Caloric Intake- Desk Job

[kmallard]

I was in a long 6 month cut because I started new at 220lbs.

My body kept adapting and I’d plateau and at the end I was eating 1700 calories and still not losing weight.

At that point I’d lost 45lbs and estimate I was around 15% BF.

Also, a little about me: 33, 6’ tall, week 3 of Test E 400mg from pharmahgh.

So, I jumped on my first cycle for a bulk 3 weeks ago. I upped my calories to 2500 thinking that was maintenance but have steadily been gaining weight. I’ve read people eating 5000+ calories and fear I’m limiting my progress with such few calories.

I’m now at 181. I don’t want to get “fat” on gear. I did bump it up to 2800 calories this week. This was my 3rd week on gear, and I am going up in my lifts so it seems to be working but it could just be natural gains as I’ve read Test E takes 4+ weeks to start working? Of the calories, I’m averaging about 230-250 grams of protein, 250-300 grams of carbs and the rest is fat.

My biggest concern is I’m not eating enough calories, but I’m staying full, making strength gains at the gym and so on. But reading about others, anything less than 3000 calories doesn’t make sense. I have a job where I literally sit all day long. I’m doing a 5 day PHAT routine that’s pretty intense taking 1-1.5 hours each trip and twice a week I’ll do 10-15 minutes of cardio post workouts and abs.

 

[HeftyLefty]

forget the calories lol.
If your making gains, gaining strength, does it matter how much you eat?

 

[MrMetal]

Nah bro anything less than 15k calories a day and you’re just wasting time plus the gear won’t work until you hit 10k a day. Jk sounds like you’re eating enough just don’t let yourself become fat bastard. Besides you lost the weight once you can do it again.

 

[RollyPolly]

Is your weight and strength going up? That’s what matters. Weight should go up around 3-4 pounds a month on gear for lean gains in my opionion.

 

[JDLift]

Dan Bell recently (well kinda recently) mentioned when asked about his calorie intake that he maintains at roughly 3000. Dan Bell is ATWR holder (first/only 2600lb total raw) and weighs nearly 400 pounds. If 3000 is enough for him, it should be enough for damn near all of us.

 

[MikeAlstott]

@JDLift damn, that guy is a UNIT. it’s funny, I was googling for Dan Bell and there’s this guy who produces this documentary series on “Dead Malls” (which is actually pretty interesting and entertaining if you’re into that stuff) and his name is also Dan Bell. At first, I thought it was the guy you were talking about and I was looking at the Google pictures thinking to myself, “wait, this guy lifts and has a 2600 lb raw total??” Classic Dan Bell mix up scenario.

 

[bos611]

I was in a long 6 month cut because I started new at 220lbs.

My body kept adapting and I’d plateau and at the end I was eating 1700 calories and still not losing weight.

At that point I’d lost 45lbs and estimate I was around 15% BF.

Also, a little about me: 33, 6’ tall, week 3 of Test E 400mg from pharmahgh.

So, I jumped on my first cycle for a bulk 3 weeks ago. I upped my calories to 2500 thinking that was maintenance but have steadily been gaining weight. I’ve read people eating 5000+ calories and fear I’m limiting my progress with such few calories.

I’m now at 181. I don’t want to get “fat” on gear. I did bump it up to 2800 calories this week. This was my 3rd week on gear, and I am going up in my lifts so it seems to be working but it could just be natural gains as I’ve read Test E takes 4+ weeks to start working? Of the calories, I’m averaging about 230-250 grams of protein, 250-300 grams of carbs and the rest is fat.

My biggest concern is I’m not eating enough calories, but I’m staying full, making strength gains at the gym and so on. But reading about others, anything less than 3000 calories doesn’t make sense. I have a job where I literally sit all day long. I’m doing a 5 day PHAT routine that’s pretty intense taking 1-1.5 hours each trip and twice a week I’ll do 10-15 minutes of cardio post workouts and abs.

When determining your BMR with a desk job, you’re considered sedentary. Are you factoring that in when projecting calorie intake?

How are you estimating your body fat? Using calipers? People tend to underestimate their body fat, typically by as much as 2-3%, possibly more.

Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight to 5k calories coming from 2500-2800. You need to find your baseline and then incrementally add until you’re adding a relatively dry 1-2lbs per week. Lean gains are not fast by any means. It’s like recomping with a little bit of surplus.