I was not excited about the last diet change because I abhor eating when it involves pushing calories. However, the trade-off was worth it because I was certain I would see my scale weight go up, FINALLY. I mean, how could it not? I added 850 calories on my training days and kept the 2 high-carb days in AND the Skipload.
I did NOT gain any weight. In fact, I stepped on the scale a few times just to be sure the damn thing wasn't broken.
The same thing has happened each of the 3 times I have added calories: The weight seems higher earlier in the week and looks like it is going to hold but as the week progresses, the weight slowly comes down. All 3 times I made the diet changes I would be up in weight the day before the Skipload (Saturday mornings) only to drop back to the same weight every single Sunday morning before the Skipload.
To give you perspective, the last diet change was an additional 850 calories per training day (4 training days per week) but the other 2 diet changes totaled roughly another 500 calories. That means in 3 weeks I have increased my caloric intake, incrementally, about 1300-1400 calories per day on training days with absolutely ZERO gain on the scale.
Now, I can't say I'm not growing because my strength during this last caloric intake jumped up quite a bit. I hit several PRs in the gym and pushed weight I haven't pushed in years. I also feel insanely full and tight even when I'm not in the gym training. My condition is exactly the same with the exception of having a couple more veins in my quads. I won't say my condition has necessarily improved (though it could have, slightly) but it absolutely hasn't gotten any worse, for sure.
You might think that's a great sign -- my wife did. She told me that I should see this as a positive sign but I don't. I don't because I am not trying to get lean or stay this lean right now; I want to GROW. I have next year to get lean so staying lean now, I feel, is getting in the way of potential muscle growth.
There is one more positive, I do suppose:
I am setting up my metabolism to the point where I will have NEVER gone into a cutting phase (by beginning of 2020) with this caloric intake and being anywhere near this lean. I have been at this caloric intake only once in the last 20 years and I was fat as fuck with titties. So fat, in fact, that it probably contributed to a biceps injury while doing chins in 2002 when I was almost 260 pounds of fat-assed fat.
i am really at the point now where I have very little room to add more calories. I may try but I'm at the point where I doubt I can even eat much more food and digest it efficiently. I am forcing every single meal of the day and it's a fucking chore, yet, I'm lean at 224 still with zero cardio. I anticipate this cutting phase in 2020 to be one of the -- if not THE -- biggest caloric intakes I have ever had while getting lean.
The thought has crossed my mind to not even use any cardio and see how lean I can get without it.
The next step for increasing calories is simply to push my Skipload as high as I can. That is really my best and possibly my only option to get more calories in but that is only for one day so I am not optimistic that it will make much of a difference. However, I am going to try. Right now I am not pushing my Skipload meals to the point of being miserably full but I am going to have to start doing that this weekend. Yay for me. *GAG* I'm sure you can imagine that pushing food on a Skipload while dieting and being depleted is much easier than pushing food on a Skipload when I am stuffing down food all week, including 2 other very high-carb days, as well.
I am getting stronger within bodybuilding rep ranges so I have to be growing. It just isn't enough to push my scale weight higher at this point.
The plan is to ride out this current diet plan and only increase the skipload day this weekend and see if that can in some way impact my scale weight.
As frustrating as this situation has been, I admit that I enjoy the challenge of it all and the fact that I have never dealt with a situation like this in my 35 years of training. I thought I had experienced everything there is to experience but this last 6 months has shown otherwise. While pushing almost 50 years old (next March), my metabolism is in a place that it has never been and that includes my 20s and 30s, as well.
And make no mistake, eating this much food is EXPENSIVE, as well. Not gaining weight is bad enough but spending a lot of money and not gaining weight is even more frustrating.
