Traded fat for muscle the last Month?

[muscleup]

I thought that I had been bulking for the last month. But now that I think about it, I think I was just trading up old fat for newb muscle.

I have gained about 6lbs since mid August, but I don't think it was mass from bulking. I did the calculations on this article (http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=177) and it came out to roughly 3743cals/day for me to gain any wieght at all.
I have been averaging about 3k/day for the last 4weeks.

I had to guess my BF% so I used 18% hoping it was a legit guess.
So for the last month I have been eating barely maint cals....wow that sux.
Not quite a deficit because I haven't really lost weight, but gained it by trading fat for muscle.

I was always told to find a calorie intake to where I would be gaining constant weight from week to week for a bulk, and I THOUGHT I had found it at 3k, but with that calculation from the article and thinking about how I haven't lifted in 2yrs and the newb muscle I would probably get out of the first month back...looks like I need to go back to the grocery store :(
Unless you all think i'm wrong?

[Nosaj]

Props on the recomposition, keep up the good work. :clap:

[ryuage]

so basically what you are saying is, you were eating x amount of calories and gained weight.... read some article that said you needed more and figured you werent eating enough?

[muscleup]

so basically what you are saying is, you were eating x amount of calories and gained weight.... read some article that said you needed more and figured you werent eating enough?
Yea.
The article was posted on WWB, so I take it as legit.

So is it possible to gain 6lbs in 4weeks without being in a calorie surplus?

[ryuage]

no, those are rough estimates... not everyone has the same metabolism they can vary as much as 30% in either direction.

[zimbo]

Assuming you have a typical office job and metabolize at an average rate, your maintenance calories without exercise are likely to be around 2500-2600 calories per day. Weightlifting for an hour a day probably burns 400-500 calories, so that puts you at roughly 3000. If you're shooting for a pound a week of weight gain then 3500 calories per day is a good target.

BTW, it is physically IMPOSSIBLE to gain "actual" weight (excluding water, food, and excrement) over a one month period without consuming more than you burn.

--Steve

[muscleup]

The example given in the article was a person that weighed 200lbs and was at 5%BF.
His calculation came out to about 5k/day as his maint intake. Which included his resting metobolic rate, activity cost, lifting activity cost & thermic effect on food.

He said he wouldn't have to increase it since he didn't lift weights 7 days a week. He said the weight gain would be happening on the 2 off days from lifting because the cal intake would stay the same even on the off days, therefore putting him in a cal surplus for 2 out of 7 days.
The scale says I am gaining every saturday morning right when I wake up. I'm going to bump my cal intake up a little just to make sure. 3300-3500

[Shao-LiN]

Calculation is the key word here. Your body doesn't use a calculator. Everyone's maintenance will be different. The "calculations" given are rough estimates that you can work with. They are not meant to be definitive (i.e. this is your real maintenance). You use it as a baseline, then adjust accordingly. If you aren't gaining, eat more. If you are gaining too much, eat less.