Scared of gaining too much fat

[sunnycalifornia]

OK so I have started to take this bulking thing seriously. I am 5 foot 11, ~144 pounds. About two weeks ago I decided to eat 3000 cals/day (however way I could, I'm not going to clean bulk since I'm a college student) and start doing Rippletoes. So far I have gained around 7 pounds which I am guessing is a LOT (newb gains right?) but I *think* a lot of the mass is going around the stomach area and not the arms/legs, etc. Is this normal? Or will this change once my newb gains end/Rippletoes starts to get intense? I thought I would look normal instead of skinny after doing this bulk but now I am kind of scared that all the gains will be in the stomach area.

[Jeff W]

Lower your caloric surplus.

[theblackkeys]

Welcome to the club fatty.

yeah, seven pounds in a week is a bit much. I'm not sure if there's some kind of water weight gain that occurs mostly in the first week of a bulk (are you taking creatine or increasing water intake?). Perhaps try it one more week and see if the gains are the same? I dunno, it would be a good idea to lower your calories by a couple hundred and see where that puts you.

[gordongecko]

you are probably getting a carb gut. Trying to gain weight on a hot pocket and cheeto diet is not going to give you the results your looking for. You can eat clean on a budget, and in fact it can be way cheaper. Make good friends with tuna, wheat bread, chicken breasts, and a george foreman grill. Also oats are really cheap, and good to load up on.

At least try to make sure you are getting a decent ammount of protein.

[That Foreign Guy]

Tuna, lime, mayonnaise, add whatever your favourite vegetables are (tater tots are not a vegetable). Mix. Eat.

Chicken breasts and steamed broccoli.

Oats with raisins and a little chocolate (so good it makes you want another bowl).

Work out your basic metabolic rate (including activity) and make sure you don't eat more than about 10-20% over maintenance. Oh, and don't just phone in the gym sessions (something I've been guilty of this week.

[cbloom]

I LOL hard every time someone calls it "Rippletoes". Ripple toes! Sounds like some horrible disease.

You're doing great if you gain 1 pound of muscle a week. Weight gain beyond that is probably fat. Try to eat 200g of protein a day.

[Blarg]

Once you start packing on some muscle, you will find it easier to stay slim when eating like a cow. The legs especially can pack on a lot of muscle. If you can keep that muscle on and keep building it, you won't get as doughy from the same amount of food, and can actually start to reverse the process and start getting slimmer. But first, you have to get that muscle in the first place.

As a new trainee, though, you can make a lot of gains without necessarily eating like a more established athlete is forced to when he wants to keep gaining mass, or just retaining what he has. Power eating is especially helpful when you've gone past the quick newbie gains stage. You don't have to be a super reckless food depository when you're just starting out though.

[SmileyEH]

Jesus guys talk about over reacting. 7lbs in 2 weeks could be 5lbs extra food he's holding in his digestive tract because he's eating so much, 1lb of fat and 1lb of muscle. BW changes <10lbs after drastically changing your eating patterns are going to be almost entirely extra/less food inside you and increased/decreased water retention. If I don't eat much or drink much water/salty foods for a day I lose >5lbs. If I go from being too hungover one day to eat much to stuffing myself full of chicken and rice the next I'll gain 5.

Edit: If 5 11" 144lb OP goes on a diet of bacon and sunny D but goes to the gym, he is still going to pack on muscle.

[Thremp]

[ QUOTE ]
Edit: If 5 8" 162lb OP goes on a diet of bacon and sunny D but goes to the gym, he is still going to pack on muscle.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Blarg]

Haha, that was my first thought on reading the thread too. I can crap five pounds and sometimes lose a belt notch in one shot. Probably a couple pounds extra are just from OP's walking around with more food in his gut.