Starting from the basics

[Kam22]

Age: 27
Weight: 173
Height: 6'

Before trying any test or anything I'm thinking about making changes to my diet. I wanted to get some guidance from you guys. I checked out the link for gaining weight for those who are on the skinny side. I believe my calories intake might be less than what I should be taking in. On average I have about 3,000-3,500. But I should be getting about 4,200 per day.

Current typical diet:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, whole grain cereal, one scoop of protein (about 24 grams) in 2% milk
Snack about two hours later: Protein bar, cliff bar, Protein shake (24 grams)
Lunch: Usually some subway turkey 6 inch, or sometimes I try to spike my carbs with a cheesesteak.
Two hours later: usually finish the 2nd half of the sandwich and have another snack like a protein bar.
Dinner: Traditional middle eastern food (bread with meats\veggies). This is where I believe I'm taking the punishment.

I"m not getting any bigger, but only more cut. I want to pack on about 20 more pounds of muscles without adding much more to my stomach. I have about 1 inch of fat on my beltline and thats about the only place I have fat, otherwise I'm very skinny. I do about 15 mins of cardio and about 1 hr of free weights.

1.So my question is so I increase my intake of protein, carbs, and also my cardio?

2.Incease one but not the other

3. I believe I'm not getting enough protein. On my best day I might get 1:1 gram:1lbs of body weight. Should I drink more shakes and increase protein meals? Wake up to drink shakes?

4. I work out hard sometimes and I see my weight get slim but so does everything else. I look weight all around. How do you guys manage to pack on weight but maintain the waist(abs)?

Any help is appreicated!

[Dr Pepper]

Hey mate, welcome.

First of all you need to work out your TDEE to work out how many calories you need to be having to gain weight. Seconadly if you could list all your pro/fat/carb/cals for each meal and there totals that would be a great start and we can go from there.

Just having a quick look you need less protein bars and shakes and have more meals with whole foods...

[gbrice75]

What's your current bodyfat? If you don't know, do you have pics? 4,200 calories/day? Hmmm...

PS - you need to do more than change your diet, you need to completely scrap it and start over. I doubt you'd ever make gains on a diet like that tbh.

[Kam22]

Hey mate, welcome.

First of all you need to work out your TDEE to work out how many calories you need to be having to gain weight. Seconadly if you could list all your pro/fat/carb/cals for each meal and there totals that would be a great start and we can go from there.

Just having a quick look you need less protein bars and shakes and have more meals with whole foods...

I'll work on getting that info...I usually just add up the totals for the day but I'll have to keep better track of the pro\fats\carbs\cals for each.

What's your current bodyfat? If you don't know, do you have pics? 4,200 calories/day? Hmmm...

PS - you need to do more than change your diet, you need to completely scrap it and start over. I doubt you'd ever make gains on a diet like that tbh.

What do you recommend if I do scrap it? I just need some guidance

[gbrice75]

Based on the pic - you have very little muscle mass (no offense), and you're not particularly lean - this leads me to believe you absolutely do NOT require anything close to a 4,200 daily caloric intake.

With the right foods, diet and training regimen, you'd probably fare very well on < > 3000 calories. 3000 calories of good nutritionally dense food vs. the crap diet you're eating now can and will make a world of difference.

[Kam22]

That 4200 cal number was what I got from the beginners forum (based off of my activities and various other things). I'm not offended bc that's why I'm here. I know I have very little muscle mass and I want to increase it by eating right and working out harder (lifting heavier). What would be a few dense food, just so I know what you mean..Sorry but I'm really trying to learn this stuff. Unless you can recommend a book or something.