My bulking diet 2nd try --- please criticize (looking for Windex)

[klm129]

Goals: Gain size -- a lot of size.

Stats:
Age: 37
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 142 lbs
bf%: 12

I did calculate my TDEE and I need around 2600 cal/day.

Food ------------ P/F/C/cal

Oats 1/2 cup --- 5/3/27/150
Milk 1 cup ------- 9/5/12/130
2 eggs --------- 12/10/2/140
whey pro 22g -- 17/ 1/ 2/90
Strawberries 2 -- 1/ 0/ 8/32
Meal 1 totals -- 44/19/51/542

LG.Beef 100g --- 20/15/ 0/210
Tomato Sauce -- 1/ 0 / 5/ 25
Salsa 45 ml ----- 1/ 0 / 3/ 15
Green Veg ½C -- 1/ 0 / 4/ 18
Meal 2 totals -- 23/15/12/268

chicken ------ 27/ 3/ 0/142
Green Veg ½C- 1/ 0/ 4/ 18
spaghetti ----- 7/ 1/30/108
teriyaki/milk --- 5/ 5/17/180
Meal 3 totals - 40/ 9/50/440

½ tin tuna ----- 15/ 1 / 0/56
Green Veg ¼C--- 1/ 0 / 2/18
1tbls mayo ----- 0/ 5 / 1 /45
1 bread -------- 2/ 1 /18/180
Pre workout - 18/6/ 21/299

WORKOUT

whey pro 22g -- 17/ 1/ 2/ 90
Banana--------- 1 / 1/ 51/105
Post WO meal-- 18/ 2/ 53/195

chicken-------- 27/ 3/ 0/142
Green Veg ½C -- 1/ 0/ 4/18
brown rice ------ 3/ 1/22/108
Milk 1 cup ------ 9/ 5/12/130
Meal 6 totals -- 40/ 9/38/398

¼ cup peanuts--- 9/18/6/207

cottage cheese - 14/ 5/ 3/100
Strawberries 2 --- 1 / 0/ 8/32
Milk 1cup -------- 9 / 5/12/130
B4 Bed meal ---- 24/10/23/262

Daily total -------- 215/88/255/2619

I have been on this diet for 3 weeks and Im up 6 lbs.

Thanks ahead of time for your suggestions

[38jumper38]

1-need more protein in the pre work out meal, 18gr is very low
2-need more protein in the post work out meal, again 18gr? very low, need to go up to 50 or 60
3-need more carbs at post work out meal, like 70 or 80grs
4-take casein before bed, milk and cottage cheese have too much sugar.

[klm129]

Would these changes fix my issues:
1 - switch places for my meal 3 and pre-workout meal
2&3 - make double the amount of my meal 1 and make it my post workout meal
4 - buy some casein for my b4 bed meal

[gbrice75]

I know you mentioned you're looking for Windex. Hopefully you won't mind the advice of others as well. I'm sure Win will chime in at some point in any event.

Goals: Gain size -- a lot of size.

Stats:
Age: 37
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 142 lbs
bf%: 12

I did calculate my TDEE and I need around 2600 cal/day.

Word to the wise - don't be too quick to throw blind faith into TDEE calculators/formulas, they're often very inaccurate. The best thing you can do is make an educated decision for a starting point (such as 2600 calories) and monitor your progress closely. Between the scale, mirror, measurements, strength in the gym, and the way your clothes fit, you should get a pretty good snapshot of what's happening with your body.

Food ------------ P/F/C/cal

Oats 1/2 cup --- 5/3/27/150
Milk 1 cup ------- 9/5/12/130
2 eggs --------- 12/10/2/140
whey pro 22g -- 17/ 1/ 2/90
Strawberries 2 -- 1/ 0/ 8/32
Meal 1 totals -- 44/19/51/542

Depending on how well you handle diary, consider dropping this as one of your first changes if things aren't progressing. Alot of people have issues digesting dairy and wind up getting bloated, etc. Also keep in mind that this is 12g of sugar. That's roughly 50 calories that could be coming from a quality carb source. Yes, i'm nit-picky!

I'd swap the whey for a protein blend (i.e. casein, whey, egg albumin, etc). I'd reduce to 1 whole egg and add 1/2 cup egg whites. The fat macro is too high IMO, and overall i'd try and bring your fat down, and carbs up. You want to add quality lean mass, not bodyfat, right?

I'd personally replace the strawberries w/ blueberries or something along those lines, but no huge deal.

LG.Beef 100g --- 20/15/ 0/210
Tomato Sauce -- 1/ 0 / 5/ 25
Salsa 45 ml ----- 1/ 0 / 3/ 15
Green Veg ½C -- 1/ 0 / 4/ 18
Meal 2 totals -- 23/15/12/268

Add complex carbs here. Don't worry about total calories being too high; we can fix that later

chicken ------ 27/ 3/ 0/142
Green Veg ½C- 1/ 0/ 4/ 18
spaghetti ----- 7/ 1/30/108
teriyaki/milk --- 5/ 5/17/180
Meal 3 totals - 40/ 9/50/440

Glad to see the veggies in 2 meals so far, good job! Make sure your pasta is whole grain/quality. wtf is teriyaki/milk?

½ tin tuna ----- 15/ 1 / 0/56
Green Veg ¼C--- 1/ 0 / 2/18
1tbls mayo ----- 0/ 5 / 1 /45
1 bread -------- 2/ 1 /18/180
Pre workout - 18/6/ 21/299

Ok, this is a crap pre-workout meal bro. Hardly any protein - double it. I'd rather see fish oils here than mayo, but I get it - it's a tuna sandwich. If you're going to stick with it, double the carbs here too - i.e. 2 slices of bread, and make sure it's quality whole grain bread - no high fructose corn syrup, etc.

WORKOUT

whey pro 22g -- 17/ 1/ 2/ 90
Banana--------- 1 / 1/ 51/105
Post WO meal-- 18/ 2/ 53/195

Double the protein, replace the banana w/ 1/2cup oats. Fruit (fructose) isn't going to do much in replacing muscle glycogen

chicken-------- 27/ 3/ 0/142
Green Veg ½C -- 1/ 0/ 4/18
brown rice ------ 3/ 1/22/108
Milk 1 cup ------ 9/ 5/12/130
Meal 6 totals -- 40/ 9/38/398

Good meal, i'd drop the milk.

¼ cup peanuts--- 9/18/6/207

Random? Unnecessary fat, drop it. Supplement fish oils with your meals instead. People get plenty of omega-6 and 9 in their diets, and hardly any omega-3

cottage cheese - 14/ 5/ 3/100
Strawberries 2 --- 1 / 0/ 8/32
Milk 1cup -------- 9 / 5/12/130
B4 Bed meal ---- 24/10/23/262

Drop the milk and strawberries, no need for all the sugar before bed - will not help your cause. Double the cottage cheese, or add 1/2 scoop casein, etc. Add fish oils.

Daily total -------- 215/88/255/2619

I have been on this diet for 3 weeks and Im up 6 lbs.

Do you have any idea what the composition of that 6lbs is? i.e. lean mass vs. bodyfat? What about water retention?

Thanks ahead of time for your suggestions[/QUOTE]

It's not a bad diet but can definitely be tightened up. Personally, if you want to add mass i'd suggest macros along the lines of:

protein: 200g (yes, this is plenty for your size, 1.5g/lb of LBM, close to what you had anyway)
carbs: 300g - 325g
fat: 55-65g

I'd zig-zag your diet and reduce overall calories on your off days mostly by way of carbs. Keep protein consistent and keep the dietary fat low. Basically fat from the foods you eat, plus fish oils.

Hope this helps, i'm sure others will be along soon.

[38jumper38]

My God, now I now "why" you are call the "Guru".

[gbrice75]

My God, now I now "why" you are call the "Guru".

lol, I'm no guru, just helping out when I think I have some advice to offer.

[GirlyGymRat]

jumper...don't believe a word gbrice says.............................................. .................................................. ...................he is a MODEST guru!

[38jumper38]

jumper...don't believe a word gbrice says.............................................. .................................................. ...................he is a MODEST guru!

Thanks,
He is really good, every time he spend 2 minutes in the computer make a lot difference in any diet.

[Windex]

Woah, never seen my name in a thread title before. Did I only half help you before or something mate ? My computer exploded so only yesterday I started logging in again after like a 2 week PC meltdown.

I like a lot of what Gbrice said, but I'll add a few of my thoughts. These are what you can consider in addition to what has already been mentioned in terms of food substitution:

- Replace tomato sauce with canned whole tomatos or squeezed whole tomatos. You can usually get a 6pack from costco cheap cheap like $5.00 and the macros will be better but still provide more flavor.

- I would START with zero fruit and add more complex carbs + legumes (chickpeas and lentils) and adjust as you go. I personally dislike fruit as I don't get full, there's a lot of water. I also like it as a stepping stone. If you can cut cake, cookies, etc out usually the next thing you want to go to is fruit since it's still the basic sugar, so being able to cut that out as well is strong motivation/dedication. Just my $0.02 - everyone is different then.

- I'd also perhaps look into starting with a base of ~3000 calories and as Gbrice already stated, constantly make adjustments. The scale I feel is the least important tool for determining progress. Weigh yourself bi-weekly, but look in the mirror maybe twice a week and take full measurements monthly or tri-weekly. Once you get to say 160 lbs or whatever the number may be, reassess how you look. From 142 to X lbs ask yourself : How much muscle have I put on ? Do I have a lot of soft look and are my muscle groups now covered by layer of fat ? Am I bloated ? What's my overall energy and strength level at ?

- With the above being said because you're so small I would possible break your calories down into a 30/35/35 macro split and adjust. Again though, constant tweaking is imperative. Some people are sensitive to carbs and others can go wild.

[Windex]

1-need more protein in the pre work out meal, 18gr is very low
2-need more protein in the post work out meal, again 18gr? very low, need to go up to 50 or 60
3-need more carbs at post work out meal, like 70 or 80grs
4-take casein before bed, milk and cottage cheese have too much sugar.

I actually disagree with both 3 and 4. There is no magic number of carbs for postworkout and I think everyone is slightly different. 50-75g could be a great benchmark but should be adjusted as needed. In addition, he's working out fairly late in the day which could further be reason to slightly restrict PWO Carb intake. As per cottage, cheese; short of eating beef tenderloin (which I doubt most people can even afford to eat on a daily basis) cottage cheese is probably the best source of casein proteins available from whole foods. The carbs in cottage cheese are not significant enough to make a difference in my opinion even though it's right before bed. Protein powders should be avoided if possible as whole foods are better. Finally, I believe outside of beef tenderloin and the like, cottage cheese is the only other protein source that is 100% casein where as other dairy products are 80/20 (Casein and whey) [I may be wrong on this].

[gbrice75]

^^ Beef does not contain casein protein. Casein protein is one of the proteins found in dairy, i.e. the milk, not the meat.

The reason that beef is often suggested late in the evening/before bed is because it's one of the slowest digesting protein sources, more so than casein.

With that said, any protein source before bed is fine, including protein powders with the possible exception of straight whey due to it's extremely fast absorption rate. However, if a substantial whole food meal is eaten in the evening, I wouldn't worry much about the source right before bed.

I always find it funny hearing about guys eating 8oz of beef for dinner, then freaking out if they can't get their casein shake or cottage cheese in before bed, as if they will become catabolic during the night. Trust me, that whole food meal will keep you good to go overnight. Don't believe the hype that supplement companies have you brainwashed to believe.

[Windex]

^^ Beef does not contain casein protein. Casein protein is one of the proteins found in dairy, i.e. the milk, not the meat.

The reason that beef is often suggested late in the evening/before bed is because it's one of the slowest digesting protein sources, more so than casein.

With that said, any protein source before bed is fine, including protein powders with the possible exception of straight whey due to it's extremely fast absorption rate. However, if a substantial whole food meal is eaten in the evening, I wouldn't worry much about the source right before bed.

I always find it funny hearing about guys eating 8oz of beef for dinner, then freaking out if they can't get their casein shake or cottage cheese in before bed, as if they will become catabolic during the night. Trust me, that whole food meal will keep you good to go overnight. Don't believe the hype that supplement companies have you brainwashed to believe.

Interesting, I was always under the impression steak = casein.

[gbrice75]

Interesting, I was always under the impression steak = casein.

Nope! It's probably the whole cow thing that's got you confused!

Oh, and BUMP for the OP!

[panamax03]

gbrice picked up some good info here to tweak my PWO shake. I don't mean to steal the thread but if you get a chance could you check my diet out?
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...!#.Tj2asWHMqnQ

thx