I'm four months into a lean bulk and I've only gained a single pound 😭 I'm 45F and perimenopause insanity means my weight fluctuates a lot, but the most consistent time to weigh myself is two days after my period ends because that's the most reliable time for bloating and digestive things to have resolved. I am definitely recomping - my waist and hip measurements have dropped, and I track all my lifting sessions and I've made a huge amount of strength progress in a short time (newbie gains!).
My whole goal this year is to put on as much muscle as I possibly can, because a Dexa scan revealed I'm in the suboptimal range for lean mass. As such I'm attempting to lean bulk (unsuccessfully).
My problem is that this is so much food!! I have a 750 calories TVP overnight oats breakfast which fills me up until noon. I've been having a protein shake with banana and soy milk late morning to get more calories in. But the afternoon is where the wheels fall off as I have to cram in lunch and dinner and always seem to have 400ish calories left over that I'm struggling to eat.
I never, ever thought food would become a chore, but I also know this is not a problem unique to me. What do you do to hit your calorie goals when you're too full to keep eating? Is it just more oil and peanut better etc? I don't love adding huge amounts of fat just to hit a calorie target, but I'm also really frustrated that I'm not gaining!
Current calorie target: 2800 Protein: 165g CW: 157lbs