Help me up my caloriic intake, I'm still a lightweight

[kiki123]

This time last year I was 182lbs or 83kg @ 5'10''. Now I'm only 167lbs (28y/o) and although I'm just as strong as I was at 182lbs I want to add more muscle and general size without getting too fat (a little is ok). I'm looking to reach 190lbs and then consider my first ever cycle but considering I'm an ecto I need to seriously start inhaling food and up my cardio if I want to get anywhere near a leanish 190lbs.

Sorry I don't have any BF% numbers but I could hazard a guess that I was about 16% bf when I was 182lbs and I'm currently 15% ish?? Please look at my attached photo. In my defense I broke my thumb so the arm I'm flexing was in a cast 2 weeks ago and also has radial nerve issue which is stopping me from getting any bicep peak until it heals up . I also do no abdominal work and it shows! Considering I'm a little chubby around the waist as it is, is it reasonable to assume I could reach 190lbs at 12% or lower?? Now that I'm out of the cast I'm back to working out every other day. I've never cycled but I've always maintained that if I were to reach my goal weight at a low BF% then I would be keen to do a basic test cycle.

Workout schedule is:

Monday- shoulders
Wed- legs / calves
Fri- Chest / tri's
Sun- back / bi's

I can calculate my TDEE and macro's from the below diet but don't have the time right now. Just looking for some areas that need adjusting. One thing that seemed to put weight on easily was drinking around 1.5L or 0.4gallons of milk a day. It certainly helped add some pounds at the expense of a little fat.

This is my current diet:

9AM meal 1:

morning shake consisting of:
cup of oatmeal
banana
2 scoops of whey isolate
flax seed oil and 2 omega 3 caps

3 hard boiled eggs

11:30AM workout here (every other day)

1:30PM PWO shake consisting of

1/2 cup of oats
banana
2 scoops whey isolate

2PM Meal 2:

1 chicken breast (9 Oz)
sweet potato (10 Oz)
brocolli or green beans

5PM Meal 3:

1 chicken breast (9 Oz)
sweet potato (10 Oz)
brocolli or green beans

(Lately Instead of the above 2 meals I am sometimes substituting these meals for 2 meals of combination chop suey. This is basically a big bowl of about 4 different kinds of meats like pork, chicken, beef, shrimp + brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, celery etc.. Not sure on the carbs with this dish as there is no rice or noodles in it)

8:30PM Meal 4:

Steak or fish
rice or potato
mixed veggies depending on whats available

11:30PM Meal 5:

SOMETIMES depending how late I had my dinner I have something like a scrambled egg sandwich with 3 eggs in it.


Thanks for reading. Any advice much appreciated, remember this diet is seeing me maintain roughly 167lbs. Meal 5 is had maybe 3 times a week as present. I want to reach 190lbs so what should I change up??

[cerealkiller326]

What time you eat these meals? Whats your work out reps and sets like?

[Damienm05]

Your back/frame looks nice in that pic - you'll have a nice look when you thicken up the extremities.

[kiki123]

What time you eat these meals? Whats your work out reps and sets like?

Updated in bold.

My sets/reps changes between muscle groups but generally I don't go above 8 reps for anything. Sets are generally 1 warmup set followed by 3 working sets.

I always drop set shoulders. Back days ALWAYS start with 50 wide grip chins and then 50 of some other pull-up variation (not all in one set obviously) before I move onto deadlifts and then some form of rowing movement.

Leg day is centered around squat, then followed up with vertical leg press or extensions/curls.

I should add, I workout at home. I have quite a bit of equipment now. Like seated calf raise, fully adjustable bench / squat rack, vertical leg press, chin up bar, rope pulley system but its not a crossover so I'm limited to either pulling up from the ground or pulling down from the ceiling. Preacher with a bunch of different bars. I'm looking to switch up my workouts as there a bit stagnant at the moment. I''ll post a back pic later today.

[gbrice75]

I don't have time to critique the diet in depth now, but at a glance once problem I see is that by 1:30pm, you've barely had any real protein except for a few eggs. You might want to consider making your pre-workout meal all eggs/egg whites and dropping the whey. Also, why is your workout 2.5 hours after your meal? That's too long and you will not get the benefits of the fuel. Eat about 1 - 1.5 hours before the workout, even if it means having 2 meals from the time you wake up. Actually, I have the solution. Either have a whey shake upon waking, then eat the real preworkout meal before your workout, or vice versa.

I will get more in depth later when I have time, or the other guys will sort you out.

[kiki123]

Well TBH it takes me ages to eat breakfast, my metabolism is so slow in the morning but subsequent meals are eaten faster though out the day. Once I've had breakfast, a coffee and done some work it's already 11AM so I probably need to eat earlier. It's essentially only an hour after I finish breakfast that I begin to work out. Thanks for that advice so far gbrice75 I'll try to incorporate that into my routine.

edit: whats a good way to be more hungrier in the mornings? I have b12 vials but need something more permanent.

[cerealkiller326]

[QUOTE=kiki123;5519162]This time last year I was 182lbs or 83kg @ 5'10''. Now I'm only 167lbs (28y/o) and although I'm just as strong as I was at 182lbs I want to add more muscle and general size without getting too fat (a little is ok). I'm looking to reach 190lbs and then consider my first ever cycle but considering I'm an ecto I need to seriously start inhaling food and up my cardio if I want to get anywhere near a leanish 190lbs.

Sorry I don't have any BF% numbers but I could hazard a guess that I was about 16% bf when I was 182lbs and I'm currently 15% ish?? Please look at my attached photo. In my defense I broke my thumb so the arm I'm flexing was in a cast 2 weeks ago and also has radial nerve issue which is stopping me from getting any bicep peak until it heals up . I also do no abdominal work and it shows! Considering I'm a little chubby around the waist as it is, is it reasonable to assume I could reach 190lbs at 12% or lower?? Now that I'm out of the cast I'm back to working out every other day. I've never cycled but I've always maintained that if I were to reach my goal weight at a low BF% then I would be keen to do a basic test cycle.

Workout schedule is:

Monday- shoulders
Wed- legs / calves
Fri- Chest / tri's
Sun- back / bi's

I can calculate my TDEE and macro's from the below diet but don't have the time right now. Just looking for some areas that need adjusting. One thing that seemed to put weight on easily was drinking around 1.5L or 0.4gallons of milk a day. It certainly helped add some pounds at the expense of a little fat.

This is my current diet:

9AM meal 1:

morning shake consisting of:
cup of oatmeal
banana
2 scoops of whey isolate
flax seed oil and 2 omega 3 caps

3 hard boiled eggs
There is a bit of a gap between your meal and your work out. I don't know if you eat at 9 because you can't eat ( which you stated you can't) or you wake up late. Like GB said I'd have 2 meals before your work out. I had a problem of eating in the morning, I adapted by forcing myself to eat. Whey shake right after awakening, and went to work and force ate egg whites and oat meal. Enuff ranting bout my eating disorder lol. But ya if you wake up early and eat at 9. Force feed yourself 2 meals, it'll pay off in the future, especially if your bulking
11:30AM workout here (every other day)

1:30PM PWO shake consisting of

1/2 cup of oats
banana
2 scoops whey isolate

I love banana, but I'd keep it simple and have 1 cup oats. Up to you, if your bulking a banana isn't going to hurt IMO


2PM Meal 2:

1 chicken breast (9 Oz)
sweet potato (10 Oz)
brocolli or green beans

5PM Meal 3:

1 chicken breast (9 Oz)
sweet potato (10 Oz)
brocolli or green beans
To below, it seems like you don't measure out the meats, I'd be careful with pork and beef. I don't like pork , but I'd keep the beef lean like 93% or higher.
(Lately Instead of the above 2 meals I am sometimes substituting these meals for 2 meals of combination chop suey. This is basically a big bowl of about 4 different kinds of meats like pork, chicken, beef, shrimp + brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, celery etc.. Not sure on the carbs with this dish as there is no rice or noodles in it)

8:30PM Meal 4:

Steak or fish
rice or potato
mixed veggies depending on whats available

I hope the rice or the potato is brown rice or sweet potato.

11:30PM Meal 5:

SOMETIMES depending how late I had my dinner I have something like a scrambled egg sandwich with 3 eggs in it.
Whether its late or not I would take 2 servings of Casein Protein, if shake before bed isn't what your looking for, low fat greek yogurt, or cottage cheese is typical for casein source.

Thanks for reading. Any advice much appreciated, remember this diet is seeing me maintain roughly 167lbs. Meal 5 is had maybe 3 times a week as present. I want to reach 190lbs so what should I change up??


************In Bold is some suggestions. From the pics, you have a good structure its just eating right and this is the place to dial down your diet. To your eating habits, most of us started out having trouble eating in the morning. It comes to a point where we aren't eating to curb our appetites, but to feed ourselves to grow. Half of time I feel like vomiting the amount of sh*t I eat in the morning.

[kiki123]

Thanks cereal, In response to your input in bold. I'm waking up a little late (lucky me lol) and make breakfast as soon as I get up. I'm able to have breakfast anytime after 6am but doubt I'd be hungry enough to eat before then. I put banana's in the shake because it mixes well and when I don't all the oats sink to the bottom and tastes awful lol.

This morning I didn't eat my egg yokes and just ate the whites for the first time ever. Still had some room in the tank so I could always boost it up to maybe 5 egg whites?

Now going back to my goal weight, all too often I hear about ideal weights for certain heights. I was a walking broom stick 135lbs 5'10'' @ 21y/o. Once I understood the differences real food makes I put on 45lbs. Which is why I'm trying to determine an ideal lean weight for my body type. Like I said I'm looking to put on a lean 20lbs before I even consider a cycle. But my bf% is already higher than I want it to be so I'd have to question if my goals are realistic. I'd kill myself to get there "If" it's possible within a reasonable time frame but I'm quite sure it would take years to add that kind of muscle naturally and I'm 28 as it is.

[gbrice75]

It can take years to put on a good amount of quality muscle, but are you in this for the long haul or a short run? There is no ideal weight, i've always hated that. It all depends on frame, LBM, etc. Too many variables for anybody to say 'you SHOULD weigh XXXlbs @ 5'10. Anybody would look like a broomstick at 135. I'm 5'11 and looked like my tshirt on a hanger at 177lbs, I couldn't IMAGINE being lower.

I'm 35 bro, 28 isn't that bad. You have plenty of years left to do this the right way. =)

[kiki123]

Yes gbrice I agree about the weight height issue. I'm not going to rush anything, I've been patient up until now and see myself getting old doing this. I see a lot of people around here cycling in their early 20's and you have to question if any of them had reached their genetic potential before they pinned, because as you say it does take many years. Or it's done to get the edge in their sport which is understandable. But for me I'm willing to wait until I've filled out enough and close to my genetic potential to get the most out of it. Ultimately my appearance will dictate that decision and not a number on the scales.