For those of you who feel too skinny, here is the challenge:

To gain 7lbs in four weeks

Anyone is welcome to join. You can join late and amend the goal accordingly. Also if you’re trying to gain, but have a slightly different goal, you are welcome to join in as well.

The more often you post the better the motivation for everyone. But you must report your stats at least once a week. My day is Sundays. If you want to post on a different day that’s fine, but state the day so that we can hold you to account.

The official start date is: Sunday 17th July 2005

The official end date is: Sunday 14th August 2005

On the end date you must post your stats and a picture of your new body.

(The above is subject to amendment upon agreement of all parties involved)

The hungriest one wins

OK Reeze im up for that.

I can only weigh myself on a friday so shall start mine tonight and my last weigh in will have to be friday 12th August. I am happy with the rules except I may struggle with picture. I dont have a digi camera or scanner. But will try and sort one out.

What stats r we taking just weight or measurments ie neck, shoulder, bicep etc etc.

I will measure anyway just in case, my last measurements are a week old now.

:gl: Reeze.

Ps love the slogan "the hugriest one wins"

Okay great

If you're going to finish on the friday, I better finish on the Sunday otherwise I get two extra days. So that's four weeks.

I don't have my own camera either, so I'll have to track one down. But it seems to be worth it for motivational purposes. A before picture is also a bonus.

Weight is obviously the main stat, but I find measurements to be good motivators as well. I take waist, hips, arms, forearms, thigh, calf and chest. You may want to report on your progress with your training as well, but we'll keep that more casual.

What are your starting stats? I'll post mine on Sunday.

:gl: right back at you!

Today I begin the challenge then.

My current weight is 156lbs which is the the heaviest I've ever been. My target for Sunday the 14th August is therefore 163lbs.

Here are my current stats

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 156lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 33.5"
Forearm: 11.5"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 20"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 35"

As a reference I am 6' 2" tall.

I don't have any current photos, but the one's in my journal (see sig) are from when I was 3lbs lighter, so should give you an idea.

So 7lbs in four weeks. I better get eating.

Starting Stats,

15.07.05

weight 176Lb four week target 183Lb

Neck 15 1/2"
Chest 38" deflated 40"inflated/tensed
Shoulder 45 1/2"
Bicep 13 1/4 " (yep i included the 1/4")
Forearm 11 1/2"
Waist 33"
Thigh 21"
Calf 14 1/2"

Note to Reeze i noted you wondered where to take shoulder dim, i'm no expert but went around both shoulders at BCG (injection level).

Have only trained lightly twice in last seven days due to some pain around lower ribs and some slight bruising in this area, have not dropped anything on chest so can only assume that i have strained something. Chest feels better today though still slightly bruised, aim to train tomorow and resume normal programme.

Have still had a huge appetite though which i have devloped over past two weeks, have not accuratley counted calories (Is not something I really want to start doing re calorie counting). Am eating alot more protein namely nuts and meats but also a conssiderable quantity of milk and cheese. I estimate that i'm eating approx 170 grammes of protein aday so about 1 gram per lb of weight. Although am considering supplements to limit calories a bit as stomach/waist has lost a little definition.

Reeze with the exception of waist and chest our dims are remarkably similar and would explain our twenty pounds difference.

Did you see my note regarding the free weights ale in Argos?

£ 39.99 for a 50KG set of cast/metal barbell/dumbells
£17.49 for 20KG dumbells.

They are a bargain although u need to use sale codes to get at that price you can find these online or i can mail them to you.

:gl: again.
I will post stats weekly and probably post a note midweek for encouragement or if theres any major news to report.

Alright, I can hear you guys from across the pond saying, "Hey, Carguy, when are you going to kick in and post your stuff?" Well here goes. I thought about not doing it but then I thought, I really do need to gain some weight and I am having a hard time doing it. Maybe this will encourage me. I've been at the same approximate weight for 3 months now. Here are my stats:

Starting weight: 158 pounds
Shoulders: 43"
Chest: Deflated 36", Inflated 37"
Waist: 32" (measured just above belly button, not the narrowest part)
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.75"
Forearm: 11"
Bicep: 13" (flexed)

I am a shade over 6' tall (1/4" over). My weight goal for the month would put me at 165 pounds. Good luck guys!

Carguy: excellent! I'm glad you've picked up the challenge. Team work should definitely make this easier.

Slimtby, yeah we are quite similar aren't we? Same height too. I'm happy with the size of my waist, but my chest is definitely lacking. I also need to add something to my spindly thighs. I measured my shoulders where you said, but my bit of sting I use was too short! But it's about 44"

Re: argos weights. Yeah, sorry I forgot to respond to that. Thanks for the info. I'm going to continue experimenting with bodyweight exercises for now though as they feel really natural for me and I'm making progress with them. Then if I decide to get a set of dumbells I will hopefully have built up enought strength to carry them home!

I did actually have a set of dumbells, but I lost one of the widgets for keeping the end on one of them, so could only use one. I also found that I outgrew them and ended up combining them into one dumbell. Until a few weeks ago I was using them for bicep curls. I was doing 32 reps with 20lbs (9.2kg) of weight.

What I do need, however, is a chin up bar.

I'm definitely making progress with my strength. I just did a Hurculean (handstand) push up with relative ease. I really thought I was going to manage two for the first time ever, but I just got my head off the ground and suddenly lost all my energy. It felt good though.

I'll just add something about logging calories as you've both mentioned it. I resisted doing this for years, but I think this has been the main thing that has helped me put on the last 7lbs. It revealed how inconsistent my diet was; and it also revealed the fact that when I thought I was eating a lot, it was more that I was eating a lot in one go, not throughout the day. So it has really helped me. I can also judge much better what I'm eating now, even when I don't log.

It also helped me realise that I was having far too many carbohydrates, so I've toned that down considerably.

However, if you're making progress without logging, there really is little point in you doing so. It is time consuming - especially at first; although takes less time if all the data is on a spreadsheet. I'd suggest using it as a guide only if you're not making progress towards your goals.

Welcome aboard again, carguy. You may regret it in the short term, but in four weeks time you're be glad.

Reeze

Firstly well done Carguy on joining the challenge and to Reeze for the Herculean pushup!

Reeze I dont have an Argos fetish :lol: but they sell a chin up bar which locks in position in a door opening between the frame, it can be installed / removed in seconds and is ideal for people upto aprox 16 stone so fine for us skinny people! Best bit is there are no fixings and it costs about 7 pounds or just under.

Well my injury is nearly healed i have trained twice this week Monday and Tuesday. Pullovers and chest press, made my chest hurt again so i left these out of my routine (strangly pressups and dips were fine).

I'm so glad i got back to training as my belly was definatley starting to bloat as i have really been packing in the food. So as you can tell guys im really up for this challenge!

I have also started a protein supplement (first took yesterday), I am limiting myself to one serving a day to limit cost. The pack cost 15 pounds (i got it cheap from a colleague who buys in bulk). It should last 30 days at one serving a day. It mixs with water basically a 30 grame serving mixed in 250ml of water gives 23 g of protien (good protein) plus it contains all the rquired acids etc.
However the taste was ok (chocloate flavour) but the consistency of the drink was quite difficult to swallow, so one a day is definatley enough for me for now. I aim to try it for one month and will see how it goes before using it indefinatley.

I also changed from salted peanuts, to monkey nuts and other mixed nuts without added salt. I was never really a salt person but had always eaten salted peanuts. I think this may of caused some of my bloating due to added water retention.

Anyway keep up the good work :eat:

Hey slimtby and Reeze,

Hope all is going well. I had my first meeting with my trainer at the gym this morning. Just went over expectations, took measurements and got a nutrition analysis and plan. Since I am trying to bulk, he suggested no cardio at this time. And he wants my calories at 2,700/day which I will try to do. Getting off to a shaky start because of not having the right food around and my birthday cake. Feeling a little bloated from eating so much. I missed not working out this morning. Have to go tomorrow instead.

slimtby, I have a suggestion for your protein shake. Try mixing it with skim milk instead of water and add a handfull of ice and mix it up in a blender. Tastes better and colder and goes down easier. You can also add fruit if you like (might work better with vanilla).

Reeze, I wouldn't even attempt a handstand like that. Good job! But then again, you are less than half my age.

Stay focused guys :db:

Hi guys,

I've got good news and bad news this week. But first...

That chin up bar looks perfect. I shall certainly get that at some point; and you can get your commission ;)

Carguy. Happy birthday for a few days ago. I guess this is a slightly different kind of birthday for you, because with an improved diet and exercise you're going to start feeling younger. Way to go, man.

I also saw your progress pics. Good work. Even though between April and July you stayed 158lbs, it looks like your muscle to fat ratio has really improved; and your posture too. Well done.

Onto my news. I'll start with the good which is a little off topic but I'm happy so I'm going to mention it anyway. I've just received my results for my degree and somehow I managed to get a First. :spaz: Not sure how, but I guess my tutors must have liked me. But to bring it back on topic, I graduate in November and I want to look good for it. Not least because my parents are going to insist that they put the graduation photo in their lounge and I want it to be the least embarrassing photo I can make it.

The bad news is, even though I upped my calorie intake to 3500, I only maintained my weight. I guess my metabolism has stepped up to the challenge as well. That was a high intake already. Sheesh.

Having 3500 consistently was really filling me up, but hopefully my body adapted to that last week and I can stretch it a bit more this week. So I'm going to experiment with 3800, starting tomorrow.

Anyway my stats this week are:

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 156lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 33.5"
Forearm: 11.5"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 20"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 35"

WEEK ONE

Weight: 156lbs

Waist: 30.5"
Hips: 33.5"
Forearm: 11.25"
Wrist: 7.25"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 20"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 36"

DELTA

Weight: 0

Waist: -1"
Hips: 0"
Forearm: -0.25"
Wrist: +0.25"
Arm: 0"
Thigh: 0"
Calf: 0"
Chest: +1"

I'm really not sure of the relevance of me taking a chest measurement. I just can't get it consistent. I've tried taking it while breathing in, and tried it breathing out. My waist changes dramatically as well depending on how much I've eaten.

All in all though, not much has changed. I'll just have to see how upping my calories will affect me.

I look forward to you both putting me to shame when you tell me how much you've each gained!

Reeze.

Update time guys. First of all, congrats Reeze on the great school news. I'm glad I don't have to think about that any more. But actually, college was a lot of fun and I tend to remember on the fun stuff.

I didn't think I had done very well this week but when I weighed myself I had gained 2 pounds. So I guess that's right on track for putting on about 7 pounds in 4 weeks if I can keep it up. But I had been up to 161 about a month ago just to right back to 158 where I have been for 3 months. I am not logging my food so I won't really know if I'm getting enough calories. Here are my stats.

Starting Stats July 17

Starting weight: 158 pounds
Shoulders: 43"
Chest: Deflated 36", Inflated 37"
Waist: 32" (measured just above belly button, not the narrowest part)
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.75"
Forearm: 11"
Arm, relaxed:11.5"
Bicep: 13" (flexed)

Update for July 24

Weight: 160 pounds
Shoulders: 43"
Chest: Deflated 36"
Waist: 31.75"
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.25"
Forearm: 11"
Arm, relaxed: 12"
Bicep: 13" (flexed)

Good luck for this next week.

Hey Reeze and slimtby (wherever you are),

Had to give you a mid-week update. On Sunday, like I said, I had gained 2 pounds. On Tuesday when I weighed myself, I had gained another 3 pounds! I couldn't believe I was up 5 pounds so fast. But then I went back down to 160 or 161 yesterday so I don't know what's up. Hope you guys are doing well. I feel like I'm eating all the time. This is harder than losing weight. I'll check back again on Sunday.

Carguy, you really are putting me to shame. 5 pounds already; you must be stealing some of my calories! At this rate you will have completed the challenge by Sunday.

I hope that what you're gaining is turning into muscle and not fat. If you're exercising a lot and eating right you should be okay though. How much are you eating? Are you counting or just eating as much as you can?

Slimtby. Where are you? How are you getting on? Hopefully you're just busy eating!

Which is what I should get on with I guess.

Carguy, you really are putting me to shame. 5 pounds already; you must be stealing some of my calories! At this rate you will have completed the challenge by Sunday.

I hope that what you're gaining is turning into muscle and not fat. If you're exercising a lot and eating right you should be okay though. How much are you eating? Are you counting or just eating as much as you can?

Slimtby. Where are you? How are you getting on? Hopefully you're just busy eating!

Which is what I should get on with I guess.

Reeze,

I'm not keeping track of my calories. I probably should be. I'm supposed to be getting 2,700 calories/day. I am eating clean (lots of chicken breast, salmon, whey protein, fruit, vegetables, whole wheat etc). My exercise routine continues to be about the same. I had my first session with my trainer on Wednesday and I was a little disappointed that he didn't push me harder. Lots of core exercises, stretching and not much weights. Found out that I had done a good job on my back and arms but was lacking in my chest (which I knew) and of course the skinny legs. The best part so far is that my waist size is remaining the same. Don't know if this can last. Chest and shoulders are continuing to grow.

Hope you guys are seeing results too. Reeze, are you keeping track of calories? Do you eat right before bedtime (like a 6th or 7th meal)? :eat: :eat: :eat:

Carguy. Yes I am keeping track of my calories. I use a spreadsheet so all the nutrients are already logged and I just need to select the item and put in the quantities.

About 2 hours before bed I have a salad which consists of:

Spinach and other dark green leaves
Cheese
Raisins
Tuna
Olive oil

That comes to about 750 calories.

Then after that I have a pint of milk and some Digestive biscuits to make up the calorie count if I am short.

The last 2 days I've managed to get to my target of 3830. I've never eaten this much in my life, but I'm sure my metabolism will alter to compensate! Actually, that amount of food is starting to seem less than it used to. In fact I'm just 100 calories shy of it now, and I still feel hungry! :eat:

I'm just hoping this amount of food is going to have an affect.

So one week on, and an increase in food. I have to admit I didn't manage 3800 every day, but I did pretty well. Here's what I did:

Sun 3725
Mon Didn't log properly
Tue 2830
Wed 3268
Thu 3835
Fri 3876
Sat 3826

I'm not sure how I much I ate on Tuesday, but it was probably similar to Tuesday. So Mon, Tue, Wed I was short. But I did very well on Sun, Thu, Fri and yesterday. And the result?..

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 156lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 33.5"
Forearm: 11.5"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 20"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 35"

WEEK TWO

Weight: 157lbs

Waist: 30.5"
Hips: 34"
Forearm: 11.5"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 20.5"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 36.25"

DELTA

Weight: +1

Waist: -1"
Hips: +0.5"
Forearm: 0"
Wrist: 0"
Arm: 0"
Thigh: +0.5"
Calf: 0"
Chest: +1.25"

So I'm off the starting grid. And my electronic scales this morning were hovering from 157 to 158. But I was good and went for the lower figure.

So I'm waaaay behind with this challenge, but at least I'm making progress. I'm not going to make any changes this week, but I am going to be a bit more disiplined and get Mon, Tue and Wed up in line with the rest of the week. Hopefully that will help.

Even on this small amount of gain I'm still very happy. This morning I am heavier than I've ever been in my entire life. And everytime that happens I feel bigger and feel better.

Guys, I look forward to reading your progress. Carguy because of your dramatic increase last week - (I'm interested to know if it's fluctuated or kept steady). And Slimtby because you seem to have disappeared and I'm getting worried.

OK. Here's my update. The jump to 163 mid-week was a fluke but I did manage to end the week today at a solid 162, which is up another 2 pounds from last week and a total 4 pound gain since the beginning. But I'm happier about some of my measurements. I have really been trying to increase my chest, shoulders and arms (from where I was in April) and that is where I am seeing progress. I'm still not keeping track of calories but just try to eat at least 6 times a day and eat clean foods. Although I know my %bf is going up, my waist is still +-32 and my clothes fit fine so I'm not worried. Reeze, I'm going to your method of reporting to keep things more even. Here are my stats:

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 158lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.75"
Chest: 36"

WEEK TWO

Weight: 162lbs

Waist: 32"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11.25"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 21.50"
Calf: 14.75"
Chest: 36.25"

DELTA

Weight: +4

Waist: +0.5"
Hips: 0"
Forearm: +0.25"
Wrist: 0"
Arm: 0"
Thigh: +0.25"
Calf: 0"
Chest: +0.25"

Reeze, way to go on the chest increase. It would be great if we ectomorphs could just gain weight by filling out our upper bodies. And glad to see you gained some weight. Had to happen with your food intake. Here's hoping we can both post additional gains next week.
:gl:

Reeze/Carguy,

I apologise for lack of input, i will not bore you both with details but basically lost IT connection after changing to broadband an easy transistion it was not, plus got moved at work so lost connection there.

Anyway it has been great reading your posts I had been dieing to find out how your getting on.

I do not have all my figures with me but will post weight for this morning.

After one week i weighed in 175LB which equalled a loss of 1LB. Ok i know its only one pound but I had eaten really well, I mean i could'nt of eaten another morsel of food. Additionally I had trained hard and all the food eaten was clean/good, further to this i had started the protein supplement. (which I now take with milk(thanks for the tip carguy)).

Second week was better news i weighed in last friday at 179LB a gain of four pounds in one week, which equates to a three pound gain over start weight.

Again i have eaten very well (to the point that my jaws ache and my stomach is completely full) I do not know why this week has shown an increase over last week as i consider i have trained/eaten about the same but if I knew the answer to that I would'nt of signed up as a skinny guy.

I have increased all dimensions unfortunatley this includes waist which from memory has increased by approx 1/2 or 3/4. The waist dimension is obviously dissapointing to me and I was selective about when I measured my waist as I am still bloating alot after food but I am eating five times a day now so am nearly always bloated. I have made a mental note to take measurements first thing in the morning but never seem to get round to it.

I am still not counting calories but am assessing protein intake to try and get to as near as possible 1gramme/Lb of bodyweight.
This has been interesting for me as I am now eating protein rich foods which I have previously never liked or choose to dislike such as King Prawns, salmon, almonds etc.

I have purchased a new set of weights (50kg set) as alot of my lifts were using the total set of weights i previously had. In Addition the new weights are cast iron and therefore due to their smaller size i am able to increase the length of travel of some excerises ie chest press onfloor and bicep curl as weights either touched floor or my body a lot earlier with large vinyl weights.

I am certainly begining to notice changes in my overall physique especailly my upper arms and shoulders and have started to wear shorter sleeve t shirts etc which i never liked wearing before, as a result of this and my meagure increase in size friends/family have commented on my gains especailly upperarm/broadness of shoulders. I do not know whether choice of clothing or actual gains play more of a roll but I am enjoying the comments :D .

Anyway guys keep up the good work and keep packing in them calories.

And Reeze congratulations on the First. That really is a great achievement and shows your true determination to suceed as you have obviously put in a lot of extra effort and commitment over and above the course requirements to achieve such an outstanding grade.

Hey stlimtby, glad to hear you are among the living....literally....I was afraid we might find out that you were on an ill-fated tour bus in London on July 21 and that was why we didn't hear from you. Sounds like you're making good progress. I think we have to forget about our waist measurement to a degree when we're doing what we're doing. If we can add the bulk, I think it will be easy for us to do a cut and get our waists back. That is what ectomorphs do best.

I am totally with you on the t-shirts. I just bought four new ringer t-shirts this week end with the shorter sleeves. This is the first time in my life that I am filling out a t-shirt. It feels great. I never like to wear these before either but now that they fit the way they are supposed to it is fun. My best gains are also in the upper arms, shoulders and chest.

Hey Reeze, I just thought of something. Since you are the pup of this group, your metabolism is probably higher than ours so it is harder for you to gain weight. I know when I was your age I could not gain weight for the life of me. But hang in there, you're doing all the right things. Good luck to all. :claphigh:

Slimtby, it's really great to see you back. I know what you mean with broadband: our's has been a nightmare.

It's amazing that you can eat constantly so that your jaw is aching and actually lose weight - that's definitely the ectomorph way!

Second week you kicked my arse though! Four lbs! Great going!

I wonder if you've actually been eating more, but it just doesn't seem so. In our first week I was struggling to get down 3500 kcal but this week that's quite easy. If your test is how full you're feeling, that may be the reason. If so, be careful you don't stretch your stomach too much or you're have to rename yourself fattby!

Carguy: Excellent work. 2lbs per week is right on course for the challenge - and gives you 1lb grace. Combine that with your gains in chest, shoulders and arms and things seem to be going pretty much perfectly.

I'd like to put more on my chest of course, but I also wouldn't mind getting some meat on my thighs. At my height they've always looked a bit too spindly.

I'm not quite at the stage where I think my clothes fit properly, but they are starting to look better. There's no need to change my wardrobe yet either. There was a time, however, when I would be embarrassed to wear short sleaves in public at all. I would do it because I'd get hot otherwise, but I always felt a bit self conscious. Now I'm actually quite proud of my forearms, and perfectly comfortable in shorts as well. So big difference.

I know self confidence is psychological, but it has a hell of a lot to do with how you look as well, and I can tell the difference with every pound I gain. On the comment front though, I'm still getting the 'you're so thin' type comments. I'm looking forward to them changing. At 6' 2'' there's a lot of frame to fill.

I've been good so far with my intake. Tuesday has been my worst day at only 3609kcal. I'm looking forward to seeing how that affects my stats on Sunday.

Finally, I did actually manage to do 2 Hurculean pushups this week. It took all my strength but I did it. Doing my victory dance was a bit of an effort after that. But I'm on my way, and I look forward to being able to do it one handed soon!

Here are my records:

Hurculean pushups: 2
Bridge: 90 seconds
Crunches: 95
Hindu Squats: 100
Hindu Pushups: 23

I still need to get that pull up bar though.

I look forward to Sunday and the beginning of the final week. I can't believe it's almost here already.

Right 200 more calories and I can go to bed.

Greetings Gents,

It's Saturday night and that is when I take my measurements and weight for our challenge. One thing I can say for sure, I definitely can't extend this with you guys for a year. I would end up gaining 96 pounds and I don't think it would be all muscle. I just weighed in at 165 pounds. That's an incease of 7 pounds in three weeks! But I still don't have a big bump up in waist size so I guess it's going to the right places. Body fat % is up I know but I will work on that later and I will work very hard to keep the muscle I have packed on (that makes it sound better than it really is). Here are my numbers:

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 158lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.75"
Chest: 36"
Shoulders: 43

WEEK THREE

Weight: 165lbs

Waist: 32.5"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11.25"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 21.50"
Calf: 14.50"
Chest: 36.50"
Shoulders: 44.25"

DELTA

Weight: +7

Waist: +1"
Hips: 0"
Forearm: +0.25"
Wrist: 0"
Arm: 0"
Thigh: +0.25"
Calf: -.25"
Chest: +0.5"
Shoulders: +1.25"

OK, now I have a bombshell to drop on you. I'm going to disqualify myself from the challenge. I wasn't going to tell you until the end but since I hit my 7 pounds in 3 weeks I decided to tell you now. Two days into the challenge, I started taking Creatine. I had the stuff for over a month and I wasn't going to start it until after our 4 weeks but then I started working weekly with a trainer at my gym. He suggested that Creatine would be beneficial for me to meet my goals and I didn't want to go a month of training with him without using it since I knew I was going to eventually. I have never taken Creatine before but I have heard that it can cause 5-6 pounds of water weight gain. I don't know if that is what has caused my gain or not. I do know that I don't have the puffiness that some people have talked about (I was actually hoping that it would fill out my face because my cheeks caved in after losing 25 pounds earlier this year). My workouts are more intense now and I am putting up more weight each week.

I hope you guys are continuing to make good progress. Hey Reeze, what exactly is a Herculean Push Up? I try to do 50 regular push ups a day. Slimtby, sounds like you really have your diet set up correctly for a successful bulk. I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing. But whatever I'm doing I think I am making a certain amount of positive changes to my health and overall physique. Looking forward to hearing your updates. :tu:

Second page - that must mean we're commited.

I've been working hard this week. Here is my calorie intake:


S: 3858
M: 3895
T: 3609
W: 3881
T: 3855
F: 3921
S: 3662

My two bad days are actually better than my goal a couple of weeks ago. But how does that fair up on the scoreboard?

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 156 lbs

Waist....31.50"
Hips.....33.50"
Forearm..11.50"
Wrist....07.00"
Arm......13.00"
Thigh....20.00"
Calf.....15.00"
Chest....35.00"

WEEK THREE

Weight: 161 lbs

Waist....31.25"
Hips.....35.00"
Forearm..11.50"
Wrist....07.00"
Arm......13.00"
Thigh....21.00"
Calf.....15.25"
Chest....36.00"

DELTA

Weight: +5

Waist....-0.25"
Hips.....+1.50"
Forearm.. 0.00"
Wrist.... 0.00"
Arm...... 0.00"
Thigh....+1.00"
Calf.....+0.25"
Chest....+1.00"

:spaz: I'm pretty happy with that! Four pounds in a week. I may actually do this!

Actually I'm expecting it to go down a pound tomorrow (not sure why, just intuition). But even if it does I've got a good chance of making the grade next Sunday. I wouldn't have expected that last week / certainly not in the first week. So I'm pretty stoked.

I want to thank you guys for entering this challenge with me. It has made a huge difference to my commitment, focus and motivation. Thank you.

Carguy, you asked about Huculean pushups. Basically you find a wall, do a headstand against it, then push up into a handstand. I guess it's like the military press (I think I have the right name), but using your bodyweight and upside down!

OK, now I have a bombshell to drop on you. I'm going to disqualify myself from the challenge. I wasn't going to tell you until the end but since I hit my 7 pounds in 3 weeks I decided to tell you now. Two days into the challenge, I started taking...

I wondered what you were going to tell me when you said this, Carguy. I was like 'surely not, he's not taking, no he can't be...'

Creatine

'...oh, he's not!' ;)

I don't think you should disqualify yourself over that. It may explain why your weight fluctuated when we began, but you've been consistently putting on 2lbs every week, and you've been making progress in the right areas so I say roll with it and be happy with your progress. You've doing good man; accept it.

So the fact that this is the last week means I'm starting to think about my next 4 weeks. I'm now about a third of my way to my goal weight, so I'm obviously going to continue bulking. But I'm going to change something to keep it interesting.

I'm eating reasonably clean, but there's still lots of rubbish in my diet and I want rid. So I'm going to concentrate on changing my lunchtime meal (my worst). At the moment I'm mainly having pizzas, and sometimes something like beans on toast. I'm getting the calories, but I want them to be better.

So after this challenge is up I'm going to experiment with new recipes. The rule is that every week I have to find one new recipe that I like for my lunch time intake and it needs to be clean. First week I'm still allowed to eat bad still, but after that only clean foods.

As for the rest of the challenge I'm going to keep it the same. This has been good because it has been so specific and about the right length of time. Shorter and results would have been less obvious, longer and I think we would have been less focused.

What are your plans for after the challenge, guys? I would like to set up a similar challenge with you again, but your goals obviously may be different. Let me know.

Right 2 lbs to go.

Reeze

P.S. Since I log everything in a spreadsheet I have the benefit that I get a graph drawn specially for me. I've been looking at it a lot. I'd never have thought you could get so much motivation from a graph, but there you go. Here's what it looks like:

Hey Reeze,
Fantastic job on the 4 pound gain in one week! Considering how diligent you are in keeping track of your calories and keeping them above 3,000, I have no doubt that you will meet or excede your 7 pounds by next week. Are you guys going to post before and after pictures next week?

I don't know what I'm going to do after this. I may just keep on the way I have been and see if I can gain another 10 pounds. If I can get up to 175 with a 32" waist and then cut back down to 165 while maintaining muscle mass acquired, I would be a happy camper. I still think of myself as a thin person and I don't think a bulky body, however good it might look, would fit me. I would rather be trim with nice muscle tone. Filling out these small t-shirts is great so I don't want to lose that. I'd like to get my arms up to 14, my chest up to 38 and my shoulders up to 45. I would really feel like I had accomplished something. Oh yeah, and my %bf down to about 12%.

Reeze, if you can keep up your regimine you will be 180 by Halloween. Good luck. :claplow:

P.S. Hope you're not mad at me about the Creatine.

I don't have my own camera, but I'm going to try and borrow one. If it takes some time to post them, that's why.

Sounds like a good plan, carguy. I really don't know what my final goal is going to be. I've always been able to accelerate, stop and change direction really quickly and I want to keep that. But I want a bit of strength as well.

I think I will tailor it around the sports I want to do. That's tennis, rock climbing, yoga and I want to take up Aikido. A happy medium for those sports and I should be quite happy. Basically I want to be able to move my body. I don't need to be able to pick up big boulders!

So what weight I'll be at ideal I don't know. It's hard to figure out when you're so far off.

180 by Halloween will be perfect. Just in time for graduation.

The way I see it with the Creatine, you're getting results which don't sound like they're water retention. Hopefully you'll gain a couple more pounds by Sunday and you'll be more confident of your hard work.

Slimtby. Are you having trouble with your broadband again? It took about a year to sort out all the bugs in mine. Nightmare.

Right :eat:

Since hitting 165 on Sunday I have been down from there ever since. I anticipate tonight being at 163. But my shoulders and chest are definitely getting bigger so I hope my increases in weight are there. My waist seems to be larger also but not horribly. I could live with a 33" waist if I was able to greatly increase other important dimensions and improve in strength and flexibility.

So, I guess I will be happy if I can just maintain my 165 by Sunday. It was great to be able to list a 6 pound gain since I started with my trainer. It would have never happened if I hadn't signed up for this challenge. Reeze, your right, I'm glad now that I did it. If I hadn't, I probably would have spent another month at 158.

Your interests sound very athletic (not to mention dangerous...rock climbing !?! ). Mine are much tamer. I love cars (go figure...that's my wife's Mustang in the avatar) and game shows. I am a game show freak and have appeared on four of them. It was actually my appearance on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire that made me decide to lose some weight (the camera does add 10 pounds but that double chin was all mine). So I lost the weight this year and ended up too thin so that is where I am now. It's weird that I'm trying to get back to the same weight I started at when I was too heavy. But the same weight looks and feels so much better now.

slimtby, hope your able to join us for the finale on Sunday. Reeze, keep up the good work. I'm anxious to see if you have another 4 pound week. :tucool:

Like I predicted I did go down on Monday, but by 2lbs not 1lb! I'm up again by 1lb since then, so I'm only 1lb lighter than I was on Sunday. That means a total of 4lbs increase since 3 week ago, and 12 lbs since I started at Easter time. It also means I have 3lbs to gain if I'm going to hit 7lbs increase.

I think I have that right; I'm confusing myself.

You were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Wow. Did you get onto the podium? Are you a millionaire? I suppose you miss out on our native host Chris Tarant. I wander if your host has the same catch phrases. And I guess the prize fund is less. Is the jackpot 1 million dollars? I'd definitely prefer 1 million pounds.

Oh, a grasshopper has just come to visit me.

No, I didn't make it up to the podium. I just got to wave at the camera and try three different time at the Fastest Finger but wasn't fast enough. So, my wife and I just got a nice, expenses-paid trip to New York. Great experience though. I had my best luck on the first show I appeared on, Classic Concentration with Alex Trebek a long time ago. I actually won a car and a lot of other nice stuff. More recently, on Wheel of Fortune, I won about $3,500. My friends say I am lucky and win at whatever I try. Guess I should spend more time in Las Vegas, but I don't. I don't even play the lottery.

Don't kill the grasshopper. Set him free outside. It'll bring you luck. :tu:

Don't kill the grasshopper. Set him free outside. It'll bring you luck. :tu:

I didn't even consider killing it, and have already set it free. I didn't know about the good luck thing.

Actually I spotted it last night before going to bed. When I got back from the bathroom it had gone. I think I may have shared my bed with it!

Hey guys,
It's almost over. I had a great work out this morning and put 1 1/2 scoops of protein in my PWO shake. Just finished a chicken breast an hour later. I'm going out of town this week-end so I wanted to let you know that I may be posting my final stats and pictures a little later than usual. I'm pretty confident that I was able to at least maintain my 165 pound goal this past week and I am hoping for 166 as a final.

Reeze, your chart was a good idea so I made one too. Good luck to each of you and I'll check back tomorrow. Keep eating!!
:eat:

Sunday 14th August 2005

The end of our challenge is already here. I can barely believe it; it's come so quickly.

Perhaps a little too quickly, because here are my stats:

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 156 lbs

Waist....31.50"
Hips.....33.50"
Forearm..11.50"
Wrist....07.00"
Arm......13.00"
Thigh....20.00"
Calf.....15.00"
Chest....35.00"

WEEK FOUR

Weight: 161 lbs

Waist....31.50"
Hips.....34.00"
Forearm..11.50"
Wrist....07.00"
Arm......13.00"
Thigh....21.00"
Calf.....15.00"
Chest....36.00"

DELTA

Weight: +5

Waist.... 0.00"
Hips.....+0.50"
Forearm.. 0.00"
Wrist.... 0.00"
Arm...... 0.00"
Thigh....+1.00"
Calf..... 0.00"
Chest....+1.00"

Things don't really look that different from last week, but I think it is. For a start I think a lot of the weight from last week was water retention because I felt really bloated last week, and I don't at all this week.

I also think that my legs have taken most of the extra weight. I've gone up an inch in my thigh, but I also think that they have filled out a bit more, so are a slightly better shape.

Still, I'm short by a couple of pounds. (I did a lot of running around on Thursday so this may have accounted for one of them!) So I'm going to keep focused until I get those two pounds in the bag. I will reach the finish line even if I'm a bit late.

But starting today I'm also going to work on cleaning up my diet. I need to get rid of the lunch time pizzas - they're not good. And I need to cut out all the dairy I have because it's causing a horrible mucus buildup. So I'm going to devour the recipe forum and try and get some new ideas.

I'm really looking forward to doing this actually. I want to know how good I *can* feel.

Time to get a little more serious! :read: :eat: :db: :tu:

I look forward to hearing your scores, guys!

Can't believe it's over. It has been a productive 4 weeks for me. I started working out with a trainer and finally gained some weight after a 3 month plateau. I was kind of afraid to gain some weight (thought it would come back as fat) but happily that hasn't been the case. Sorry again about the timing of my starting creatine. That could amount for my whole gain, I don't know. But, here are my stats:

WEEK ZERO

Weight: 158lbs

Waist: 31.5"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 21.25"
Calf: 14.75"
Chest: 36"
Shoulders: 43"

WEEK FOUR

Weight: 166lbs

Waist: 32.25"
Hips: 37"
Forearm: 11.25"
Wrist: 7"
Arm: 13"
Thigh: 22"
Calf: 15"
Chest: 37.25"
Shoulders: 44.25

DELTA

Weight: +8

Waist: +0.75"
Hips: 0"
Forearm: +0.25"
Wrist: 0"
Arm: 0"
Thigh: +0.75"
Calf: 0"
Chest: +1.25"
Shoulders: +1.25"

I'm going to keep this up for another couple of months and try to get up to 175 and then cut. Reeze, good luck with your continued success. You still win by default.
:claplow:

I was hoping that slimtby was going to have posted by now. Where are you man? I want to know how you did.

Well done carguy. You've really done well (even if you believe your excuses) and must feel great.

I still feel really skinny because, well, I am. But a lot less skinny than I was. I just need to keep this up.

I've begun my quest to eat cleaner now, so hopefully I should start feeling really great. It's a lot of work changing your diet. Finding new recipes that you really like AND are healthy is challenging and takes up a lot of time. But I'm actually enjoying it and it is definitely going to be worth it.

Changing what I eat and keeping my calorie count up is also difficult. I've been maintaining the last few days out of misjudgement, but I'm sure that will improve.

Well done with the last four weeks carguy. And to what you have achieved Slimtby (whatever that is!). If you continue on the forums I'll continue to check in with your progress. I shall be keeping my journal up-to-date if you want to check it out (see sig).

Well done!

Reeze

Good to hear from you again Reeze. slimtby, check in and let us know how you did.
My weight started to drop as soon as the challenge ended. I was down to 162 in no time but I think tonight I will be back up to 165. Don't know why I fluctuate like that because it seems like I eat about the same each day.
On Sunday, I'm stopping the creatine for 10 days (have to take a blood test on Aug. 31 and don't want it to show up). I will keep you posted as to what happens to the weight I put on. I suppose it could just go away. My trainer said that weight won't come on as easy as the first time when I start it back up again. We'll see.
I posted pictures in the media gallery (One Month Bulk) from the beginning and end of the challenge. Do you think it looks like I made progress?
Keep up the good work Reeze. If you continue to keep track and keep you calories above 3,000, I don't see how you can't meet your goals. :claphigh:

Hey Reeze,
How are you doing? I hope you've been able to keep your gain and add some more. I told you I'd let you know how the Creatine thing went. I was off of it for about 10 days and I managed to keep my weight at about 165. I just went back on it again on Aug. 31 and I've been making good progress since then. I just weighed in at 169! And I know I'm adding muscle because my %bf is actually going down and my waist is staying in the 32" range.

From time to time, drop a note on this challenge and let me know how you're doing. It would be fun to check in through the end of the year. Keep up the good work and good luck at school! :tu:

Hi Pal,

I'm doing good. I've basically been maintaining since the end of the challenge. I've been making progress because I've been trying to improve my diet quality, but I've not been putting on more weight.

I did reach the magic 7lbs increase but I'm not there any more. To be honest I've been slacking for the past two weeks. This is probably because I took on a temporary job which took up some of my focus. But I only lost 1lb. The job ends in one week. At that point I am going to really focus on getting up to 168lbs which is 12 stone. I'll aim to do this in the time span of a month again.

You sound like you're making excellent progress. And the fact you kept the weight up without the Creatine shows that you really did work for that progress. You're doing great.

Thanks for posting. It's a great help to know someone is checking up on me!

Hi Reeze,
Glad to hear you're doing well. Are you still keeping track of all of your calories and trying to get above 3,000/day? I am still not keeping track but can't believe the week I just had. Whereas I struggled during our month challenge to gain 7 pounds, I just gained 7 pounds in 7 days! I am just now passing through the 170 pound plateau. I thought it would take me a lot longer. I changed my goal from 175 to 178 but the way things are going I think I could make it to your goal of 185 with no problem. But I will probably stop when I hit 178 and then work on getting cut.

You can reply here or pm me if you ever need any encouragement. Keep working at it and you'll meet your goals for sure and be all the better for it. You're young and your body should respond very well. :gl:

Hey

Firstly, I’ve been looking at your photos and you’re doing amazingly well. It’s amazing how far you’ve come in such a short period of time.

It really gives me the heads up. Compared to you I don’t seem to have done much at all.

And 7lbs in 7 days. All I can say is: WOW!

My height obviously makes any changes harder to see, but even then I’ve clearly been slacking too much. Although my diet is gradually getting cleaner I’ve been slacking on the gain.

Well I’ve taken my break, and now I’m getting back into it again. I’m 160 at the moment, so that’s basically a step backwards, but I’m working on building up my calories again.

I did stop counting, but now I’ve started again. I’m on 3250 kcal at the moment. I’m going to gradually up it until I get to 3800 again. Although I may change that figure depending on my results. Towards the end of our challenge 3800 was starting to seem a lot less.

Thanks for the encouragement. You are my inspiration :nod:

Howdy Reeze,
Good to hear from you again. Hope the week-end is going well there. It is beautiful today here, in the 70s and sunny and low humidity.:cool:

I think it's great that you can keep your calories above 3,000 per day and continue to keep track of them. That's bound to work for you in the long run.

I just re-read my post from August 7th. In it I said "I'd like to get my arms up to 14, my chest up to 38 and my shoulders up to 45. I would really feel like I had accomplished something. Oh yeah, and my %bf down to about 12%."

Well, today when I measured, my arms were 14", my chest was 38" and my shoulders were 45" It kind of crept up on me. The arms were pumped and measured just after my work-out so that measurement doesn't really count. But they are up to 13.5" cold so I am making progress there. :D

My %bf is still in the 13-15% range but I will work on that after I am done bulking. I think I'll try to get up to 180# and then cut back to 170" while trying to show some abs and lower my %bf.

Today I asked my son (who is about your age) if he thought that I had made progress. He said I was still too skinny and that I hadn't put on much muscle. He said I looked like I was just in better shape than before. So maybe I'm not making as much progress as I thought. Then again, he was a lineman on the football team and weighs about 250#.

Hope things in your life are going well now and you can focus on your goals. Even though you are tall, you have great potential to make some great gains. :claplow: