[Charlie_girl]

I've also read a lot of really good things with the brand you're using! I think I might switch to that brand, but gelatinized, once mine runs out. I'm too lazy to bake my maca, so I'd rather get it gelatinized. Hahaha! But I'm glad that you do bake your raw!

I looked it up and all I can see is that a serving is 5 grams of maca in one teaspoon serving. It didn't say how much to take a day. What does your package say? Honestly, I think you're taking the right amount of maca. It's a higher dose, but I've read that 10,000 mg to 12,000 mg of RAW maca is totally safe upper limits. (It would be much less than that for gelatinized since gelatinized is almost like an extract). I'd say stay at the dose you're taking and take the breaks. Instead of taking it for a month & breaking for a week, try just taking it mon-fri and breaking over the weekends. I found that when you're in the early stages of gaining, a week makes a big difference.

[Charlie_girl]

Just came across this about nutrition for gaining weight & how many pounds you should expect to gain a week, as well as an ideal ratio of carbs/proteins/fats. This site also has a forum if you wanted to look through it. I look through their forum quite a bit.

** Keep in mind, this was written by body building athletes that bulk up/gain a lot for a certain amount of time, and then quickly "cut" before a competition (meaning they shed what fat they have down pretty far to show their muscle definition more). And for those of us here that are trying to gain, I'm just assuming that we typically want to gain muscle as well as a little fat (at least I do), so ignore their cutting techniques unless you want to get into competitions or unless that's just what you want to do.

The first guy states that anything more than 2 pounds gained a week means you're overdoing it & gaining more fat than what is ideal for a bodybuilder. And since the majority of us are not, and the majority of us trying to gain do Want some fat, I think it's perfectly fine to gain 2-3 lb a week as long as you're eating healthy

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek25.htm

[Boobattraction]

Wow I can't believe you did all this research to help a buddy, I can't thank you enough Charlie GN
I really feel great about what you saying and now thnx to you,I believe I am actually doing good and with all the info on the bod builders website you referred me to, it proves I expected bigger things way too soon hahaha
After your advise about upping my water intake, right away I started and I will push to drink even more, by the way I had no idea you need to drink that much water when you are taking herbs again, thnx to you

I was using whey isolate before maca and stopped because I thought they do the same job, only maca is more powerful and besides I didn't succeed with gaining while using whey only. I will give it a try again and see how it goes when used with maca.

About the info onBC, thumbs up, I was really stuck on that one, really I had no clue what to do. Well I was not using it as a contraceptive, it was meant to help me have my periods back since at some point they just stopped for about 11 months and I had really bad acne, and they really helped a lot in clearing it and getting back my periods which is why it was very difficult to decide whether or not to stop using it.

Navitas happens to be the most recommended , I looked it up before I started maca, I was also looking for the gelatinized one, but couldn't find, so that's when I chose the raw one, but I will switch it up once I finish the one I have because baking it can be so stressful, you really wanna make sure that you doing it right. I will take your advise and continue with this dosage while I watch my progress, anyways the only side effect I've gotten from this maca is the breakouts, which is not so bad and I think not drinking enough water might have caused it too. So I will be doing all the adjustments and improvements needed while enjoying my growth which I will be updating you guys about.

Just wanna encourage everyone to share whatever your experiences, good or bad, there is so much help on this forum, we might not use the same path, but our goal is one, best of growth ladies

[Charlie_girl]

Aw!! Thanks! No problem I'm glad I could help. I'm sure some other people will chime in too
Yeah, absolutely take protein powder along with maca. You need a LOT of protein for gaining. I'm 105 lbs and my trainer told me to eat 90 grams of protein a day. Just adding one serving of protein powder won't do anything unless you up the rest of your protein too. It just helps add a little extra protein to your diet without having to eat it, just drink it & it's really convenient.

If you have a smart phone, the easiest way to track your diet and to see if you're actually eating enough, is to download a diet tracker app. I just downloaded MyFitnessPal. It tracks daily calories, proteins, carbs & fats. It only let's you choose up to 1 lb gained a week, but I just ignore that and customize my "net calorie goal". It's made my life a lot easier so far. I don't know how to use all the perks yet though.

Yeah, if you were only using BC to regulate your periods, then I would suggest to just stay off of them. Maca helps regulate your hormones, and regulates your period for most women. It might take a couple of months.

Congrats again on the growth so far! Have you done measurements or pics? I'd do both every 2 weeks to keep you motivated, even if you don't want to share the pics on here & just have them for yourself

[Charlie_girl]

I'm taking 1000 mg of maca every day because it comes in my protein powder.

I've had some booty gains the last week or two, but it really is more due to focusing my workouts on that area. Maca probably just supports the gains. I'm not sure if I can attribute it to booby gains, either, because of all the other stuff I'm doing. It probably doesn't hurt, though!

Maca def supports the gains! Good for you!! So happy you're seeing results that fast too Congrats!! Have you only been taking it 2 weeks? Are you doing measurements and/or pics (even if you don't share them on here)? I mean, since before taking the maca and since

[Lunice]

Hi.
I started taking a tsp raw powder daily and no bad side effects so far.Except some pimples but maybe it's not the cause, I break out for mysterious reasons plus when I eat too much sugar and dairy or before my period... -_-
Anyways, I sleep and concetrate better and my hair is falling out less (though, I started zinc supplements same day) but that's it so far.
I am not sure should I increase the dose.On packaging it says 1-3 tsp.
How long does it take for it to affect hormones?
And I actually lost some weight while on it which is good, it's the lovehandles. xD

[WannaBePearShaped]

Is it true that the only way for maca to be effective in growing your butt is through heavy weight lifting or weight gain?It seems like when I look up people who had success with maca is because they've gained weight or lift heavy at the gym.

[Boobattraction]

Yeah you really did me a huge favour by providing all the info Charlie G
I've been tracking my food using super tracker while on weight loss program, but I stopped since I wanted to gain it back, I think it's a good idea to start again

It must have slipped my mind to take measurements, I was so concerned about gaining I forgot to track the progress thanx for the reminder,will do.

Whoa Lunice I'm surprised pimples is the only side effect you got from using RAW maca, I have read tons of testimonials, people who have had really bad side effects from using raw maca...well that's your case,good for you congrats on your weight loss, I would also love to shed some off my mid section only though
Good job to you too Wishinandhopin happy for you, maca must be working well for you to see results this soon.

Wannabepearshaped I'm also new to maca and still learning a lot about it, but I think just like any other program used on NBE, it will not work the same on all of us, each of us respond differently towards certain uses, you just have to find what works best for you. For some people they gain without doing any exercise and for some, with through exercise they will see change. But my opinion and through reading, I think exercising helps speed up the progress.

[Lunice]

No need for weights, just walk or do some squats.Maca really helps a lot, whoa! O.o

[AquaA]

Hey guys, how's it going? Any progress?

I'm taking 500mg of raw maca for this cycle, so far no side effects but no progress. Planning on switching to gelatinized maca and a higher dose of 1500mg once i finish this bottle. I'm not working out at the moment but I'm starting soon so hopefully when I work out and up my maca dose, il see some progress.
I've been gaining and losing weight a lot these past 2 months and my butt looks smaller these days, it's really depressing me.

Would love to hear from you girls, in need of some positivity.