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Calories in; Calories out.
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Calories in; Calories out.

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Simple is not always Easy.

When starting my fitness journey, my mentor told me, "Bro it's really simple, just eat more than you expend." I was trying to gain some lean muscle mass, so his simple advice seemed appealing to me at the time, so I blindly followed it. As we know, things that are simple are not necessarily easy, but we'll get to that later. I was sold on this mantra, and committed to eating more calories than I spent.

Nuance matters.

I aimlessly went to my local 24 hour gym, and did the basic barbell lifts, 3 times a week, and added a few pounds to the bar every session. This was the easy part. The hard part took place in my kitchen, and in my bed. Sleep, and nutrition. On paper, it sounds easy to look at a bulking calculator online, and commit to eating 2500 calories a day, to gain 1 pound a week. 10 years later, I've finally refined this process, and I'm happy to be able to share a bit more nuance so others can maneuver their bulking/cutting fitness journeys with much more ease.

Science, right?

Cbalance=∑i=1nCin,i−(BMR+∑j=1mCout,j)C_{\text{balance}} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} C_{\text{in}, i} - \left( BMR + \sum_{j=1}^{m} C_{\text{out}, j} \right)

We see the above equation and simply get confused. Is this really necessary to complete a simple task such as gain 10 pounds of lean muscle mass? No. All that is required is to emulate those who have achieved the desired phenomena. But as we said earlier, nuance matters. I eventually learned that committing to eating 2500 calories a day is not as easy as it sounds. Well, it is really easy, as everything, if you have a system.

Systemize Everything

Here is the system I follow when I want to gain or lose weight:

  1. Calculate my body fat % using the navy method.
  2. Calculate my total daily energy expenditure using this calculator.
  3. Observe what I need in the above link to gain/lose 1 pound per week (can go more aggressive if gaining.)
  4. Plan simple meals with 2 to 3 components using an app such as FitGenie.
  5. Execute.

When I look at the TDEE calculator, I make sure to uncheck everything in the Formula section except the Katch-McArdle formula, otherwise, my TDEE will be too modest.

Discipline.

This system is actually a really easy and simple process, becuase I've iterated on it for over a decade. So when I say calories in; calories out, I've earned the right to say so. Discipline is what gets you there.