Bulking and all things Macro Related

Hey Guys and Dolls

It has been nearly 7 months into my Bulk now and I'm oh so close to the finishing line! It has been overall a wonderful journey but not one filled with all smiles! When I got to month 5 I started questioning what I was trying to achieve, mainly because I could no longer fit into most of my work dresses. It was truly a downer for me because all I could think was I'm getting fat. But then I quickly snapped out of it, reminding myself why I had started this journey - Build muscle and look and feel stronger! I am so glad I did not give up. I have been back home for a week or so now and family, friends, and old gym buddies just keep telling me how awesome I look and that they could tell I have put on a good amount of mass (muscle). I am very proud of myself, my very first bulk and I think I have gained some good muscle base and can't wait to cut from the 1st January 2015. 

When I last blogged I was on about 2300 calories consisting of 325 C, 135 P, 65 F. I am now ending this bulk on 2800 calories consisting of 400 C, 140 P, 70 F. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be eating so much. It is just amazing what the body can do! It has been a journey where I had to trust the science, eating at a surplus and lifting heavy weights and no formal cardio, with the aim to build some muscle. I have gained a lot of strength and when I look into the mirror all I see a strong beautiful woman. A lot of people have a misconception that weight training for women will make them 'bulky/manly' this is just not true! All you have to do is look at fitness models like Paige Hatherway, or my favorite Brittany Davis to know this is a BIG MISCONCEPTION - weights help to sculpt your body so don't be scared. 

I had been following Bret Contreras' Strong Curves program which I LOVE! It really helped to sculpt my lower body and I will definitely be doing a second round. I have now finished the third week of Smolov Squatting Protocol - which is just 4 days of squatting in the aim to increase my lift. It has been tough and along with the program I am doing some accessory work, mainly shoulders, arms and Lats. I am enjoying this program and I will do a separate post once I conclude the 13 week program to update you all on how it went. 

Consulting Service

I have had many enquiries from people wanting to have their numbers worked and meal plans. I felt in order to assist people better to start providing a consultancy service. I will work with individuals once I receive your completed questionnaire to tailor numbers to your individual goals. Provision of a sample meal plan tailored to foods you like and excluding things  you don't like. The meal plan will also be tailored to your macro needs. You will also have access to me for questions, adjustments for up to 30 days. I am already working with a couple of people of whom are happy with the services provided so far.

The Service includes:

- Calculating of personalised macros tailored to personal goal.

- 7 Day Sample Meal Plan, tailored to personal preference and macros.

- 30 Days access to me to consult/ask questions and provide any adjustments. 

- Numbers and plans done within 3-5 working days upon receipt of completed questionnaire.

For further enquiries please email me: bunmilosingit@gmail.com

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to sharing the next phase of my fitness journey with you all. 

My Summer Bulk Progress

Hey Lovelies

So as most of you know I started a bulk on the 31st May 2014, nearly 3 months in and I would say the immediate thing I noticed was strength gains at the gym. I am lifting much heavier and just breaking Personal Records which is awesome!

(Read my previous post to get a proper understanding about the bulk) 

I started my bulk at 2125 calories: 250 g C, 135 g P, 65 F I still hadn't experienced weight gain although I do look different in the mirror ( I believe I was on maintenance macros) so I went up to 2325 calories: 300 g C, 135 g P, 65 F. I have been on the new numbers for a week now and although I went up by 2 llbs the first 2/3 days I am back to my start weight of 132 llbs (can a girl catch a break) so I'm going to up my calories again by another 100 calories with the following macros: 325 C, 135 P, 65 F. 

You will notice that the increments are all from Carbohydrates, which is the usual base point, I love carbohydrates and I love the way it gives me energy during my workout. There have been studies to show that we don't need more than 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight, so I am happy keeping my protein intake as it is, and as for fats I may increase it later however I am pretty happy as they are. Please understand none of these macros will make you big! Eating at a surplus will make you bigger (just throwing this in there for those reading that are not necessarily bulking at the moment). All macronutrient's have their purpose in our daily function so don't be scared of them- eat and train to achieve your desired goal.   

I must say I have days where I think 'OMG better start cutting, you look huge' and I do get some bloat. But my end game is what is keeping me going. I want to build sexy muscles and in order for me to do that I need to grow :-D. You may all have noticed that I am also following Bret Contreras's Strong Curves - there are four programs in the book and I am following the 'Gluteal Goddess Advanced Program' - it is Amazing! I have replaced the HIIT day (as Cardio is not my friend at the moment) with +LDNMUSCLE  glutes and leg workout in their 10 week Bikini Guide Split program. Check them out on twitter I will be following their Bikini Guide fully in  February when I start my cut!  

I was pondering whether I should post progress pictures or not lol just because of the nature of the pictures but for the women out there I really thought it would be beneficial for you to see. A lot of women talk about growing their glutes and wanting to 'tone'. First thing is first there is no such thing as toning- what you mean is muscle. Secondly you CAN NOT gain muscle whilst on a deficit and if you do see some muscle tone whilst on a deficit you have simply just cut out the layer of fat which was covering the muscles you already had. Thirdly you can not expect to grow your glutes if you have nothing to work with in the first place, all the squatting and lunging will do is help to firm up what you already have, if you want to GROW your glutes then you better get to eating and lifting heavy! I mention this because I see a lot of girls forever dieting when they don't even have any weight to lose (I was once like that) I continued to diet and not get the body I desired, then I discovered that I needed to grow to get that athletic look. 

I will post a picture of myself when I was at my lowest weight (no glutes at all) a picture from first day of my bulk, and a picture I took last weekend (I was 132 start of bulk, and last weekends picture I was 134) I think that gain was probably more water weight than anything lol.  

Left is whilst cutting and busting my butt to get a butt. 

Left Picture is day I started my Bulk, and Right picture was taken last weekend where I was actually 2 llbs heavier

By no means am I encouraging you to bulk, only do so if you are already at a healthy weight for your height and you wish to build muscle. Muscle isn't for every girl I understand. If you do decide to bulk my best piece of advice is to TRUST the PROCESS, ignore the scale and enjoy the food!

My Summer Bulk

It is summer and everyone wants to get lean and look fantastic in a Bikini, so do I but my holiday plans changed and I decided that ‘dieting’ needed to go on the back burner as I was already lean enough. So where do I go from here? I am still not totally satisfied with my body composition and that booty I had been longing for still hadn’t grown! I had to rethink my strategy. Most of the time us women think that doing squats and lunges alone is enough to grow a booty, however your body can only work with what you already have. If you don’t feed your body there is no way it is going to grow!

Back to the drawing board

So I started to research and after joining a closed facebookgroup for IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) I got a lot of inspiration from other lovely ladies and decided it was time to start a bulk. I must say I had tried this once or twice before only lasting one or two days, because I was scared of getting fat! But I worked out my numbers according to the IIFYM lifestyle I have been following and jumped straight into it.

What is ‘BULKING’?

It is the process used by individuals wishing to gain muscle mass. In order to gain muscle mass you need to eat at a SURPLUS of maintenance calories, whilst bulking most people would inevitably gain fat whilst gaining muscle. This is inevitable so if you decide to start a bulk, you will need to accept that!

Typically the increase in calories should come fromCarbohydrates; the rough formula I have been using is as follows:

Protein: 1 g per llb of Body Weight

Fat: 0.5 per llb of Body Weight

And the rest of the calories go to carbohydrates.

You can set your numbers as you like, we all react to macros differently, so just be aware of your body and how it reacts. However most especially for women it is recommended to have a minimum total intake of at least 50g of fat a day, to help hormone balance.

I started at 132llbs and my numbers are as follows:

2125 calories: 250 C, 135 P, 65 F

How did I determine the calories? I used www.iifym.com(IIFYM Calculator)

My above numbers were based on a ‘text book’ bulk and also based on the fact that I weight train 6 times a week (when using the above calculator only input days that you weight train in the activity level). I do not do any formal cardio, apart from the occasional walk. I found that I was losing weight when I incorporated HIIT so I stopped that and one month in I am up to 133llbs J and I’m already seeing great changes!  Not just aesthetically but I have gained a lot of strength and I’ve achieved a lot of PRs! Typically during a bulk you want to aim to gain at least 1 or 2-3 pounds a month, whatever you are comfortable with.

I would advise to stick to your numbers for at least 2 weeks as you will initially gain a lot of water weight due to the increase carbs, after two weeks you can then do a review, if you have not gained any weight you can up your caloric intake, similarly if you have gained too much weight then decrease, always adding or taking away calories from your carbs and leaving protein and fat the same. (if you are on 250 grams of carbs and you want to add 100 calories this translates to: 100 calories / 4 = 25 grams of carbs, thereby your carb intake would now be 275g, the same principle for reducing calories only you deduct the grams from current intake)

So along with eating more food (ALL THE CARBS :-D) during your bulk it is advised to lift heavy! Ladies don’t be afraid to lift heavier than your last session, always aim to do better than your last lift, of course whilst keeping good form.

How long to bulk for?

Typically it is said the longer you bulk the better results you will get, of course because your body has more time to build muscle. It is a lot more difficult for women to build muscle than men so to the female readers aim to do a minimum of 3 (if you’re cautious). I have chosen to bulk for 6 months which will take me into the new year of which I will then review my numbers.

I have two options when I decide to cut in January, typically cutting is when you eat at a deficit, i.e. eating less calories than expand which will initiate fat loss. So I will either reduce my caloric intake and continue with my current training schedule and possibly add 1 day cardio (HIIT) or stay at the same caloric intake and include at least 3x 30 minute HIIT sessions per week. I am enjoying eating so much that I am actually willing to add cardio (which I hate) in order to be at a deficit and lose fat to help expose the beautiful muscles I would have gained during my 6 month bulk. The second option I would say would mean a slower cut but I don’t mind because cutting from January 2015 would mean I have a good 6 months to lose fat.

What to eat during your bulk

Keep your nutrition the same, just increase accordingly and I truly cannot tell you enough how important it is to track your macros using an electronic scale and tracking apps such as My Fitness Pal, or My Net Dairy. Each macro are not made the same and not eating enough of one macro nutrient and over eating another can make all the difference in your body composition goals. Whilst I am following IIFYM I’m not too bothered about when I’m getting my macros as long as I hit them -/+ 5 a day, the one thing I do make sure I do is that I get my protein in after my work out! If you want you can follow the typical ‘bro science’ method of eating (not knocking it) or follow ‘IIFYM’ or whatever you want really, as long as it works for YOU. IIFYM has worked and continues to work for me and I do not see myself following another lifestyle. So I would advise that anyone on a beginning of any journey should make sure you do a lot of research and then decide what works for you.  That said IIFYM is there to allow the little treats, eat 80-90% nutritient dense foods. Most of my 'treats' are made up with supplements I buy from different outlets I.e protein pancakes, protein muffins etc (check out my IG page - @b_fittie) 

Finally I would just say that it is important to trust the process, this takes a lot of patience and commitment, so make sure that try as much as possible to stick to the program, trust me it works and I’m enjoying every single step of it- coming from a former cardio bunny eating 1200 calories a day! Your body needs fuel to grow so fuel it and kick butt in the weights room!!

Below is my progress after one week 

Review of DR ZAK'S High Protein Pasta

Hey Guys and Dolls,

I am writing my first ever product review! DR ZAK’S is a British Company out of London; they were kind enough to send me one of their many high protein products to sample. I was not paid to do this review, it is my honest opinion.

When I started my weight loss journey it is safe to say I cut out a lot of carbs such as pasta, rice and bread, yes I ate some whole wheat produce but I kept it to the bare minimum due to the carb content. Pasta was a luxury and I was only ever above to fit in possibly 2/3 TBSP (yes that little!). So you cannot imagine how pleased I was when I then discovered DR ZAK’S. I immediately went for their bread, I mean who doesn't love bread and I missed it so much? Look at my previous post where I attempted a homemade bread (it was good, but isn't it better when someone else makes it for you?)  The texture is amazing and tasted just like any whole grain bread on the super market shelves only it was better and 2 slices contains a whooping 30g of protein.

I was super excited when my DR ZAK’S High Protein Pasta arrived and quickly ensured that I was able to incorporate it into my meal plan for the day. I will first give you the Nutritional information before I go on to review taste, texture and my overall view on this product.

This picture is curtsy of www.dr-zaks.com

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Per 100 g Serving:

Calories: 396

Fat: 7.5g

Carbohydrate: 31g

Fibre: 2g

Protein: 50g

This pasta contains a whooping 50gs of protein per serving which I find astonishing, what I find even more amazing about the product is that it only has THREE INGREDIENTS : Pea Protein Isolate, Durum Wheat Semolina and Fresh Eggs. I've always imagined creations like this would involve adding extras for taste and composition in order to make it taste and look like the ‘real thing’.  

TASTE, TEXTURE AND OVERALL REVIEW

The high protein pasta, tastes just like real pasta, I cooked mine as instructed on the cooking instructions and it came out perfect. I served it with some diced turkey breast and tomato sauce (yum) it tasted no different to any other store bought pasta, with the added bonus of 50g of protein for them muscle gains!!

The texture of the pasta is just right as well, I for one know it is not easy to look for alternatives to fit into the fitness lifestyle in order to achieve ones goals, so it was either cut the food out or look for an alternative. It must have taken DR ZAK’S some time and patience to get this one right, because I have experimented with protein pancakes, protein ice-creams etc. and the amount of time I had to throw it away because it went badly wrong (shed a tear for the wasted protein) so I commend their team because it must have been tough to get the formula right to ensure it wasn't just about feeding consumers with a high protein product that doesn’t taste good or crumble horribly in their mouths as they chew.

So overall I really enjoyed the pasta, and as their slogan says I’m ‘PUTTING PASTA BACK ON THE MENU’. If you would like to try and of DR ZAK’S High Protein products they currently stock in some selected Tesco Stores (check out their facebook page – DR ZAK’S for store information), also online at www.dr-zaks.com. Also look out for their High Protein Bagel which is due anytime soon, I can’t wait guys!!

Take care

B xxx

Protein/Energy Balls

10 protein/energy balls (would be a good post workout snack)

250g pitted dates 

1/4 cup almonds 

1tsp cocoa powder 

2 scoops whey protein ( I used choc and vanilla) 

1 tsp sweet freedom natural sweetness 

1 tbsp biona organic coconut oil 

Directions 

1. Blend all ingredients together until comes together and able to roll in a ball without mixture crumbling. 

2. Remove from blender and roll into small balls. I made 10 out of them.

(You can roll into chai seeds or coconut shreds if you want. But I opted not to.)

:( forgot to put my peanut butter so I'll be having that as a side with them of course! Lol

Whole mixture was 360g so I was able to get 10 balls which were 36g each. 

Macro:

Totals for 10 balls: kcal 975, fat 29.9, carbs 171.4, protein 50.7

1 ball (36g): kcal 97.5, fat 3, carbs 17.1, protein 5.0

Enjoy snacking the healthy way! 

Avocado Mousse/pudding

Ingredients

140g Chopped Avocado 

2 tbsp Pure Honey 

16 g/ 2tbsp cocoa powder 

1 tsp almond/vanilla essence 

2 table spoons of water 

Directions

Put all ingredients into food processor/blender and blend till smooth and mousse like consistency..

 

Macros

You will get roughly 170g from mixture, I split it in half to make two servings to fit my macros for the morning! 

1 serving (85g) 

Total kcal: 176, fat 11.5, carbs 8.4, fiber 6.1, sugar 1.6, protein 3.8

The almond Essenes isn't necessary but gives it such a sweet aroma. 

Coconut Chicken Boob and Cauliflower 'Rice'

So today is meal prep day for me and I bought lots of chicken boob, fish, veg, hearts and other things to sustain my body though out the week. 

I divided my chicken boob into 2 batches as I wanted to marinate them differently for variety. First batch main ingredient was coconut and here is what you need (bear in mind this should last me a few days. I don't cook for just one day!) 

For the 5 Servings of Coconut chicken you need the following:

Coconut chicken

- 1400 grams Chicken Boob

- 1 cup coconut milk

- 1 cup chopped parsley

- 2 cloves garlic 

- 1.5 tsp Braggs amino

- 2 chopped green chilli

- 4 spring onions

- 1 tsp Dijon mustard 

- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 

Direction: 

1. Mix/ blend all ingredients together apart from chicken & olive oil 

2. Marinate chicken with mixture

3. Put olive oil in pan and fry all the chicken. Add olive oil as needed, but I didn't bother juice from the marinate was enough to cook it without pan burning and boobs drying out. If you want you can bake instead. 

One serving (230g)

Calories: 325.6/F5.28/C3.28/P66.64

Cauliflower 'Rice' 

One cup chopped up cauliflower boiled for about 10 mins with 0.5 serving of Braggs aminos 

Calories: 25/C 5/ F 0/P2

Total for meal: calories: 351/C 8/F5/P69 

This meal is great for anyone who is thinking of doing carb cycling. Very low in carbs and high in protein! 

Enjoy and watch out for what I make with the other batch of chicken. 

Healthier carrot cake recipe

Healthy Carrot Cake Recipe

 

So I promised to put up my healthy carrot cake recipe last week and I just got a minute at work and thought I would quickly post the recipe.

Healthy Carrot Cake:

-          2 cups Whole wheat or oat Flour

-          1 tsp Baking Powder

-          1 tsp Cinnamon

-          2 cups grated carrots Xylitol (if you can’t get use brown sugar)

-          3 tbsp Coconut oil

-          3 large eggs

-          1 tsp vanilla extract

-          ½ cup Almond milk or milk of your choice.

Frosting

-          ½ cup low fat cream cheese

-          2 tbsp Xylitol

-          1 tsp ground cinnamon

-          1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions: For carrot cake:

Mix wet ingredients with carrots and mix dry ingredients separately.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

Put in mixture in baking tin and place in preheated oven (200 degrees) for about 20- 30 mins. – do the fork test if not cooked leave for as long as it takes, but check it 

 

Frosting:

Mix all ingredients together, wait for cake to cool down before adding frosting

Sorry I don't have the macros for this one! As I said very quick post! Back to work! 

Enjoy my lovelies 

 

 

 

Recipe for plantain waffle/pancake

Hey all as you know I've been shouting and counting down on twitter and Instagram about my Refeed day which is tomorrow yay! In order not to labour myself in the kitchen I have already made my pancake which I will eat like a traditional waffle and chicken recipe. I will post a picture on twitter and Instagram tomorrow before I bite into it! 

I'm increasing my carb intake by 100% so will be eating 4 of them babies if my stomach can handle it 😁😳

It is is such an easy recipe and I got my cook to test it out for me lol. It yields 6 pancakes and I've also done the macro break down for 1 pancake. Enjoy! 

Plantain waffle/pancake

312g plantain

6 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp coconut oil

1tsp baking powder 

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together in a blender and either cook in waffle iron orin a skillet like a pancake! 

1 pancake 

Kcal 148, fat 2.8,carbs 23, fiber 2.2, protein 10.9, 

Obviously I would not be indulging in these on my low carb days!!

Follow me on twitter and let me know how you get in with these 

Watch out for more recipes 

Low Carb, High Protein Bread

So today I was really craving a bagel with smoked salmon and avocado, however as you all know I'm 'cutting' so need to control my carbohydrate intake! And I'm trying to do that especially by leaving out starchy carbs as much as possible. 

So here is a low carb high protein bread I made, as I've mentioned on twitter I don't have an oven in Lagos so this is a flat bread made in a skillet, it is one serving and you can get two slices out of it. 

Low Carb, High Protein Bread Recipe: 

8 almond flour (blend whole almonds in food processor)

2 egg whites 

3/4 tsp baking powder 

1/2 scoop TPW Vanilla Whey Protein

1 calorie olive oil spray/ olive oil

1, blend almonds in food processor to get flour consistency 

2, add all the dry ingredients together first

3, incorporate wet ingredients with dry and mix well till get nice dough consistency 

4, spray skillet once/twice with olive oil spray let it heat up on medium heat and pour in dough and let it cook. 

This should get you 2 slices of flat bread and the macros are as follows: 

Total kcal: 140.5, fat 5.5, sf 1, carbs 4.8, protein 19.95, 

Enjoy! 

Two Year Fitfam-Anniversary!

Hey guys and girls,

Firstly I owe you all an apology for not blogging more often! towards the end of the calendar year and beginning of a new year is always super busy for the Insurance industry and I have just been swamped with lots of work.

I have some time on my hands this afternoon and thought it was about time for me to post, and here is to hoping I will be able to post more often so you can follow my ongoing journey and continue to be inspired. 

So it will soon be my 2 year Anniversary inducting myself into the 'Fitfam' and I cannot lie, it has been a roller coaster. At the beginning I had all the motivation and focus and Lost an amazing 24 kgs within 5 or 6 months. However all that hard dieting, workouts, and fade detox (maple syrup diet) really did batter my body if I was going to be honest with you. I lost all my boobies, and that dented such a huge hole in my confidence! I attribute that to the Maple Syrup diet. I have that all fixed now ;-) and have new found confidence. 

I'm also no long trying to get as small as I can, because if I have to admit to myself all I wanted to do was by 50 kgs! This rolled on a cycle of me becoming so obsessed with the scale and doing all I could to continue dropping the weight. I forgot where I started and one day I found a picture of myself from 2009 and thought 'why on earth am I killing myself? Look at the beautiful healthy woman you have become' Also thanks to someone special my relationship with food and my obsession over the scale has diminished!! 

Now when I say obsession with food, I mean before I would not eat what I wanted because I didn't want to ruin my 'gains', now I eat whatever whenever, only difference is now I'm tracking my macro's properly with the aid of an electronic scale, which I strongly urge you to get. I have tried different ratios of macros, 40/40/20 and 50/30/20 (Carbs/Protein/Fat) but that wasn’t really helping me to drop the fat which is currently the phase I'm in, once I shred I will then gain some healthy weight but mostly muscle, I will do this by increasing my current Carb intake. I am currently following ratio of 20/50/30. Low carbs I hear some of you thinking, well I am an Endomorph (a person with a soft round build of body and a high proportion of fat tissue.) so I researched and I worked out I need to cut the carbs to drop unwanted body fat. I still take in enough carbs to fuel my insane workouts and so far even though it has just been a few days i feel great.

If you are thinking of doing this, please do it properly! Don't just cut out your carbs or do any guess work, use the internet and figure out how many calories your body burns at resting rate, factor in your daily activity which will both give you what your daily nutritional needs should be. Once you do this then use MFP to start tracking what you eat. I have customized mine as MFP automatically factors a ratio of 50/30/20. 

Check out this article it was pretty useful in helping me figure out what my daily requirements are: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macro-math-3-keys-to-dialing-in-your-macro-ratios.html

By the way I do not log my exercise into MFP as you should ideally only stick to the calories/macros suggested after you have worked out your BMR and factored in your daily activity. This may seem like it will take up all your time, however if you want to be accurate and get the results you want then I can’t stress how important this part of it is, otherwise all those hours in the gym could potentially be wasted.

Since I have been tracking my daily intake properly I have also started a lifestyle called ‘if it fits your macros’ otherwise known as iifym. This lifestyle basically allows you to eat whatever you want as long as it fits into your daily macro needs. I am following this because I believe it is ok to eat some foods that are not ‘clean’ however; I do not use it as an excuse to eat junk all day! I keep my food clean 80-90% of the day and may have a little treat IF IT FITS!!!  This could be something you might want to look into especially if you have a sweet tooth. I eat pancakes every other day, in fact I always make a batch on Sundays. I will start posting recipes, my first will be the carrot pancake I made last weekend which serves 9 pancakes and was 49 kcals per pancake and only 1.38 g of fat and even low in carbs at 4.13 with 4.91 g of protein.

Remember strong is the new sexy and that is what I am to achieve by the summer and I hope to be flaunting a nice set of ripped abs on the beach!

B xx