eating for growth

[semajes]

How long do I have to eat an elevated number of calories before I can expect to build a noticeable (measurable) amount of muscle? Do I have to do it throughout an entire 8 week cycle? I hate getting fat.
Also I seem to be constantly gaining and losing the same 10 pounds between my bulking and cutting cycles. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I am getting discouraged. The only thing I can say is that, because I'm often on the road, I end up eating fried foods a bit too often, but that can't be solely responsible ... can it?
I hope someone can help.

 

[Mindwraith]

All I can say is that you've got to count your calories.

http://www.fitday.com

Pain in the @$$ I know but that site helps a holy crap ton by keeping track of every detail of everything you eat. That in itself is a means of keeping you headed in the right direction. The only important thing is to be totally honest in your tracking of every single thing you put in your mouth.

Eating fried foods here and there isn't the problem, but find out what the content of those foods are and keep track so you can pick the rest of your meals for the day to compensate.

Also read the "eating for size" Article on this site in order to determine what calories you're aiming for and not to go too far over or too far under.

 

[micmic]

If you eat approximately 500-700 kcal above your naintenance, this should give you 0.4-0.5kg each week, a total of 3.2-4.0kg (7.0-8.8 pounds) in the 8 week HST cycle. It is not much, and it will not make you fat. But as Mindwraith said you have to count everything, otherwise frustration is only to be expected. The first step is to know your actual (ie verified) maintenance level. From there, keep track of a cumulative surplus of calories for each week. If you reach a total of 4000-4500 kcal you'll have gained 0.4-0.5 kg. If you train well and eat mostly good stuff, most of it will be muscle. By "mostly good stuff" I mean that something fried is not much of an issue, but if half of your calories come from fried stuff, then you have a big problem.