Am I Eating Enough to Gain?

[HeMan21]

Hi Guys
Think I have just come to the conclusion that I am not eating enough to gain. Have been looking at a few examples throught the forums that have set this off.
I am also doing a cycle of deca and sust at the moment

At the moment a average day would be:

Breakfast
Protein Shake 1 1/2 scoops protein 30g
1/2 cup oatmeal

Morning tea
4 x Rye crackers
185g can of tuna or chicken
piece of fruit

Lunch
Chicken breast or pieces of steak
Salad
2 pieces of wholegrain bread or brown rice

Afternoon Snack
Protein Shake 1 1/2 scoops protein 30g
Can of beans or 1/2 cup of oatmeal

Workout

Protein Shake 2 scoops 50g

185g Tin of tuna with 1/2c cottage cheese

Dinner
Piece of steak or chicken with greens usually 1/2 head of brocolli

Shake before bed

Please have a look and let me know what you think....
Thanks

[Mar-Vell]

I think its too light for a bulking, ask help in the proper section, the diet one, here is cycle results
Which week you are at your cycle and how much you gained so far?

[Big]

too many shakes, not enough whole food

[boxa06]

We need more info man like how much you weigh? macros of each meal?

[flexandex]

Your diet is great in terms of protein (depending on your portion sizes), but very light on carbs.

I would say double your oats in the morning,
have 4 pieces of bread / double your rice
mabey add some peanuts or some type of nut to your evening meal for some good fats.


4 wholefood sources of protein is absolutely fine to gain on, your supplementation of shakes is fine aswell. People love to hate on shakes but at the end of the day an amino acid is an amino acid and as long as you are getting other wholefood meat sources of protein you will do fine. I know of bodybuilders who get up to 80% of their protein from whey. There are no proven studies (to my knowledge) that show real food > shakes no matter what.

On that note though, i think you could replace your afternoon snack shake with some whole food protein and you would be better off.
I personally believe that whey protein is great in the mornings, and after your workout. These are two times when you need a fast digesting protein. In the morning you've just got done fasting for 8-10 hours, you need protein fast.
The only other time i would have a shake is some form of casien shake before bed.

gl man.

[j4ever41]

What are your stats?

[Virturam]

I agreen with FLEXANDEX. Back in my younger years i experimented with Whey in the morning, after workouts, and casien before bed.. i personally think the casien before bed helped tremendously. I noticed some really nice gains in less time. I think its important that you actually figure out how much your body is using in terms of cals, then go from there. In the morning i'd add 4 egg whites, and maybe a little less powder. When you eat your tuna, dont be afraid to put a tablespoon, or maybe even two of real mayo. I do that and also add 5 wheat ritz crackers, makes it delish.

I agree with Mar-Vell, it seems pretty light. This is reminiscent of diets i do when im cutting down.. up protein so i dont lose muscle, lower carbs, lotta rabbit food/tuna. My advice is to sit down and calculate up total protein/carbs/fats and overall cals that your taking in, you may be surprised that you're only inching over 2000cals per day even eating as much as you already are. To really get enough cals and everything else you need start eating whats gonna give you the biggest bang for your buck, especially when loading up. Yes, its better to stay lean, but i find if i pack on a little more fatty weight i generally lift more = more muscle.. it comes at a price cause i dont look cut and rough.. but it doesnt take long to get it off. Personally, im a huge fan of brown rice/black beans/lima beans/potatos/tuna/chicken/ and at times 1/4lb of beef on a piece of bread. I'll give you a mock meal of mine at one point while loading.

Breakfast.
6:00am
5 egg whites
1 1/2cup steel oats
banana
protein shake

9:00am
2cup lima beans
12-14oz potato
9oz tuna

11:00am
1cups blackeyed peas
1 1/2 cup brown rice
5 corn tortillas
1 kiwi, 1 apple

1:00pm
carb supplement, something near 30-40g
6-oz of yogurt
protein shake -20g


2:00 - workout

3:30 - post workout
Protein shake
3oz chicken
12-14oz potato
2cup brocolli(or some green vegetable)

5:00
1cup corn
8oz chicken

8:00
8oz meat of my choice
4cup mixed veggies
1cup brown rice
2cup black eyed peas

10:00
protein shake
1cup black berries

Thats a mock meal when weighed around 185ish. It seems like alot, but its alot of veggies/carbs fiber and shit to keep me feeling full. Thats not to the exact T.. but its pretty damn close. Im sure i'll get flamed for that mock meal, who knows.. whatev. It worked quite well for me, put on pounds and kept me some what lean. Some people would eat tons of other things, its just finding your tastes. I'd normally alternate meals every two days, so on day three my meal would look totally different than that.. diff meats, veggies, fruits, etc etc.. but all kept close to the same cals/protein/carbs/fats. But as you can tell i pounded food like that for 4 straight months to put on pounds.. and i wasnt on a cycle. I was lucky enough to have a job where i was able to eat like that consistently, and that comes in to play. I had all my meals prepared for 3 days in advanced each meal basically bagged up with everyhthing combined together. If it contained meat it was cut into pieces so i could spoon it from the bag quickly. I never bothered with heating shit up either. In my mind.. if you're serious about getting bigger and all that the way you eat will change, taste will be the last thing on your mind, cold/hot meat/veggies seperate it wont even matter, you'll be eating so damn much you'll need to get each meal out of the way quickly.

[HeMan21]

I think its too light for a bulking, ask help in the proper section, the diet one, here is cycle results
Which week you are at your cycle and how much you gained so far?

Yeah sorry typed the whole thing out. Pressed the button to post it and realised i pushed back one to many times and was typing in the wrong forum

[HeMan21]

Your diet is great in terms of protein (depending on your portion sizes), but very light on carbs.

I would say double your oats in the morning,
have 4 pieces of bread / double your rice
mabey add some peanuts or some type of nut to your evening meal for some good fats.


4 wholefood sources of protein is absolutely fine to gain on, your supplementation of shakes is fine aswell. People love to hate on shakes but at the end of the day an amino acid is an amino acid and as long as you are getting other wholefood meat sources of protein you will do fine. I know of bodybuilders who get up to 80% of their protein from whey. There are no proven studies (to my knowledge) that show real food > shakes no matter what.

On that note though, i think you could replace your afternoon snack shake with some whole food protein and you would be better off.
I personally believe that whey protein is great in the mornings, and after your workout. These are two times when you need a fast digesting protein. In the morning you've just got done fasting for 8-10 hours, you need protein fast.
The only other time i would have a shake is some form of casien shake before bed.

gl man.

Thanks this is awesome advice will have to give it a go. I love peanut butter so ushally sneak that in every now and then. Sometimes if I have time I will swap out the shake before bed for either chicken or tuna mixed with cottage cheese so it takes longer to digest. To be honest by 1030pm all I want to do is down the shake and crash out.
Thanks again man

[HeMan21]

I agreen with FLEXANDEX. Back in my younger years i experimented with Whey in the morning, after workouts, and casien before bed.. i personally think the casien before bed helped tremendously. I noticed some really nice gains in less time. I think its important that you actually figure out how much your body is using in terms of cals, then go from there. In the morning i'd add 4 egg whites, and maybe a little less powder. When you eat your tuna, dont be afraid to put a tablespoon, or maybe even two of real mayo. I do that and also add 5 wheat ritz crackers, makes it delish.

I agree with Mar-Vell, it seems pretty light. This is reminiscent of diets i do when im cutting down.. up protein so i dont lose muscle, lower carbs, lotta rabbit food/tuna. My advice is to sit down and calculate up total protein/carbs/fats and overall cals that your taking in, you may be surprised that you're only inching over 2000cals per day even eating as much as you already are. To really get enough cals and everything else you need start eating whats gonna give you the biggest bang for your buck, especially when loading up. Yes, its better to stay lean, but i find if i pack on a little more fatty weight i generally lift more = more muscle.. it comes at a price cause i dont look cut and rough.. but it doesnt take long to get it off. Personally, im a huge fan of brown rice/black beans/lima beans/potatos/tuna/chicken/ and at times 1/4lb of beef on a piece of bread. I'll give you a mock meal of mine at one point while loading.

Breakfast.
6:00am
5 egg whites
1 1/2cup steel oats
banana
protein shake

9:00am
2cup lima beans
12-14oz potato
9oz tuna

11:00am
1cups blackeyed peas
1 1/2 cup brown rice
5 corn tortillas
1 kiwi, 1 apple

1:00pm
carb supplement, something near 30-40g
6-oz of yogurt
protein shake -20g


2:00 - workout

3:30 - post workout
Protein shake
3oz chicken
12-14oz potato
2cup brocolli(or some green vegetable)

5:00
1cup corn
8oz chicken

8:00
8oz meat of my choice
4cup mixed veggies
1cup brown rice
2cup black eyed peas

10:00
protein shake
1cup black berries

Thats a mock meal when weighed around 185ish. It seems like alot, but its alot of veggies/carbs fiber and shit to keep me feeling full. Thats not to the exact T.. but its pretty damn close. Im sure i'll get flamed for that mock meal, who knows.. whatev. It worked quite well for me, put on pounds and kept me some what lean. Some people would eat tons of other things, its just finding your tastes. I'd normally alternate meals every two days, so on day three my meal would look totally different than that.. diff meats, veggies, fruits, etc etc.. but all kept close to the same cals/protein/carbs/fats. But as you can tell i pounded food like that for 4 straight months to put on pounds.. and i wasnt on a cycle. I was lucky enough to have a job where i was able to eat like that consistently, and that comes in to play. I had all my meals prepared for 3 days in advanced each meal basically bagged up with everyhthing combined together. If it contained meat it was cut into pieces so i could spoon it from the bag quickly. I never bothered with heating shit up either. In my mind.. if you're serious about getting bigger and all that the way you eat will change, taste will be the last thing on your mind, cold/hot meat/veggies seperate it wont even matter, you'll be eating so damn much you'll need to get each meal out of the way quickly.

Guys this is brilliant!!! Think this may be the most helpful site I have ever been on. Thanks for the sample got some good ideas out of it. I have gone past careing about taste as you can probably tell from all the tuna. I just eat Just for the nutrition and muscle gain now. Going to did around the supermarket to try the Black Beans and have a big cook up this weekend to prep some new meals

Cheers

[HeMan21]

I think its too light for a bulking, ask help in the proper section, the diet one, here is cycle results
Which week you are at your cycle and how much you gained so far?

Cycle has been pretty good aye. Had been doing test 200 first weeks but got my hands on some sus 250 and can see a huge difference with that. Have been using that with the deca for the past 3 weeks with probably another 3 to go.

Sorry I work in metric

26 years old
180cm tall
100kg drops down to 98kg some days
18% Body fat. I know pretty high

Was about 90kg when I started the cycle.

First proper cycle and have learnt heaps. Will take some time off and run something stronger closer to summer. Was thinking the Deca with test 400 but need to do a whole lot more reasearch before I start

[danimal79]

putting on weight is pretty simple bro. if the diet you're on isn't adding weight to your frame, up the cals each week until it does

[boDAWG]

oh man if you weigh around 100kg thats roughly about 220lbs, man you're not eating NEARLY enough to bulk

you should be at
1.5-2g of protein per pound or 1/2 a kg of lean body mass
so take your fat which you said is 18% which means you're carrying about 40lbs or 18kg of fat on you so that leaves you with about 180lbs or 80kg of lean muscle
so you need about 320-400g of protein a day (400 is a bit on the high side)
i would do the same for carbs
and fat of course try to stay as low as possible