Yea, what Sweat said....

If it fits into your caloric/macro goals, who cares?

I have a question, lets say i need 2500 calories and so far i have eaten 2100. If i eat dinner lets say at 9pm (I eat around 6pm for dinner) and it is 400 calories, as long as i did not go over my neccessary calorie intake i am find right? Will my body be able to digest it while i am sleeping? Sounds confusing but what i mean is...If i hate a big dinner meal late at night and sleep an hour later, will some of it store as fat? I know it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound of fat.

Your metabolism does not shutdown while you sleep. The food will be digested. And you can't create something out of nothing.

So if you need 3000 calories to maintain and you are eating 2500 calories in total per day, yet, for whatever reasons you stuffed in a big chunk of those cals later in the evening, you aren't going to store energy. You can't create something out of nothing. Calories are energy. Fat is stored energy. Follow me?

IMO, there are certainly better ways to time your nutrition.... but we're talking strictly fat storage.

Look at me.

When I'm bulking, I'll shoot for 3500-4000 calories per day depending on a few things.....

I divide this up into 6 meals. My last meal almost always occurs right before bed.

I'm a late night snacker as well so I leave some extra room knowing I will do this. A trick I use sometimes is I brush my teeth or chew a pc of minty gum and that seems to help.

Ya, i get it crystal clear now. Thanks again for the clarification Steve.

What does bulking do for you?

I was reading a nutrition mag last night and they had a basic "diet" for losing weight and one for gaining - and basically gaining was just adding like a handful of almonds or something similar.

I was thinking - I can show you how to gain weight....

Hahaha, it's really nothing special. Just as a diet is simply a matter of consistently being in a caloric deficit.... bulking is the opposite.

It's certainly not a free ticket to eat whatever you want. The idea is to gain as much muscle as possible without adding a significant amount of fat.

Nothing special really in terms of nutrition. Training changes quite a bit, at least for me.

So why do you have cycles of bulking?

Is it just for personal reasons? Or do you compete?

Are you asking me I bulk at all?

I was asking the why's behind it. I know that body builders "bulk" just don't know why or when.

Why?

Well let's start with what's the alternative. Take me for instance.... I could stay relatively lean year round and maintain my physique. But what fun is that. I'd rather try and improve my physique. And the only way to improve it is to add more muscle.

Adding more muscle requires this 'bulk' or caloric surplus. If you are doing things right in terms of diet and training, you can gain a good bit of muscle. However, any time that you're in a caloric surplus, there is going to be some fat gain.

Basically I bulk until I get uncomfortably fat, lol.

My 'uncomfortably fat' probably isn't fat at all to most.... but it's the point where I feel too soft and too sluggish. Once I reach that point, I alter my approach and ween into a cutting phase.

The point of a cutting phase it to lose as much fat as possible while maintaining as much muscle as possible. This is accomplished again, through different (then bulking) but proper dieting and training.

Make sense?

Yep!! Sure does.

I read an article a few years back about late night snacking. It was called "out of hunger or out of habbit" anyone ever read it.

late night I'll grab a 40cal sugar free fudge pop gets my choco craving out the window with out the guilt but I try to stop eating after 9:00-10:00

I finally once and for all stopped my late night eating (which was a big problem for me in years past). How did I do this?

Two powerful techniques practiced by ancient and indigineous peoples, but largely forgotten in today's society, two techniques so powerful, that the pounds and inches will literally melt off of you. You will be less stressed and healthier.

Practicioners of this rediscovered technology can reclaim their own thought patterns and reprogram their subconscience mind to ease hunger, rest better and find new wellsprings of energy that will support all other healthful activities.

Now, I could charge $8.95, no! $89.50 for these jewels of hyper-health technologies designed to turbocharge your life!!! But, because you are members of the WLF I will give you these powerful, life altering techniques to halt late night binging and restore the energy and balance you need to kick up your weight loss three notches.

Here they are:

Just follow these powereful techniques to end late night binging...FOREVER:

1. Turn OFF your TV set, your computer and all other sources of artificial light.

2. Go to sleep!

Follow these two important lifestyle changes and you will wake up at Sunrise rested, you will be hungry for breakfast, which will start your daily diet regimen off right. Your well-rested body will scream out to be used and exercised. You will be be more alert. You will have an extra hour or two in the morning to exercise or read or watch the sun rise. You can organize your day, get things done. Live!!

There are unfortunately downsides to this however.

1. You will not know who the "Biggest Loser" is...

2. You will not know if Britney Spears regains custody of her children or not...

David C
Being Silly

what is this sleep you speak of? it's not something I'm capable of anymore.. if it weren't for infomercials - well my brain would get no rest at all...