Critique my bulking diet.

[Guerilla777]

21 yrs old
Height: 5'11.25"
Weight: 190-193lbs.
BF: about 17%
Training for almost a year, no cycles yet as I am still trying to get my diet tuned in.

I started bulking when I first got serious about lifting and gained some good weight, however, my diet was too unhealthy (greasy burgers and all). I stopped bulking about 3 months ago when I hit 195 and then lost a couple of pounds. I'm ready to start again and this is the diet that I've come up with:

Meal 1 - 1cup oatmeal, 4 scrambled eggs
GYM
Meal 2 - 3 tilapia fillets and 1 cup white rice
Meal 3 - 4oz. cheese, 15 crackers, and 8oz skim milk
Meal 4 - 1protein shake in 16oz. skim milk, Nature Valley bar
Meal 5 - 2tbs. peanut butter, 1 yogurt, 1/2cup pecans
Meal 6 - Large salad w/ranch, 4oz chicken, 16oz. skim milk

That ends up consisting of about 4300 calories, 252g protein, 343g carbs, 182g fat.

Any and all constructive criticism/suggestions are more than welcome.

[gbrice75]

21 yrs old
Height: 5'11.25"
Weight: 190-193lbs.
BF: about 17%
Training for almost a year, no cycles yet as I am still trying to get my diet tuned in.

I started bulking when I first got serious about lifting and gained some good weight, however, my diet was too unhealthy (greasy burgers and all). I stopped bulking about 3 months ago when I hit 195 and then lost a couple of pounds. I'm ready to start again and this is the diet that I've come up with:

Meal 1 - 1cup oatmeal, 4 scrambled eggs

Hopefully whole oats and not the sugary packets? 4 eggs is good; i'd also add some whites here, or even a whey shake for a quick blast of am protein after sleeping all night. (this meal should be coming within 30 mins of waking up)

GYM

Meal 2 - 3 tilapia fillets and 1 cup white rice

This should be your PPWO meal. Before this, you should be having a whey shake (possibly mix in some oats) for quick protein immediately after your workout.
THIS meal should come 30 mins - 1hr later. Tilapia -if they're 4oz fillets, they're about 24g each which is roughly 75g protein. Probably a bit high. The white rice sucks, way too high GI and zero nutritional value. Make it whole grain brown rice instead.

Meal 3 - 4oz. cheese, 15 crackers, and 8oz skim milk

This isn't even worth calling a meal. Each meal should consist of a lean protein, complex carbs and/or healthy fat. The crackers (and probably the cheese) are processed and not a preferred fuel source. Your carbs should primarily come from whole grain/real foods like brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato/yam, leguemes/beans/lentils, oats, etc. Stick with clean foods if you are hoping to do a lean/clean bulk and minimize gaining bodyfat. Also drop the skim milk if possible, or use it in your PWO shake

Meal 4 - 1protein shake in 16oz. skim milk, Nature Valley bar

No shake here, move it to PWO. Again, no real food here. Nature Valley Bar is no good. Lean protein + complex carb, OR you can consider dropping carbs here if it's later in the day and doing a protein/fat meal. Avacado, EVOO, etc. Also, where are the veggies in this diet? You should be filling up on fiberous veggies like mixed greens, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc

Meal 5 - 2tbs. peanut butter, 1 yogurt, 1/2cup pecans

Again, you have no real protein source here. This would be a great place for salmon or something like that. I'd also drop the yogurt. Pecans are good, or you can go with almonds, cashews, etc

Meal 6 - Large salad w/ranch, 4oz chicken, 16oz. skim milk

Assuming this is right before bed, you should go with a slower absorbing protein. Lean steak/beef would be great here, or you can keep it as simple as a casein shake and add some natty PB. I wouldn't do the milk here, too much sugar before bed. Salad is ok if it's good greens, watch the ranch.

That ends up consisting of about 4300 calories, 252g protein, 343g carbs, 182g fat.

Any and all constructive criticism/suggestions are more than welcome.

First of all, welcome to the board. This is an interesting one because our stats are almost identical with exception of the training time.

Before we get into the diet, I have to say that I think bulking at 17% BF is a mistake. I started at around 15% and regret it as I put on more bodyfat (as well as LBM) which brought me up to my current 17% (ish) relatively quickly, and my diet was pretty much spot on. Maybe we're different in that you don't put on bodyfat as readily as I do, only you know for sure. Either way, i'd focus on dropping bodyfat first but obviously this is your choice.

Secondly - we need to see macros for each meal, as well as time of day. At a glance, there is no way in hell the food you have listed totals 4300 calories. I'm also willing to bet 4300 calories calories is high for you. Assuming for a second that it is 4300, I do like the total macro breakdown/ratios, with fat possibly being a bit high.

Diet - it's not good bro. There's not nearly enough food, and not enough good food even for what you have. Suggestions above in bold. Make some corrections, figure out accurate marcos for each meal, and then repost the diet and we can take it further.

[Guerilla777]

that was awesome. thats exactly what i was looking for/why i joined this forum(not being sarcastic). Really good feedback i will adjust it and post a reconstructed diet asap. thanks again I'm obviously still learning but this type of feedback is extremely helpful. Thank you!