# water retention on bulk,



## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

okay so i started a 'clean' bulk around 2-3 weeks ago, and since then iv noticed quite a lot of 'puffyness' around my face, mainly the cheeks.

i dont think its fat because i havnt put on any fat anywhere else in the same period. is there anyway i can reduce this water retention? could it be to do with my diet? too much/little of something?

all help is really appreciated

harry


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## sizar (Nov 13, 2008)

how much carbs you eating a day mate? also what source .. ? watch sodium in your diet too .. some times is hidden so review your diet.. some vitamin C tabs helps ..


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

meal 1- 40g from 1 piece of toast, bowl of cereal(bran flakes/oatabix)

meal 2- 45g from wholewheat pasta

meal 3- 50g from wholewheat pasta

meal 4- 0

meal 5- 55g from jacket potato (post workout meal)

meal 6- 0

meal 7- few g from nut snacking

meal 8- 9g from cottage cheese pre bed

so just over 200g of carbs in total.

we have vitamin c tabs so i can take those no problem.

i will look out for sodium, could it be that im overeating or something? i mean, i seem to have found on the first week of the bulk, i put on no weight and didnt gain anything, so deemed this to be my maintenance, from there i added in some more calories, e.g. jacket spud meal, and thought id start gaining from that, i gained 2kg, but cant notice it and yeah just seems to be lots of water holding on my face.


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## kaos_nw (Jul 9, 2008)

carbs dont seem too high too me mate, what were they like pre-bulk? similar amounts? sounds like sodium to me! and are you drinking enough water?


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

i should have mentioned that, pre bulk i was cutting using a high fat high protein almost no carb diet, and then had a refeed on carbs at the weekend, so carb levels before hand were different (through the week)

i drink about 2litres of water per day,

what kind of food sources contain sodium that i should be looking out for?


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## sizar (Nov 13, 2008)

Fountain said:


> meal 1- 40g from 1 piece of toast, bowl of cereal(bran flakes/oatabix)
> 
> meal 2- 45g from wholewheat pasta *no meat?*
> 
> ...


i am 12 stone and i eat WAYYYYYYY more than you do lol well 12.12ish


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

nonono, they were just the carb breakdowns of my diet sizar, sorry

my full diet is:

1.branflakes/oatabix, 3 eggs on toast, orange juice

2.80g wholewheat pasta with 1.5 chicken breasts

3.90g wholewheat pasta with 1.5 chicken breasts

4.whey shake after workout

5.jacket potato with 1 tin tuna, half can of baked beans

6.1.5 tins of mackrel in olive oil with salad

7.60g walnuts,

8.cottage cheese, 1/2tblsp peanut butter (and a little jam) pre bed

and i snack on quite a lot of fruit throughout the day.

i weigh 76kg, hence the reason for wanting to bulk up  definition is nice, but i adding size would be much better.


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## Goolash (Feb 12, 2010)

Dude,why worry about water retention whilst bulking up? Id only be concerned with retention levels whilst on a cutting cycle.


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## Heineken (Feb 6, 2009)

sizar said:


> i am 12 stone and i eat WAYYYYYYY more than you do lol well 12.12ish


*LMFAO*

That was a carb break down :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Big Dawg (Feb 24, 2008)

sizar said:


> i am 12 stone and i eat WAYYYYYYY more than you do lol well 12.12ish


Honestly mate it was so fcuking easy to see that was his carb breakdown. You asked him for it and he provided it 

OP your carbs don't look too high at all. If you're not using AAS then I'm not sure really. Did you go from very low carbs to your current diet fairly quickly?


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## Rambo55 (Jun 14, 2009)

Some of your food choices are not the most cosmetically freindly- Pasta,dairy,bread.

There fine for a bulk but will cause "some" people to retain more water than other grains and tubers.....

It could be lack of sodium aswell as an sudden increase in it to.... Also water intake etc..

Or it could be retained water from a cheat meal you've had lately??? just speculating here?


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## Heineken (Feb 6, 2009)

We need to start collecting sizar quotes :lol:


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## SK-XO (Aug 6, 2009)

On the vit c, how much per day?


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## Rambo55 (Jun 14, 2009)

1000mg/daily will cause a diuretic effect...


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

AlasTTTair said:


> Honestly mate it was so fcuking easy to see that was his carb breakdown. You asked him for it and he provided it
> 
> OP your carbs don't look too high at all. If you're not using AAS then I'm not sure really. Did you go from very low carbs to your current diet fairly quickly?


i moved across in the space of about 2 weeks, slowly adding more carbs each day in the first week, and in the second week bumped it up again slightly. im not on aas



Rambo55 said:


> Some of your food choices are not the most cosmetically freindly- Pasta,dairy,bread.
> 
> There fine for a bulk but will cause "some" people to retain more water than other grains and tubers.....
> 
> ...


i have one piece of bread per day, and tend to stay away from dairy, i mean, i have cottage cheese pre bed, and a little milk with my cereal and thats it. i was thinking about switching from pasta to rice, but not sure how much more beneficial it was.

so lack of sodium or excess sodium contributes to water retention? i read somewhere excess makes you hold water, but others are saying that not enough causes it :S

i dont have cheat meals so its not from that.

SK-XO - I'm currently taking in around 600mg per day.


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## Rambo55 (Jun 14, 2009)

Tubers such as yams,potatoes hold less water than grains like rice in GENERAL ( not absolute)... Oats seem to be ok to...

Dairy is cottage cheese and milk so if your sensitive like me... any would cause an osmotic imbalance... I get it from milk in a coffee.....

RE: Sodium... If your sodium levels are low and then it goes high this will cause water retention yet if you then KEEP the sodium high everything balances itself and you won't hold the water but you'll pi55 like a race horse.


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

Rambo55 said:


> Tubers such as yams,potatoes hold less water than grains like rice in GENERAL ( not absolute)... Oats seem to be ok to...
> 
> Dairy is cottage cheese and milk so if your sensitive like me... any would cause an osmotic imbalance... I get it from milk in a coffee.....
> 
> RE: Sodium... If your sodium levels are low and then it goes high this will cause water retention yet if you then KEEP the sodium high everything balances itself and you won't hold the water but you'll pi55 like a race horse.


ah ok, hmm i could eat more spuds, i prep all my meals the night before so pasta is always really easy. but if it will solve the problem then nice cold potatoes could be an option  lol

we have porridge oats knocking around so i could switch those with my current breakfast perhaps, and maybe knock toast on the head and have my eggs on their own.

regarding the dairy iv always eaten those things so i dont think thats the problem.

ok, so if it is sodium, then should i not worry as it will balance out? or should i eliminate it so my body doesnt need to adapt and i dont have to spend lots of my time passing water?


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## Rambo55 (Jun 14, 2009)

Sodium is GOOD ( Google and read Sodium is your secret weapon by Scott Abel)

Keep it high through condiments and sea salt......

Spuds so great as do the oats mate.... good idea knocking the toast on the head..


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

started taking some vit c tabs bringing me up to about 1100 mg/day

even in this short space of time i can notice the puffyness has been removed from my face and my weights still going up 

i have upped my water intake aswell

cheers guys!


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## BillC (Jun 11, 2009)

OP, you've come of a keto style diet, which means no glycogen stores which in turn means little water storage. You come off keto, put carbs in, replenish glycogen and replace the lost water. Thats the thing with keto, you think you've lost loads and oo there's my abs, but you haven't, you've probrably only lost the same as you would off other diets, but the lack of glycogen and therefore water makes you look better. But you can't remain on keto forever if you want a life. You get a water retention rebound off it, which will calm down if you keep a strict control on your diet, which 200g should be maintenance/ below maintenance until your body has realised there isn't a carb shortage anymore.

Unless you're trying to get into comp condition, I don't understand peoples obsession with Keto diets, they're awful, bung you up no end leading to piles or worse, constant thirst and nightmare headaches. I'd rather do a weight watchers points diet that suffer that in my life ever again.( no I'm not in fat fighters, I just carb cycle)


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

BillC said:


> OP, you've come of a keto style diet, which means no glycogen stores which in turn means little water storage. You come off keto, put carbs in, replenish glycogen and replace the lost water. Thats the thing with keto, you think you've lost loads and oo there's my abs, but you haven't, you've probrably only lost the same as you would off other diets, but the lack of glycogen and therefore water makes you look better. But you can't remain on keto forever if you want a life. You get a water retention rebound off it, which will calm down if you keep a strict control on your diet, which 200g should be maintenance/ below maintenance until your body has realised there isn't a carb shortage anymore.
> 
> Unless you're trying to get into comp condition, I don't understand peoples obsession with Keto diets, they're awful, bung you up no end leading to piles or worse, constant thirst and nightmare headaches. I'd rather do a weight watchers points diet that suffer that in my life ever again.( no I'm not in fat fighters, I just carb cycle)


completely understand lots of those points you've made there,

i think the reason people opt for a keto style diet is because it doe give the desired look for a certain time period, occasion, or competition, in a shorter amount of time than other diets.

i think in future however im going to cycle carbs when dieting, or maybe reduce carbs to limit them pre and post workout or something, just don't want to shock my body so much that it holds water etc when i go back to a diet including carbs.

do you think the same results can be obtained through timed and cycling carbs, as eliminating them completely?


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## BillC (Jun 11, 2009)

Fountain said:


> completely understand lots of those points you've made there,
> 
> i think the reason people opt for a keto style diet is because it doe give the desired look for a certain time period, occasion, or competition, in a shorter amount of time than other diets.
> 
> ...


Erm, no. lol. but you'll get close enough. Rather feel healthy than look it. Just cheat and use clen /t5's lol, simples.


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## Fountain (Nov 25, 2009)

im not a fan of cheating  lol, plan to stay all natural 

realistically what bf% are you gona be able to get down to without eliminating carbs from a diet? around 10%?


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