The Cart Before The Horse

I am almost three months into the muscle-building experiment, and I have made some progress.  I am up about 6 pounds since January 1st.  I won't claim that this is 100% muscle gain though - my waist has increased a little bit.

I think the big error I made in January and February was to put the cart (nutrition) before the horse (strength increases).  I was too worried about pushing calories in, rather than focusing on lifting heavier weights.

These last few weeks have been solid, as I have slowly moved up the weight in several exercises.  Along with this, I see some muscle growth.  And so I think that the whole concept of gaining muscle is much simpler than I thought, it's mostly tied to strength gains.  Right now, I am not forcing food but instead just letting my appetite guide me.  We'll see if this works over time.

One other mistake I made was to occassionally eat more junk food under the justification that I "needed the extra calories."  In reality, that's complete nonsense.  I don't see how poor food can help achieve any physical goal.  I've tightened up the reins and gone back to pretty strict Paleo eating.