First Cycle, Open to Advice.

[Slowww]

So looking at my picture how much of a cal surplus would you shoot for? I’m not super lean in the waist even at 178lb and my goal is a beach body (200-210lb eventually). What I don’t want to happen is to add size but also push it with too much fat. I know with a cal surplus fat gain will happen but I guess I’m just trying to find a balance.

Well I wouldn’t say a huge caloric surplus due to your weight. I’d keep it minimal at 200 from adding like 50g carbs only on training days. If you’re growing on that I wouldn’t touch it. Even when the scale stops, if your physique looks tighter or better conditioned I wouldn’t add calories. But if you want to keep adding scale weight then I would just continuously bump it up 150-200 cals when it plateaus if condition is acceptable. If you grow faster without gaining more fat/have trouble gaining weight with 150-200 then I’d add closer to 4-500, but this is totally based on your metabolism and propensity to add lean mass. I 100% wouldn’t advise starting with such a large increase without you first understanding your response to gear etc.