Diet Critique

[BBrian]

I'm on a bulking cycle right now (Anadrol, test & deca). Because so many of my meals are complex dishes, it's very difficult to calculate macros, but I wanted some of the members with a lot of experience with nutrition to look my food consumption over and give me any feedback they find useful. I eat a lot of food...

1. 8:00am
3/4 cup Greek yogurt (nonfat)
1 cup 100% natural oats & honey granola
1 cup organic blueberries/strawberries/bananas
2 cups 2% milk

2. 10:00am
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tbsp all-natural peanut butter
3/4 cup organic blueberries/strawberries/bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
1 serving of Muscle Milk w/2% milk

3. 12:00pm
8oz chicken breast
1 cup baked potatoes
1/2 cup mixed beans
1 piece 100% whole wheat/whole grain bread
2 cups 2% milk

4. 2:00pm
2 servings shepard's pie (ground beef, mashed potatoes, assortment of vegetables and legumes) or comparable mixed dish of leftovers
1 piece 100% whole wheat/whole grain bread
2 cups 2% milk

5. 4:00pm
6 boiled eggs, yolk included
approximately 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 oz turkey breast
1 cup brown or wild rice
1 piece 100% whole wheat/whole grain bread
2 cups 2% milk

6. 6:00pm Pre-Workout
1 cup oats
1 serving Muscle Milk w/2% milk

7. 8:30pm
Mixed dish, last night I ate two servings of Thai Beef-Noodle Salad. It contained beef flank steak, rice stick noodles, and a conglomerate of vegetables and legumes. Tonight I'll be having meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots and beans. Again, with 2 cups 2% milk.

8. 10:30pm
42 grams casein protein (Dymatize Nutrition Extended Release EliteXT) in 2% milk


Very often I also eat tuna salad loaded with boiled eggs, onions and pickles on whole wheat bread with cheddar cheese, along with mixed beans on the side and of course milk, and a variety of mixed dishes - whatever my wonderful girlfriend decides to make for dinner. She's a dietitian and a great cook. Aside from that, the meals listed above are the norm. I take a handful of supplements; taurine, l-tyrosine, l-ornithine, Centrum multivitamin, melatonin, milk thistle, echinacea, krealkaline creatine, and 2400 mg of fish oil concentrate two times daily with food.

This is the fourth week of my bulking cycle and I have gained 26 lbs. I'll be taking the Anadrol half-way into next week, after that it will be test and deca with arimidex every three days.

[bowldawg]

Damn that's a lot of food. Looks very healthy and complex. Why did you choose muscle milk as your protein shake source? I'm not an expert, but I do a lot of research and I think you could find better quality whey protein for the same price or cheaper.

[BBrian]

Damn that's a lot of food. Looks very healthy and complex. Why did you choose muscle milk as your protein shake source? I'm not an expert, but I do a lot of research and I think you could find better quality whey protein for the same price or cheaper.

It's always been a favorite of mine based on independent analysis regarding the quality of the proteins in it (whey and casein), as well as containing what the label states, which I'm sure you know is a serious problem in the world of supplements. I also love the flavor and opt for something with a mid-range amount of calories, carbs and fat. What are your favorites? Muscle Milk is by no means cheap.

[bowldawg]

I love the AMP line. Absolutely delicious, but just way too expensive. I just use Gold Standard. Descent and inexpensive. I'll have to give musle milk another look. I would love to eat a diet similar to yours, but I run out of time and just mostly eat chicken breast and almonds. Seems like we sometimes we spend so much effort to hit our macros that variety suffers.

[--->>405<<---]

I tell u BB after being on a cutting diet for 4 months now that diet of urs sure does look good man !!! ;-D

Ton of tasty food .. Looks like alot of cals.. Weight gain shouldnt be a prob .. I love milk too.. If i ate that id prob get fat ..

[BBrian]

Haha yeah I hear ya man, nothing more desirable than a lot of food when you've been deprived. You're right, so far weight gain has not been a problem at all
I don't know though, you look like you have some pretty good mass there (you just need to update your glasses). With the right training you probably wouldn't get fat at all. I do cardio twice a week, you would not believe how hungry I am the four hours afterwards. There isn't enough food in the state to satisfy me on cardio days.

One thing I will say though, before I started the Anadrol this diet was tough to put down, but now I am always hungry.

[--->>405<<---]

LOL on the glasses .. yeh ive been on TRT for 2 months and i have days like that where i cant seem to eat enuff.. of course im also on a cut so that may change once i get to maintenance or bulking.. im def lookn forward to that

i def admire the amt of milk u drink everyday..

its funny the things i see in ur diet that make me think "man that looks good" the most r all the carbs.. fruit, milk, bread, potatoes, beans, rice.. LOL. prob cuz ive only been getting 100g carbs for 4 months now..

ur diet appears "healthy" in the traditional sense of the word.. i know when bulking allowances are made for certain foods which are a "no no" when cutting.. if it were me id prob add in the items u have meeting that criteria slowly and keep a good eye on bf%

[BBrian]

Well, today I decided that I'd take the time to count my macros and see how my diet is serving me. Over the past four and a half weeks I've gained somewhere around 27-28 pounds, but the fat around my midsection has not lessened any. Here's what today looked like;

1. 9:00am
1 cup 2% milk
1.5 cups non-fat yogurt
1 cup granola

2. 11:00am
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1.5 cups 2% milk
2 whole eggs, boiled
2oz sharp cheddar cheese

3. 1:00pm
1 cup whole wheat pasta
1 cup ground Italian sausage w/ mixed vegetables
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

4. 3:00pm
2 slices whole wheat/grain bread
1 tbsp light mayonaise
5oz ham
3oz sharp cheddar cheese
2oz cucumber
2oz napa cabbage
1 cup 2% milk

5. 5:00pm PreWorkout
1/2 serving Muscle Milk
1 cup 2% milk
3 tbsp natural peanut butter

5.5 6:30pm - Workout
1 serving Gaspari SizeOn (39g carbohydrates & 7g protein)

6. 8:00pm
4oz wild & brown rice
4oz tilapia cooked in olive oil
2oz mango salsa

7. 10:00pm
1/2 serving blueberry/pomegranate smoothie
1/2 cup almond milk
1 banana
3/4 cups old-fashioned oats w/ water, cinnamon, maple & honey

8. 11:30pm
2 servings Dymatize Nutrition Extended Release EliteXT w/water (casein & whey with a delayed-release coating)

So, as we see I consumed 6 whole food meals, one protein supplement w/peanut butter, one protein supplement to prevent nighttime fasting and one on-workout supplement packed full of carbohydrates. And here's the damage done:

328.5 grams of protein
232.25 grams of fat, unbiased
432.7 grams of carbohydrates total, 315.2 grams of which were complex
4,565.5 calories, unbiased

I'm really glad I did this, because I see some serious need for modification. I am very pleased with my protein intake, as I weigh approximately 196 lbs (different scales read anywhere from 194 to 199). But my fat intake represents far too high a percentage of my calories, while my carbohydrates are lacking. What I'm going to do is shoot for 5,000 calories with less fat, more complex carbs, but keep my protein right where it is or higher. I'll do this by eliminating the majority of my cheese intake, cut my milk intake in half (or start buying skim milk and retain 75% consumption), and most certainly stay the hell away from ground Italian sausage (62g of fat!) and any of its counterparts. I'll also incorporate more servings of lean meat (chicken & turkey breast, fish, and lean beef). I believe that tomorrow will look like something far better in the form of lean bulking. Any suggestions or comments?

[--->>405<<---]

holy crap dude! LOL.. that italian sausage immediately jumped out at me.. i tell u wat this diet looks like.. it looks like a typical diet a guy would eat trying to get good gains thinking he has picked "healthy foods" but has forgotten to pay attention to portion sizes and has made "allowances" for certain suspect items (cheese, pasta, sausage, etc..) because they "appear" to be consumed in moderate quantity

it all adds up!

looks like a great day of eating though.. i bet u loved ur diet that day LOL...

[BBrian]

I certainly did love it The thing is, though, most of my days look like this, except 5/8 "meals" vary from day to day with similar nutritional content. Well, except Italian sausage, that was an oddball, and not something I care to revisit. But counting macros made me realize that my cheese and milk intake is just too much if I expect not to gain a lot of trunk fat along the muscle. Towards the end of the day as I started to count things up and go over it with my girlfriend (a dietitian), it became obvious that I had way too much fat and not enough carbs. But by then I was already back from the gym, and had cooked tilapia in olive oil, which didn't help my fat issue any. So I picked up a small meal at the end with almond milk instead of 2% (almond milk has 2.5g fat instead of 5, and 1 carb no sugar as opposed to 11 carbs all sugar in 2% milk) with a decent serving of oats to pick up my carbs and used water with my casein where I usually use 2%. But by this time it was still too late, I had already put way too much fat in my body, missed my complex carb goal and juuuust did miss my caloric intake goal by a measly 500

Well thanks for reading me over 405, you seem to be one of the only ones brother. Cheers.

[BBrian]

I love the AMP line. Absolutely delicious, but just way too expensive. I just use Gold Standard. Descent and inexpensive. I'll have to give musle milk another look. I would love to eat a diet similar to yours, but I run out of time and just mostly eat chicken breast and almonds. Seems like we sometimes we spend so much effort to hit our macros that variety suffers.

By the way GNC's protein supplements were analyzed by ConsumerLab.com and the results were outstanding. Their product content matched the label. And not to mention that GNC's supps tend to be well priced, so nothing wrong with going that route.

[Back In Black]

Do you have alot of bloating/water retention on the compounds you are running?

Your simple sugar levels are another issue as well as your fat levels. Bulking or not I would try and limit these where possible esp if this is supposed to be a (fairly) lean bulk!?

Is there any reason you want to shoot for 5000cals? That's alot of cals at your weight. An excess of calories will be stored by your body whether it fat, barbs or protein. Stored either as muscle and/or fat!

Your pre workot meal contained no carbs?

Oh, and your protein, IMO, is high enough at over 300g.

[BBrian]

Hey SteM! Thanks for the comments.
To the bloating - yes and no. I have experienced severe bloating on and off until I figured out how much Arimidex I need to be taking with Anadrol. I'm down to one last day of Anadrol though, so now I get to figure it out all over again. But more directly no, right now I have zero bloating.

You're absolutely right, I contrasted my carbs from simple to complex and have been taking in far too many simple, but milk is the primary culprit there and will be fixed. I'm really concentrating a little less on lean than just outright bulk, but at the same time I certainly don't want my gut to get bigger. On that note, the last two times I ate peanut butter it really bloated my stomach and stuck around for hours. Have any of you ever had this problem? I'm eating natural peanut butter and hadn't been refrigerating it which I discovered last night should be, so I stuck it in the fridge and hope for better results with it.

Anyway, typically I do load carbs an hour before workout, but on that note my glycogen levels stay pretty high with my diet and I've been experimenting with ingesting fast-absorbed carbs during my workouts for the last six weeks. My goal is to prevent my glycogen levels from crashing in the first place, and so far I'm very pleased with the results. My energy levels remain abundant even after my high intensity workouts.

And yeah, the protein thing remains subjective. I'm not sure if you followed the little debate I had with Sgt Hartman on this subject but it left a lot to be determined. He supplied some information explaining that there isn't necessarily such a thing as taking in too much protein, but the fact remains that studies have shown where at a certain point excess protein does get excreted and stored as fat, I think it's simply a matter of determining how much protein the body actually does use productively. I also believe that this is determined by the type of protein we take in (whey, casein, soy and other vegetables, etc.). In conclusion, I feel comfortable taking in up to 2g per body weight so long as I take in different types of protein, especially while I'm taking so much testosterone.

[Back In Black]

Not sure PB should be doing that to you, did you consume with any milk? Most of us have a lactose intolerance to some degree and bloating is one effect. Oh, and I've never efridgerated my PB, must check the packaging.

As far as carbs intake, I'm not suprised your glycogen levels stay high. I prefer to eat complex carbs 1-2 hours before a workout and ingest BCAA's whilst lifting, I don't feel a crash even though I lift after only my second carb meal of the day. I think if you sort out the simple/complex ratio you will be all good.

Points noted rerotein and I guess I see an excess as a waste. It's the most expensive part of a diet (for me anyway) and I hate to think I'm sh1tting money down the pan. But, we are all different and the test will definitely help you utilise it.

Also noted no PWO shake/nutrition. Did you miss typing it? I'm not convinced that a shake is needed if the rest of the daily nutrient intake is right and that you can eat a fairly normal meal within an hour or so of finishing, particularly with the inclusion of BCAA's. I'm not saying there is an 'anabolic window' by quoting an hour, merely that to get your meals in you would need to eat that soon to the conclusion of your workout. I'm beginning to beliew in a PWO shake less and less, other than convenience/enjoyment!

[BBrian]

After my workout I always take something in, but it's more in the form of a snack and I didn't list snacks. Something like a banana with peanut butter and half a serving of Muscle Milk, something to get into my system while we cook dinner, and then like last night, my meal of tilapia and rice was consumed only 30-45 minutes after I finished my workout. I typically try not to rely on protein or mass shakes too much, preferring whole foods instead. I'm a firm believer that the body gets more out of real food than isolated protein powder.

[BBrian]

I had never been too concerned with counting macros before this week, it was really just a sporadic decision. But I am so glad that I did. I went grocery shopping last night and counting macros has completely changed the way I buy food. I spent more time comparing nutritional content than I have ever spent actually just grocery shopping. I'm so glad I use this website, without it I never would have bothered to begin this process. I am finding it more difficult to keep my protein intake high, but in the end I know this is going to help me obtain a more cut physique.

[BBrian]

Also I figured out why the peanut butter was bloating my stomach. Natural peanut butter has a tendency to have oil separation when kept at room temperature, but when refrigerated the consistency remains as it should. After keeping my natural PB refrigerated, I haven't had any more problems with digestion or bloating.

[FireGuy]

I will never understand why people do this. I shouldnt say that as I have tried it twice myself with the same terrible results. Your muscles wont grow any bigger by eating 1,000's of calories a day over TDEE. All you are doing is piling on bodyfat and you are going to have to work even harder to get into shape again when done.

[BBrian]

I will never understand why people do this. I shouldnt say that as I have tried it twice myself with the same terrible results. Your muscles wont grow any bigger by eating 1,000's of calories a day over TDEE. All you are doing is piling on bodyfat and you are going to have to work even harder to get into shape again when done.

That's good feedback. I need to determine exactly how many macros I need per day. Would you mind pointing me in the direction to make that determination?

[BBrian]

Never mind, I just noticed the sticky.

My TDEE is 3100. Now to figure out the rest.

[FireGuy]

Take TDEE with a grain of salt. They are usually rough estimates. Best thing you can do is monitor yourself with body comps twice per month. You will get an idea really fast of exactly what your maintenance calories are. 500 calories above maintenance should be more than enough to build all the muscle your body is capable of building in the majority of situations. Anything above that usually just gets stored as bodyfat.

[BBrian]

Take TDEE with a grain of salt. They are usually rough estimates. Best thing you can do is monitor yourself with body comps twice per month. You will get an idea really fast of exactly what your maintenance calories are. 500 calories above maintenance should be more than enough to build all the muscle your body is capable of building in the majority of situations. Anything above that usually just gets stored as bodyfat.

Thank you so much, these are the kind of answers I'm looking for. Right now I'm on a bulking cycle with test and deca, nearing the end of week five. How do you feel about the 500 calories over TDEE equation in this circumstance? I've read that 500 calories above maintenance is required to gain one pound per week, but obviously I'm looking for more than that for at least the next three weeks.

[Armykid93]

Holy hell that's a lot of food haha

[--->>405<<---]

Thank you so much, these are the kind of answers I'm looking for. Right now I'm on a bulking cycle with test and deca, nearing the end of week five. How do you feel about the 500 calories over TDEE equation in this circumstance? I've read that 500 calories above maintenance is required to gain one pound per week, but obviously I'm looking for more than that for at least the next three weeks.

BB so far in my cut ive been eating about 900 cals below my tdee (instead of 500) to lose fat (that tdee estimate tends to err to the high side of what u really need is the general belief around here).. its been working pretty good.. with the feel i currently have gained for where my body falls in with my tdee number (3100) when i decide to lean bulk ill prob start at 3000 and go from there.. i like to be conservative when it comes to adding lbs though .. the way i see it the only thing ill be losing is time if cals r too low.. if theyre too high ill be gaining unwanted and ugly bodyfat! dont know if this helps u or not..

also i dont remember seeing it but u def wanna get ur bf chekd regularly and at a place u can do it conveniently.. i have calipers at home and my wife does it every 7 days.. which is also how ill do it when bulking..

based on what u said in post 20 makes me wonder if all this time u were just guessing??? how has ur body responded? if u dont have a baseline(pre-bulk bf%) i guess u have no way of knowing for sure..

[BBrian]

BB so far in my cut ive been eating about 900 cals below my tdee (instead of 500) to lose fat (that tdee estimate tends to err to the high side of what u really need is the general belief around here).. its been working pretty good.. with the feel i currently have gained for where my body falls in with my tdee number (3100) when i decide to lean bulk ill prob start at 3000 and go from there.. i like to be conservative when it comes to adding lbs though .. the way i see it the only thing ill be losing is time if cals r too low.. if theyre too high ill be gaining unwanted and ugly bodyfat! dont know if this helps u or not..

also i dont remember seeing it but u def wanna get ur bf chekd regularly and at a place u can do it conveniently.. i have calipers at home and my wife does it every 7 days.. which is also how ill do it when bulking..

based on what u said in post 20 makes me wonder if all this time u were just guessing??? how has ur body responded? if u dont have a baseline(pre-bulk bf%) i guess u have no way of knowing for sure..

I calculated my TDEE today. Thus far I have indeed been going by feel and watching results, loosely based on information I've gathered from reading stickies and posts on this site. The only real goals I've been going by are exceeding 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight, as well as 4k-5k calories daily. I'm just staring to ascertain that these are far too many calories for my size, and what little advice Fireguy has already offered has been incredibly helpful.

As far as how my body has responded, I have gained a very impressive amount of muscle mass, taking into consideration the fact that Anadrol, test and deca does add water weight, despite using an AI to control obvious bloating from estrogen. My weight has gone from 169 to approximately 196, but my waistline has seen some fat increase, admittedly (but not terribly in abundance, especially contrasted against how much bulk my shoulders, pecs, arms and legs have gained). But the fat is most definitely a concern, hence why I have started to put forth all the extra effort to get on board with macros. I want to get it under control immediately. Where do you think I should go from here? I still need to obtain a better understanding of how many calories and carbohydrates I need to continue to bulk without adding body fat. I've only been doing cardio 1-2 times a week, but definitely have the time to do more if needed. Tonight I performed 50 minutes of high intensity cardio, followed with a healthy portion of complex and simple carbs along with quality protein.

[Armykid93]

I calculated my TDEE today. Thus far I have indeed been going by feel and watching results, loosely based on information I've gathered from reading stickies and posts on this site. The only real goals I've been going by are exceeding 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight, as well as 4k-5k calories daily. I'm just staring to ascertain that these are far too many calories for my size, and what little advice Fireguy has already offered has been incredibly helpful.

As far as how my body has responded, I have gained a very impressive amount of muscle mass, taking into consideration the fact that Anadrol, test and deca does add water weight, despite using an AI to control obvious bloating from estrogen. My weight has gone from 169 to approximately 196, but my waistline has seen some fat increase, admittedly (but not terribly in abundance, especially contrasted against how much bulk my shoulders, pecs, arms and legs have gained). But the fat is most definitely a concern, hence why I have started to put forth all the extra effort to get on board with macros. I want to get it under control immediately. Where do you think I should go from here? I still need to obtain a better understanding of how many calories and carbohydrates I need to continue to bulk without adding body fat. I've only been doing cardio 1-2 times a week, but definitely have the time to do more if needed. Tonight I performed 50 minutes of high intensity cardio, followed with a healthy portion of complex and simple carbs along with quality protein.

I think in the stickies they can tell you what your macros should be at. Have you calculated all the ones you take in? Sorry if you have I only read this bottom post

[BBrian]

Addendum to my last post.

Today my macros were as follows;
Fat - 123.05
Protein - 273.9
Carbohydrates - 199.2 Complex, 169.2 Simple
Calories - 3496

The majority of the simple carbs came from fruits, fruit juices and yogurt, and as previously stated I performed 50 minutes of HIIT cardio (martial arts drills with abdominal exercises throughout).

[Back In Black]

Why that split? Why not a more standard 40/40/20? Your fats are still too high at 33%.

[BBrian]

Why that split? Why not a more standard 40/40/20? Your fats are still too high at 33%.

I'm with you on that one, this is a process and I'm still into my first week of counting and shifting. Thanks for the advice SteM, those are the details I'm trying to hash out and that's very helpful. I'm going to have to revisit the grocery tomorrow to work this out.