How is this possible??

[AlphaMindz]

What's up guys so without making this long and drawn out let me get right to the point for you guys/gals.

Been on test, eq, and winny for a couple months now and about a month ago I started increasing my cals drastically to try and promote more growth as I seemed to have plateaued and also wanted to try a little trick i heard about...

The trick is eating McDonald's preworkout and holy shit, I'm getting pumps in the gym like I'm on dbol! I'm aware that my lipid profile has prob gone to shit but I'm about due for blood work and so I'll find out plus I don't plan on doing this long term...However, since I've "dirtied" up my diet with some more calorie dense, high glycemic, high sodium foods I have put on some nice size... (about 6 pounds in the last 4-5 weeks).

Now of course some of that is water and maybe a little bit of fat too, but that's what this post is about.. How is it possible that I'm eating a good 700-1,000 cals over maint and I'm not getting fat...? Hmmm...And I'm not on tren either lol. I added the Mcdonalds on top of my meal prep food and that adds a solid 700-1000 DIRTY cals to my daily intake and it's not getting stored as fat.

My theory is that since I'm on gear I'm benefiting from enhanced nutrient partitioning and able to keep my glycogen fully stored beyond normal capacity (albeit if I was on tren this would REALLY be maximized, but even test and eq will increase this..I suppose the winny would too, to a degree.)

The other theory is that because I'm usually eating these foods around workout times I'm benefiting from increased GLUT-4 receptors so I'm able to absorb the glucose into the muscle without insulin, or much less insulin than usual and that will of course have an impact on body fat levels...

Or..... it could just be that I was simply undereating this whole time and my BMR is way higher than some app has calculated lol, or it has increased more than I realized as I HAVE put on a good 10 lbs of lean mass since March which would def have an impact on BMR..... What are your thoughts guys/gals..????

[GGTop]

However, since I've "dirtied" up my diet with some more calorie dense, high glycemic, high sodium foods I have put on some nice size... (about 6 pounds in the last 4-5 weeks).

How is it possible that I'm eating a good 700-1,000 cals over maint and I'm not getting fat...? Bringing you to the only relevant option that is your BMR much higher than expected and the reason you still being lean .. honestly all that sodium cannot be any good on the long term and am only talking months, + that size must be made of fats/water/muscle

^^Above in bold mate

[Windex]

I don't find the app's accurate, I tried one once and plugged in my stats and got 250 calories less than what it actually was when I did the math myself to get my TDEE. 250 calories does't sound like a lot but 250 calories/day over a 12 week cycle is 21, 000 calories which would be equivalent to ~6lbs. Plus as you said you have to adjust as the weight goes up which is compounded by being on gear. If you gain 1lb a week it might make your TDEE go up 40 then 50 then 70 etc calories which could account for another 1/3 or 1/2 lb

I noticed a big change in pumps when I started following Stan Efferdings Sodium guidelines this year - I'm up to about 6-7grams per day with 1gram pre and 1gram postworkout. Sodium was demonized for so long yet it's extremely important and even moreso for bodybuilding. I completely overlooked it forever but better late than never.

Biggest pumps means more blood flow to muscles which means more nutrition going there instead of elsewhere.

If March was the last time you calculated your BMR it shouldn't be accurate unless your stats have not changed whatsoever since then.

[Obs]

I have done this Alpha.

Its all gonna depend on your metabolism.
On a perfect day I can eat 6 bronkaid and eat 3000 cal in 30 min and chase it with a couple redbulls.

Once you get cranking it blows you up just like you say. I have donee this and lost bf% but bear in mind I am on a lotta gear. I also work like a pshyco and live a high stress life. It goes from stagnant to hauling ass overnight.

I have not gotten fat from it.
There really is no such thing as a cheat meal with my metabolism unless I just sit down and eat the badass banana/strawberry pudding cake my gf just made and eat that all day.

If you have the right metabolism which it sounds like you do, meet or exceed protein and carb demands, and the rest isnt that important.

I have spent a very short portion of my life over 15% bodyfat. At the time I was on a six month run of deca eating God knows what.

People can say what they want but for some guys there is no end to the amount of food they can metabolize and really gain no fat.

This is another reason a nutritionist is a freaking joke in my mind. People are not anywhere near the same.

Btw toss in some ECA and caffine before that meal (Dont wait too long) and your pumps will hurt like a mother. You will be the most attention getting man in the gym every time.

[Obs]

Tdee is bullshit.

The generalizations are useless as the basis for everyones diet.

Also bear in mind your choloesterol may be trash if on tren then especially so.

[Eduke93]

Glad you bought up you lipids that’s the first thing that sprung to my mind, be careful man. That shit is not good for you, especially combined with the drugs. Look up the macro profile online and just match all the profiles including sodium and make your own meal out of cleaner foods.

I’d say you theory on the benefits of gear could be right, being able to utilise the calories more sufficiently and the increase in TDEE from the drugs. If your using fitnesspals guidelines then you could very well have been eating under your BMR as the app isn’t all that accurate. I’d take this as an opportunity to identify your BMR by adjusting calories as you are until you see some fat gain, this will give you a better idea as to where you sit BMR wise.

The more food you consume, the more thermogenic you will become… So right now with the drugs, training, added food your metabolism is on fire!!!

[AlphaMindz]

Thanks for the feedback guys it's much appreciated

[AlphaMindz]

^^Above in bold mate

It's not the sodium that I'm worried about bro as Windex mentioned (and he's right) sodium is an under appreciated nutrient in body building as when I lift I sweat like a AIDS riddled whore in church lol so I'm surely losing tons of sodium with all that sweat.

It's more so the pro-inflammatory fats (lots of omega 3's and 6's) that I'm concerned about long term, but a lot of that is genetics as well so I gotta get blood work to see how much it's really affecting me. For the time being I'm enjoying the fullness and pumps I'm experiencing without taking any extra drugs..!

With the gear I'm already producing less HDL but my genes are pretty good (luckily) as my previous bloods shows lipids in range, except for when I'm on tren then they go noticeably outta whack but the human body is incredibly resilient although I wouldn't tempt fate for extended periods of time. I take plenty of anti-inflammatory fats (primrose oil which is an omega 6 and EPA and DHA which are omega 3's) and consuming those makes a huge difference. I recommend for any lifter as we want to get plenty of healthy fats to keep our blood vessels elastic and balance the omega fatty acid profile to manage inflammation.

[AlphaMindz]

I don't find the app's accurate, I tried one once and plugged in my stats and got 250 calories less than what it actually was when I did the math myself to get my TDEE. 250 calories does't sound like a lot but 250 calories/day over a 12 week cycle is 21, 000 calories which would be equivalent to ~6lbs. Plus as you said you have to adjust as the weight goes up which is compounded by being on gear. If you gain 1lb a week it might make your TDEE go up 40 then 50 then 70 etc calories which could account for another 1/3 or 1/2 lb

I noticed a big change in pumps when I started following Stan Efferdings Sodium guidelines this year - I'm up to about 6-7grams per day with 1gram pre and 1gram postworkout. Sodium was demonized for so long yet it's extremely important and even moreso for bodybuilding. I completely overlooked it forever but better late than never.

Biggest pumps means more blood flow to muscles which means more nutrition going there instead of elsewhere.

If March was the last time you calculated your BMR it shouldn't be accurate unless your stats have not changed whatsoever since then.

Yeah Stan's the man lol he has a lot of good knowledge so he's a great guy to follow IMO and I also enjoy his material.

I'm going to make a confession here....I haven't counted cals since last year when I was first starting out again. I have a routine and eat similar foods everyday so I just go by feel, but the amount of food I was eating and maintaining on has now increased by 700-1000 and I've started increasing weight, strength, fullness and pumps without adding bf (maybe a little bit but it's minimal) .

I pretty much go by feel with everything I do including lifting as I don't have a set schedule and basically "freestyle" in the gym. I find doing this helps me with symmetry as I approach it like I'm sculpting a statue (got that mindset from Arnold as he talks about that in his Encyclopedia) but surely when I start getting closer to competing and actually need to prep I will need to quantify everything to be as precise as possible.

[AlphaMindz]

I have done this Alpha.

Its all gonna depend on your metabolism.
On a perfect day I can eat 6 bronkaid and eat 3000 cal in 30 min and chase it with a couple redbulls.

Once you get cranking it blows you up just like you say. I have donee this and lost bf% but bear in mind I am on a lotta gear. I also work like a pshyco and live a high stress life. It goes from stagnant to hauling ass overnight.

I have not gotten fat from it.
There really is no such thing as a cheat meal with my metabolism unless I just sit down and eat the badass banana/strawberry pudding cake my gf just made and eat that all day.

If you have the right metabolism which it sounds like you do, meet or exceed protein and carb demands, and the rest isnt that important.

I have spent a very short portion of my life over 15% bodyfat. At the time I was on a six month run of deca eating God knows what.

People can say what they want but for some guys there is no end to the amount of food they can metabolize and really gain no fat.

This is another reason a nutritionist is a freaking joke in my mind. People are not anywhere near the same.

Btw toss in some ECA and caffine before that meal (Dont wait too long) and your pumps will hurt like a mother. You will be the most attention getting man in the gym every time.

Obs no homo but I love you bro lol! Always appreciate your feedback man.

I honestly can barely get the cals I need to grow as it is so I'll prob wait on the ECA stack until I need to cut down but I'm looking forward to trying that in regards to the pumps you're referring to!

I agree with you that it's not a perfect science in terms of counting cals/macros and I'm experiencing what you're saying right now as according to the books I should be getting fat by being so far over what I was eating to stay the same weight. I don't believe that 3,500 cals equals 1 lb in EVERYONE and I agree that metabolisms vary from person to person BUT also day to day in the SAME person. So many factors and variables that affect this IMO.

And yes if I were to really up the carbs THEN I would surely start putting on more bf like if I ate a bunch of your girl's badass pudding cake lol I'm sure my waistline would increase as insulin would be triggered which comes back to our point that there's more to it than cals in vs cals out. The content of the foods we eat will have a huge impact on body composition. Sugars fuck me up fast! I eat clean and nutrient packed foods all day with that double quarter pounder with cheese (no onions. no pickles) with a guava pie being strategically placed calorie dense "extra" to serve a specific purpose in terms of a-an easy and delicious way of increasing my overall daily cals and b- loading sodium pre w/o. I actually save the guava pie for after my workout and eat it with 1 1/2 cups of egg whites! Perfect post w/o high glycemic fast digesting protein/carb meal (although there's fat in there too) it's not perfect and I know it's not healthy long term but right now I'm results oriented and this is producing results so I'm gonna keep doing it until my blood work says STOP lol!

[GearHeaded]

fat, high glycemic carbs, sodium (all demonized by society) = great pumps and muscular fullness.

Dave Palumbo ate Mcdonalds nearly every single day of his bodybuilding career. He says he needed it to help keep his size and fullness, yet he got very lean

[AlphaMindz]

Glad you bought up you lipids that’s the first thing that sprung to my mind, be careful man. That shit is not good for you, especially combined with the drugs. Look up the macro profile online and just match all the profiles including sodium and make your own meal out of cleaner foods.

I’d say you theory on the benefits of gear could be right, being able to utilise the calories more sufficiently and the increase in TDEE from the drugs. If your using fitnesspals guidelines then you could very well have been eating under your BMR as the app isn’t all that accurate. I’d take this as an opportunity to identify your BMR by adjusting calories as you are until you see some fat gain, this will give you a better idea as to where you sit BMR wise.

The more food you consume, the more thermogenic you will become… So right now with the drugs, training, added food your metabolism is on fire!!!

And my man Duke, yes that's a great point about combining my own foods in a healthier way to mimic what I'm getting from the crap McDonald's meal lol. That's actually a great idea and I'll look into it, although for now it's nice and convenient, inexpensive, and very effective...but of course it's not a healthy long term approach.

Hey over there do they call it a double royal with cheese?? Pulp Fiction is a classic!

[AlphaMindz]

fat, high glycemic carbs, sodium (all demonized by society) = great pumps and muscular fullness.

Dave Palumbo ate Mcdonalds nearly every single day of his bodybuilding career. He says he needed it to help keep his size and fullness, yet he got very lean

My man, of course you know that lol I'm not surprised as Dave is who I got this idea from in the first place

[Obs]

fat, high glycemic carbs, sodium (all demonized by society) = great pumps and muscular fullness.

Dave Palumbo ate Mcdonalds nearly every single day of his bodybuilding career. He says he needed it to help keep his size and fullness, yet he got very lean

Ct fletcher ate four big macs and two fries at the same mcdonalds every day for 20 years.
Yes he got a heart transplant and was already having failures at 50, but.....

I know who CT fletcher is. He was all natural according to him. I actually believe him, world records and all.

[Obs]

Obs no homo but I love you bro lol! Always appreciate your feedback man.

I honestly can barely get the cals I need to grow as it is so I'll prob wait on the ECA stack until I need to cut down but I'm looking forward to trying that in regards to the pumps you're referring to!

I agree with you that it's not a perfect science in terms of counting cals/macros and I'm experiencing what you're saying right now as according to the books I should be getting fat by being so far over what I was eating to stay the same weight. I don't believe that 3,500 cals equals 1 lb in EVERYONE and I agree that metabolisms vary from person to person BUT also day to day in the SAME person. So many factors and variables that affect this IMO.

And yes if I were to really up the carbs THEN I would surely start putting on more bf like if I ate a bunch of your girl's badass pudding cake lol I'm sure my waistline would increase as insulin would be triggered which comes back to our point that there's more to it than cals in vs cals out. The content of the foods we eat will have a huge impact on body composition. Sugars fuck me up fast! I eat clean and nutrient packed foods all day with that double quarter pounder with cheese (no onions. no pickles) with a guava pie being strategically placed calorie dense "extra" to serve a specific purpose in terms of a-an easy and delicious way of increasing my overall daily cals and b- loading sodium pre w/o. I actually save the guava pie for after my workout and eat it with 1 1/2 cups of egg whites! Perfect post w/o high glycemic fast digesting protein/carb meal (although there's fat in there too) it's not perfect and I know it's not healthy long term but right now I'm results oriented and this is producing results so I'm gonna keep doing it until my blood work says STOP lol!

Feeling is mutual Alpha and thanks.
Also on the eca I time it right before a meal so I can eat before it kicks in. If you eat six meals a day it doesnt work. I usually shoot for 3-4 meals per day.

[GearHeaded]

Ct fletcher ate four big macs and two fries at the same mcdonalds every day for 20 years.
Yes he got a heart transplant and was already having failures at 50, but.....

I know who CT fletcher is. He was all natural according to him. I actually believe him, world records and all.

four Big Macs every day for 20 years,, there ain't nothing natty about that, those beef patties are full of hormones

[AlphaMindz]

Damn that's a lot of big macs lmao! I find the meat in the quarter pounders is better than the meat in mcdoubles/big macs... It's thicker and way more expensive, although it's all prob full of fillers lol who am I kidding! When referring to quality of meat at McDonald's the word "better" likely doesn't mean much haha!

I've heard that Dexter Jackson also has been eating McDonalds 2-3 times a DAY in the off season for YEARS... This isn't racist but don't black guys have genetic predispositions for heart disease..?

CT Fletcher was a beast though. I recently saw him on Joe Rogan's podcast and he's def an interesting dude!

And yeah I bet if we tested Mcdonald's meat for hormones we'd find more tren in that shit than most ugl tren lmao

[Eduke93]

And my man Duke, yes that's a great point about combining my own foods in a healthier way to mimic what I'm getting from the crap McDonald's meal lol. That's actually a great idea and I'll look into it, although for now it's nice and convenient, inexpensive, and very effective...but of course it's not a healthy long term approach.

Hey over there do they call it a double royal with cheese?? Pulp Fiction is a classic!

Just an idea dude; health is wealth! Haha fvck knows, haven’t had mc’d In about 8-9 years! double royal with cheese, Probs something along them lines lol

[GearHeaded]

the thing is theres nothing really unhealthy about hamburgers and French fries. heck you could eat ground beef 5x per day as your only source of protein and probably live a long healthy life. add in a potato (fries) and now you got a good source of 'fuel' as well.
recent research has shown that saturated fat is actually heart healthy and red meats are the most nutritionally dense source of meats as well (much better then lean chicken or fish).

its really the extra crap they add to it and the stuff they cook it in that makes it unhealthy.
which kinda sucks cause they are really giving red meat and potatos a bad rap. when in reality those are the two things if you were stuck on a desert island and only had access to you could live and thrive on the rest of your life.. get stuck on a desert island with only lean chicken and celery, and you'll likely not live long or healthy

[AlphaMindz]

the thing is theres nothing really unhealthy about hamburgers and French fries. heck you could eat ground beef 5x per day as your only source of protein and probably live a long healthy life. add in a potato (fries) and now you got a good source of 'fuel' as well.
recent research has shown that saturated fat is actually heart healthy and red meats are the most nutritionally dense source of meats as well (much better then lean chicken or fish).

its really the extra crap they add to it and the stuff they cook it in that makes it unhealthy.
which kinda sucks cause they are really giving red meat and potatos a bad rap. when in reality those are the two things if you were stuck on a desert island and only had access to you could live and thrive on the rest of your life.. get stuck on a desert island with only lean chicken and celery, and you'll likely not live long or healthy

I agree that red meat is superior to chicken.. I rarely eat chicken these days, would rather measure egg whites and drink em with whatever "fuel source" I'm adding to that meal.

There is research that shows saturated fats in and of themselves are NOT bad for your heart/cardiovascular system.....HOWEVER, saturated fats in combination with sugars does negatively impact the way those fats are filtered by the body...

The take away is red meat is indeed the most nutrient dense form of protein and it's silly for people to avoid it because they think it's bad for them, especially athletes as a lot of those studies are done on sedentary individuals...

SUGAR is the real culprit here. Sugar will fuck up your cholesterol, triglycerides, and over time insulin as well which comes with its own health issues (fucking insulin output that is)..If we limit sugar intake, especially when eating red meat (don't drink a soda with that steak!) then based on the research we're gtg.