Lean bulk diet help

[MonteCarlo]

Hey guys I've currently been cutting with the following diet with success, I'm finally at 8% , now my question is how would I modify my diet to make it a lean bulk like how many calories etc would 2700 be enough?

2nd question if I got to 6% would it be possible to lean bulk slowly while staying at 6%, or would I put on some bodyfat no matter what?

Heres my current diet (feel free to critique your balls off I want all the help I can get)
cal/pro/carb/fat

Meal 1
-4 egg whites
-low fat mozzarella cheese
154/27/0/6

Meal 2 pre workout

-1/2 cup brown rice
-1 can tuna
415/21.8/44.8/4.7

Meal 3 post workout
-cup light milk
-1/2 cup oats
-1.5 whey protein
443/49.3/43.8/9.5

Meal 4
-1/4 cup brown rice
-5oz grilled chicken
320.8/32.6/22.4/3.9

Meal 5
-5oz chicken
-1.5 cup broccolli & cauliflower
-1tbsp flax oil
310/34/8/12.9

Meal 6
-5oz tuna
-salad
-1tbsp flax oil
360/33.6/5/12.4
2002/198/119/49

[gbrice75]

stats
age 24
6foot
197lbs@8%
goal of lean bulk 5-10lbs lbm

Nice stats, great back to waist ratio if that's you in your avy! Props!

Hey guys I've currently been cutting with the following diet with success, I'm finally at 8% , now my question is how would I modify my diet to make it a lean bulk like how many calories etc would 2700 be enough?

I'm thinking more like 3200 for you. How many calories were you cutting on? The totals at the end of the diet? If so, i'd say start at 3000 calories and then monitor/modify from there. Assuming the diet is in check (I haven't looked yet), it stays the same. Only the quantities/macros change

2nd question if I got to 6% would it be possible to lean bulk slowly while staying at 6%, or would I put on some bodyfat no matter what? I plan on doing a cycle during this lean bulk which will be
week 1-10 prop 400mg/wk
week 1-8 var 50mg/day
swiftos pct with hcg and aromasin (low dose) on cycle
(Been enough time since last cycle time on+pct=time off)

You'll probably put on a bit of bodyfat no matter what, ESPECIALLY if you're at 6%. Few people can bulk, even clean, at 6% and stays right there indefinitely. Glad you've been doing some research, swifto knows his sh!t. I won't get into it since you're not here for cycle advice

Heres my current diet (feel free to critique your balls off I want all the help I can get)
cal/pro/carb/fat

Meal 1
-4 egg whites
-low fat mozzarella cheese
154/27/0/6

Really? I thought i'd see better here! How about 2 whole eggs, 6-8 whites, 1 cup of oats with 1/2 cup berries. Getting carbs in your system first thing is important, and you don't have enough protein in this meal - at least GOOD protein.

Meal 2 pre workout

-1/2 cup brown rice
-1 can tuna
415/21.8/44.8/4.7

This is good

Meal 3 post workout
-cup light milk
-1/2 cup oats
-1.5 whey protein
443/49.3/43.8/9.5

If you can handle the milk without bloating, etc. then this is OK, especially if you want to gain. If you feel bloated, use water instead

Meal 4
-1/4 cup brown rice
-5oz grilled chicken
320.8/32.6/22.4/3.9

Good! how about green veggies?

Meal 5
-5oz chicken
-1.5 cup broccolli & cauliflower
-1tbsp flax oil
310/34/8/12.9

Ahh there's the veggies! Good meal, but replace the flax with olive oil or something better. Flax isn't the greatest choice for BBers

Meal 6
-5oz tuna
-salad
-1tbsp flax oil
360/33.6/5/12.4
2002/198/119/49
I'd go with something slower digesting here then tuna - lean beef would be a great choice. Again, replace the flax with something better - a serving of nuts or PB, avacado, something like that.

Comments above in bold

[MonteCarlo]

thanks for the reply gbrice, yeh that me in my avatar thank you
I was cutting on that diet I posted which is 2002 calories, damn was hoping I could get away with it and not put on any fat haha
The reason i had the egg omelet in meal on and chicken and rice in meal 2 is because i workout like 1.5 to 3 hours after I get up and I used to have all that in one meal but I changed it because i thought I needed carbs pre workout but I didnt want to eat too many carbs so I split my breakfast in 2 so they were 1 hour apart lol I don't know if that was a good idea or not.
Thanks for all your advice I like the sound of all of it I'm going to change it to how you said and get rid of the milk except I don't like oats when their not in a shake so for breakfast could I substitute the oats for brown rice and then sub brown rice for sweet potato pre workout?? And in regards to splitting my breakfast up in 2 meals if I go to gym say 90 minutes after I have breakfast should I even bother with a pre workout meal or just put that meal somewhere after gym time and maybe have like a banana just before gym?? btw this diet is still for cutting to 6% and then when I lean bulk do I keep everything the same just increase the amounts of everything?? If so by how much?

[gbrice75]

thanks for the reply gbrice, yeh that me in my avatar thank you
I was cutting on that diet I posted which is 2002 calories, damn was hoping I could get away with it and not put on any fat haha

If you can do it, God bless you - you have great genetics!

The reason i had the egg omelet in meal on and chicken and rice in meal 2 is because i workout like 1.5 to 3 hours after I get up and I used to have all that in one meal but I changed it because i thought I needed carbs pre workout but I didnt want to eat too many carbs so I split my breakfast in 2 so they were 1 hour apart lol I don't know if that was a good idea or not.

Definitely eat carbs pre-workout. Here's what i'd recommend. Slam a shake as soon as you wake up, it's a quick easy way to get protein in your system. Do all whey, or 1/2 casein and 1/2 whey. (if you prefer eggs, stick with them but drop the cheese) Then eat your real meal (pre-workout) 30 mins later

Thanks for all your advice I like the sound of all of it I'm going to change it to how you said and get rid of the milk except I don't like oats when their not in a shake so for breakfast could I substitute the oats for brown rice and then sub brown rice for sweet potato pre workout??

Too bad, I LOVE oats! Well, brown rice isn't on par with oats in terms of a quality complex carb, but sweet potato is an EXCELLENT choice, especially pre workout. Rice would be my last choice as a carb - consider lentils, beans, quinoa, etc. before rice.

And in regards to splitting my breakfast up in 2 meals if I go to gym say 90 minutes after I have breakfast should I even bother with a pre workout meal or just put that meal somewhere after gym time and maybe have like a banana just before gym??

I think we fixed this already above

btw this diet is still for cutting to 6% and then when I lean bulk do I keep everything the same just increase the amounts of everything?? If so by how much?

As long as the diet (food choices, meal timing, etc) is on point - yes, it stays the same and only quantities/macros change. To lean bulk, I wouldn't go above 500 over maintenance. Your body can only process so much, eating more will not make you grow more, contrary to popular belief. What will happen is you'll begin to store bodyfat

Comments above in bold

[MonteCarlo]

gbrice thanks for your advice I've been using the following diet from your advice and got down to 79kg on saturday (back to 82kg now) by adding a water depletion 3 days out from a festival I'm guessing I'm down to 6-7% heres a pic what bf% do u think I'm at??

cal/pro/carb/fat
Meal 1
-2 whole egg
-1 scoop whey
-3/4 cup oats
400/40/29/15
Meal 2 pre workout
-200grams sweet potato
-2 can tuna
330/37.6/41/1.4
Meal 3 post workout
-1/2 cup oats
-2scoops whey protein
370/51/31/7
Meal 4
-1/4 cup brown rice
-6oz grilled chicken
-broccoli& cauliflower
375/39.5/25.4/4
Meal 5
-6oz chicken
-3/4 cup broccolli & cauliflower
192/36/3/3.8
Meal 6
-2 can tuna
-salad
195/34.3/5/1.4
Meal 7
-1 scoop Casein shake
-1tbsp peanut butter
278/30/6.4/14.6

2140/268.4/140.8/47.2

I'm going to keep cutting for a few more weeks to see how shredded I can get then going to lean bulk from there. Is there anything you would change from that diet posted?

[baseline_9]

This is a great example of how being lean can make u look huge guys!

Well done bro ur looking sick!


My advise for the 'lean bulk' would be to begin adding in carbs slowly, 40-50 g per week untill ur weight starts creeping up, and i mean creeping up

I would weigh urself everyday, once a week is wronge IMO because it will be up and down all the time and only doing it once a week could be misleading

Once ur weight is rising i would upp the calories by 750-1000 and get on a cycle


As far as ur cycle i would cut the Prop at week 8 max as i think u will be done gaining by then, i would run it at 75mg ed for 8 weeks with the var or dbol at 20mg ed

Or you could use the cut ir doing now as a primer, up ur calories by a load (maybe 1500) and get on ur cycle at the same time....

This option will create a more anabolic environment and i think u could possibly gain more size however i think the first option is more acurate and will produce the least fat gain

[gbrice75]

I agree with base on adding more carbs assuming the protein is already sufficient (didn't have time to look at the diet in detail, but at a glance it looks good).

Disagree with base on the scale thing - weight can and does go up and down on a daily (hell, hourly) basis. If anything, i'd say every 2 weeks.

[baseline_9]

Exactly why u shud weigh in more often GB

If u weigh in on a 'light day on day one and a 'heavy' day on day 7, it will be misleading

If u weigh in every day u can monitor the progress and notice a 'heavy' day when it pops up and ignore it

[mg1228]

i been outta the game a while---but heres my advice

1 week after starting prop--up ur cals by 200 every week till u get to abot 3000-3200---i would do 12 weeks of the prop---u prob wont gain after 8 or so unless u really up the cals but u will lose some of the fat u may or may not have gained---if u dont gain fat and u prob wont u most likely will shed some u already had (which is not much)

i did prop only (lean bulk) cycle @125mg eod for 12 weeks and this is what i did (only i stopped at 2700 cals which is my tdee) i gained 16lbs and dropped back to 11lbs towards end of cycle---i posted my before and after in gbrice's cutting thread--last page

diet looks good just up the cals in the way of carbs---like 1 cup of oats in meal 1 and 1cup in pwo, etc,etc---

oh yea add 2-3gr fish oil to every meal---u need more fat

[tbody66]

OP, you look awesome, lean bulk will come out great, keep us updated and posted.

Here's the deal with the scale. Don't weigh, weigh every day, weigh once a week, weigh once a month, it doesn't matter as long as you use it as one part of your overall measuring tools. Don't live and die by the scale, don't live and die by the mirror, don't live and die by how your clothes fit, use them all for an overall picture of progress. Post pics here and ask for pure, un-adulterated critique.

GB and Base both know their stuff.

mg1228, if you are back for good and want to help more folks, we could sure use some more volunteers as trainers in the "AR remote trainer/physique transformation challange", check out the thread and if you could make the time, have some qualifications and are willing to help someone get better, let me know.

[mg1228]

OP, you look awesome, lean bulk will come out great, keep us updated and posted.

Here's the deal with the scale. Don't weigh, weigh every day, weigh once a week, weigh once a month, it doesn't matter as long as you use it as one part of your overall measuring tools. Don't live and die by the scale, don't live and die by the mirror, don't live and die by how your clothes fit, use them all for an overall picture of progress. Post pics here and ask for pure, un-adulterated critique.

GB and Base both know their stuff.

mg1228, if you are back for good and want to help more folks, we could sure use some more volunteers as trainers in the "AR remote trainer/physique transformation challange", check out the thread and if you could make the time, have some qualifications and are willing to help someone get better, let me know.

i"ll b on more often for sure----dont know if i would want to take the chance of short changing a trainee---as im a little rusty and have no qualifications other than learning from others on this board

but i am thinking of getting in as a trainee though

[MonteCarlo]

thanx guys, once I get started (should be in a couple weeks) I'll keep you updated with diet and progress pics

[MonteCarlo]

hey guys just thought I'd let you all know I started
Diet went a bit off track last week because of christmas and all but back on track now currently weighing 86kg/189lbs today is start of 3rd week started at 82kg/180.4lbs just pb'd in back squats today did 165kg/363lbsx4 will keep you updated with new pics soon

[DKbuilder]

Have you done any cycles before the one you are currently on?

[MonteCarlo]

answered