Fall Bulk Week 5 Review

If you haven’t seen the daily check-ins, this week included a wedding reception event with cheat meals and too much alcohol. As a result, my weight variation was as high as it’s been this entire bulk.

The main reason for this was dehydration, followed by a subsequent overcompensation of rehydration and excess water weight. We saw my lowest weight in weeks and my highest weight of the bulk within two days.

However, I have seen this effect before with bodybuilding contests’ depletion dieting and dehydration. So, I knew what to expect and how to get my weight back on track.

The first step was rehydrating my body with plenty of water and electrolytes like sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium. Then, I returned to my diet and exercise routine quickly.

My weight stabilized within a couple of days, and I was back to my pre-event physique. I don’t recommend binging like this regularly, but it is helpful to understand the physiology so you don’t fall entirely off the wagon.

On a positive note, I was still able to hit very close to my cumulative calorie surplus numbers this week. As you can see below, I ate an average of 11% more calories than I burned.

	Calories
Average Calories Consumed	+2,982
Average Calories Burned	-2,675
Average Calorie Surplus	+307 (11%)

The previous week’s surplus was only 4% due to Thanksgiving travel and lack of meal plan structure. So that is a step in the right direction.

Additionally, my average weight increased for the 5th week in a row, this time by 0.6 pounds. However, this rate of weight gain is still slightly behind the target to reach the goal of 180 lbs.

Therefore, I will aim for an even higher surplus this week and see if I can get up to around 15% on average. This means most days will be in the high teens, as I plan to have a single low-carb rest day this week.

Keep up with my daily check-ins, or follow up with my week four review to see how I do!