Diet Advice: begginer

[new_ro_kid]

I weight 174 with about 12% body fat and im trying to put on weight, ive been working out hard 4-6 times a week for 8 months and have gained 12 pounds....i was at 188 but i was on creatine and i stopped a few months ago.

Right now my diet is basically as follows:

breakfast: 3 eggs with chesse, milk, maybe a bowl of cereal or otameal

2 hours late: protein bar

Lunch: tuna sandwitch or 2, maybe a deli meat sandwitch

2 hours later: protein shake

in between the shake and dinner ill have a granola bar or two

dinner: steak, or chicken (a lot of it) maybe some rice or pasta for carbs

Before bed ill drink another protein shake.

Any advice will be appreciated

[musclestack]

I weight 174 with about 12% body fat and im trying to put on weight, ive been working out hard 4-6 times a week for 8 months and have gained 12 pounds....i was at 188 but i was on creatine and i stopped a few months ago. How tall are you? What does your workout look like?

Right now my diet is basically as follows:

breakfast: 3 eggs with chesse, milk, maybe a bowl of cereal or otameal
One, there's way too much fat in this meal, especially if the milk is whole. Regardless, drop the milk and the cheese; there are much better sources of bb food out there. Keep a couple whole eggs here, but add some whites. Oatmeal is a great source of complex carbs; the 'bowl of cereal' you mentioned more than likely has tons of sugar added to it, so I'd steer clear of it.

2 hours late: protein bar
Probably loaded with sugar. Also, this is an inferior source of protein; change this meal to a lean protein (chicken breast, fish, lean beef, for example) and a complex carb (sweet potato, brown rice, oats, quinoa, beans, lentils).

Lunch: tuna sandwitch or 2, maybe a deli meat sandwitch
Which is it? 1 or 2 sandwiches? Try to get the same macros from your meals everyday to guage how your progressing and make adjustments where appropriate; if you're constantly changing your macros on a day to day basis, you won't know where to change up your diet and by how much. Deli meat is loaded with sodium; there are far better choices. I like the tuna, but just remember, there are also better, less processed carb sources out there as well. What else are you putting on the sandwich? Hopefully no mayo.

2 hours later: protein shake
Save the shakes for after your workout, bro. Supplements are SUPPLEMENTS; not REPLACEMENTS. Furthermore, protein only meals are useless without a vehicle to drive the aminos to muscle cells. So, again, replace this meal with a lean protein and either complex carb/healthy fat or both. I'd emphasize the carbs here since you're trying to gain.

in between the shake and dinner ill have a granola bar or two
Again, loaded with sugar. And the worst part is, there is fat from the nuts in granola bars, so since the sugar is going to spike insulin levels, the dietary fat will be more apt to be shuttled towards fat cells and stored as adipose tissue. No problem to have a snack in between meals as long as it's a healthy choice and it fits into your daily macros.

dinner: steak, or chicken (a lot of it) maybe some rice or pasta for carbs
What's 'a lot of it'? How much exactly? You need to know how many calories you're consuming everyday so you know you're on the right path to reach your goals. What's this 'maybe' rice or pasta? Either have it, or don't, but keep it consistent. By the way, as long as you figure out the macros for this meal and they suit your needs, I actually like this meal. Wouldn't hurt to add some green veggies.

Before bed ill drink another protein shake.
I'd prefer to see real food here, but if you're going to stick with the shake, at least make it cassein protein; it will digest/absorb more slowly overnight while you sleep and aid in keeping you from going catabolic.

Any advice will be appreciated

I suggest you look through the stickies here, along with other members' diet plans to get a rough idea of the types of foods you should be eating. Figure out your TDEE (how many cals you need to maintain the weight you are now), and adjust that number via cals consumed to suit your goals---this info can also be found in the stickies. You really need to start counting your macros in each meal so you know how many cals you're eating everyday.

There's some more I'd like to type here, but I'm late for work. I'll check in on you when I get back home. Cheers, bro.