Rip this Bulking Diet apart!...please

[Anaval]

Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me out with bulking. Last year I bulked up 25 lbs in 2 months and kept 15 after cutting. I was pretty happy with that. I was on a test only cycle. I wanna try and do it again this year but extend the bulking cycle by a couple months and hold off of the test if possible. I am 21 yo, 5'11" 190lbs and 12% BF. So in 4 months I would like to gain a "fairly clean" 20 lbs without test. I basically don`t want to waste my time. Here's my diet that worked for me last year...critique as needed (I know you guys can be brutal but I welcome that!)

Breakfast
1 scoop whey
2 eggs
1.5 cup 100% Oats
580cals/47P/57C/17F

Meal2
1 cup cottage cheese
30g Swiss Cheese
300cal/37P/16C/10F

Lunch
2 cans Tuna in Water
1 Tbsp flaxseed oil
Veggies
400cal/66P/0C/14F

Preworkout
8 oz. Chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
395cal/51P/35C/7F
Creatine
Glutamine

Post Workout
2 Scoops Whey
40g Dextrose
2 slices Whole Grain Bread
R+ALA
Creatine
570cal/47P/82C/4F

Meal6
8 oz. Chicken Breast
1 cup Brown Rice
545cal/54P/70C/9F

Dinner
8oz. Top Sirloin
Veggies
1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
430cal/55P/2C/21F

B4 Bed
1 scoop casein
1 oz. walnuts
315cal/28P/10C/20F

Totals: 3535cal/385P/272C/102F

Carbs feel a little low...maybe protein is too high. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[gbrice75]

Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me out with bulking. Last year I bulked up 25 lbs in 2 months and kept 15 after cutting. I was pretty happy with that. I was on a test only cycle. I wanna try and do it again this year but extend the bulking cycle by a couple months and hold off of the test if possible. I am 21 yo, 5'11" 190lbs and 12% BF. So in 4 months I would like to gain a "fairly clean" 20 lbs without test. I basically don`t want to waste my time. Here's my diet that worked for me last year...critique as needed (I know you guys can be brutal but I welcome that!)

Breakfast
1 scoop whey
2 eggs
1.5 cup 100% Oats
580cals/47P/57C/17F

Good meal. Add 1/2 cup berries to your oats if you'd like

Meal2
1 cup cottage cheese
30g Swiss Cheese
300cal/37P/16C/10F

Save the cottage cheese for before bed. Drop the swiss cheese all together. You'll get enough fats from your diet, no need to purposely consume them. Replace this entire meal with 40g lean protein, and 50g complex carbs

Lunch
2 cans Tuna in Water
1 Tbsp flaxseed oil
Veggies
400cal/66P/0C/14F

Tuna and veggies is great. Drop the flax and replace with more carbs - 40-50g. (PS the flax sucks for BBers anyway)

Preworkout
8 oz. Chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
395cal/51P/35C/7F
Creatine
Glutamine

1 Cup of brown rice

Post Workout
2 Scoops Whey
40g Dextrose
2 slices Whole Grain Bread
R+ALA
Creatine
570cal/47P/82C/4F

I'm not typically a fan of the simple PWO carbs, especially pure sugar like dextrose - but you're bulking and already have a low BF% so i'll let it slide in this case.

Meal6
8 oz. Chicken Breast
1 cup Brown Rice
545cal/54P/70C/9F

A better carb source here would be nice - like sweet potato or yam. Actually, you can keep the rice here and do the sweet potato or yam in your PRE-workout meal - it's an excellent choice pre-workout IMO

Dinner
8oz. Top Sirloin
Veggies
1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
430cal/55P/2C/21F

Drop the peanut butter, you'll get enough fat from the beef. You're bulking, so add carbs here - keep it on the lower end, around 30g

B4 Bed
1 scoop casein
1 oz. walnuts

Keep the fats here, do the PB instead of walnuts if you like it better. Whatever you want. Also, you can drop the casein and do cottage cheese here now - full fat cottage cheese
315cal/28P/10C/20F

Totals: 3535cal/385P/272C/102F

Carbs feel a little low...maybe protein is too high. Any help is greatly appreciated!

The diet is actually pretty good, but I think it can be better. I don't like the macro ratios however. Carbs are DEFINITELY low, fats are too high, and protein is a bit on the higher side but no big deal.

I rearranged your macros to make fats 15% of your caloric intake. I then calculated what I believe your LBM is and added 2g protein/lb of LBM. I filled in the rest with carbs. So your new split looks like this:

340g protein, 400g carbs, 60g fat - puts you right at 3500 calories per day with a much better split IMO. This will ensure bodyfat gains are kept to a minimum and muscle growth is optimized.

See diet suggestions above in bold. Now I need to point out that the suggestions I made don't necessarily correlate to the macro breakdown I made for you; you will need to work that out to the best of your ability if you choose to follow any or all of my advice.

Do you have any pics bro?

[Anaval]

The diet is actually pretty good, but I think it can be better. I don't like the macro ratios however. Carbs are DEFINITELY low, fats are too high, and protein is a bit on the higher side but no big deal.

I rearranged your macros to make fats 15% of your caloric intake. I then calculated what I believe your LBM is and added 2g protein/lb of LBM. I filled in the rest with carbs. So your new split looks like this:

340g protein, 400g carbs, 60g fat - puts you right at 3500 calories per day with a much better split IMO. This will ensure bodyfat gains are kept to a minimum and muscle growth is optimized.

See diet suggestions above in bold. Now I need to point out that the suggestions I made don't necessarily correlate to the macro breakdown I made for you; you will need to work that out to the best of your ability if you choose to follow any or all of my advice.

Do you have any pics bro?

Ya, I'll post them later bro. Thanks Gbrice!

[Anaval]

The diet is actually pretty good, but I think it can be better. I don't like the macro ratios however. Carbs are DEFINITELY low, fats are too high, and protein is a bit on the higher side but no big deal.

I rearranged your macros to make fats 15% of your caloric intake. I then calculated what I believe your LBM is and added 2g protein/lb of LBM. I filled in the rest with carbs. So your new split looks like this:

340g protein, 400g carbs, 60g fat - puts you right at 3500 calories per day with a much better split IMO. This will ensure bodyfat gains are kept to a minimum and muscle growth is optimized.

See diet suggestions above in bold. Now I need to point out that the suggestions I made don't necessarily correlate to the macro breakdown I made for you; you will need to work that out to the best of your ability if you choose to follow any or all of my advice.

Do you have any pics bro?

There we go...sorry for the blurriness

[gbrice75]

Looking good bro, I think you will do really well. I think your 12% bodyfat estimate is spot on.

[tbody66]

You are looking good and have a good idea of what you specifically want to accomplish, GB is one of the best, do what he says on the diet and that part will be spot on. Keep us posted while hitting them goals.

[slimshady01]

he is lower then 12 imo.. i was just bod pod tested at 13.7 and he is leaner then me by more then 1.7. i would say 10-11

[gbrice75]

he is lower then 12 imo.. i was just bod pod tested at 13.7 and he is leaner then me by more then 1.7. i would say 10-11

Possibly... it's hard to tell from a single pic.

[Anaval]

he is lower then 12 imo.. i was just bod pod tested at 13.7 and he is leaner then me by more then 1.7. i would say 10-11

I fluctuate depending on my water consumption...i was pretty dehydrated there. I use the unreliable handheld machine and it reads me at 9.8-10.2 so I usually just add 2.0 on to it.

[Anaval]

Ok guys here's an update...I broke down and decided to do a test cyp cycle. Overall things have been good. During the first couple of weeks I ended up losing weight so I bumped up the calories from 3500 to 4000. Then a month later I uped it again to 4500. Here are my results so far after 6 weeks:

Weight: 186->209
BF %: 11.5->14.9 (not sure about this...maybe you guys can help me out why or why not)
Chest: 40.5"-> 44"
Arms: 15.5"-> 16.5"
Neck: 16"-> 17.5"
Calves: 16"-> 16.75"
Thigh: 22.5"-> 25"
Waist: 33.5"-> 34.75"

1RM Bench Press: 305lbs-> 350lbs

So what should be my steps for the next 6 weeks based on my results so far? Cut back on cals? Add cals? Keep doin what I'm doing? Also I use the Bioelectric piece of crap to measure my body fat and elevated water levels increase the BF reading due to a lower concentration of electrolytes...Does the increase in body fat make sense considering my stats?

Let me know guys, I am stoked about this so far!