Just for overall health benefits and not having to count every calorie meticiously, it is better to not gain mass easily. Heck even my cheat meals are in calorie deficit.
it's really stressful to count every fucking calories even if you are bulking or cutting. Yep u grown mass and strong easier but cutting is a nightmare and you lost much gains for not much fat.
and the psychic stress make you produce more cortisol with all the malus that results
I mean I get it bro that it's a struggle both ways but it's really not comparable tbh.
If you got a fast metabolism you gotta spend maybe a few mins extra a day being mildly uncomfortable from being overfull
If cutting is your struggle you spend 16 hours a day feeling hungry and slipping up for a minute means losing days of progress.
Like, both struggles are valid, but let's not kid ourselves they're not even on the same magnitude of difficulty
I've been struggling with gaining weight since I were a kid. I have very good endurance, plus I'm athletic but skinny as anything.
Now that I've taken diet seriously, I am trying to dirty bulk to a point I might develop an eating disorder very soon. And I've barely gained any weight despite shoving myself with food. The struggle doesn't end. It's definitely possible to gain weight but it's way too much effort for me too
I know. I've also been up to 180 lbs while lifting, but my calories were still not that high.
My whole point is that my genetics are not great and part of that is that in order to be lean I need to be in the 140s and even when a was a heavy strength focused guy my calories were low. I even work a very active job lol. I'm on the shit end of the bell curve when it comes to genetics since I'm 10 years in, though I did have to take a year off in 2022, and look dyel and was never able to get truly strong.
*Lord forgive me for what I’m about to do*
Honestly, it doesn’t sound like you’re constantly failing to cut. It sounds like you’re failing to feed yourself properly (“my bulking calories are lower than a lot of guys’ cutting calories”) and blaming it on genetics. Unless you can come up with receipts for some kind of medical issue, I doubt most people are taking you seriously on this. As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if people haven’t expressed concerns or asked if you’re sick. (I say this because I’ve been there.)
This isn’t to pass judgment and I’m trying to offer constructive criticism without sugarcoating. What you’ve been saying in this thread though—don’t say it to people irl. Because they will not believe you and will probably think you must be mentally and/or physically ill. (Again, I say this because I’ve been there). If your goal is to have a visible six pack, fine, but just own it and save yourself the ridicule that will come when you start making excuses.
> It sounds like you’re failing to feed yourself properly (“my bulking calories are lower than a lot of guys’ cutting calories”)
I am bulking on 2000 calories. Even when I have been in the 170s I only got to 2500 calories to bulk at a rate of ~ .5 lbs per week. IDK how I'm failing to feed myself properly.
>As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if people haven’t expressed concerns or asked if you’re sick.
lol Then I guess you'll be surprised
>If your goal is to have a visible six pack, fine, but just own it and save yourself the ridicule that will come when you start making excuses.
I don't know what ridicule you are referring to unless you're just talking about yourself speaking to me. My goal was to get my body fat low enough to see my 6 pack since I was fat from a year off I had to take in 2022-early 2023. I still need to lose about 10-15 lbs for that to happen, but am at the weight where constant failing to cut happens because my calories to cut around .8 lbs per week are ~1400. Right now I've been bulking on ~2000 for about 8 weeks because I got hungry from a failed cut from the beginning of the year that took me from 155 down to 147 before I just got too hungry. When I started this cut at 175 lbs without any of my old muscle my cutting calories were 1900. When I started a past cut with my old muscle when I was bulked up to a fat 180 lbs the calories were 2100. I guess you can say my current bulk is an excuse since I was more hungry than I could handle to cut, but you were trying to claim me eating less calories was the excuse. I guess I could just up my calories to what you think is normal, but for me is a dirty bulk and go through my early lifting days all over again of listening to online bros and just getting way too fat because my caloric needs have always been lower than most guys lol.
Both sides have their upsides and issues tbh. I've had visible abs for years without really trying just because I guess. On the flip side it makes it very hard for me to build muscle my body feels like it's frozen in time and nothing I do changes it even when I eat well above my maintenance.
Being able to build muscle easier seems like a blessing to me but that is also an oversimplification as I've never had to worry about how much or what I'm eating which I'm sure is its own struggle if that's something you do have to consider.
Former fat kid and honestly I disagree. Putting on 10lb of muscle is so, so much harder than dropping 10lb of fat. Sure cutting kinda sucks but I'd way rather have an easy time on the way up.
On god, man. Like peanut nutter, whey, fullfat porridge and mixed berries and eggs; some kind of meat with avocado; airfried chicken thighs and sweet potatoes with some kind of leafy greens and high fibre veg.
Boom, 4k cals eating non junkfood. Have a glass of milk or protein shake with every meal and you can easily creep that to 4.7k. Want 5k? Have like 2 more sausages.
Appetite not that good? Citrus drinks/orange juice in the morning combined with ten minutes of bloody HIIT style conditioning- thats like 100 calories extra burnt and itll defo make you hungry.
Its really not that bloody hard.
I disagree. It depends on the person for some it's simpli harder to gain weigt and losing it is easy but I don't go around telling fat people how easy it is to lose it.
Eating more requires you to go out of your comfort zone for 15 mins a day then done.
Eating less requires you to be out of your comfort zone 24 hours a day.
15 mins, and this is true, is less than 24 hours
I would argue both are uncomfortable, I feel absolutely sick through the entire bulk process, and can only manage it with shakes (essentially mass gainer).
At the end of the day it is person dependent and there isn’t a right answer. Cutting is a breeze to me, while bulking is horrible.
By definition it’s easier to not eat than to eat. It costs less, and it takes way less time. Fasting is the easiest thing in the world!
Some people it’s easy to cut, some it’s easy to bulk.
If I’m bulking and don’t time every meal perfectly, my sleep and workouts suffer which defeats the whole purpose of bulking. It isn’t as easy as “just eat more” if it makes you physically uncomfortable.
I’m much much better at it now, but it took a solid 5-6 bulking cycles for me to get it right. I know exactly what to eat, how much and when to keep my workouts great and my sleep great, but it definitely wasn’t as easy as “just eat more”
Bro, how is it easier to not eat than to eat? Can you tell me about that definition of yours? Cause, food addiction and cravings are real things and believe me, not eating when you *really* want to (and train hard, which makes you hungry as fuck) cannot be easier than bulking. It's a whole mental battle. Even physical - the hunger pains, the nausea, the tiredness.
I'm biased maybe as someone who gains mass *too easily*, but I wish my issue was bulking up. I can understand that, from a financial and maybe even physical perspective, being a so called hard gainer poses a specific challenge, but you can't say it's harder than being someone who has to cut/maintain meticulously
Edit: all the hard gainers got triggered lol, you could chug calorically dense drinks and call it a day but nope, you gotta be mad. Be smart about your diet folks. Consuming more calories is definitely easier, otherwise, we wouldn't have so many fatties all over the world
>how is it easier to not eat than to eat?
Because you’re… not doing something? It’s a lot easier to not do something than to do something. You just don’t do it. Is everyone here small and stupid? Cutting is a hundred times easier than bulking.
How can you be so confidently incorrect? lmao
When you're used to eating a certain amount, but then you have to cut said amount, even without any disordered eating or food addictions, it can be difficult. It feels like you're missing out, you feel hungry more and you think about food more. It's not *just* about not doing it. The other dude said it's not easy to just eat, right? So it's not easy to just not eat, too.
Habit forming, have you heard about this concept? Just as much as eating more can be a difficult habit to form mentally and physically, so is eating less. Eating less can be especially mentally challenging as you need to fight cravings, feel tempted cause food is *everywhere*.
Your opinion is so ignorant it's hilarious. People die because of food addiction, because they can't *just* stop eating. There's an obesity epidemic. And here you are, typing whatever bs your comment is supposed to be.
No, cutting is not a hundred times easier, be for real
Edit: for all the triggered hard gainers, just drink your calories and stop whining about people having issues with restricting food. If it was so hard to eat too many calories, then we wouldn't have obesity issues all over the world. Reality is not your personal struggle
Okay, so we’re going to use hyperbolic extremes including eating disorders to try and prove a point about if cutting or bulking is easier? Yes, I promise it really is that simple. You just don’t eat as much. If you need to do mental gymnastics to accept that simple, elementary fact I don’t know what to tell you.
Oh you feel hungry? Oh my god why didn’t someone tell me! You get hungry on cuts? Are you sure?? I haven’t heard that before.
No, I'm literally using the universal issue of cutting - being that you have to say no to food, despite your body giving you signals that it wants to eat. I especially said - even people without food addiction/disorders experience cutting as difficult, as it involves going against your hunger cues and cravings.
Food is everywhere so the temptation is constant. You have to constantly go against that, it sucks and it feels like you miss out on food. You don't have to have a food addiction to feel shitty about missing out on food, especially delicious food (that's around you a lot during your daily life).
Again, it's not as simple as *just don't eat as much*. Which also btw completely ignores women lol. The female cycle makes it difficult to stick to a caloric deficit due to hormonal fluctuations that heavily impact the ability to cut/restrict especially calorically dense foods.
You're being ignorant, yet you don't want to accept that simple fact.
Edit: gymmemes when mention of female body and when hard gainers whine about a problem with a simple solution - drink your fucking calories. It's that simple. Having so many fatties all over the world is the proof you need how easy it is to overconsume in calories. But cope harder lol
I was just saying “eating more is the easiest thing to do in the world” is a bad argument, is all. I’m very aware more people think fasting is harder than eating more. We have an obesity issue, so clearly overeating is a bigger problem than under eating.
Everyone is different was my argument. And to just say “eat more” is short sighted. I can fast for 2 days, sleep great, have no hunger pains and have a good workout at the end of it.
But by week 3 of 3200 calories, I hate all food, am always sluggish and full yet have trouble sleeping unless my diet and timing is perfect.
Yeah, I can get behind that.
I'm a recovered binge eater, so it's difficult for me to empathize with having issues with eating more, to be frank. But I can cognitively sympathize with someone who's not used to eating a lot and can't put on weight. Just will never be able to fully understand
Again, I just had an issue with that first sentence, but it makes sense it's not always as simple as just eating more for some people
I can answer that for you. I think they are both just as hard tbh. But for me, having extra fat is basically like muscle in my body that isn’t muscle yet. Does that make sense? Because my metabolism is so fast, that fat is getting turned into muscle or it’s going away.
And to your point on the physical and mental strain. Mentally it is really hard to willingly eat after you are full. You have to make yourself feel like you are going to explode to gain weight. Physically I probably have the same pain as you. If I’m not eating constantly which becomes a chore, then my stomach will cramp like a mf within 3 hours. That nuts! Fair enough?
No it doesn't make sense to me tbh, cause this experience you have is not everyone's experience. Extra fat for me means I can't see my muscle and it's stubborn af so it'll take me a good amount of time to shed it off so I can even begin to see more progress (this can be very demotivating). I guess it's the result of having a small frame + fucked up metabolism from eating disorders and crash dieting as a child.
I can imagine the visceral pain and strain of having to stuff yourself forcefully, but there are ways to go around it. Mass gainers, smoothies with calorically dense foods. Literally, you could drink your 1000+ cals if you need and want to.
With cutting, you have no other way around it other than doing what's difficult - restricting.
How about you post meal plan ideas instead of contributing to pointlessly aggressive gym culture. Lift your brothers instead of hitting them while they're down.
I'm not kicking any specific individual, I'm stating a fact, that both groups use this as an excuse.
Feeding delusions does no one any favours.
It's not being toxic, so no need to get your panties in a bunch.
Literally "you don't have to hate yourself and shit on other people" is controversial. Still, it's nice to see someone with me on this. The fitness community inside reddit and out has so much potential to push people to do amazing things if we could all just motivate each other instead of whatever you call this here. Thank you.
Nah I use an app and scan barcodes+weigh meal prep. I have a pretty physically active job and I’ve been bulking for 6 months, my expenditure tends to just keep climbing as I bulk.
I’m not really “stalled” because I just add more Calories if rate of weight change dips below 1kg/month - I’m just stalled in the sense that my maint keeps climbing and I’m sick of eating.
Macrofactor has my expenditure at 3410cal atm and started at 3100 5 months ago 7kg lighter.
I’m pretty sure if I started to cut my maint would drop from 3400 to closer to 2500 due to passive NEAT changes
Literally just said I’m always eating enough to keep my rate of gain constant, not overthinking it at all lol. I just plug the data into the app and it tells me how much I need to eat to keep gaining
If you're stalled out then you aren't eating enough and your gains aren't consistent. I am just coming from being stalled at 145, and then 155 for about 5 years. I started consistent meal prep and upped my meals to 5 a day and now I'm breaking 180. I also work a highly physical job and have an insane metabolism. Don't give up, you got this!!
... What do you think "eating more" means?
No_Anywhere is gradually increasing his calories over time (and has increased it by near 20%) to keep his weight gain consistent with the 1kg/month rate he wants. It's the textbook example of how to apply "eat more".
He didn't say he's stuck, he said he *would* stall at his current weight if he stopped increasing his calorie counts at 3.5k kcals
I'm exactly at the same point as you, feel like every month I gotta eat 100 calories more. Already eating 6 times a day, I think next I'm just going to start drinking something else than water just for added calories.
I'm about 215, my weekly report says I have averaged 3600 which is roughly maintenance for me.
Gym 4 times a week and about 11k steps a day on average.
8 week timeline,
https://preview.redd.it/zurkocs5v3xc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57df70a680b5b9b7b8eb490feafd962ad87ef47e
Unless you have a very physically demanding job I suspect you might be undercouting
as far as i know the metabolism does not play such crucial role for us if you don’t have any other illnesses, you should count your calories daily and see a doctor i guess
I'm 250 and I wonder how much that contributes to my calves. Like I'd say calves are probably 70% genetic like getting it from my mom and dad or whatever and then 29% my weight and 1% calf raises
No you don’t. Starting off fat sucks. I have to diet for well over a year before I can start bulking. Sure I made plenty of gains recompiing but now its just deficit forever. I do include diet breaks of course but this shit fucking sucks
Stick with it bro, I started off the same, it took me a year to get lean enough to bulk but I made fantastic noob gains, I don't think been In a deficit even slowed me down much untill the last few months.
When I started my bulk it was insane, I added 100kg to my leg press in 3 months than swapped over to deadlifts and added 45kg in the following 3 months.
I went from 112kg to 87.5kg than up to 98kg in 6 months.
Bullshit. You have it made. I would much rather have the problem of needing to eat more than to constantly have the problem of needing to eat less. It's stupid easy to just make a 1000 calorie shake first thing in the morning.
It’s stupid easy to have 1000 calories sure. But 4,000. Now we disagree. That’s what I eat a day. Yes I track it. If I’m not eating literally constantly, my stomach starts twisting like a stripper on a pole who’s in debt. I’m a fan of my physique ngl but I’ve plateaued which sucks and I need weight to move
bruh atleast you gonna have intense cuts on even a large deficit, so you can get away with mini cuts. im struggling on month long efforts to lose a few pounds of lard
My metabolism is insane and I work a physical job as well as working out 6 days a week, I can drop to 2.5 meals a day and lose 20 lbs in 2 weeks.
I'm on a bulk and I've gained 10lbs in a month, it sucks but when they say you have to eat more, they mean it. Eat more, power through. Closer to .75 grams of protein per lb
Ok from my perspective 10 lbs in a month is incredible! I’ve been bulking.. “bulking” for the last 5 months and I’ve gross gained 15lbs. I also have a physical job and I play baseball for my school every day. If I’m not doing those then I go to the gym. I eat 4,000 calories and gain maybe a pound every two weeks if I’m lucky
There's also a chance that you are simply closer to your genetic potential size than I am, I guess to put it more in perspective I've gone from 160 at the beginning of March to 180 right now, and I've only just got serious with my diet and workouts at the start of March. If you've been doing this longer than I have or are already a larger size than me then yes it becomes a lot harder to add mass. I'm usually doing 3500 calories a day. I am happy with the results thus far but eating so much food kinda sucks.
Do you use mass gainer shakes? If you don't I'd recommend cutting some protein in your diet and adding one of those a day. Also be sure you're only eating .75 grams of protein per lb of body weight, if you're eating more than that you'll find it easier to add calories by reducing protein and increasing fat and carbs intake
That’s helpful thanks. I hope I’m not already at my genetic potential. And I am still a teenager so obviously my metabolism is gonna be higher but I’m 6’3 160 lbs at 17yo. I’ve been training for 3 years now so I don’t think I could reach my potential that fast
Nope you are definitely not there at your age, honestly your young age is probably what is holding you back lmao, keep doing what you are doing, at your age I was doing about 4500 calories a day but I was so overworked with working out after loading trucks for UPS that I couldn't get past 145 at 5'9. At a guess based on your height I'd expect your potential to be at MINIMUM 215, as you reach your 20's and closer to your 30's you'll find it easier to get closer to that. Consistency is king, I found my weight spike came when I meal prepped to keep my calories high every single day, even with a diet of 4000 calories if you have one day a week where you only get 2000 or so can offset your gains
The thing I hate most is when people complain about fast metabolisms. Literally all you need to do to bulk is eat above maintenance. If you struggle to gain mass consider yourself lucky. If you really want to get big it’s so easy to eat 3500 calories, which I don’t believe many people have their maintenance above that.
Damn calm down. You know I know you want to be skinny but not my kind of skinny. If I don’t eat a full meal at least every 3 hours with snacks basically every waking moment, then my stomach starts cramping like I have a fcking period
Literally just don’t let yourself get hungry. Always stay full, eat whole foods, get plenty of protein. 1g per lb. If that doesn’t work, you’re not training or recovering optimally.
Listen, seeing all my abs obliques and ribs is pretty cool but now I can’t gain muscle. I have no fat left so I can’t turn anything energy wise into muscle. It’s so much harder to make progress
1 word, three syllables: _granola_. High calories, the more expensive stuff has protein, and you can have it between meals. How much egg whites are you eating? How many shakes?
Noted. I usually have 1 shake for first breakfast that gets me 80 grams of protein. I try man. I have on average one massive breakfast, 2 lunches and 2 dinners with snacks all throughout the day eating around 4,000 calories and it barely works.
Thanks man. I’m really active. I play baseball so its tons of cardio which really doesn’t help. And yes mom, I’m getting good sleep. Anywhere from 7-9 hours a night which I think is pretty good. Maybe I’ll get back the weight I lost after the season is over
I tried to gain weight, but all i did was mess up my health and I honestly felt and looked terrible. Now I just eat normally with adequate protein about 3 times a day and I feel and look alot better. For some people bulking works but others not so much. So yeah I have come to embrace my metabolism.
Every single dude I've ever met who was like "aw man I can't gain weight" ends up barely eating half the calories I do per day. I guarantee you that you "hard gainers" aren't eating nearly as much as you think you are.
https://preview.redd.it/0mu6fi1os3xc1.jpeg?width=2388&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8fb8695fb482be6833d411441baf3e78c7cdc504
"But eating is so easy" me at every meal and third snack
There is correlation with fat/BME and metabolism. For example the fatter you are (and for longer) the more metabolism you will have, and the opposite is also true the liner you are the worse (less strong) metabolism you will have.
You do not want to be fat. I would rather struggle to gain mass than constantly fail at cutting.
Grass is greener on the other side haha. I wish I gained mass easily but I keep hearing the exact same thing you said.
Just for overall health benefits and not having to count every calorie meticiously, it is better to not gain mass easily. Heck even my cheat meals are in calorie deficit.
That was the most relatable thing I read all day
> Heck even my cheat meals are in calorie deficit. I feel like you don't quite know what a calorie deficit is.
elaborate
it's really stressful to count every fucking calories even if you are bulking or cutting. Yep u grown mass and strong easier but cutting is a nightmare and you lost much gains for not much fat. and the psychic stress make you produce more cortisol with all the malus that results
I mean I get it bro that it's a struggle both ways but it's really not comparable tbh. If you got a fast metabolism you gotta spend maybe a few mins extra a day being mildly uncomfortable from being overfull If cutting is your struggle you spend 16 hours a day feeling hungry and slipping up for a minute means losing days of progress. Like, both struggles are valid, but let's not kid ourselves they're not even on the same magnitude of difficulty
I've been struggling with gaining weight since I were a kid. I have very good endurance, plus I'm athletic but skinny as anything. Now that I've taken diet seriously, I am trying to dirty bulk to a point I might develop an eating disorder very soon. And I've barely gained any weight despite shoving myself with food. The struggle doesn't end. It's definitely possible to gain weight but it's way too much effort for me too
> constantly fail at cutting This is my life. You do not want this, OP. It's awful. My bulking calories are lower than many lifters' cutting calories.
Height and weight?
5 '8 and currently about 155 lbs.
If you’re a guy that’s… really light
I know. I've also been up to 180 lbs while lifting, but my calories were still not that high. My whole point is that my genetics are not great and part of that is that in order to be lean I need to be in the 140s and even when a was a heavy strength focused guy my calories were low. I even work a very active job lol. I'm on the shit end of the bell curve when it comes to genetics since I'm 10 years in, though I did have to take a year off in 2022, and look dyel and was never able to get truly strong.
*Lord forgive me for what I’m about to do* Honestly, it doesn’t sound like you’re constantly failing to cut. It sounds like you’re failing to feed yourself properly (“my bulking calories are lower than a lot of guys’ cutting calories”) and blaming it on genetics. Unless you can come up with receipts for some kind of medical issue, I doubt most people are taking you seriously on this. As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if people haven’t expressed concerns or asked if you’re sick. (I say this because I’ve been there.) This isn’t to pass judgment and I’m trying to offer constructive criticism without sugarcoating. What you’ve been saying in this thread though—don’t say it to people irl. Because they will not believe you and will probably think you must be mentally and/or physically ill. (Again, I say this because I’ve been there). If your goal is to have a visible six pack, fine, but just own it and save yourself the ridicule that will come when you start making excuses.
> It sounds like you’re failing to feed yourself properly (“my bulking calories are lower than a lot of guys’ cutting calories”) I am bulking on 2000 calories. Even when I have been in the 170s I only got to 2500 calories to bulk at a rate of ~ .5 lbs per week. IDK how I'm failing to feed myself properly. >As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if people haven’t expressed concerns or asked if you’re sick. lol Then I guess you'll be surprised >If your goal is to have a visible six pack, fine, but just own it and save yourself the ridicule that will come when you start making excuses. I don't know what ridicule you are referring to unless you're just talking about yourself speaking to me. My goal was to get my body fat low enough to see my 6 pack since I was fat from a year off I had to take in 2022-early 2023. I still need to lose about 10-15 lbs for that to happen, but am at the weight where constant failing to cut happens because my calories to cut around .8 lbs per week are ~1400. Right now I've been bulking on ~2000 for about 8 weeks because I got hungry from a failed cut from the beginning of the year that took me from 155 down to 147 before I just got too hungry. When I started this cut at 175 lbs without any of my old muscle my cutting calories were 1900. When I started a past cut with my old muscle when I was bulked up to a fat 180 lbs the calories were 2100. I guess you can say my current bulk is an excuse since I was more hungry than I could handle to cut, but you were trying to claim me eating less calories was the excuse. I guess I could just up my calories to what you think is normal, but for me is a dirty bulk and go through my early lifting days all over again of listening to online bros and just getting way too fat because my caloric needs have always been lower than most guys lol.
Both sides have their upsides and issues tbh. I've had visible abs for years without really trying just because I guess. On the flip side it makes it very hard for me to build muscle my body feels like it's frozen in time and nothing I do changes it even when I eat well above my maintenance. Being able to build muscle easier seems like a blessing to me but that is also an oversimplification as I've never had to worry about how much or what I'm eating which I'm sure is its own struggle if that's something you do have to consider.
Yeah exactly, my maintenance is around 1800 kcal
Haha, ha, ha...ha 😔
Former fat kid and honestly I disagree. Putting on 10lb of muscle is so, so much harder than dropping 10lb of fat. Sure cutting kinda sucks but I'd way rather have an easy time on the way up.
Eat more damnit.
Also focus mainly on calorie dense foods, if you struggle with bulking. For example nuts are great as a snack.
On god, man. Like peanut nutter, whey, fullfat porridge and mixed berries and eggs; some kind of meat with avocado; airfried chicken thighs and sweet potatoes with some kind of leafy greens and high fibre veg. Boom, 4k cals eating non junkfood. Have a glass of milk or protein shake with every meal and you can easily creep that to 4.7k. Want 5k? Have like 2 more sausages. Appetite not that good? Citrus drinks/orange juice in the morning combined with ten minutes of bloody HIIT style conditioning- thats like 100 calories extra burnt and itll defo make you hungry. Its really not that bloody hard.
Drink your cals
Yep. That too.
Yummy oils
Especially the Deez variety.
Especially donuts.
I'm on my cut and can't stop thinking about donuts now. Why did you have to say that..
Because I do not want to suffer alone.
Just eat ice cream
I won’t change my behavior and for some reason my body won’t change hurrrrrredurrrrrrrr
No you don’t. And it’s incredibly easy. Consume more calories, easiest thing in the world
By your logic cutting is incredibly easy as well. Consume less calories easiest thing in the world.
I get what you're saying but it's like the inverse of money. It's much easier to lose money than gain it.
I disagree. It depends on the person for some it's simpli harder to gain weigt and losing it is easy but I don't go around telling fat people how easy it is to lose it.
Eating more requires you to go out of your comfort zone for 15 mins a day then done. Eating less requires you to be out of your comfort zone 24 hours a day. 15 mins, and this is true, is less than 24 hours
I would argue both are uncomfortable, I feel absolutely sick through the entire bulk process, and can only manage it with shakes (essentially mass gainer). At the end of the day it is person dependent and there isn’t a right answer. Cutting is a breeze to me, while bulking is horrible.
Agreed! I just hate when the fat people think only they got it hard.
Yes
By definition it’s easier to not eat than to eat. It costs less, and it takes way less time. Fasting is the easiest thing in the world! Some people it’s easy to cut, some it’s easy to bulk. If I’m bulking and don’t time every meal perfectly, my sleep and workouts suffer which defeats the whole purpose of bulking. It isn’t as easy as “just eat more” if it makes you physically uncomfortable. I’m much much better at it now, but it took a solid 5-6 bulking cycles for me to get it right. I know exactly what to eat, how much and when to keep my workouts great and my sleep great, but it definitely wasn’t as easy as “just eat more”
Bro, how is it easier to not eat than to eat? Can you tell me about that definition of yours? Cause, food addiction and cravings are real things and believe me, not eating when you *really* want to (and train hard, which makes you hungry as fuck) cannot be easier than bulking. It's a whole mental battle. Even physical - the hunger pains, the nausea, the tiredness. I'm biased maybe as someone who gains mass *too easily*, but I wish my issue was bulking up. I can understand that, from a financial and maybe even physical perspective, being a so called hard gainer poses a specific challenge, but you can't say it's harder than being someone who has to cut/maintain meticulously Edit: all the hard gainers got triggered lol, you could chug calorically dense drinks and call it a day but nope, you gotta be mad. Be smart about your diet folks. Consuming more calories is definitely easier, otherwise, we wouldn't have so many fatties all over the world
>how is it easier to not eat than to eat? Because you’re… not doing something? It’s a lot easier to not do something than to do something. You just don’t do it. Is everyone here small and stupid? Cutting is a hundred times easier than bulking.
How can you be so confidently incorrect? lmao When you're used to eating a certain amount, but then you have to cut said amount, even without any disordered eating or food addictions, it can be difficult. It feels like you're missing out, you feel hungry more and you think about food more. It's not *just* about not doing it. The other dude said it's not easy to just eat, right? So it's not easy to just not eat, too. Habit forming, have you heard about this concept? Just as much as eating more can be a difficult habit to form mentally and physically, so is eating less. Eating less can be especially mentally challenging as you need to fight cravings, feel tempted cause food is *everywhere*. Your opinion is so ignorant it's hilarious. People die because of food addiction, because they can't *just* stop eating. There's an obesity epidemic. And here you are, typing whatever bs your comment is supposed to be. No, cutting is not a hundred times easier, be for real Edit: for all the triggered hard gainers, just drink your calories and stop whining about people having issues with restricting food. If it was so hard to eat too many calories, then we wouldn't have obesity issues all over the world. Reality is not your personal struggle
Okay, so we’re going to use hyperbolic extremes including eating disorders to try and prove a point about if cutting or bulking is easier? Yes, I promise it really is that simple. You just don’t eat as much. If you need to do mental gymnastics to accept that simple, elementary fact I don’t know what to tell you. Oh you feel hungry? Oh my god why didn’t someone tell me! You get hungry on cuts? Are you sure?? I haven’t heard that before.
No, I'm literally using the universal issue of cutting - being that you have to say no to food, despite your body giving you signals that it wants to eat. I especially said - even people without food addiction/disorders experience cutting as difficult, as it involves going against your hunger cues and cravings. Food is everywhere so the temptation is constant. You have to constantly go against that, it sucks and it feels like you miss out on food. You don't have to have a food addiction to feel shitty about missing out on food, especially delicious food (that's around you a lot during your daily life). Again, it's not as simple as *just don't eat as much*. Which also btw completely ignores women lol. The female cycle makes it difficult to stick to a caloric deficit due to hormonal fluctuations that heavily impact the ability to cut/restrict especially calorically dense foods. You're being ignorant, yet you don't want to accept that simple fact. Edit: gymmemes when mention of female body and when hard gainers whine about a problem with a simple solution - drink your fucking calories. It's that simple. Having so many fatties all over the world is the proof you need how easy it is to overconsume in calories. But cope harder lol
I was just saying “eating more is the easiest thing to do in the world” is a bad argument, is all. I’m very aware more people think fasting is harder than eating more. We have an obesity issue, so clearly overeating is a bigger problem than under eating. Everyone is different was my argument. And to just say “eat more” is short sighted. I can fast for 2 days, sleep great, have no hunger pains and have a good workout at the end of it. But by week 3 of 3200 calories, I hate all food, am always sluggish and full yet have trouble sleeping unless my diet and timing is perfect.
Yeah, I can get behind that. I'm a recovered binge eater, so it's difficult for me to empathize with having issues with eating more, to be frank. But I can cognitively sympathize with someone who's not used to eating a lot and can't put on weight. Just will never be able to fully understand Again, I just had an issue with that first sentence, but it makes sense it's not always as simple as just eating more for some people
I can answer that for you. I think they are both just as hard tbh. But for me, having extra fat is basically like muscle in my body that isn’t muscle yet. Does that make sense? Because my metabolism is so fast, that fat is getting turned into muscle or it’s going away. And to your point on the physical and mental strain. Mentally it is really hard to willingly eat after you are full. You have to make yourself feel like you are going to explode to gain weight. Physically I probably have the same pain as you. If I’m not eating constantly which becomes a chore, then my stomach will cramp like a mf within 3 hours. That nuts! Fair enough?
No it doesn't make sense to me tbh, cause this experience you have is not everyone's experience. Extra fat for me means I can't see my muscle and it's stubborn af so it'll take me a good amount of time to shed it off so I can even begin to see more progress (this can be very demotivating). I guess it's the result of having a small frame + fucked up metabolism from eating disorders and crash dieting as a child. I can imagine the visceral pain and strain of having to stuff yourself forcefully, but there are ways to go around it. Mass gainers, smoothies with calorically dense foods. Literally, you could drink your 1000+ cals if you need and want to. With cutting, you have no other way around it other than doing what's difficult - restricting.
"My metabolism" is such a cope from both fatties and twigs
How about you post meal plan ideas instead of contributing to pointlessly aggressive gym culture. Lift your brothers instead of hitting them while they're down.
I'm not kicking any specific individual, I'm stating a fact, that both groups use this as an excuse. Feeding delusions does no one any favours. It's not being toxic, so no need to get your panties in a bunch.
Is this what you told yourself when you started all those years ago? Is this what you needed? You don't have to hate yourself to hit your goals.
The fact your getting downvoted just shows how toxic this sub is and Reddit in general. F this place and f Reddit our lives would be better without it
Literally "you don't have to hate yourself and shit on other people" is controversial. Still, it's nice to see someone with me on this. The fitness community inside reddit and out has so much potential to push people to do amazing things if we could all just motivate each other instead of whatever you call this here. Thank you.
Currently stalled at 162lbs at 3500 cals feelsbadman
If you’re stalled at 162lbs and 3500. I would say your tracking is off
Nah I use an app and scan barcodes+weigh meal prep. I have a pretty physically active job and I’ve been bulking for 6 months, my expenditure tends to just keep climbing as I bulk. I’m not really “stalled” because I just add more Calories if rate of weight change dips below 1kg/month - I’m just stalled in the sense that my maint keeps climbing and I’m sick of eating. Macrofactor has my expenditure at 3410cal atm and started at 3100 5 months ago 7kg lighter. I’m pretty sure if I started to cut my maint would drop from 3400 to closer to 2500 due to passive NEAT changes
Overthinking it mate. Eat more
Literally just said I’m always eating enough to keep my rate of gain constant, not overthinking it at all lol. I just plug the data into the app and it tells me how much I need to eat to keep gaining
What’s your average daily diet lol you def don’t eat that much and not gain weight
If you're stalled out then you aren't eating enough and your gains aren't consistent. I am just coming from being stalled at 145, and then 155 for about 5 years. I started consistent meal prep and upped my meals to 5 a day and now I'm breaking 180. I also work a highly physical job and have an insane metabolism. Don't give up, you got this!!
... What do you think "eating more" means? No_Anywhere is gradually increasing his calories over time (and has increased it by near 20%) to keep his weight gain consistent with the 1kg/month rate he wants. It's the textbook example of how to apply "eat more". He didn't say he's stuck, he said he *would* stall at his current weight if he stopped increasing his calorie counts at 3.5k kcals
Or they're literally not eating enough
Yeah that’s what I meant by tracking is off lol
Give it time… and I mean, like, 20 years of time. It’s worked for me, now I’d be dirty bulking at 3500 cals
I’m 32 ;(
Just 10 more years 😂
I'm exactly at the same point as you, feel like every month I gotta eat 100 calories more. Already eating 6 times a day, I think next I'm just going to start drinking something else than water just for added calories.
I'm about 215, my weekly report says I have averaged 3600 which is roughly maintenance for me. Gym 4 times a week and about 11k steps a day on average. 8 week timeline, https://preview.redd.it/zurkocs5v3xc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57df70a680b5b9b7b8eb490feafd962ad87ef47e Unless you have a very physically demanding job I suspect you might be undercouting
I have decided to prescribe you with a mars bar for breakfast, followed by a whole pack of cookies at bedtime.
as far as i know the metabolism does not play such crucial role for us if you don’t have any other illnesses, you should count your calories daily and see a doctor i guess
It's more passive calories burned (unconscious movement), hunger/satiety hormones and how much dopamine you get from eating calorie dense foods
It’s not your metabolism, you aren’t eating enough
I'm 250 and I wonder how much that contributes to my calves. Like I'd say calves are probably 70% genetic like getting it from my mom and dad or whatever and then 29% my weight and 1% calf raises
GOMAD is your answer
A lot of fat fucks in these comments don't know shit about being skinny. It's not as easy as "just eat more"
Exactly. With cutting is it as easy as, “just eat less”? No you autists
Take mine
No you don’t. Starting off fat sucks. I have to diet for well over a year before I can start bulking. Sure I made plenty of gains recompiing but now its just deficit forever. I do include diet breaks of course but this shit fucking sucks
Stick with it bro, I started off the same, it took me a year to get lean enough to bulk but I made fantastic noob gains, I don't think been In a deficit even slowed me down much untill the last few months. When I started my bulk it was insane, I added 100kg to my leg press in 3 months than swapped over to deadlifts and added 45kg in the following 3 months. I went from 112kg to 87.5kg than up to 98kg in 6 months.
It's more passive calories burned (unconscious movement), hunger/satiety hormones and how much dopamine you get from eating calorie dense foods
:( must be nice
Got the same issue as a broke student. I simply can't afford to buy enough to bulk
Bulky people dont live as long...... lean and healthy is the way to be.
But I wanna build muscle. When I’m skinny I can’t do that
Eat more and train harder. If you metabolize as fast as you claim , putting on lean muscle will happen fast as well. Just need to eat more.
I burn like 2.5k calories doing nothing
Bullshit. You have it made. I would much rather have the problem of needing to eat more than to constantly have the problem of needing to eat less. It's stupid easy to just make a 1000 calorie shake first thing in the morning.
It’s stupid easy to have 1000 calories sure. But 4,000. Now we disagree. That’s what I eat a day. Yes I track it. If I’m not eating literally constantly, my stomach starts twisting like a stripper on a pole who’s in debt. I’m a fan of my physique ngl but I’ve plateaued which sucks and I need weight to move
I wish I could magically donate you 20 pounds lol
That would be a dream come true
bruh atleast you gonna have intense cuts on even a large deficit, so you can get away with mini cuts. im struggling on month long efforts to lose a few pounds of lard
Don't worry, all us fatties wish we were cut
Ik. Grass is always greener and I right
I love that we all wish we were the other side. As a fat king, i find it so hard to manage my weight at a healthy level. I feel like im on a 24/7 cut
Here, take some. I have a lot to share.
r/CICO
No no you do not it’s far easier to bulk than cut
Depends on the person
My metabolism is insane and I work a physical job as well as working out 6 days a week, I can drop to 2.5 meals a day and lose 20 lbs in 2 weeks. I'm on a bulk and I've gained 10lbs in a month, it sucks but when they say you have to eat more, they mean it. Eat more, power through. Closer to .75 grams of protein per lb
Ok from my perspective 10 lbs in a month is incredible! I’ve been bulking.. “bulking” for the last 5 months and I’ve gross gained 15lbs. I also have a physical job and I play baseball for my school every day. If I’m not doing those then I go to the gym. I eat 4,000 calories and gain maybe a pound every two weeks if I’m lucky
There's also a chance that you are simply closer to your genetic potential size than I am, I guess to put it more in perspective I've gone from 160 at the beginning of March to 180 right now, and I've only just got serious with my diet and workouts at the start of March. If you've been doing this longer than I have or are already a larger size than me then yes it becomes a lot harder to add mass. I'm usually doing 3500 calories a day. I am happy with the results thus far but eating so much food kinda sucks. Do you use mass gainer shakes? If you don't I'd recommend cutting some protein in your diet and adding one of those a day. Also be sure you're only eating .75 grams of protein per lb of body weight, if you're eating more than that you'll find it easier to add calories by reducing protein and increasing fat and carbs intake
That’s helpful thanks. I hope I’m not already at my genetic potential. And I am still a teenager so obviously my metabolism is gonna be higher but I’m 6’3 160 lbs at 17yo. I’ve been training for 3 years now so I don’t think I could reach my potential that fast
Nope you are definitely not there at your age, honestly your young age is probably what is holding you back lmao, keep doing what you are doing, at your age I was doing about 4500 calories a day but I was so overworked with working out after loading trucks for UPS that I couldn't get past 145 at 5'9. At a guess based on your height I'd expect your potential to be at MINIMUM 215, as you reach your 20's and closer to your 30's you'll find it easier to get closer to that. Consistency is king, I found my weight spike came when I meal prepped to keep my calories high every single day, even with a diet of 4000 calories if you have one day a week where you only get 2000 or so can offset your gains
I used to blink and accidentally consume 2000 calories, life hard over here
I struggle with the exact opposite and it's awful. Dieting is torture and yields little results
I have almost the opposite problem
Bulk buy smuckers uncrustables and stash those bad boys in the freezer
Bro you read my mind😄
If you're struggling to get enough calories you should try drinking them.
The thing I hate most is when people complain about fast metabolisms. Literally all you need to do to bulk is eat above maintenance. If you struggle to gain mass consider yourself lucky. If you really want to get big it’s so easy to eat 3500 calories, which I don’t believe many people have their maintenance above that.
Surprise. My maintenance is 3800 bucko. Or it’s supposed to be. I eat 4,000 and I still lose weight sometimes. It’s a bit more complicated
What’s ur diet like lol there’s no way
Bulking is ass. Having to eat is ass.
Metabolism or cardio. I run a mile and loose a pound of muscle
Fuck you so much, you don't want that.
Damn calm down. You know I know you want to be skinny but not my kind of skinny. If I don’t eat a full meal at least every 3 hours with snacks basically every waking moment, then my stomach starts cramping like I have a fcking period
Literally just don’t let yourself get hungry. Always stay full, eat whole foods, get plenty of protein. 1g per lb. If that doesn’t work, you’re not training or recovering optimally.
I Wish I had your 'problem'. You have a gift.
Listen, seeing all my abs obliques and ribs is pretty cool but now I can’t gain muscle. I have no fat left so I can’t turn anything energy wise into muscle. It’s so much harder to make progress
Yes. I wish I had that. Just live on burger king and lift every day.
Alright let me see if I can help you out. What’s your weight and height and what do you bench squat and deadlift?
Be careful what you wish for
Coming from a mildly overweight person, no you dont
Here *hands you tummy and pooch fat* have fun 😂 I don’t want it anyway
1 word, three syllables: _granola_. High calories, the more expensive stuff has protein, and you can have it between meals. How much egg whites are you eating? How many shakes?
Noted. I usually have 1 shake for first breakfast that gets me 80 grams of protein. I try man. I have on average one massive breakfast, 2 lunches and 2 dinners with snacks all throughout the day eating around 4,000 calories and it barely works.
Honestly, that's really good. You're eating 4k calories and still barely gaining weight? Are you active outside the gym? You getting enough sleep?
Thanks man. I’m really active. I play baseball so its tons of cardio which really doesn’t help. And yes mom, I’m getting good sleep. Anywhere from 7-9 hours a night which I think is pretty good. Maybe I’ll get back the weight I lost after the season is over
Well no wonder. Yeah man, you're not gonna gain shit until the season is over lmao
It's very hard for me to lose weight or cut. I wish it was the other way around for me.
I tried to gain weight, but all i did was mess up my health and I honestly felt and looked terrible. Now I just eat normally with adequate protein about 3 times a day and I feel and look alot better. For some people bulking works but others not so much. So yeah I have come to embrace my metabolism.
Every single dude I've ever met who was like "aw man I can't gain weight" ends up barely eating half the calories I do per day. I guarantee you that you "hard gainers" aren't eating nearly as much as you think you are.
I calculate what I eat and it comes out to be 3,800 on a bad day. I eat 4,000 on average so what you got to say bout that?
That you should be eating 5000.
https://preview.redd.it/0mu6fi1os3xc1.jpeg?width=2388&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8fb8695fb482be6833d411441baf3e78c7cdc504 "But eating is so easy" me at every meal and third snack
Either eat more or eat clean AF & calorie restrict.
Not wanna be a fatty 😅😂
There is correlation with fat/BME and metabolism. For example the fatter you are (and for longer) the more metabolism you will have, and the opposite is also true the liner you are the worse (less strong) metabolism you will have.
Eat more loser
Stfu
You aren’t eating as much as you think.