My diet, please critique... aiming for clean bulk.

[smashingbox]

I have posted this in my log but thought I would put it up here for critique, I have just started my cycle this week 400mg/wk test-C for 10 weeks.

A few notes:

I have the steak as soon as I wake up, literally 5 mins to cook and then I eat it, then I have a shower and get ready for work and drink the shake on my way to work. It is the easiest way for me to get early morning carbs and it is more or less straight away... that should be almost perfect right? I get a load of protein and carbs straight up. Then for my next meal I have chicken breast with veggies, this is the most sedentary part of my day (desk job) so I avoid any more carbs. Then at lunch this is my meal with most room for improvement, we all go out for lunch but I always choose something relatively healthy, subway, chicken kebab (low fat, salad, wheat tortilla). In the afternoon before my workout I eat lean mince and sweet potato so this is protein and carbs to fuel my work out. BCAAs through my workout, then a whey protein shake with oats for PWO carbs. Then I eat salmon which has obviously got good fats and protein with cous cous for carbs. Then steak right before bed to give me slow digesting protein through the night.

Here are my macros:

Macros in P/C/F

7:30am
Steak 180g 48/0/20 383 cals
Shake 65/75/11 627cals
Total 113/75/31 1010 cals (approx 45 mins apart)


10.30am
Veggies 4/14/0 70cals
Chicken Breast 50/0/8 264cals
Total 54/14/8 334 cals

12.30pm
Healthy Burger 37/50/17 495cals
Total 37/50/17 495cals

3.30pm
Mince meat 64/0/15 387 cals
Sweet Potato 1/13/0 57 cals
Mashed Potato 1/15/0 65cals
Total 66/28/15 509cals

5.30pm
Workout

6.30pm
Shake 65/75/11 627cals
Total 65/75/11 627cals

8.30pm
Salmon 44/0/24 412cals
Cous Cous 4/20/2 110cals
Total 48/20/26 522cals

9.30pm
Steak 180g 48/0/20 383cals
Total 48/0/20 383cals

10.00pm
Bed

Totals for the day:
431/262/128 3880cals

Daily %
52/33/15

I also supplement with a daily multivit and fish oil capsules, jacked pre workout and BCAAs during work out, and drink a load of water during the day.

These are the appox values I worked out, if I have anything wrong please correct me.

[smashingbox]

Anyone?

[Turkish Juicer]

Stats?

[smashingbox]

Right now I am at 77kg, 5'10" and around 13% bf probably less.

[MR-FQ320]

oh man this is second time i replied to this but the server crashed, here goes the short version.

thats a lot of calories for your height and weight, you will put weight on with this diet, im not sure what kind of % is going to be pure muscle, definatley not 100%, i think i would drop the breakfast to begin with and re-evaluate again in a couple of weeks, where are the carbs coming from in your shakes ? swap breakfast shake for oats and egg whites, blend em into a shake. My opinion only others may differ, apart from that it looks pretty good, good luck

[smashingbox]

Well bro I am a ecto/hardgainer and have been on 4500cal/day diets before... so this isnt that much really. I agree with you tho it seems a little high... the fats I think in the steak are over estimated, I trim all visable fat from the steak before pan frying with no oil, so really the only fat would be in the meat and these steaks are lean as (0 marbelling). I will research this further an update.

As for shakes, they only contain 90g oats, ~45g whey and 300ml lite milk... so all carbs are from the oats and a little in the lite milk. So swapping the breakfast for egg whites and oats seems pointless given I am getting oats + steak + whey straight up in the morning... that to me sounds like a soild start to the day? I might drop out the night time steak instead and keep the morning steak. I will repost with adjustments.

[Turkish Juicer]

Right now I am at 77kg, 5'10" and around 13% bf probably less.

431 gr of protein ED is an outrageous amount for someone at your stats.

[Gucks]

431 gr of protein ED is an outrageous amount for someone at your stats.

what did i tell u smashing? u can wait all u like for someeone more reputable to reply but they will tell u the same things.

[smashingbox]

"I told you so" from Gucks.

I will wait for someone who is more experienced. Sorry champ but I don't take advice from just anyone, maybe it is just me but I like to take my info from reputable sources.

Secondly, I am aware of 431gr of protein being high, but I just don't see why that would be a huge issue... but I am all ears and ready to learn.

[MR-FQ320]

the 431g of protein is not an issue its a waste, it is widely regarded that your body cannot absorb or utilise that much amount of protein for your bodyweight, you weigh in at 77kg which equals 169lbs right? it is widely regarded that 1.5 to 2 gram pf protein is more than sufficient, so even at 2 gram per lb this puts you at 340gram of protein per day. its only what is widely accepted by the whole bodybuilding community not just members on here. All I can say is try to experiment with your protein intake and let us know the results, after all no scientific evidence has ever been produced on this magical 1.5-2g/lb figure so you could prove us all wrong. Just saying like.

[smashingbox]

Nah mate, I have heard that too... and not saying you are wrong at all. At the end of the day though, I would rather be getting too much than not enough, and I like the food... but I am going to tweak my diet a little. I might cut back the protein a little and switch up with some carbs and maybe reduce the overall calories... but really want some advice from a vet on here!

[smashingbox]

Bump

[gbrice75]

Smashing, long time no see!

I agree about protein being way too high - completely unnecessary; if you truly want to bulk, those calories could be coming from something else. I do think calories are too high, but you've mentioned in the past that you can handle alot of calories without putting on bodyfat; you know your body better than I do, so i'll leave that one up to you.

Assuming you're sticking with around 3800 calories, 300g protein is PLENTY for your weight. I'd go with something more along the lines of:

300g protein
400g carbs
110g fat

I wouldn't go above 350g protein. If you add another 50g to protein, take 20g from fat and leave the carbs alone. As you already know, you need to closely monitor yourself and make adjustments until you're dialed in. If you notice fat gain (which I suspect you will), drop calories and/or increase cardio. Normally I don't suggest the former, but in this case I honestly do believe calories are way too high, so it would be ok here IMO.

Don't have the time to get into the diet itself tonight, but hopefully the above helps somewhat.