. I never thought I’d be able to eat a tripple whopper w/ cheese and then be hungry again a few hours later but I am. This BBB is no joke.

So bottom line: eat more when I’m hungry, even if I end up topping 4-5k? Or if I let my appetite be the driver, will I end up looking like Oprah? (I do not have a problem overeating. I rather enjoy it.)[/quote]

keeping track in your head aint going to help, you need to write down exactly what you ate and how much, please do provide a days worth of diet and how you react to that diet,

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? i mean if you are going to bulk do a clean bulk, maybe you feel hungary is because you might be consuming to much carbs and fats and not enough protein at a certain meal, that might also cause the hunger, remember bulking is a bitch (well at least clean bulking is) there will be times when you have to “force feed” your self on a clean bulk

just my 2 cents

8

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? [/quote]

Wait, what? That isn’t what Bonez meant. NO ONE IS TRYING TO GAIN FAT ON PURPOSE.

9

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? [/quote]

Wait, what? That isn’t what Bonez meant. NO ONE IS TRYING TO GAIN FAT ON PURPOSE. [/quote]

Defnitely not what I meant.

10

It really depends on your bodytype and your progress thus far on the new diet and lifting program. I know a couple former “fat kids” that are always hungry, even after they eat a lot. If they eat by hunger, they get fat fast. On the other hand, with more ectomorphic people, such as myself, I take hunger as a sign to eat.

I’d say if you are gaining more than 1.5-2 pounds a week, I would cut back because your body ain’t going to put on muscle any faster so any weight gain will be fat. If you are steadily gaining a pound or so a week, and your not piling on the fat, take the hunger as a sign to eat more.

11

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? i mean if you are going to bulk do a clean bulk, maybe you feel hungary is because you might be consuming to much carbs and fats and not enough protein at a certain meal, that might also cause the hunger, remember bulking is a bitch (well at least clean bulking is) there will be times when you have to “force feed” your self on a clean bulk

just my 2 cents[/quote]

I’m the opposite of what you just said. I can eat all the protein in the world and still be hungry if I don’t get enough carbs. I bought 4 lbs of ribeye this Sunday from Costco and wanted to eat it all before it started to turn. No matter how much I eat in one sitting I’m still hungry until I add some carbs. Same goes for chicken. Before I started lifing I could get full on carbs and fat with minimal protein.

12

I would suggest experimenting and seeing what works best for you. I know that isnt great advice, but no one knows your body like you do. When I find my body getting continously hungry I try to consume high protein foods, some veggies or almonds. They all seem to do the trick in filling me up. I gained roughly 18 lbs with an increase of ~1% BF. However, I have a fast metabolism and I hit the gym five days a week and play b-ball a few days. Either way you wont find a magic amount that will make you not gain a little fat, or not gain muscle. Trial and error.

Good Luck.

13

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? [/quote]

Wait, what? That isn’t what Bonez meant. NO ONE IS TRYING TO GAIN FAT ON PURPOSE. [/quote]

Defnitely not what I meant. [/quote]

my bad i worded it wrong, i know you aint trying to say that, but now a days alot of people just “let go” and bulk, by that i mean they eat anything that comes their way, like the OP stated he had whoppers or wome kind of fast food, i mean some people just say that “o im bulking, so its ok for me to gain some fat” but they usually dont realize that that is just an excuse they make for say getting big, im just saying that if a person is to bulk then they should please do a clean bulk, and when a person is getting the proper and clean foods they will probably dont feel as hungary

i know that this is a bulk, but

basically my message to the OP, do a clean bulk bro, you will soon realize that your body fat% is higher than you expected it to be, a simple rule of thumb would be to add 700 cals to your maintence level, that way if you start putting on a little fat, you can cut down the cals or hit the track

sorry for the confusion

14

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

I’m the opposite of what you just said. I can eat all the protein in the world and still be hungry if I don’t get enough carbs. I bought 4 lbs of ribeye this Sunday from Costco and wanted to eat it all before it started to turn. No matter how much I eat in one sitting I’m still hungry until I add some carbs. Same goes for chicken. Before I started lifing I could get full on carbs and fat with minimal protein.[/quote]

like traavis said, everyone is different, for you carbs and fats along with protein might help satify your hunger, but for the OP maybe, just maybe carbs and fats increase this hunger, like its been said before everyone is different, everyone responds differently to certain stuff

15

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? [/quote]

Wait, what? That isn’t what Bonez meant. NO ONE IS TRYING TO GAIN FAT ON PURPOSE. [/quote]

Defnitely not what I meant. [/quote]

my apologizes to prof x and bonez, maybe if i had said

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain muscle along with . . . . . some fat? [/quote]

16

So basically everyone is different, and I’ll know in a few weeks.

To answer some questions, I’ve always had endo tendencies, but that’s probably due to inactivity and a big appetite as much as anything else. Carbs+fat tend to fill me up for a long time (a PB&J Sandwich will do me for several hours), but protien by itself doesn’t really do it. Something like chicken and veggies leaves me hungry again pretty quick, even eating 200+ calories of EVOO with it.

I’ll try to stay clear of the junkfood in the meantime, and the fast food, but I’m sure eating out once a week won’t hurt anything, especailly since its usually on a squat day that I eat out and i’m pretty ravenous. But i’ll start recording everything, on paper, so I know what my daily intake is and I’ll log my weights and BFP measurement too. Basically ignore the hunger and treat it more like a science experiment than a buffet.

Since someone asked for a typical eating schedule:
7:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
10:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
11:00 - workout
1:00 - PWO shake
2:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
4:00 - Chicken breast, 2 tbsp EVOO and bowl full of mixed veggies
6:00 - 1 hr cardio (moral support for the wife doing slim in six)
7:00 - Dinner, varies but there’s always 50g protien worth of meat, sometimes some carbs too.
10:00 - Chicken breast, 2 tbsp EVOO

Throw in a snack or two, today it was a sweet and salty mix (peanuts/m&m’s) at ~9:00 for 280 calories.

So all the meals other than dinner come out at 500 calories, so w/ the snack and PWO shake I’m up to 3000, add in dinner for another 500-750. So if I only snack once I’m at 3750 tops. Usually its more than that… Tuesday I had a sweet and salty mix in the morning and then in the afternoon I had a 12 oz mountain dew and a snickers (another 430 calories) on top of everything else and was not overly full.

I’m trying to do carb cutoffs after dinner (prefferably after 4:00 but it doesn’t work out that way most of the time). My diet listed above is extremely consistent except for dinner; I always get in at LEAST that much, but I usually drop a meal on weekends since I sleep in and am not awake as long.

17

[quote]young n wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]young n wrote:

but other than that do what bones said, if you are trying to gain fat along with . . . . . muscle? [/quote]

Wait, what? That isn’t what Bonez meant. NO ONE IS TRYING TO GAIN FAT ON PURPOSE. [/quote]

Defnitely not what I meant. [/quote]

my bad i worded it wrong, i know you aint trying to say that, but now a days alot of people just “let go” and bulk, by that i mean they eat anything that comes their way, like the OP stated he had whoppers or wome kind of fast food, i mean some people just say that “o im bulking, so its ok for me to gain some fat” but they usually dont realize that that is just an excuse they make for say getting big, im just saying that if a person is to bulk then they should please do a clean bulk, and when a person is getting the proper and clean foods they will probably dont feel as hungary

i know that this is a bulk, but

basically my message to the OP, do a clean bulk bro, you will soon realize that your body fat% is higher than you expected it to be, a simple rule of thumb would be to add 700 cals to your maintence level, that way if you start putting on a little fat, you can cut down the cals or hit the track

sorry for the confusion[/quote]

Who the hell are you to tell somoene what kind of foods to eat?

I could eat “dirty” food upwards of 10 meals a week and I’d still keep abs. Would you tell me not to eat dirty foods after knowing that? Of course not. You dont know shit about anyone else but yourself. You dont have to ask somoene to “plese do a clean bulk”. No one gives a shit if you think THEIR fat gain is unacceptable. If someones waist size goes up 3" while they gain 40 pounds and they are comfortable then so be it. No one asked you to judge someone based on the level of fat YOU find acceptable. The guy asked for opinions on how much he should eat in relation to his hunger. That’s it. He didnt ask anyone to make up some scenario to give random opinions on a different topic.

You’ve said a lot of dumb shit in the past but this post may take the cake for one of the dumbest things posted on this board.

18

[quote]nschneid wrote:
So basically everyone is different, and I’ll know in a few weeks.

To answer some questions, I’ve always had endo tendencies, but that’s probably due to inactivity and a big appetite as much as anything else. Carbs+fat tend to fill me up for a long time (a PB&J Sandwich will do me for several hours), but protien by itself doesn’t really do it. Something like chicken and veggies leaves me hungry again pretty quick, even eating 200+ calories of EVOO with it.

I’ll try to stay clear of the junkfood in the meantime, and the fast food, but I’m sure eating out once a week won’t hurt anything, especailly since its usually on a squat day that I eat out and i’m pretty ravenous. But i’ll start recording everything, on paper, so I know what my daily intake is and I’ll log my weights and BFP measurement too. Basically ignore the hunger and treat it more like a science experiment than a buffet.

Since someone asked for a typical eating schedule:
7:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
10:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
11:00 - workout
1:00 - PWO shake
2:00 - Chicken breast and 1 cup oatmeal
4:00 - Chicken breast, 2 tbsp EVOO and bowl full of mixed veggies
6:00 - 1 hr cardio (moral support for the wife doing slim in six)
7:00 - Dinner, varies but there’s always 50g protien worth of meat, sometimes some carbs too.
10:00 - Chicken breast, 2 tbsp EVOO

Throw in a snack or two, today it was a sweet and salty mix (peanuts/m&m’s) at ~9:00 for 280 calories.

So all the meals other than dinner come out at 500 calories, so w/ the snack and PWO shake I’m up to 3000, add in dinner for another 500-750. I’m trying to do carb cutoffs after dinner (prefferably after 4:00 but it doesn’t work out that way most of the time). My diet listed above is extremely consistent except for dinner, usually drop a meal on weekends since I sleep in and am not awake as long.

[/quote]
I feel better with beef and pork. A huge home made roastbeef and chedder sandwich ( too big to fit in a ziplock sandwich bag) and an apple will get me by for maybe 3 hrs. That’s a lot of chicken!

19

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
I noticed that when I’m eating alot and still hungry, my strength skyrockets. I love the feeling and without fail, strength/size gains have always coincided with this hunger during a bulk. Personally, I would feed the hunger with a good protein source (aka bigger servings of meat).[/quote]

I already eat 6 chicken breasts every day. How much protien can I really use in a day? The reason I ask is not because I don’t want more meat but that meat/protien sources are THE MOST expensive food that I buy as a staple. Throwing in more oats or chugging olive oil is a far cheaper way to up my calories (and money is a concern… the wife already thinks I’m going to eat us out of house and home with all the chicken).

20

I got a deal for you, I’ll take your “always hungry” for my “never hungry, feel like vomiting forcing food down to meet my calorie requirements.” I know a guy who knows a guy who can get this done with some surgery…

Fuckin jealous.