Fall Bulk Day 25
Post-Thanksgiving check-in and the biggest calorie surplus of the bulk so far.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, so I took a day off from the gym and from tracking calories/macros to watch football and celebrate with family. Of course, I’m sure I was in a calorie surplus with all the food and desserts I ate.
Day 25 was a little more active with a garage gym leg workout, and I got back to tracking calories. However, there’s always more estimation involved without weighing or measuring quantities.
Nevertheless, it looks like I hit one of my most significant surpluses of the bulk by eating nearly 600 more calories than I burned. Here are my nutrition numbers from yesterday.
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Protein | 144 g (19%) |
| Carbs | 375 g (49%) |
| Fat | 108 g (32%) |
| Calories In | +3,048 |
| Calories Out | -2,455 |
| Calorie Surplus | +593 (24%) |
Many of those calories came from relatively healthy Thanksgiving leftovers like turkey, ham, greens, and yams. But a significant portion also came from freshly baked pecan pie with ice cream – not part of a healthy meal plan, but so good.
Day 25 also included a leg workout in the garage gym. Without a squat rack, I got creative with exercise selection and execution to stimulate the quads, hamstrings, and calves.
First, I used the Gold’s gym bench to do plate-loaded leg extensions and leg curls. The weight was pretty light for leg extensions, so I did slow reps for sets of 20.
Next, I used a scrap piece of 2×12 lumber and 60 lb dumbbells to do heel-elevated goblet squats and toe-elevated RDLs. I also used the board to do calf raises while holding the dumbbells in each hand.
Finally, I finished off the leg workout with a set of walking lunges up and down the driveway (24 steps) while holding 25 lb dumbbells.
Tomorrow is the last full day in Georgia, and we will be going out for dinner with the family. I’ll try to increase active calories burned, but we’ll see how it shakes out.
