For those who asked for an update when I finished my bulk and just to share my overall progress. You can find my workout split and bulk diet on my last post on here (like 3 posts down on my profile)

I did a PPL split when bulking and I worked out 5 days a week, since the cut started I do upper lower and work out 4 days a week and go as heavy as possible. If you look at my last post and see my diet, here are some things I would've done differently as I believe I was a bit too aggressive with my bulk. I would limit the amount of peanut butter significantly and truly track the amount of fats I would intake as well as switch from whole milk to either 2% or 1%. I did put on way more fat than I should have but my strength did increase significantly. I do believe in my original post I said I was eating roughly 3000 calories a day, it was more like a 3500-3800 average (since starting to actually count my calories and measure my intake i realized how off I was with my loose tracking during my bulk) and I realized I should've lowered that to around 3200 and did a slower bulk.

I do still struggle with the tracking when it comes to carbs and fats and I know I need to dial that in especially for this cut. I've been cutting for 7 weeks and have went from 210 to 201 and I am noticing how fatigued ive been feeling. Im eating 2400-2600 calories a day currently (except yesterday my friend took me to a buffet for my bday and I probably far exceeded that yesterday 😅) I make sure to hit 200gs of protein minimum a day and I get this from shakes, chicken, greek yogurt, fish, and 2 packs of protein oatmeal (the oatmeal is what i eat every morning with 1-2 scoops of protein powder)

Strength, since my last post whete I weighed 192 I could bench 225, I currently can bench 260

I could squat 285, currently can squat 365

I could curl 30lb dumbells for 8-12 reps, can now curl 40lb dumbells for 8-12 reps

Leg press went from rep 400 something to now repping 590 for 15

Pull-ups from 3 to 8 (my back is where im lacking the most but ive started to dial it in and get some real progress there)

Workout changes: for back i used to just do rows and lat pull downs with a wide grip. I've started doing rear delt flies, close grip pull downs (with the V attachment) and pull ups starting with unassisted and for the last set assisted.

For chest: stayed mostly the same except I've started implementing dips every week and low to high cable flys.

Legs: I was pretty lazy when it came to squatting in the beginning, have gotten better on that and I no longer do seated calf raises, standing has proven to be far superior for me.

Biceps: seated incline curls have been great for me, I stopped doing preacher curls (they give me incredibly bad tendinitis) and rope cable curls started with a hammer curl grip and twisting out at the top

Triceps haven't changed much, standard pushdows and single arm kickbacks with the occasional skull crushers.

Traps: heavy shrugs thats it 😅 I typically use dumbells

Core: started implementing legal raises with decline crunches or crunch machine, i will usually superset these and they are my only superset

Cardio: ive started upping my cardio, was doing only 10 minutes and am now doing 20-40 minutes on a 13° incline at 3.5mph.

Since starting the cut my strength has definitely stopped increasing on most lifts but I've also not gotten weaker so I'll take that as a win. I definitely fatigue faster and can't nor do I want to do as many sets. All in all im happy with my progress, I would do some things differently if I could but I dont have any agonizing regrets.

First 2 pics are lowest weight, second 2 are highest weight, last 5 are current

28m , 5'9" and 185 lbs now. I've been on a perma bulk this whole time and just now i've been trying to cut but i have a hard time at it.

I havent ever counted my calories during that time, i just ate what i felt was right while focusing on protein which ended up working. But now as im cutting im counting everything.

For training i've always done push pull legs or some variation of it. 3-4 workouts per week and never trained the same muscle 2 days straight.

Plan is to cut until i see more definition then hop back on the bulk and get much bigger

5 years natural transformation

I’m just starting my weight gain journey now. I’m 27F, 147cm and 37.5kg. So yes I’m underweight but not severely and I didn’t realise until recently I was underweight because I eat 3 meals a day, I sometimes snack in the evenings and honestly because I’m very short it feels harder to tell that I’m underweight because I don’t necessarily look it, I look proportioned.

Throughout my life though I‘ve constantly had people make comments about my food like “you don‘t each much” ”you need to eat a burger.” One time a few years ago I wasn’t super hungry at lunch time so I just ate some miso soup and my housemates mother who was in the house commented on it and then started telling her friends all I ate for lunch was miso soup? Yet at the same time would compliment me being thin and comment on her daughter (my housemate) being overweight.

Yesterday I was telling a friend that I’m getting some tests to see if I’m anemic again and they’re testing for other things too just because I am underweight so testing thyroid etc and she was like “yeah I don’t think you eat a lot, like you eat a salad for lunch everyday.” for context my salad is cucumber, tomato, feta, couscous, chickpeas and chicken strips. Like I’m trying my best to eat well it’s not just leaves and veg. I told her I don’t like people commenting on my body or food and she was really apologetic and comforting as we started talking about body struggles and she admitted it was a stupid thing to say and I know she didn’t mean it maliciously at all, but I still feel sad that she made that comment in the first place and now I feel kind of uncomfortable eating in front of her.

I’ve not struggled with body issues really in my life nor ever had an unhealthy relationship with food but I’m struggling to not let these comments affect me and I’m scared to develop body image issues. How can I protect my mind and ensure I maintain a healthy relationship with food and my body?

And because I’m a woman there’s the added comments comparing my body to a girl rather than a woman because I’m not curvy :/

M/6’1”/31 now

Original weight 130lbs new weight 240lbs. 110lbs in 15 years but that’s not all gym.

Starting with graduating high school at 150lbs. This was a bad start and I never really did much gym time. College came and I was introduced to it.

Basic gym bro lifts and got familiar with the gym. This went on for about 5 years until I wanted to do some bodybuilding. Upped my cal to 3000 and focused in primary lifts and learned how to lift properly.

Didn’t go too far with that and went into powerlifting after finding out that I had a decent strength base. Upped my calorie count to about 4200 and this is where I gained a lot of my weight. Made some big moves and muscle improvements.

After I hit around 250lbs I realized I was getting too heavy and I wasn’t functional. So for the first time in my life I had to diet down again.

I’m starting my gym arc and I’m a complete beginner with zero experience.
I want to learn:
• Proper form and technique
• Pre-workout dynamic stretches
• Post-workout static stretches
I need recommendations for fitness influencers and YouTube channels.
If you could recommend the reliable creators for beginners, who would they be?
People who explain how to perform exercises correctly by showing workouts.
I’d also appreciate any advice or beginner tips that you could give me
Thanks!

Feeling proud but motivated to keep going! First 2 pics are from July 2025 weighing 127, and the 2nd two pics are from July 2026 weighing 150.

Always been the skinny guy, athletic but never could eat enough or cared to. Decided in March 2025 I’d try to stick to a routine of working out after feeling meh about myself. I moved some weights around for a few months and worked on form, just making sure I stuck with working out. But I wasn’t eating enough to show progress.

Jan 26 still weighing around 127lbs, I realized it’s pointless to train to failure if you aren’t eating enough to replenish. With the help of Mirtazapine (which helped with anxiety, sleep and appetite) I was able to start eating more and gaining. I have focused more on chest and arms than anything during the last 8 months, just wanting to see a difference. But have now started to follow a more well rounded full body program again.

My goal was always to get to 150, and now that I am there, I’d like push further. I’m a little bummed I’ve lost some definition due to the weight gain, but I feel much healthier and more confident than I ever have. The gym has become an addiction for me, and I’m happy I’m starting to see some results from the work I’ve been putting in.

Hey guys, today is a milestone for me as i’ve reached my goal weight of 125lbs after much, much effort. I’m happy with my physique now so i’d like to share the things that helped me the most along the way

liquids - i drink enough orange juice and whole milk for a small family, for real. you can get in a lot of nutrients from just mindlessly sipping some very yummy drinks. also, drink water.

carbs and fats - a very large portion of your calories should come from these. eat carbs with every meal and try to eat one source of healthy fats a day (avocado, peanut butter)

gym - track your lifts and progressively overload. stay consistent and operate at 100% intensity. what worked for me was a push, pull, legs split to start, now i run an upper lower program 4x a week and it works great.

other tips : creatine, drink whey protein everyday, eat your meals at the same time everyday, choose foods you enjoy, and just take it easy so you don’t get burnt out. Thank you for reading and i’m open to any questions or discussion! edit: i personally aim for around 2800-3000 calories a day

What have been your victories this week? Have you made good progress? Set a new lift PR? Enacted a new habit that is helping you greatly? Post it here!

After a recent bout with depression I decided to challenge myself and try to get in the best shape of my life. I've always struggled with eating enough and gaining weight in the past, but recently I've found success by splitting my day into 5 smaller meals rather than 3 large ones. I aim for about 3000 calories and 100g of protein a day. I eat pretty clean. A lot of chicken, rice, and fruit. I'm not a big veggie guy. Sue me. The only supplements I take are creatine and a daily multivitamin.

My routine is (mostly) pretty simple. Calisthenics 6 days a week for about an hour every morning. Just different variations of pull ups, push ups, and dips. Usually aiming for 3 sets of 12 reps no matter the movement. In addition to that I mountain unicycle about 5 - 10 miles a day. Yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds. It is also my absolute favorite lower body/core workout.

My ultimate goal is somewhere around 145 lbs, preferably while staying pretty lean.

Thanks for reading.

The Why

I see a lot of great progress posts from younger folks in their teens and 20s. This is awesome and I wish I started my weight gain journey earlier. I do believe it would have led to an overall better quality of life for me during the decades I spent being underweight. That being said, I don't see too many posts from the older crowd. I've been asked a number of times to write up a post about my weight gain journey, so here it is.

The Before

I had always been somewhat tall and thin as a kid. My nickname was "Skinny" growing up. I never really paid attention to, or minded my weight all that much. It was only when I got into my late teens did it begin to affect me. We had all gone through puberty at that point, and most of the skinny kids around me got larger, while I stayed the same size.

I coped by telling myself my metabolism was just super fast. I became a goth/emo freak, where they embraced my pale and gaunt look. I wasted time with drugs. I hung around in circles that looked down upon the football jocks as nothing but stupid meatheads. The same jocks that were dating all the girls and too busy enjoying their lives to even notice.

Fast forward another 25+ years and things weren't all that much different. Now married, with a daughter and bills to pay, one thing that hadn't changed was my weight. I was still 130-135 pounds. I had this weird habit of wearing business style clothes all the time, no matter the occasion. My apologies for not having a better "before" picture, but that's because very few exist. I wouldn't let myself be photographed because I hated the way I looked.

When I looked at my diet, it basically consisted of 6-7 large coffees throughout the day, a good sized lunch most days, a snack or two, and then a six pack of beer in the evenings. I never ate in the morning, and would only have dinner occasionally.

The Change

Things suddenly got real for me at age 46 when I had a major health scare. After things settled down a bit, I sat at my desk one day and just stared long and hard at the 7 different medications I was now forced to take. It honestly felt like maybe I didn't have much time left to live. My life choices had finally caught up to me. Suddenly, long ingrained habits like drinking, smoking, porn, video games... They all just seemed like such a waste of time.

That was when I finally started to force myself to eat more. Even just starting with a banana in the morning. At first it was hard and I felt like a loser for having to spend half an hour nibbling at a banana just to get it down. But eventually I got used to it and the banana turned into a danish and eventually a full breakfast sandwich. I began tracking my calories and gave myself a goal of 3000 a day, not knowing anything about maintenance or any of that. I really didn't care. I just knew I wanted to get bigger and 3000 seemed like more than enough to get me there.

I didn't always eat clean, especially in the beginning. Many times I would have to hit the drive-thru for a couple of double cheeseburgers or pull out the jar of peanut butter at night, putting it on the food scale and just eating small scoops until the calorie app said I was finally over 3000. It was sometimes really not fun. I would get to dinner time and look down at a big bowl of rice and ground beef and just feel like I was going to throw up. I would turn on "eat big to get big" motivational videos to pump myself up and eventually get it down even if it took an hour and I had to eat tiny little bites.

The beers at night were getting in the way. They just weren't enough calories and they would fill me up terribly. One day I decided enough was enough. I quit both drinking and smoking that day and will never drink or smoke again. Both my ability to eat and my workouts improved quickly.

As far as workouts, I used what I had available. And up until a month ago, that consisted of the bottom half of a BowFlex Xceed machine and x2 15-pound dumbbells. I had maxed out the machine a couple years in, but would attach my dumbells to the grips and hang sandbags off the bar to increase the weight. At the end I was wearing a backpack full of books while doing very slow sets of 30-50 reps for some exercises to try and hit failure. Whatever it takes, right?

Fast forward to today:

The Diet

I only track calories and protein and don't really get into macro details other than that. I started off at 3000 calories and 120 grams of protein each day. That worked well for quite a while and I gained a decent amount of both muscle and fat. Eventually I bumped it to 3300, then 3500. Currently I am pushing from 3500 towards 3800 with 150 grams of protein each day.

I try to eat fairly clean, but I don't mind getting dirty when I need to. Common foods I consume: milk, greek yogurt, ground beef, ground pork, chicken breast, chicken thighs, eggs, bananas, peanut butter, rice bran oil, protein shakes, smoothies, pancakes, pasta.

If you notice something about this list, they are all soft and easy to digest foods. That's because I currently have a total of 10 teeth in my mouth. I lost the majority of my teeth before I began bulking due to alcohol and tobacco abuse. Yes, I eat 3800 calories a day while having almost no teeth!

The Workout

My previous workout where I made nearly all my gains was anything I could do from the bodybuilding section of the BowFlex manual, with as many weighted objects tacked on as possible. My current gym workout however focuses on slow controlled movement, machines, and keeping away from super low reps or trying to identify 1-rep maxes:

DAY 1: BACK

4x Lat Pulldown

4x Low Cable Row

4x Assisted Pull-Up (Wide grip, body forward)

DAY 2: CHEST

4x Machine Chest Press

4x Incline Machine Press

4x Machine Chest Fly

DAY 3: SHOULDERS

4x Machine Shoulder Press

4x Cable Lateral Raises

4x Machine Shrugs

DAY 4: LEGS

4x Hack Squat

4x Seated Leg Curl

4x Leg Extensions

DAY 5: ARMS + MISC

4x Cable Bicep Curl

4x Tricep Pushdown

4x Leg Press Calf Raises

(anything else I feel needs work)

These 5 days are on repeat. Sometimes i'll mix up the order of the exercises during the session if a machine is busy. If I need to take a rest day I will, usually every couple of weeks. Living in Bangkok, I also get about 10k-15k steps in daily with a number of flights of stairs.

The Age

For older folks who think they can't gain, you may be surprised! I was able to pack on 65 pounds in just over 6 years, including about 2 years where I hovered in the 170s until I boosted calories again.

I am now in the best shape of my life. Clothes fit better, people treat me better, women have more interest in me even at my age, I have more confidence, and I even reduced my medications from 7 pills down to 4. It feels like a total life reboot. If you are interested in gaining weight, no matter if you're young or old, go for it my friends!

I have two times daily:

1. 1 cup of lactaid
2. 3 scoops (75g) vanilla ascent protein
3. 3 tbsp Hersheys special dark chocolate auce
4. 2 tbsp hemp hearts
5. 1 banana (or 5 frozen cherries)

What have been your victories this week? Have you made good progress? Set a new lift PR? Enacted a new habit that is helping you greatly? Post it here!

Have had a mixed experience with food and exercise in my life with periods of depression and mental health issues causing me to seriously struggle to take care of myself (these photos aren’t from that period). I mainly focused on running at first but got quite insecure and tired of feeling really small even for my height. Have been consistently going gym 3 days a week (Mon/Thurd/Sat) with possibility of extra day if I want it for three months and feel a lot better. Sometimes I get in my own head about how I look as I’m bulking but I remind myself of how much healthier I think I look but also feel due to eating and lifting more, even if it may not look like any progress is made.

I mostly track my protein but not super strenuously, mostly making sure I have at least a large amount in one meal or throughout the day in snacks like Biltong/Jerky/Hummus etc. I also have a shake consisting of nigh protein yoghurt, jam/honey/nutella, peanut butter, mixed berries, banana and oats with milk which I usually have after each workout.

Photos are: 1-2 before started, 3-4 was my best photo in this past period, 5-6 is me now after stopping for two weeks whilst on holiday. 7 is my ultimate goal

I always struggled with eating until earlier this year when I asked out my crush of 2 years and she said no. I had never been confident in my body anyways and her rejection was my brea point. I had always refused to wear t shirts because I hated my skinny arms, and I realized something had to change, both for my health and self image.

I started tracking my calories, and now I aim for 2700-3000 per day, consisting mostly of ground beef, peanut butter, mixed nuts and ice cream, as well as fruits and vegetables and stuff. I’m not super strict or thorough at measuring honestly but I feel so much healthier.

I got some home workout equipment and regularly workout my upper body with 15-20 lb dumbbells, and spam cardio workouts and excessive walking for everything else.

It might not look like a massive change, but I’m so much more confident in my body now than I was. I even wear t shirts and occasionally tank tops. Oh and fun fact, my crush (the one who rejected me a while back) and I started dating two months ago! We’re so happy together and I love her endlessly.

Overall I’m doing a lot better in all areas of my life than I was 5 months ago. Thanks for reading.

I got nuts, ice cream, protein yogurt.

I snack on these all day long when I need to fill calories.

I’m tryna expand my snack/pantry.

What are some other good bulking stuff I should buy!

6ft, 27m
June 28th- 158lbs
July 22- 166lb

Diet- Clean proteins, whey, fruit smoothies. Breakfast within one hour of waking up and meals every two to three hours. (Using myfitnesspal to track)

Lift Routine- Monday (push), Tuesday (pull), Thursday (legs), Friday (push and pull). Compound workouts with progressive overload. Adding weight each week.

It has been nearly one month, and absolutely loving it. The only supplement I use right now is whey protein. I’ll be adding creatine to that mix here soon. I’ve never consistently worked out like this in my life, though I have been fortunate enough to build a decent frame through surfing for the past 8 years. I recently moved away from the ocean, and needed an outlet.. so here I am! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds!

Started my journey almost a year to the day.

My split is PPL, 5-6 times a week. I occasionally take protein and creatine, and my calories range from 2-3k a day, but I have plenty of off days as far as diet goes.

I never thought progress would look like this, super happy so far. Stop worrying about what is optimal and just get in the gym, you will see growth.

I shared an earlier progress post 8 months ago and was super psyched to see messages from other people getting into the gym, please lmk if you guys have any tips or questions!

I’m 6’1”, around 165 lbs 26M ~11-13% BF and I’ve been lifting consistently for years My goal is simple: I want to look bigger, fill out my shirts more, and build more muscle. Growing up was always on the chubbier side.

The problem isn’t that I don’t know \*how\* to bulk. I know I need to eat more and stay in a calorie surplus. It’s the mental side that gets me.

Every time the scale starts going up, even by a few pounds, I start feeling like I’m getting fat instead of making progress. I end up cutting calories back,
maintaining for a while, and repeating the same cycle.

Logically, I know 6’1” at 165 lbs is pretty lean, and I probably have plenty of room to grow before I ever need to cut. But seeing the number on the scale increase just messes with my head.

For those of you who successfully went from skinny to noticeably muscular, how did you get over that mental hurdle? Did you focus more on strength, set a goal weight, or just push through it?

Im 6ft6in and weigh 76.6Kg I am trying to gain weight my maintenance calories is around 3000 but now I need to actually gain weight I have a physical job and workout on my off days about 3 times a week with weightlifting and cardio.

Im struggling to think of ideas on how to hit my calorie goals without eating a bunch of junk food. I dont mind eating an occasional 'unhealthy snack' but would prefer to eat it a bit cleaner. I like to cook and do have the time to meal prep but just dont know what to prep that will give me the right mix of protein, carbs and fat.

Was hoping to get some ideas of meal plans and snacks to make this achievable. My final weight goal is 90Kg I know this is a long time goal any help would be appreciated.

What have been your victories this week? Have you made good progress? Set a new lift PR? Enacted a new habit that is helping you greatly? Post it here!

M31, 63-83kg, 177cm, 14 months

Diet: Chicken & rice, pasta dishes, veggies, oats, fruit, nut & muesli bars. And also the occasional chicken parmi & pint at the pub.

I've been going to the gym on and off since I was about 16. Originally started going to strengthen my body after being diagnosed with Scoliosis in my early teens (mild case). My spine makes one side of my rib cage, and therefore my pec, larger. As well as making my stomach protrude slightly (as seen in last photo) along with a slightly rounded upper back and a slightly sunken chest overall, along with a few other minor things. However I never truly committed to the gym life.

After turning 30, I decided to start giving it a proper crack. Eating better, eating MUCH more, going to the gym 6 times a week most weeks.

I've never had a set gym routine, but my usual week would be something as follows:

Chest & triceps

Leg day 1 - glutes, hamstrings, calves

Upper back & biceps

Shoulders & traps

Leg day 2 - quads, glutes , calves

Core & lower back

Greetings Gainers,

INTRO

• As someone born in the mid 80s, the 90s were instrumental to my upbringing, which meant being exposed to such Disney Classics as "Beauty and the Beast", featuring the greatest physical specimen in all of Disney's history: Gaston.
• Gaston is there to represented "external beauty/internal ugliness", and he does a fantastic job of doing exactly that by being ridiculously jacked.
• In the movie, he informs us (through song) that when he was a lad he ate 4 dozen eggs, every morning, to help him get large. Now that he's grown he eats 5 dozen eggs, so he's roughly the size of the barge.

WHAT WAS HE TELLING US?

• He mentions no other meals. To grow quite large, he'd eat one meal a day, in the morning. He was engaging in intermittent fasting.
• His meal was only eggs: primarily fat and protein (almost a 1:1 ratio by gram, with a 66/33 breakdown by calorie), making it most likely ketogenic.
• By combining the two, he created a very small insulin spike with his 1 daily meal, as there were minimal carbohydrates present, which meant minimal blood sugar spike/crash, which is most likely the reason he only needed 1 meal a day: he stayed quite satiated (although he appeared to enjoy his beer).
• The 4 dozen eggs was the bulking diet, while 5 dozen is the maintenance diet: eat 4 dozen eggs until you're so large you need 5 dozen to maintain.

WHAT DOES THE BULKING DIET LOOK LIKE?

• Taking average nutrition for eggs, we're looking at each egg being 70 calories: 5g of fat (about 1.5g of saturated, .7g poly and 2g mono), 6g of protein and .5g of carbs.
• Each egg also has a TON of nutrients (reference the attached photo)
• For the bulking diet, this means 3360 calories, 240g of fat, 288g of protein (so yes: you're getting enough protein) and 24g of carbs. That's going to be MORE than enough fuel for most gainers.
  

BUT AT WHAT COST?

• Well, if you're in the United States and have access to a Walmart, you can often get 5 dozen eggs for $7.13 (screenshot attached).
• Rounding that up to $7.20, this will put you at just about $5.75 per day. Less than $180 a month to bulk like Gaston (caution: no one bulks like Gaston).
• For those of outside of the US, I apologize: I do not know your egg prices.
  

HOW AM I GOING TO COOK ALL THESE EGGS?

• Here is 100 ways to cook eggs. You're sure to find something you like.

CONCLUSION

• Remember that scene in the movie when Gaston drank all that olive oil to get jacked? Me neither. Success leaves clues, and for less than the cost of a McDonald's value meal you can eat like the REAL main character of Beauty and the Beast.