Fall Bulk Week 4 Review
Week 4 of the bulk coincided with Thanksgiving and presented unique challenges to maintaining lean gains. But not how you might think!
The Thanksgiving holiday is often associated with overindulging and maybe gaining a few pounds in the process. On top of that, traveling to visit family for the holiday can mean days of eating out or eating leftovers.
That may not sound like a bad thing when you’re bulking and trying to gain weight. But even during a bulk, you should avoid gaining excess body fat that you must burn off later.
My situation is a little different. I have an ectomorph body type, which means I’m naturally lean. And I tend to lose weight if I don’t pay close attention to what I eat.
When traveling, my first priority is eating enough calories to maintain my body weight. But I also try not to eat fast food for every meal.
The most challenging part this week was getting protein, and I ate about 35% less than usual. I managed to eat more than I burned most days, but my surplus was slightly lower than I wanted.
Also, I allowed myself a couple of days where I didn’t track my calories or macros at all. So, this week’s numbers are an average of the five days I did track my numbers.
| Calories | |
|---|---|
| Average Calories Consumed | +2,449 |
| Average Calories Burned | -2,365 |
| Average Calorie Surplus | +84 (4%) |
My average daily energy expenditure was a few hundred calories less as I took a few days off from the gym. And when I did work out, they were shorter and burned fewer calories than I do at home.
That means I didn’t have to eat as much to stay in a surplus, but I only managed to eat an average of 4% more calories than I burned. I had been in a 7% surplus on average the previous two weeks.
As a result, I gained about 0.4 lbs in week 4, which is the same amount I gained in week 3. But my weight gain has slowed down from the first two weeks, and I’m not behind schedule to reach my goal of 180 lbs.
Some of this is due to the holiday, but I suspect my metabolism has adjusted to the higher calorie intake. So, in week 5, I will target a larger surplus to see if I can get my weight gain back on track and move the trendline up.
Keep up with my daily check-ins, or follow up with my week four review to see how I do!
